In a dungeon in Rome, facing imminent execution, the apostle Paul wrote: “For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain. But if I live on in the flesh, this will mean fruit from my labor; yet what shall I choose I cannot tell. For I am hard pressed between the two, having a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better. Nevertheless to remain in the flesh is more needful for you” (Philippians 1:21-24).
I love his statement, “For to me, to live is Christ.”
But not everyone will love those words. Some will think a person who says, “To live is Christ” is out of his mind. They’ll think, “This is a guy who’s got his head in the clouds. He’s out of touch with the real world.” Or maybe, “this is a woman who’s so heavenly minded she’s not earthly good.”
But that’s not true. Far from it! Those who think of the next world do the most for this one. My concern is for people who are so earthly minded they’re not heavenly good!
The apostle Paul loved life. And the simple fact is, no one loves life more than the Christian. We can enjoy it because we know it comes to us from the hand of a loving God. That beautiful sunset… that’s the signature of my father who happens to be the Creator of all. That wonderful meal… the joy of love and marriage… the comfort of family and friends… the satisfaction of a hard day’s work. All of these are beautiful gifts from the hand of our Father.
As James wrote:
Whatever is good and perfect comes down to us from God our Father, who created all the lights in the heavens. He never changes or casts a shifting shadow. He chose to give birth to us by giving us his true word. And we, out of all creation, become his prized possession.
(James 1:17-18, NLT)
But as blessed as we may be in this life, there is more… more than what we are experiencing on this earth. All the great things we do experience are just hints of heaven, of something better that will come for the man or the woman who has put faith in Jesus Christ.
C.S. Lewis made this statement: “All the things that ever deeply possess your soul have been hints of heaven. Tantalizing glimpses, promises never quite fulfilled, echoes that died away just as they caught your ear.” He went on to say, “if I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is I was made for another world.”
Lewis concluded: “Earthly pleasures were never meant to satisfy, but to arouse, to suggest the real thing.”
There is another place, another time, another life. And life on earth, be it 9 years or 90 years, is a nanosecond compared to eternity. Even so, it is here on this earth where we will decide where we will spend eternity. It is here on this planet that you decide between heaven and hell.
Now we love life as Christians. To live is Christ. Again, to quote C.S. Lewis, “Aim at heaven in you will get earth thrown in. Aim at earth and you will get neither.”
So here are Paul’s words: “I have a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better.” I never really fully understood those words… until now. I read that statement from the apostle and say to myself, “Oh sure, I’d like to be in heaven. But then, I’m pretty happy here on earth, too.” But when you have loved ones on the Other Side — and perhaps someone who was just recently made that journey — then the promise and hope of reuniting in that place brings great joy, and something to look forward to.
But we recognize that we have a job to do, and a task to fulfill here on earth. And that is why a writing these words. I’m a dying man speaking to dying men, and I’m saying that eternity is real. And you get to decide where you will spend it.
Watch Greg Laurie this Tuesday on LIFE Today. This is an excerpt from Hope for Hurting Hearts by Greg Laurie. Copyright ©2008 by Greg Laurie. Published by Kerygma Publishing. All rights reserved.
