Philippians 1:21–26 | Resources
Discussion Questions
Are your current trials causing you to pout or to pray?
How is it possible that Paul could view death as gain? Do you view death this way? If not, why not?
Summarize Paul’s life purpose.
In what ways is this text convicting? Is your life a testimony of God’s goodness and faithfulness? How can you boast in Christ Jesus today?
In light of our text/sermon, what would it look like to obey?
Memory Verse
“For me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.” Philippians 1:21
Devotional
In 1962, Michigan professor Robert Ettinger first proposed the science of cryonics, which involves freezing human corpses with the hope of resurrecting them to full health in the event of a future technological development. The practice has since been commercialized in the U.S. with multiple labs offering the service for fees usually ranging from 5–6 figures. Our human inclination is to preserve our lives at any cost, which is a very logical posture if our short time on earth is all there is.
When Paul says in Philippians 1:21, though, that to live is Christ and to die is gain, he is holding a completely different posture of both life and death. A statement like that only makes sense if there is something beyond our earthly lives, if we shall not perish but have eternal life as in John 3:16. Knowing that death isn’t final and hope isn’t extinguished once our time on earth has run out, Philippians 1:21 allows us to avoid living a life centered around protection.
While verse 21 sets a proper perspective of earthly death, verses 22–26 help set a proper perspective of earthly life. In verse 23, Paul specifically states a desire to be with Christ, acknowledging that it is better than anything we may experience on earth. Yet he also commits to continue carrying out God’s calling for his life in the flesh. While we need not fear earthly death, our earthly lives are also not meant to just be endured waiting for heaven. The God worshipped by Paul is the same God who instructed Adam in Genesis 1 to “fill the earth and subdue it.” Some are called like Paul to spread the gospel to the ends of the earth, risking persecution and possible martyrdom. Others may be called to live faithfully in “ordinary” lives of work, family or school. In either case or somewhere in between, these verses encourage us to live out our earthly callings absent of both fear and drudgery.
Today, where are you just protecting or enduring instead of fully living for Christ in the here and now?