Living for Christ

(Philippians 1:21-25) "For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.  But if I live in the flesh, this is the fruit of my laor: yet what I shall choose I wot not.  For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better: Nevertheless to abide in the flesh is more needful for you.  And having this confidence, I know that I shall abide and continue with you all for your furtherance and joy of faith."  Whenever you read about the life of the Apostle Paul in the New Testament, you would have to conclude he was the greatest apostle of all times.  He wrote over half the New Testatment.  He stood for the faith.  He preached the gospel wherever he could preach it.  He made a couple of missionary journeys.  He was jailed and beaten for his stand for Christ.  Yet Paul stated in Philippians 3:8 that he counted all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Jesus Christ.  He had suffered the loss of all things, and he counted them as dung that he may win Christ.  His whole life was centered around Christ.  He counted it a joy to be beaten and reviled for Jesus's name.  Prior to his conversion, Paul at one time was an educated Jew.  He ruthlessly persecuted Christians.  Then one day he walked along the road to Damascus and God blinded his eyes with a light.  It was through this experience that Paul was gloriously saved by the grace of God.  He was a changed man who once had persecuted Christians now was preaching the gospel.  He was the greatest apostle of all times.

The Apostle Paul in Philippians was sharing how personal it was to serve Christ.  Notice in verse 21 he says, "For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain."  He could've easily have stated, "For to live is Christ and to die is gain."  However, he added the words "to me" to the equation to show that serving Christ is personal.  It was special to him.  That's why he included "to me."  The lesson we can draw from this is that living for Christ is personal.  We must make a choice to live for Christ.  As a sinner, we must choose whether we're going to accept or reject Christ.  Those that accept Christ as Savior and Lord must live for Christ.  Life revolves around Jesus.  God has a plan for those that are saved.  He makes us a new creature in Christ as II Corinthians 5:17 points out.  We are not to live life to the flesh.  We are to serve God with our mortal bodies.  We're to use our bodies to bring glory to God.  For the Christian, there's no other kind of living but a life that revolves around the will of God for our lives. 

Romans 12:1 says, "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service."  We are commanded to present our bodies as a living sacrifice unto the Lord.  We have a cause for living.  We're living to reach the lost for Christ.  Our lives are to be a testimony to the world that Jesus lives and saves.  We're to live upright before the world.  The world should see that Jesus lives by the way we display ourselves.  However, as long as we're living in this body, we're to use this body to bring honor and Glory to God in all things.  We should bring honor and glory to God in church, at work, at home, in our community, and anywhere else we involve ourselves with.  There's no greater joy than to serve the Lord.  Jesus paid it all on Calvary to forgive and cleanse us from our sins.  What is it for the Lord to ask us to present our bodies as a living sacrifice when he put it all on the line at Calvary?

Paul mentioned in the latter part of verse 21, first chapter,  in the book of Philippians that to die is to gain.  Whether we die in this life or we're taken out of this world in the rapture, if you're in Christ, then you have everything to gain.  Eternal bliss is waiting for those that know God.  We'll no longer be hindered by these fleshly, mortal bodies.  We'll be delivered from these sinful bodies.  We'll be in the presence of the Lord forevermore.  Paul was mentioning his dilemma where he would rather depart from this life and be in the presence of Christ.  It was far better for him to die and go on to Heaven.  However, he recognized it was more needful for him to remain so he could minister to those at Philippi.  He made it known that he would abide and continue with them for their furtherance and joy of faith.  Paul's need was to remain on this earth to minister to those churches that he had helped establish. Regardless, his whole life was for the purpose to serve Christ.  There was no other reason for his living than to live for Christ on this earth.  Otherwise, he would've been better off to have departed from this life and be in the presence of Jesus.  Until that time, he would be faithful to the calling of God until the Lord called him home.

The purpose of our lives is to live for and serve Christ.  Nothing else.  God saved us from sin so we could have fellowship with him and serve him.  Just think of the joy that the world's missing when they don't turn from sin and turn unto Christ.  There's no better life to live than the Christian life.  There's a song we sing at church called, "I Just want to Thank You Lord."  One of the verses says, "If I had a thousand lives to live, I'd give them all to the Lord".  The world can't offer us joy, peace, and fulfillment.  That only comes from Christ.  You can only experience that joy when you turn to Jesus and become born again.  Once you accept Jesus as Lord and Savior, you then learn what living is all about.