You have a mission in life but do you have one in death?
Paul had a mission in life. He also had a mission in death. Everything he did while here on earth was all based on his understanding of life and death. His aim in life was the same as his aim in death: to honor Christ. Failure to accomplish this was for Paul to live in shame.
According to my earnest expectation and hope, that I will not be put to shame in anything, but that with all boldness, Christ will even now, as always, be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. (Philippians 1:20 NASB95)
What you love determines what you will feel shame about. If you love for men to make much of you, then you will feel shame when they don’t. Put another way, if you love for men and women to be romantically drawn to you then you will feel shame when they don’t. But if you love for men and women to make much of Christ, then you will feel shame when he is belittled or trivialized on your account. And Paul loved for Christ to be honored more than anything. The worth of an object is determined by how much you are willing to give up in order to obtain it. He says this in Philippians 3:7-8, “Whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.”
When he dies, doesn’t all his missionary work go to waste? If being a Christian means that we must lose our life, what does all the work we do count for at death? Won’t death rob you of the very life that can magnify him?
So Paul adds at the end of verse 20 that “Christ . . . be exalted . . . by life or by death.” Death is a threat to the degree that it frustrates your main goals in life.Death is fearful to the degree that it threatens to rob you of what you treasure most. Death is a threat to the degree that it robs you of getting your Master’s degree, or finding true love, or becoming a millionaire by the time you’re 30, of maybe even being married by the time you’re 27. Paul treasured Christ and his goal was to magnify Christ. So he saw death not as a threat, not as a frustration, but as an occasion for him to achieve the ultimate in what it means to be intimate with Christ—to be in his presence.
Death takes you into more intimacy with Christ. Experiencing Christ as gain in your dying magnifies Christ. It is “far better” than living here. It is better than friendship. It is better than good grades. It is better than a high gpa. It is better than surviving cancer. It is better than winning the lottery. It is better than romance. It is better than being married.
The way you talk about death and life reveals the worth of Christ. You experience death as gain when you see that in death you gain Christ. I like how John Piper puts it, “Christ will be praised in my death, if in my death he is prized above life.” The essence of praising Christ in death is to prize him above life’s gifts. Since Paul gains so much at death (Christ) all his efforts and sufferings he experienced in life never go to waste!
Do you dread the thought of death because of the possibility that you will not achieve something you long deeply for? Are there times where you say to yourself, “I hope I do not die before I ____________.”? If that sounds like you, I would like to encourage you to take that fear to God because you may have an idol.
I know many students who do not look forward to death because it threatens their future plans, the biggest one being marriage. In this case marriage is bigger and more important to them than gaining Christ.
As we reflect upon the death of Christ, remember that Christ is our example, not only of life, but of death. When you see death as gain, it’s a lot easier to take gutsy risks in life. I’m not talking about the stock market, or any other type of worldly risk. I’m talking about the risks we take for the Great Commission. No future plan or earthly gain can even compare to what we gain at death.
God desires that every Christian live lives that display the supremacy of Jesus in life or in death.
About The Author
Robert Johnson is the guy behind Practicing Theology. When he is not working on his new self-published book he is studying theoogy, discipling, reading, or eating potato chips.
Robert
I love theology and the challenge of making deep teachings non-boring. Let's face it, most of the time we hear theological teaching, it really is boring. Does it really have to be that way? Nope.
