11.2 Life Means Christ, So Dying Is A Gain

(Philippians 1:20-26)

My deep desire and hope is that I shall never fail in my duty, but that at all times, and especially right now, I shall be full of courage, so that with my whole being I shall bring honor to Christ, whether I live or die. For what is life? To me, it is Christ. Death, then, will bring more. But if by continuing to live I can do more worthwhile work, then I am not sure which I should choose. I am pulled in two directions. I want very much to leave this life and be with Christ, which is a far better thing; but for your sake it is much more important that I remain alive. I am sure of this, and so I know that I will stay. I will stay on with you all, to add to your progress and joy in the faith, so that when I am with you again, you will have even more reason to be proud of me in your life in union with Christ Jesus.

11.1 Dead or Alive, We Belong To God

(Romans 14:7-11)

None of us lives for himself only, none of us dies for himself only. If we live, it is for the Lord that we live, and if we die, it is for the Lord that we die. So whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord. For Christ died and rose to life in order to be the Lord of the living and of the dead. You then, who eat only vegetables – why do you pass judgment on you brother? And you who eat anything – why do you despise you brother? All of us will stand before God to be judged by him. For the scriptures says,

“As surely as I am the living God, says the Lord,
everyone will kneel before me,
and everyone will confess that I am God.”

10.4 God’s Eternity And Men’s Frailty

(Psalm 90:1-12)

O Lord, you have always been our home.
Before you created the hills or brought the world
into being,
you were eternally God,
and will be God forever.

You tell man to return to what he was;
you change him back to dust.
A thousand years to you are like one day;
they are like yesterday, already gone,
like a short hour in the night.
You carry us away like a flood;
we last no longer a dream.
We are like weeds that sprout in the morning,
that grow and burst into bloom,
then dry up and die in the evening.

We are destroyed by you anger;
we are terrified by your fury.
You place our sins before you,
our secret sins where you can see them.

Our life is cut short by your anger;
it fades away like a whisper.
Seventy years is all we have –
eighty years, if we are strong;
Yet all they bring us is trouble and sorrow;
life is soon over, and we are gone.

Who has felt the full power of your anger?
Who knows what fear your fury can bring?
Teach us how short our life is,
so that we may become wise.

10.3 The End Victory Is God’s

(1 Corinthians 15:52-58)

When the last trumpet sounds, we shall all be changed in an instant, as quickly as the blinking of an eye. For when the trumpet sounds, the dead will be raised, never to die again, and we shall all be changed. For what is mortal must be changed into what is immortal; what will die must be changed into what cannot die. So when this takes place, and the mortal has been changed into the immortal, then the scripture will come true: “Death is destroyed; victory is complete!”

“Where, Death, is your victory?
Where, Death, is your power to hurt?”

Death gets its power to hurt from sin, and sin gets it power from the Law. But thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!

So then, my dear brothers, stand firm and steady. Keep busy always in your work for the Lord, since you know that nothing you do in the Lord’s service is ever useless.

10.2 Now An Earthy Tent, Later An Eternal Home

(2 Corinthians 5:1-10)

For we know that when this tent we live in- our body here on earth- is torn down, God will have a house in heaven for us to live, a home he himself has made, which will last forever. And now we sigh, so great is our desire that our home which comes from heaven should be put on over us; by being clothed with it we shall not be without a body. While we live in this earthly tent, we groan with a felling oppression; it is not that we want to get rid of our earthly body, but that we want to have the heavenly one put on over us, so that what is mortal will be transformed by life. God is the one who has prepared us for this change, and he gave us his Spirit as the guarantee of all that he has in store for us.

So we are always full of courage. We know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord’s home. For our life is a matter of faith, not of sight. We are full of courage and would much prefer to leave our home in the body and be at home with the Lord. More than anything else, however, we want to please him, whether in our home here or there. For all of us must appear before Christ, to be judged by him. Each one will receive what he deserves, according to everything he has done, good or bad, in his bodily life.