The defeat of death

To me, to live is Christ, to die is gain… Yet what shall I choose? I do not know! I am torn between the two; I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far, but it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body. Philippians 1:21-24

A voice in my head said, “This really isn’t a time to talk about death! What with this coronavirus business going on, aren’t people depressed enough already?” But another voice said, “No! This is just the time to talk about death! And if we’re Christians it needn’t be – indeed, it shouldn’t be – depressing!”

I decided that that second voice was the one to obey. So here we are…

The vital point can be summed up in a simple seven-word sentence: The Christian can only gain by dying. And another short phrase sums up the nature of the Bible’s teaching on death: totally realistic – and wonderfully hopeful.

If you read your way through Acts in the New Testament you soon discover that the first followers of Jesus had anything but an easy time. That included the apostle Paul. At various times he was beaten, stoned, flogged, imprisoned and nearly drowned. Both his body and his spirit took a vicious battering over the years. Even in the most fruitful periods of his ministry he knew that death could claim him at any time.

When he wrote to his Christian friends in Philippi he was “in chains for Christ” (1:13-14). And he really didn’t know what the future would bring. As he puzzles over his situation, he settles for precisely (I suspect) the opposite of what most of us would. Where we would probably put on a brave face and say, “Well, of course, I’m not afraid of dying, but to be honest I’d quite like to stick around for a bit yet…”, he sees things just the other way.

He makes two remarkable statements. First, in verse 21: “To me to live is Christ and to die is gain…”. Those are words worth dwelling on. “To me to live is Christ…” In other words, “Jesus is my ultimate purpose and meaning in life. Knowing and serving him is what life is all about; ultimately, nothing else really matters…”

And then: “… and to die is gain”. Yes: as I said earlier, whatever the Christian may lose by dying, he or she can only gain in the long run.

The second statement, saying much the same thing in different words, comes in verse 23: “I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far”. As if to say: “If you ask me my preference, there’s really no choice! Of course I’d prefer death, because that means being with Christ, and that’s better by a long way…” Eternal life with Jesus is infinitely preferable to anything this earthly life has to offer.

Whenever I read these tremendous statements of faith I feel inadequate. I realise how strongly attached I am to this here-and-now life. And I find myself wondering, “Do I really love Jesus at all? And, Am I really confident about what awaits me beyond death?” Perhaps you feel much the same.

In many ways, of course, our attachment to this life is perfectly understandable – perhaps Paul himself would have felt slightly differently if, say, he had been younger and less buffeted by life, or if he had had a wife and family to think about.

I don’t say that in order to excuse ourselves; I’m just being realistic.

Our problem is this: what we have now seems so much more real, so much more concrete, than what awaits us when we go “to be with Christ” – which can seem terribly vague. This is specially so if our lives are largely enjoyable – if, for example, you are fairly fit and well, if you are comfortably off materially, and if your life is full of things you find rewarding, whether it be loving family ties, a knowledge of some fascinating subject, a particular skill or gift, or just an enthusiasm for your football team.

Why would anybody find it easy to say goodbye to such things? I’m sure God understands that, so let’s not feel too guilty.

But that doesn’t alter the fact that we are called to have a firm focus on the eternal future that awaits us. In the next letter, the one to the church in Colossae, Paul writes: “Since then you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God… “ (Colossians 3:1).

All right, we may find it hard to reach the same level of confidence as Paul, but we can certainly pray to become more heaven-focussed, to know what it means to “set our hearts on things above”.

Let me finish by stating something very obvious… When Paul talks about “departing to be with Christ”, he is making an assumption: that Christ is alive and not dead.

Let’s never forget that the whole of Christian faith rests on the conviction that Jesus died and rose again. No resurrection equals no Christianity. What happened that first Easter morning is not just an item of “doctrine” or an article in the creed but a wonderful historical fact.

He rose; and so will we!

Dear Father in heaven, thank you for all that is good, beautiful and enjoyable in this earthly life, and for the many things that mean so much to me. Please help me to live life to the very full, but also to be ready for that day when I will be taken to be with Christ. Amen.