Monday, October 16, 2023
Meditation on life, death and LIFE in Christ
“For me to live is Christ, to die is gain” (Philippians 1:21)
To live is Christ...
Earthly life - Christ is exalted
Earthly life - service for Christ and His Kingdom
Earthly life - using one’s gifts and talents for Christ
Earthly life - fruitful gain for the Kingdom of Christ
Earthly life - friends and family support and encourage
Earthly life - joy in Christ
Earthly life - fellowship with Christ and His Kingdom people
Earthly life - terminal eventually for all
To die is gain...
Die - death, the end?
Death - the end of Part I of our life Book
No more pain, suffering, growing old and feeble
No more dependence on others for our basic needs
No more wondering when we are going to die
Leaving behind all the miserable sufferings of our dying days
Far better to die in Christ than to live one day without Him
Whether we live or die, we belong to Christ.
In life He is our guide
In death He is our welcoming party
In life He is our hope
In death He is our hope fulfilled
In life He is our salvation
In death He is our salvation consummated
In life He is our source of strength to carry on and on and on....
In death He is our strength completed
In life He gives earthly life
In death He gives eternal life
In life we struggle with remaining sin
In death we find perfection- sin no more
In life we struggle against principalities and powers
In death we are the victors through Christ our Lord
In life - alive by faith
In death - faith is sight
In all things, life and death and resurrection and eternal life – Christ is Pre-eminent!
The Heildelberg Catechism, 1563 says it well:
Question 1. What is your only comfort in life and death?
That I, with body and soul, both in life and death, am not my own, but belong unto my faithful Savior Jesus Christ, who with His precious blood has fully satisfied for all my sins, and delivered me from all the power of the devil, and so preserves me that without the will of my heavenly Father not a hair can fall from my head; indeed, that everything must fit His purpose for my salvation, therefore by His Holy Spirit He also assures me of eternal life and makes me heartily willing and ready, always, to live for him.
May the peace from God who is the God of Peace guard your heart and mind in Christ Jesus our Lord. May our Lord Himself comfort and encourage you and may he give His abiding peace to you all.
Hmm, death. That ugly word.
But what a way to enter Glory: from corruptible to incorruptible, from decay and disease to wholeness, from darkness to the brilliance of heaven’s light, from misery and suffering and dying to Eternal Life in Christ Jesus our Savior and Lord.
© 2019 john m. dettoni, ph.d.
311 west avenida gaviota
san clemente, california 92672-5445
