Today is the last in a short series on called “Gaining through Giving”.  We’ve already answer the question of whether or not it is wrong to pursue gain through giving, by saying that it is never wrong to pursue joy in God, which is what we are doing when we are obedient to Him.  We also have looked at what it means to gain through giving up control, money, and time.  Today’s message is really the culmination of all of those things.  We are going to look at what it means to gain through giving your life.  How do you live well, and die well to the glory of God?

Mark 8:34-35 – If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it.”

There is a remarkable difference between Christian martyrs and the martyrs of other religions.  In the religion of Islam, for example, the motive of their martyrs is ultimately to be accepted by their God, and the reward they will receive in heaven.  Some Christians, too, need to ask themselves some hard questions about their own desires for Heaven.  Would they be happy in Heaven with unlimited health, wealth, and being reunited with relatives if God were not there?  That’s another discussion for another day, but Christian martyrs do not die to be accepted by God, as do Muslim martyrs.  Christian Martyrs die because they are accepted by God already, and they die in trying to reconcile others to Him through the gospel.

While not all of us will be called to give up our physical lives for the gospel, we should all be willing to do so, even eager should the need arise.  Moreover we should ask ourselves how every aspect of our life is bringing glory to God through reconciling others to Him through the gospel & making disciples of Christ.  Paul isn’t being idealistic in Philippians 1:21-23 when he says “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.  If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell.  I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better.”  At that moment, Paul was literally jailed and there was always the possibility of His being killed for His faith.  Yet he spent that time in jail to share the gospel with his jailers, and to encourage other churches through his writing.  Even jailed Paul was still joyful in seeing the gospel proclaimed.

What is the burning center of Paul’s faith that enables Him to feel this way, and empowers Him to continue joyfully in ministry even at the risk of death?  The answer, I believe, can be found in another letter written by Paul to the church at Rome.  Romans 8:23-25 – “we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.”

So for Paul, His eagerness to live for Christ, and even die to that end, is rooted in His hope for His “adoption as a son, the redemption of his body”.  What does that mean though?  Well it doesn’t mean that Paul isn’t already adopted as a son through Christ.  If Paul was talking about that, He would not use the past sense when talking about salvation – “in this hope we were saved”.  So Paul’s eagerness is not about earning or meriting salvation.  Paul is talking here about the fullness of a salvation that has already been accomplished.  We were saved by Jesus Christ on a cross 2,000 years ago, but who we are in Christ is not yet fulfilled.  We are still in bodies diseased with sin.  We are not yet holy as God is holy, but we will be.  We know God in part now through His Word, but then, we will no longer need words because we will see Him as He is.  Then we will have a fullness of knowledge.

1 Corinthians 13:12 – “For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.”

This is what it’s all about.  A life lived in obedience to Christ, being transformed into his image, looking forward to the day when our sanctification will be complete; when our joy will be infinite in seeing and savoring the glory of God in Jesus Christ for all eternity.

Look forward a few verses to Romans 8:29-30 – “For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.”

2 Corinthians 4:6 – “For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.”

Jesus Himself prayed that we would know the glory of God through Him, for our joy.  John 17:24 – ^“Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world.”

Well, I wish I could continue, but again that’s probably more than enough to chew on for one day.  I hope that you’re piecing some of these things together on your own from God’s Word.  I hope that maybe you’ve gotten a taste of the joy of the knowledge of the glory of God in Jesus Christ.  If you have, dig deep there.  Everything else is a means to that end.  Everything lost will be gain if it is given up to accomplish that.  Lose your life.  Listen to God’s call on your life at work, at home, at church, among friends.  He has a call on each of us individually, that will result in our greatest joy and His glory.  Let joy in God lead you to live mightily for His name.

Nehemiah 8:10 – “do not be grieved, for the joy of the LORD is your strength.”

Grace and Peace,
Adam