242. To Die is Gain
Philippians 1:21 For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.
Paul is talking here about physical life and physical death, not spiritual or eternal life and death. While we are alive Christ is everything: He is our Life, our Hope, our Peace, our Joy, etc. And when we die it is gain; for then the Christ life continues forever and the sin body is gone forever.We have the Life now, which is Christ, but we also have alongside it the body of sin and death. Later we will have only the Life, which will never be compromised by Sin and Death ever again forever. The Life (Christ) doesn’t really change. It just loses Sin and Death and lives unfettered forever: this is gain.
We don’t actually gain anything new, because we already have Christ, who is our Life; but we lose something that prevents our fully enjoying that Life. It is the enjoyment and experiencing of that Life that is gained. It will feel like a tremendous gain, and we cannot imagine the glorious experience of unbound life, chained as we are to sin and death.
Life is great now. What will life be like without enemies? It will be gain. We cannot see how much better it will be because we don’t really know how bad life is now for we do not want to admit how bad we are.
Paul says he doesn’t know which to choose, but he, like us, chooses to live with Christ now for as long as God grants it. Selfishly, we would just as soon go to be with the Lord, but unselfishly, we want to live in a loving relationship with others. “To remain in the flesh in more necessary on your account (v. 24).”
If you ask yourself, “Why am I still alive?” The answer is: “Others.” God definitely has me here for a reason. When the mission is complete, then I will gain.