For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.
For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.
Philippians 1:21
To Die is Gain? Really, it is in the long run.
Death is a great loss to a carnal, worldly man, for he loses all his earthly comforts and all his hopes; but to a true believer it is gain, for it is the end of all his weakness and misery.
Charles Lindbergh, the famous aviator who flew the first solo flight across the Atlantic in 1927 did not see death as “gain.” He wrote:
“After my death, the molecules of my being will return to the earth and the sky. I came from the stars. I am of the stars.”
Lindbergh said at death, I will just be absorbed back into the universe from which I came, just like water washed down the drain gets carried back into the ocean.
THAT’S NOT “GAIN.” AND A LOT OF PEOPLE HAVE SIMILAR BELIEFS. DEATH IS NOT “GAIN” TO THEM; IN FACT, TO MOST PEOPLE, DEATH IS NOT GAIN; TO THEM, DEATH IS THE ULTIMATE LOSS.
Philippians 1:18
The context in which this was first spoken.
The Apostle Paul is in prison in the city of Rome, facing trial, knowing he's going to be executed for his faith in Christ. So he writes a letter to the church in Philippi, and tells them, "This is what I believe: to live is Christ and to die is gain."
Php 1:18 What then? notwithstanding, every way, whether in pretense, or in truth, Christ is preached; and I therein do rejoice, yea, and will rejoice.
Php 1:19 For I know that this shall turn to my salvation through your prayer, and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ,
Php 1:20 According to my earnest expectation and my hope, that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but that with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life, or by death.
Php 1:21 For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.
"For to me, to live is Christ":
This part emphasizes that Paul's entire existence revolved around his relationship with Jesus Christ. His life was centered on following Christ, serving him, and living according to his teachings.
"and to die is gain":
This phrase reveals Paul's perspective on death. While he was not suicidal, he saw death not as an end, but as a positive transition to being with Christ. He believed that being in the presence of Christ would be far better than his earthly life.
This is what's going on in Rome when Paul wrote, "To live is Christ, and to die is gain." There is an emperor who is torturing Christians to satisfy his own wicked desires. This is the guy that Paul is going up against.
This verse is a powerful expression of faith and a testament to Paul's unwavering devotion to Christ, even in the face of potential death. It also highlights the Christian hope of an afterlife with God.
Every religion has to answer two questions:
What is life? And, what is death?
Religions answer those two questions very differently.
Buddhism says, "To live is to achieve good Karma, and to die is to hope for a better reincarnation."
Islam teaches, "To live is to obey Allah, and if your good deeds outweigh your bad deeds, death is to achieve a personal paradise."
Society teaches this way: "To live is self, and to die is loss."
Remember, Paul is in prison in Rome, and he's writing to this church he loves in Philippi. And he says, "I don't know how this is going to turn out. I'm in prison. My trial is coming up. I don't know if I will be found guilty and executed. But if I die, I count it as gain because I get to be with Jesus, and I really want that.
Or maybe they'll release me instead. If they release me, that's great, too. Because I get to be with you. I'll come to Philippi, I'll see you, I'll encourage you. But no matter what happens, I WANT YOU TO CONTINUE MOVING FORWARD IN THE FAITH, ADVANCING THE GOSPEL."
“To live is Christ” means that we imitate the example of Christ. Everything that Jesus did and said, that’s what Paul wanted to do and say. The church benefited from his godly example: “Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ” (1 Corinthians 11:1). What would Jesus do? That’s what we want to do.
“To live is Christ” means that we pursue the knowledge of Christ. We want to know Christ better and better each day. Not just a set of facts about Christ, but Christ Himself. “I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead” (Philippians 3:10-11).
“To live is Christ” means that we are willing to give up anything that prevents us from having Christ. Paul’s testimony in this regard: “Whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage that I may gain Christ and be found in him” (Philippians 3:7-9). We cling to the promise of our Lord in Mark 10:29-30 that our sacrifices for Jesus’ sake will be repaid a hundredfold.
“To live is Christ” means that Christ is our focus, our goal, and our chief desire. Christ is the center point of our mind, heart, body and soul. Everything that we do, we do for Christ’s glory.
As we run the “race marked out for us,” we lay aside the entangling sin and worldly distractions, “fixing our eyes on Jesus” (Hebrews 12:1-2). He is our life.
Join the battle
Paul makes it clear in the rest of this passage that we have a battle to fight. He has told us what life is about, he has told us what death is about, and he tells us there is a battle that we have to fight when we live here on earth. In verse 27 he says,
"Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ so that whether I come and see you or I am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit with one mind, striving side by side for the faith of the gospel."
The believers in Philippi that Christians are called to fight, to strive together. Christianity is a team sport, and it calls for a fight.
C.S. Lewis said, “There are better things ahead, than any we leave behind.”
CONCLUSION
“On the 7th of September, 1850, seven British missionaries set sail from Liverpool (England). Under the leadership of Captain Allen Francis Gardiner — a decorated veteran of the Royal Navy — they were bound for Patagonia, at the southernmost tip of South America. They had six months of provisions and high hopes for the work of the gospel and the kingdom of God. Yet the trip ended in total failure. The natives were hostile. The climate was harsh and unforgiving. The resupply ship failed to arrive until it was too late. And the missionaries died of starvation, one by one.
The party’s surgeon was Richard Williams, and when the search party found his body, they also found his diary. The last page he ever wrote was a testimony to his undying faith in Jesus Christ. We can picture him huddled up in the hull of his little boat, suffering from sickness, and writing the following words as his last testament:
‘Should anything prevent my ever adding to this (diary), let my beloved ones at home rest assured that I was happy, beyond all expression, the night I wrote these lines, and would not have exchanged situations with any man living. Let them also be assured that my hopes were full and blooming with immortality, that Heaven and Love and Christ, which mean one and the same divine thing, were my soul; that the hope of glory filled my whole heart with joy and gladness; and that ‘TO ME to live is Christ and to die is gain.’” (Phil Ryken, Loving the Way Jesus Loves, pp. 149-150)
Richard Williams, with his last words in a foreign land, could write that to him, to die was gain — because during his LIFE he had made the commitment that to live, was Christ. The KEY was that little phrase: “TO ME”. “To ME.” See, our choices matter. Life, death, eternity … it all depends on what you are going to do with the message of Jesus; on what you do with the words of this verse.
WHEN YOU WALK OUT OF HERE TODAY, WILL YOU REALLY BE ABLE TO SAY “TO ME, TO LIVE IS CHRIST, AND TO DIE IS GAIN”
