Philippians 1:21-23 (CB)

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.

Christ was Paul’s reason for being. His heart was so filled with passion for Christ’s glory that all other motivations faded into insignificance. To die is gain. Paul did not consider passing from this life to the next a loss. Far from severing his union with Christ, death would usher Paul into a deeper experience of Christ and his blessings. Paul expected conscious and intimate fellowship with Christ. Fullness of fellowship awaits the reunion of the soul with the body, for all believers. Paul understood that His death (like all believers) was the entrance and beginning of life not the end of it. This is our living hope.