To Live is Christ

TO LIVE IS CHRIST

Philippians 1:21a, “And for to me to live is Christ…”

Had a great time at church the other night as usual. If you haven’t read much of what I write you may not know yet that I love to attend our church. We have, essentially, a family that meets together every week on Sunday and then again on Wednesday. Yes, a family. We enjoy getting together and sharing with each other the joys and the burdens that we experienced during the week. However, tonight I began wondering about something. I suppose if you have been in church very often you are sure to have heard at least one sermon on this concept as well. You may have seen some old time preacher bounding across the platform with one arm stretched upward toward the heavens and shouting, “And for me to live is Christ.” And I wondered as I thought on this yet again, what does it mean?

Before defining what I believe Paul had in mind let’s look at one pursuit that is critical to any real effort we can make in this direction, Phil 3:10 “That I may know him….” One cannot even begin a journey of this type without truly knowing Christ. I believe Paul was able to say, “For me to live is Christ” because he truly sought to know him personally on an intimate level. Look at this verse carefully and think of the multitude of implications, Php 3:10 “That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death….” Paul wanted to truly know Jesus Christ. He wasn’t interested in simply hearing a bedtime story about his many miracles. He wanted to know Jesus by understanding the magnitude of the power it must have taken to raise him from the grave. He wanted to know Jesus by experiencing personally in his own body the sufferings our Lord went through. And he wanted to know Jesus not only in his lifetime of ministry but also in his dying.  If it could ever have been possible, Paul would have been willing to die with all of the agony of Jesus’ death if it would have brought him into a closer relationship with Christ.

It is here, in this intimate desire of Paul’s that we find our answer to what Paul may have meant in Phil. 1:21a. For his own personal benefit Paul clearly preferred leaving here and being with Jesus, Php 1:23 “For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better….” However, Paul realized the greater benefit to the church would be his staying here and helping them to grow. It is in this context that we find his statement. If I may paraphrase, “If I can remain here yet for a while then Christ will be seen in me.” That is an exceptionally bold statement. Would any of us ever dare to tell others that they can look to us if they want to see Jesus? Nonetheless, Paul could make that statement with confidence because he sought with all of his heart to “know him” intimately.

And here then is the problem for our churches today. Do we seek to know him? There may be some among us who would dare to pray, “That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection.” Because the resurrection is seen as something wonderful and glorious and by Paul’s statement it is also a great source of power. But can we find one, even one, who would pray to God asking to fully understand what it is to suffer as Jesus suffered? Can we find one who would pray to God to be in fellowship with Jesus in his sufferings? Why would we? Because Jesus never suffered for wrong doing. All of his suffering was at the hand of those who sought to destroy the work of God, those who lived in ungodliness and unrighteousness. Why would we pray to suffer in the same manner? Because it would mean we are suffering for righteousness. It would mean we are standing for the testimony of our Lord. It would mean that we would have to live the same way Jesus lived, and that we would have to represent him in all of what we do. In fact, praying that God would allow us to know Jesus in his sufferings, in his resurrection power and even in his death would mean that our life would be seen by those around us as exemplifying the life of Christ.

It is then that we could say with Paul, “For me to live is Christ.”