“For to me, to live is Christ and to die is
gain.”
To die is gain. That is not a phrase you hear very often. Death is the end of everything…our existence
on earth is over. How is that gain?
For Paul, death would be gain for several reasons. First, he
would leave the sinful and fallen world where Christ is denied, the evil
prosper, and the righteous suffer.
Second, in death he will leave behind his wretched body of death (Romans 7:24) where he sees Christ
through a mirror dimly and only in part (1
Corinthians 13:12). Third, on the
other side of death, he will spend eternity in the presence of the Christ He
worships and adores, with a new body, untainted by sin, where he will know and
be known forever. That sounds a bit like
gain doesn’t it?
I believe God looks at death much differently than we
do. We see it as the end of life; but
God sees it as the beginning of real life.
We see it as a departure; God sees it as a homecoming. For us, death is shrouded in the question, “Why?”,
for God, the question is “Why not?” Why
would we not want to leave this sinful and painful world for eternity in
perfect peace and joy? Seriously! For the follower of Jesus, death is something
to celebrate. As it says in Psalm 116:15, “Precious in the sight of the Lord is the
death of his saints.”
(Not so for the unbeliever, which is why we should spend our
life loving people and taking opportunities to share the Good News of Jesus.)
Don knows a family whose grandmother was gravely ill in the
hospital. During a visit with her family,
her heart stopped, the monitors beeped, and doctors rushed in. The family was ushered out of the room as the
staff frantically tried to resuscitate her.
The doctors were successful, everyone was allowed back in the room as they
hugged, cheered, and cried for joy.
Several minutes later their grandmother opened her eyes, looked around,
and said: “Don’t you EVER do that
again! I was there – I saw the light –
why did you bring me back? If I die
again – let me!”
That is the truth of our future home. Instead of thinking of the despair of death
and the great unknown, why not think of the joy of heaven and the guarantee of
meeting Jesus face to face? We need not
fear death. It is simply the door was
pass through to reach Jesus.
When you acknowledge that your life has been bought by
Christ – you will live every moment for His glory. When you acknowledge that life is short and
that today might be your very last day on earth – you will make the most of
every minute. When you acknowledge where
you will spend eternity – you will ignore the fleeting treasures of the world
to store up treasures in heaven.
Your life will become about giving instead of taking,
serving instead of demanding, love instead of hate, joy instead of despondency,
peace instead of chaos, confidence instead of fear, and grace instead of shame.
That is living!
And when we live for Christ, to die is gain!
Some day you will read
in the papers that D.L. Moody of East Northfield, is dead. Don't you believe a
word of it! At that moment I shall be more alive than I am now; I shall have
gone up higher, that is all, out of this old clay tenement into a house that is
immortal- a body that death cannot touch, that sin cannot taint; a body
fashioned like unto His glorious body.” – D.L. Moody
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