For To Me to Live Is Christ, And To Die Is Gain
All of us human beings now living on the earth face death. We also face uncertainty in regard to the moment of our respective deaths. The writer of Hebrews warned us that it is appointed unto man once to die (Hebrews 9:27; cf. 1 Corinthians 15:51-55). James warns us of the uncertainty (for each of us) of the time of our respective deaths (James 4:13-17).
However, until death comes (or our Lord returns), we all face life with all of its varied possibilities. There can be no doubt in the mind of any right-thinking person that the most important event in the life of any human being is the gaining of the true answer to this awesome question, "What is it for me to live?" Perhaps this question can be best understood by thinking of an analogy from everyday life. For example, suppose that a person is to dive (from a diving board) into the swimming pool. Where one goes into the water is crucially dependent upon the location of the diving board. Catastrophe will result if the diving board is placed just above very shallow water. (One could be paralyzed or even killed by a dive into shallow water.)
There is a sense in which each one of us has a sort of "diving board" from which he dives (plunges) into the multiplicity of the situations (and the decisions which must be made in the light of those situations) which face each one of us human beings. For example, if the most important thing in one's life is material wealth (money - and all of the things which money can buy), then one will "dive into" the decision-making process from the "springboard" of the desire for material gain above all else.
Paul said that he faced a dilemma: 1) it was wonderful to go on living, but it was the case 2) that to die is gain (for the faithful child of God) (Philippians 1:21).
1. Why is it so great to go on living? It is great because 1) for every faithful Christian to live is Christ (if one truly loves God and Christ, then the "diving board" from which he plunges into the decisions which he must make will be the word of God. (1 John 5:3; John 14:15) and 2) it is so amazingly wonderful for one to be able to live day-by-day in loving obedience to the will of God (all who do this will be happy - even in the face of severe adversity, Matthew 5:1-13).
2. Why is it so great to die (as a faithful child of God)? This is the case because the end (goal) of the life of each Christian should be to be glorified with Christ, just as the rule of his life is the word of God, recognizing and honoring the crucial roles of grace, faith and obedience.
May all of us treasure in our hearts the awesome truth that for all of those to whom it is "Christ" to live, it will be eternal gain to die. May each one of us ask himself, "is it Christ for me to live?" and, "Will it be gain for me to die?"
Thomas B. Warren