“To me to live is Christ and to die is gain,” writes the apostle Paul in his letter to the Philippian Church (Phil. 1:21). In this short verse, it seems that Paul is saying “Christ is my life.” And when I die I will be with Christ—to live and reign with Him forever. As far as Paul is concerned, everything that he says and does must glorify the Lord Jesus Christ. This is supported in his letter to the Corinthians where he exhorted them to “Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ” (1 Cor. 11:1). Paul is saying that since he is an “imitator of Christ,” Christians should follow his example and do likewise. He is absolutely right. And again, Paul declares his oneness with his Lord and Savior. “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me” (Gal. 2:20). Living the Christian life should be the number one priority of every believer. And we do so by allowing the Lord Jesus to live His own perfect life in and through us. Thats why Paul says “It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.”
“To me to live is Christ” is a powerful witness and testimony statement of every born-again believer in the Lord Jesus Christ. It means that Christ is “my all in all.” He is indeed the very center of my Christian life. It is in Him that I live and move and have my very being. For I am indeed His offspring (Acts 17:28). Christ is our greatest example. Therefore, In everything that we say and do must honor Him and give glory to Him
Paul was so intimately bound up with the Lord that he could personally declare of himself: “But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For His sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith” (Philippians 3:7-9). Paul is saying he is willing and able to sacrifice all that he possesses, including “whatever gain I had” and “count them as rubbish” for “the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord” and for His sake. What a man of great faith, and great example for us to follow!
The last stanza of a beautiful old hymn bears testimony to what Paul is saying, and it is worth quoting. The hymn was written by Will L Thompson, 1847-1909.
“Jesus is all the world to me,
I want no better friend.
I trust Him now; I trust Him when
Life’s fleeting days shall end.
Beautiful life with such a Friend;
Beautiful life that has no end!
Eternal life, Eternal joy, He’s my friend.”
If Jesus is all the world to me, there isn’t room in my life for anything else, because He saves, keeps, and satisfies. Therefore, my focus must be on Him, as I surrender all to Him.
Dr Charles Stanley makes a fitting comment on the apostle’s ‘All for Christ’. He writes, “Sometimes our greatest earthly strengths and riches become our most terrible weaknesses because they keep us from completely depending on Jesus. Paul realized this, which is why he counted all things to be loss compared to knowing Christ. Likewise the Lord may call you to give up something you deem very important so that you can grow in your Christian faith. It may be difficult, but take heart and remember that only your relationship with Jesus and what He does through you will last in eternity (1 John 2:17).”( Life Principles Bible, p. 1432).
True Christianity is more than just aimlessly living in the world. Understandably, we are alive, and as long as we are alive we must live here. However, it is much more than that for all born again believers in Christ Jesus. The apostle Paul knew this full well, hence he could say, “It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.” Unless you and I get to this point in our walk with the Lord, we are falling short of the spiritual blessings in store for us. Christianity is all about Christ and what He has done for us in His death and shed blood on the Cross. The “new life” that results from our salvation, brings about a deep feeling of triumphant rejoicing and happiness that the world knows nothing of. We can therefore rejoice with Paul when he said, “But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world” (Galatians 6:14).
On that Cross the world died to Paul and Paul to the world. The Cross is central to our faith in Jesus Christ. Therefore, it becomes the great dividing line between the world and the Christian. This means that we no longer have any interest in the fleeting pleasures and attractions of the world, which can never endure eternally.
My beloved brothers and sisters, let us keep our eyes of faith on the Lord Jesus Christ who is now seated at the right hand of His Father in heaven. And look into His wonderful face, and the things of this world will become dark the light of His wonderful glory and grace. God bless you.