Message from Scripture: 8/19/2021

 

Our message from Scripture today is Phil. 1:23: “Having the desire to depart and be with Christ, for that is very much better.”

 

I recently read an article that spoke of how Christians are to be otherworldly people. This is a significant way to speak of how we are to view life. Jesus Himself emphasized this when He prayed to the Father, “I have given them your word. The world hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world (John 17:14). Peter echoed this thought when he wrote, “I urge you as strangers and temporary residents to abstain from fleshly desires that war against you” (1 Pet. 2:11).

 

In our Scripture today, Paul emphasizes the desire to depart this life and be with Christ is “very much better.” This is how he was able to face death with such confidence. The eternal is more real than today, as it will last forever, while this world will one day be destroyed, and possibly before then, our bodies will wear out and we shall die. This is the consequence of sin (Rom. 5:12), and nothing can stop it.

 

Living otherworldly, then, means we don’t fear death, because we know what lies ahead. If life is all about Christ, then death is gain. Jesus’ death makes this possible for us, so that “through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery” (Heb. 2:14-15). This is how those early Christians “did not love their life even when faced with death” (Rom. 12:11).

 

May we always be bold and courageous to go out and serve our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, knowing whatever happens, or whenever it happens, our destiny in Christ lies in eternal life. God bless.

 

Robert