DAY 7 — The Pearl: Christ’s Life
DAY 7 — The Pearl: Christ’s Life
“For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain. But if I live on in the flesh, this will mean fruit from my labor; yet what I shall choose I cannot tell. For I am hard-pressed between the two, having a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better. Nevertheless to remain in the flesh is more needful for you.” — Philippians 1:21–24 (NKJV)
Treasure to Possess
Jesus did not come merely to become part of my life; He came to become my life. As I exchange the self-directed life for the Christ-centered life, I discover a life that circumstances cannot diminish, possessions cannot complete, success cannot define, and even death cannot destroy. To live is Christ, and to die is gain.
The Pearl: Christ’s Life
What makes a life truly worth living? Is it success, family, possessions, influence, ministry, accomplishments, experiences, or the fulfillment of our dreams? All of these can be wonderful gifts, but none of them were ever meant to become the source of our life.
Paul reduced the meaning of his entire existence to four extraordinary words: “To live is Christ.”
Those words represent one of the greatest paradigm shifts in the Christian life. We often speak about making a decision for Christ, accepting Christ, asking Jesus into our lives, or deciding to follow Him. All of those expressions can describe important moments in our journey, but Paul takes us much deeper. Christianity is not merely Jesus becoming part of my life. It is Christ becoming my very life.
Paul did not say, “For to me, to live is ministry.” He did not say, “To live is preaching,” “To live is success,” or even, “To live is serving God.” His identity had moved beyond what he did for Christ to who Christ had become within him.
To live is Christ.
This is the heart of the exchanged life. Paul described it elsewhere when he wrote, “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me.” — Galatians 2:20 (NKJV) The Christian life is not the old self trying harder to become like Jesus. It is the surrendered believer learning to live from the life of Jesus already dwelling within.
What a beautiful exchange. My limited life for His limitless life. My strength for His strength. My wisdom for His wisdom. My desires surrendered to His desires. My self-directed existence exchanged for the privilege of allowing Jesus to express His life through me.
This does not mean we lose our personality, uniqueness, dreams, or individuality. Christ does not erase the person He created; He brings us into the fullness of who we were always created to be. As self loses its place on the throne, the life of Jesus begins to flow more freely through the unique person God designed us to become.
When Christ becomes our life, everything else finds its proper place.
Family becomes a gift, but family is not our life. Success becomes something we can enjoy, but success is not our life. Possessions can be appreciated, but possessions are not our life. Ministry can be fulfilling, but ministry is not our life. Even our dreams and accomplishments can be celebrated without becoming the foundation of our identity.
Christ alone occupies that place.
This produces tremendous freedom because anything we can lose was never intended to become our life. Circumstances can change. Careers can end. Positions can disappear. Possessions can be lost. People can disappoint us. Seasons can change. Even our physical bodies eventually grow weak. But when Christ is our life, the deepest treasure of our existence cannot be taken from us.
That is why Paul could add the astonishing words, “and to die is gain.”
Paul had discovered a life in which he could not ultimately lose. If he remained alive, he would continue revealing Christ, serving people, and producing fruitful labor. If he died, he would enter more fully into the presence of the Christ who had already become his life.
Either way, Christ remained his treasure.
There is something powerful about living with that kind of freedom. My wife has often expressed it this way: “I hold the things of this world with open hands, never with a closed fist.” That is the posture of someone who understands that every earthly blessing is a gift to enjoy but not a god to possess us.
Closed fists cling because they are afraid of losing. Open hands receive gratefully and surrender freely because they know their greatest treasure cannot be taken away.
The exchanged life loosens our grip on lesser things. We can enjoy what God gives without requiring those things to complete us. We can love people deeply without asking them to become what only Christ can be. We can pursue dreams without allowing achievement to determine our worth. We can hold possessions without possessions holding us.
When Christ becomes our life, we no longer need something outside of us to make us complete because the fullness of Christ already dwells within us.
Paul’s declaration also transforms the way we think about death. Believers do not have to live terrified of the end of earthly life. Paul said that departing and being with Christ was “far better.” Death was not the destruction of his life because his life was already hidden in Christ.
But Heaven is not the end of the story.
We were never created merely to spend our lives longing to escape earth for Heaven. When believers leave this present world, we go to be with Christ, but Scripture points us toward an even greater future. God’s ultimate plan includes the resurrection of our bodies and a new heaven and a new earth where God dwells with His people.
John saw that future and wrote, “Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth.” — Revelation 21:1 (NKJV) He then heard a loud voice declaring, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them.” — Revelation 21:3 (NKJV) Revelation concludes with the promise that God’s people “shall reign forever and ever.” — Revelation 22:5 (NKJV)
Our future is glorious. We will be with Christ, raised with Christ, and reign with Christ in God’s restored creation. The life we possess in Him is eternal.
That changes how we live today.
If Christ is my life, I do not have to spend my days desperately trying to build an identity from temporary things. I am free to live generously, love deeply, serve faithfully, dream boldly, and hold everything with open hands because my true treasure is secure.
To possess this pearl, something lesser must be surrendered. We must release anything we have allowed to become our definition of life. It may be a person, possession, position, accomplishment, ministry, dream, reputation, or even our own carefully constructed plans.
The question is not whether these things are good. Many of them are wonderful gifts from God. The question is whether we are asking a gift to occupy the place that belongs only to Christ.
Paul had discovered the Pearl worth everything. Once Christ became his life, everything else could be held with open hands.
Perhaps this is the greatest exchange we have encountered in Philippians 1: not simply fear for faith, weakness for grace, offense for joy, or our perspective for His perspective, but our very life for His.
We move beyond merely saying, “I made a decision for Christ,” and begin discovering what it means to say with Paul, “Christ has become my life.”
This is the life worth living. It is a life that cannot ultimately be defeated because whether we live or die, Christ remains our treasure. While we live, He lives through us. When we leave this earth, we are with Him. And one day, we will return with Him to share in the glorious future He has prepared.
That is the beauty of this pearl: I release everything I have tried to make my life and receive Christ as my life. I can hold everything else with open hands because the greatest treasure I possess can never be taken from me.
Prayer of Faith
Precious Heavenly Father, thank You for giving me something far greater than an improved version of my old life. You have given me the life of Your Son. Jesus is not merely part of my life; I desire for Him to become the very source from which I live.
Today I surrender anything I have allowed to define me apart from Christ. I release my dependence upon possessions, accomplishments, recognition, position, ministry, people, dreams, and circumstances to give me identity, worth, or completeness. I receive them as gifts when You give them, but I refuse to make them my life.
Holy Spirit, teach me the reality of the exchanged life. I surrender my self-directed life and yield to Jesus living His life through me. Let His desires shape mine, His love flow through me, His wisdom direct me, His strength sustain me, and His purpose become increasingly visible through my life.
Teach me to hold the things of this world with open hands. Let me enjoy every blessing without allowing any blessing to possess my heart. Remind me that anything temporary can never become the source of eternal life within me.
I receive the pearl of the life worth living. While I live, let Christ live through me. When my earthly journey is complete, I know I will be with Christ, and I look forward with hope to the resurrection and the glorious future You have prepared for Your children.
Let Paul’s declaration become the testimony of my own heart: “For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” I exchange my life for His life, everything lesser for the greater, and every temporary treasure for the priceless Pearl of Jesus Christ Himself.
I am loved by You, precious Heavenly Father, filled with Your Holy Spirit, and alive in You, my precious Savior, Jesus Christ. In the powerful name of Jesus, amen.
