For a Believer, To Die is Gain

The last half of Philippians 1:21 says, “To die is gain.” What does that mean? As we’ve already said when we talked about the first half of the verse: if to live is Christ, to die will only give us more of Christ. It will take us into His very presence for all eternity. What could be better?

Unfortunately, most people live for themselves, and the thought of dying is frightening. So many people say, as Chuck Swindall so aptly parroted them:

“For me to live is money . . . and to die is to leave it all behind.”
“For to me to live is fame . . . and to die is to be quickly forgotten.”
“For to me to live is power and influence . . . and to die is lose both.”
“For to me to live is possessions . . . and to die is to depart with nothing in my hands.”

But for Paul to live was Christ and to die meant more Christ. So death wasn’t a loss but a gain. It should be that for you as well. Life should be fantastic because we can serve Christ. Death should be even more wondrous.

I saw this plaque on a wall in someone’s house. It was entitled, “Motto to Live By:” This is what it said:

"Life should not be journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, chocolate in one hand, latte in the other, body thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and screaming, “WooHoo, what a ride!”

You know, I kinda like that. Somebody said it is better to burn out than rust out, and I agree. But everyone has a motto to live by – or a code of conduct that governs their life - they just may not have it on a plaque in their living room. But we all have a code we live by.

We have one in our home. The plaque we always have repeats the words of Joshua 24:15: “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” That’s a good motto to live by, and we try. But, the one Paul gives us here is simply amazing, and I have yet to see it on anyone’s wall. His is Philippians 1:21, “For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain.”

That was Paul’s motto - his code to live by. Can you imagine why that motto doesn’t make it on many walls? I can think of two reasons: The first is, people don’t want life to be about Christ, and the second is they don’t want to think about dying.

Looking at the first reason, most people use the motto, “For to me, to live is me” – not Christ. Life is all about what they want, what pleases them, or what makes them feel good. So life becomes a mad scramble to acquire all the money, fame, power, prestige, or pleasure they can get before the clock stops ticking on their life, and they have to give it all up. Even for those who claim to be Christians, very few actually live for Christ let alone have their life be Christ. Their lives are all about themselves, and Christ is no more than an add-on. As long as He meets our expectations and makes our lives more comfortable, or profitable, or whatever, we let him have a peripheral role.

So the thought of death terrifies them because it is an end of all the things they value. Therefore, when Paul finishes his motto with, “to die is gain,” most people don’t believe it. They know that it will mean giving up all those things they spent their lives chasing after - everything but Christ. To them, that’s not gain, but loss.

But this is truth, my friends. This is God’s truth written under the inspiration of God. It is literally God breathed - the very breath of God reflecting His heart, and it is here, black ink on white paper for us all to read. Philippians 1:21 –“For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain” Do you believe that? It is absolutely true. Nothing on earth compares to anything in heaven. Its beauty and grandeur are beyond anything we can imagine. And the best thing about heaven is that Jesus will be there on His throne.

The descriptions in the Bible of heaven are astounding. John describes it this way in Revelation 21:1-2:

“Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea. Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.”

A bride is never more beautiful than on her wedding day, and God has prepared the most beautiful bride imaginable for His Only Begotten Son represented by the New Jerusalem built to be a home for His real bride, the church.

Besides its beauty, how is it different from this cursed earth? Revelation 21:4 tells us this:

“And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.”

The curse that plagues existence on earth will be gone. Can you imagine that John would have had the same opinion as Paul had? To die and go to heaven would be better. John, of course, had this vision while in exile on the Isle of Patmos – his version of house arrest – so this life wasn’t that pleasant. But this is what John got to see in Revelation 21:9-11:

"Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls filled with the seven last plagues came to me and talked with me, saying, 'Come, I will show you the bride, the Lamb’s wife.' And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, having the glory of God. Her light was like a most precious stone, like a jasper stone, clear as crystal."

The city that John got to see was as colossal as it was exquisite. It was 1,500 miles long and 1,500 miles wide, and 1,500 miles high. That would cover about half the area of the United States. Plus, it had twelve foundations according to verse 14, or literally twelve floors. Someone calculated that if half of the population, counting every person that ever lived, made it to heaven, we would each have 70 acres of property. And what valuable property with streets of pure gold and gates of giant pearls and every precious stone there ever was.

And the beauty of nature was everywhere according to Revelation 22:1-5:

“And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb. In the middle of its street, and on either side of the river, was the tree of life, which bore twelve fruits, each tree yielding its fruit every month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. And there shall be no more curse, but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and His servants shall serve Him. They shall see His face, and His name shall be on their foreheads. There shall be no night there: They need no lamp nor light of the sun, for the Lord God gives them light. And they shall reign forever and ever."

Paul too got a glimpse of that just like John did. 2nd Corinthians 12:1-5 records that:

“It is doubtless not profitable for me to boast. I will come to visions and revelations of the Lord: I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago—whether in the body I do not know, or whether out of the body I do not know, God knows—such a one was caught up to the third heaven (The abode of God). And I know such a man—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows— how he was caught up into Paradise and heard inexpressible words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter. Of such a one I will boast; yet of myself I will not boast, except in my infirmities.”

Paul humbly is talking in the third person about himself here. We can tell from the context. But Paul saw, first hand, the glory of heaven - glory so fantastic he couldn’t even relate it. And he never stopped longing to go back knowing that “to die is gain.” Do you hear me? For a believer, “to die is gain.”