Since I posted yesterday morning, I have learned that two people who are associated with the congregation in which I worship have left this life to inherit their eternal life. These are two people that I have spent a number of years knowing, and have developed some deep relationships with them both, as well as their families. So that made yesterday a day of sadness.
Yet, in the midst of such sadness, I was reminded of the verse which Paul wrote in his letter to the Philippians: "For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain". (Philippians 1:21) As I have thought about that verse over the past 24 hours, the meaning of it just continues to almost leap off the page for me.
To live is Christ. All that we do as we live our lives in this world points to our need for Christ. When we find ourselves acting sinful (which is often, according to our nature), we point to our need for Christ Jesus. We need someone to rescue us from this sinful existence. As Paul says in another place, "who will rescue me from this body of death?"
To die is gain: When our time in this world is done, we pass through the doorway of death. To many, that doorway seems like a place of great loss. Loss of life. Loss of individuality. Loss of wealth and possessions. Loss of control. Yet, one of the unique and endlessly fascinating things about Christians is that the doorway of death is actually to gain, not to lose. We gain the entrance to our eternal life. We gain the fact that we can now enter God's presence fully in all His glory, having left the sinful flesh behind. We gain entrance into a kingdom where there is no such thing as hate, disease, illness, injury, or fault. We gain a kingdom filled with love, joy, peace, patience, etc.
Death still stings, especially to those of us who are left behind in this world. Our veil of tears has not yet been lifted, and so we focus mostly on our loss rather than on our loved one's gain. And yet, that promise still stands clear. To live is Christ. To die is gain!
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