Tuesday, September 1, 2009
My Life = Christ
(Philippians 1:20-26)
Christ was Paul’s primary concern in life. His selfless devotion stands as a continual rebuke to the “all about me” focus of the contemporary church. In fact, Paul viewed life itself as expendable—as long as Christ was magnified (20). How is such an attitude attainable by the average Christian?
The answer lies in verse 21. Paul declared in simple terms, “For to me to live is Christ.” Notice, he did not say “For to me to live is Paul the Apostle of Christ.” He did not say, “For to me to live is Paul the servant of Christ.” No! Paul took himself out of the equation of his life by simply (and mathematically) stating, “my life= Christ.” In contemporary parlance, for Paul, it was all about Christ.
Did Paul’s idealistic attitude dull his sense of reality? No! He recognized his existence “in the flesh” (22), but he also longed for the time when he would see Jesus (23). He knew that heaven with Jesus would be “far better,” but he was willing to continue on earth for the sake of his beloved churches (24). In other words, he had a practical work ethic with a heavenly view. And he accepted whatever the Lord wanted—labor on earth or fellowship in heaven.
Though in prison and longing to see Jesus, Paul expressed confidence that he would be released and that he would once again minister to the Philippian saints. He desired to encourage them in their joy, once the little matter of Roman imprisonment was behind him (25, 26). Now that’s selflessness to the core!
