Victorious PowerSample

The Goal

Philippians 1:21 

For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. 

I’m convinced that most people who read the verse above actually end up missing Paul’s real point. A casual reading leads one to believe this verse is Paul’s declaration that he is all about living for Christ. Christ is everything to him.  

 While I believe this sentiment is true, I think this verse goes much deeper. 

If you look carefully at this verse Paul does not say he lives for Christ. What he says is that for him, “to live IS Christ.” What’s the difference? Well, the construct in the original language infers that for Paul, for him to live is actually Christ who is the one living. Paul’s point, I believe, is a reflection of what he penned in Galatians 2:20. It’s not just that he lives for Christ but that his very life is Christ living through him. 

 Christ isn’t just a part of his life. The indwelling Christ is the one actually living through Paul.

 What I believe Paul gives us in this verse is the goal you and I should seek every day: A conscious entrusting of the whole of our lives to God. Abandoning ourselves completely to Him so that the full measure of Christ can live through us.

 I believe this was Paul’s point to the Ephesian church when he wrote in Ephesians 5:18, Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit…. As I mentioned yesterday, the word to “be filled” in the original means to make full. A more literal translation would be, “make yourself full of the Spirit.” Paul’s point? Instead of filling yourself with wine to the point of being drunk and controlled by the wine, make yourself full of the Holy Spirit, allowing Him to fully control you.

Well, how do you do that? 

 It comes back to what we’ve been talking about for the last seven days. Faith. Abandoning your life to Jesus each day and then trusting Him to live His life through you is the key to your life being filled fully each moment with the Spirit. Again, it’s the point of Paul’s teaching in Romans 12:1, Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. 

 Let’s break this down even further than what we did yesterday.

 First, you have a conscious choice to make in abandoning your life to Jesus each day. Offering yourself up – presenting yourself – each day to God. 

 Second, He doesn’t just want part of you and your life, He wants it all. That’s the nature of a sacrifice. 

 Third, notice it’s a “living” sacrifice. His intent is to give you life! He wants you to experience what true living is all about. 

Finally, this is the way you show your belief in God’s true worth. That’s what worship is… giving worth to someone or something else. And by giving your life to Christ you say He is worth it all.

 Paul gives some color to why this is so important in Romans 6:13, Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness. 

Today – and every day – your one job is to give yourself completely to Jesus. Hold nothing back. And then trust Him to release the full measure of His power through you. If you do that each and every day, you will be amazed at how your life will change.

You will experience what God really wants for you and that is VICTORIOUS POWER.

Learn more from Rick Dunham in his book Secure: Discovering True Financial Freedom .