Philippians 1:21
For to me, to live is Christ and to
die is gain.
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THEME: Rich meaning of life in
Christ
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AIM: Philippians 1:21 gives us the
hope of seeing Christ. It teaches us the advances of our faith where the Lord
is the center of our lives. Dying in Him means to be united with Christ in a
deeper sense.
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INTRO: In the prospects of
Christian martyrdom and missionary labor, this makes our overall and final
expectation with Christ.
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LIVING IN CHRIST’S GRACE
Our hope is rooted in Christ, our
reason for living
a. The
Christian is crucified with Christ (Galatians 2:20) and the power of the old
self is destroyed (Romans 6:6). From then, we live the rest of our earthly
lives controlled by God’s will and not by human desires (1 Peter 4:2). We are
completely one with Christ (John 17:23).
b. The
Christian forgets everything and refrains from being self-important of self but
only boasts about the cross of Christ for by means of His cross, the world is
dead to us and we also are dead to the world (Galatians 6:14 ).
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DYING IN CHRIST’S PEACE
God’s assurance gives us wonderful
joy and encouragement
a. The Christian
believes that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will take
back with Jesus those who died believing in Him (1 Thessalonians 4:14 ). We will
possess glorious bodies in exchange of our weak, mortal bodies (Philippians
3:21). We will be gathered together (2 Thessalonians 2:1) and will rule with
Christ (Revelations 20:4).
b. A victory
prize of being put right with God awaits every Christian (2 Timothy 4:8), those
who submitted to God’s strict discipline (1 Corinthians 9:25) and those who
remained faithful under trials (James 1:2).
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CONCLUSION:
The hope of seeing Christ must give
us a good meaning every moment. It must give us reason to live in behalf of
Christ. Our death is not merely a relief from suffering but something more. Happy
are those who die in the service of the Lord. (Revelations 14:13). We may be
dead but our life is hidden with God (Colossians 3:3).
