Ultimately

PAUL WAS IN PRISON when he wrote his letter to the church in Philippi. Early in the letter, he says “Now I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that what has happened to me has actually served to advance the gospel. As a result, it has become clear throughout the whole palace guard and to everyone else that I am in chains for Christ.” (Phil. 1:12-13) Of the three incarcerations he suffered over a decade or so, based on his mention of the ‘palace guard,’ this is most likely written from the Mamertine Prison not far from Caesar’s palace. Further corroboration is inferred from his numerous references later in the letter concerning life and death.

His Rome incarceration was probably post-A.D. 60 or so, which supports the anecdotal stories of his death at the hands of Emperor Nero. He commends the faith of the early Christians, also suffering persecution. “And because of my chains, most of the brothers and sisters have become confident in the Lord and dare all the more to proclaim the gospel without fear.” (Phil. 1:14) He adds, “I will continue to rejoice, for I know that through your prayers and God’s provision of the Spirit of Jesus Christ what has happened to me will turn out for my deliverance.” (Phil. 1:18b-19) But what he means by ‘deliverance’ he begins to discuss in the face of the reality that he may be executed.

His thoughts then turn to his own mortality, and as they do, he is self-evaluating the challenges and results of his journey with Jesus. “I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death.” (Phil. 1:20) His most cherished hope is that he lives up to the life he was called into so long ago, one that came with an ominous warning. “This man is my chosen instrument to proclaim my name to the Gentiles and their kings and to the people of Israel. I will show him how much he must suffer for my name.” (Acts 9:15-16)

Across the course of decades Paul has suffered greatly (cf. 2 Cor. 11:23b-28). He has been beyond diligent in his obedience to the call of Christ, and now he says “For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.” (Phil. 1:21) His one desire is to follow Christ faithfully. Further in this letter he says, “I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead.” (Phil. 3:10-11)

But his thoughts are neither maudlin nor morbid. He is simply trying to be as objective as he can in his circumstances, and so he leaves the outcome up to the Lord. “If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. Yet what shall I choose? I do not know! I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far; but it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body.” (Phil. 1:22-24)

The letter to the Philippians is one of the last that Paul wrote. As to the letter’s recipients—and also to us—he leaves this encouragement. “Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ.” (Phil. 1:27) He would never see the church at Philippi again, nor for that matter, any of the others he had been so involved in starting. Most scholars place Paul’s ultimate sacrifice between 64-67 A.D., anecdotally by beheading.

But his is not the ultimate sacrifice. Neither was Steven’s death as the first martyr of the Christian church (cf. Acts 7:60), nor any since that time. It may have been the ultimate sacrifice for him personally, just as our own potential death as martyrs might be our personal ultimate sacrifice. The most conclusive ultimate sacrifice was the death of Jesus Christ on the cross at Calvary. Paul, speaking of this, says “He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.” (Rom. 4:25) And in comparison to Adam, the progenitor of sin, he adds “But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God’s grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many!” (Rom. 5:15) In Paul’s view, as it should be in ours, Jesus’ atoning death on the cross is the ultimate sacrificial death that outweighs all others combined.

What is the value of Jesus’ sacrifice? We must consider this beyond the limited viewpoint of our individual salvation. If we are myopic, and can only see and hear that Jesus says “My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you?” (John 14:2), then we make ourselves the sole focus of God’s redemptive plan.

His ultimate plan is exponentially more than this, by magnitudes beyond our comprehension. It is the complete reshaping of the cosmos and all life within it into a state of heavenly perfection. To hold a view any less than this is an affront to the God of creation, maker of heaven and earth, who is already “making all everything new.” (Rev. 21:5) At this moment in the here’n’now he is making you and me new, but it’s not so that we can be frozen in time.

Q. Does the ‘me’ of new creation fit better in time or in eternity, or can/will/must I do both?