Our Jealous God

"For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain." -- Philippians 1:21

To live is Christ and to die is gain? Does that fit with the way you view the world? Last I checked, dying wasn't the most pleasant thing. In fact it is quite horrible. Isn't it? Not to mention that I sure never thought of dying being a thing of "gain". Whatever that means.

For the one who has little faith, this verse can be difficult to understand. However, for the one who has an abundance of faith, this verse is close to heart. First, Paul meant that living is his most heartfelt way to express his connection with Christ to others who are lost, and that in this life, there are opportunities to be tested and therefore opportunities to further express one's love for Christ. Basically, in this life, Paul can understand the sufferings Jesus experienced because he suffers. Secondly, he meant that in death, he will experience closeness again to his savior and his Father and because of the effect of death, what seems to be loss is gain.

If it's true that we Christians are supposed to look at life as Paul did, think of life as an opportunity to live like Christ, and look at death as simply a passage to a greater ultimate reality with God, than maybe this whole "Christian" thing isn't what some of us thought it was. Many Christians assume everything is done for us. After all, God died for us, we live for us, I choose God, God hopes I choose him. It's a perverse logic so many of us have adopted. I will make this next statement as clear as possible. Everything that happens is made to happen by, for, and through God. Look at some of these verses supporting this premise.

"For I [God] knew that you would surely deal treacherously, and that from before birth you were called a rebel. For my name's sake I defer my anger, for the sake of my praise I restrain it for you, that I may not cut you off. Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have tried you in the furnace of affliction. For my own sake, for my own sake, I do it, for how should my name be profaned? My glory I will not give to another." -- Isaiah 48:8-11

"I, I am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins." -- Isaiah 43:25

"Yet for your sake we are killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered." -- Psalms 44:22

"We are fools for Christ's sake, but you are wise in Christ. We are weak, but you are strong. You are held in honor, be we in disrepute. To the present hour we hunger and thirst, we are poorly dressed and buffeted and homeless, and we labor, working with our own hands. When reviled, we bless; when persecuted, we endure; when slandered, we entreat. We have become, and are still, like the scum of the world, the refuse of all things." -- 1 Corinthians 4:10-13

"But whatever gain I had, I counted for loss for the sake of Christ." -- Philippians 3:7

It is obvious that all of these verses point to things being done for the sake of Christ, not for ourselves (even though sometimes it seems it is being done for us). God blots out our transgressions and forgets our sins for his sake, not ours; God makes us suffer for his sake, not ours; God loves his children for his sake, not ours; God has mercy for his sake, not ours. Paul realized this in his letters, he realized that God didn't save him so that he could go do whatever he wanted, but so that God would be glorified through his salvation. He realized that he didn't suffer because God is an evil tyrant, but because God will be more glorified in  the end through his suffering. The reality is that God does things for himself, sounds selfish? Get over it. We serve a God who does not "give up his glory" to anyone, a God who loves, but not because he feels bad for us, a powerful God who isn't selfish but glorifies himself because who else is God to glorify? Us? Absolutely not. Nothing created deserves glory, only that which did the creating deserves glory.

Does all of this make sense? I hope so. Sometimes it won't make sense why God made us suffer, but that is because we don't see the whole picture. Can you tell what the puzzle is going to be when you look at just one piece? No. In the same way, when we look at one instance of evil in our life, we don't understand because we can't see how this fits into a picture that is glorious, but we are only seeing one small piece of the puzzle.

How glorious is God? We have a God who knows the beginning from the end, is transcendent yet immanent, incomprehensible yet understanding, wrathful yet lovable, merciful yet just, pure yet exposed. He is a God who gives glory to himself because he is the only one worthy of such glory.

On occasion, we think we are worthy of God's glory, well in reality, those who think they are worthy are less worthy than those who think they aren't. God did not come to save the righteous, but sinners. Not the rich, but the poor. Not the strong, but the weak.