Theme Week: Review of Paul – Philippians 3
Old Testament: Ecclesiastes 4-6
Poetry: Psalm 51
“There Ain’t no grave, gonna hold my body down. There ain’t no grave, gonna hold my body down. When I hear that trumpet sound, gonna rise right outta the ground. There Ain’t no grave gonna hold my body down.” I love hearing Johnny Cash sing that song with his old, gravelly voice. He recorded it not long before he died. I imagine he was thinking a lot about death at that point in his life. Most old people do think about death. And most young people I know don’t think much about death. We all know vaguely that we are mortal and that one day, somewhere far down the road we will have to face our own death, but we usually try to distract ourselves from the reality of death by thinking about other things. In his Pulitzer Prize-winning book The Denial of Death, Ernest Becker wrote: “Modern man is drinking and drugging himself out of awareness…”. I think that’s pretty accurate.
Personally, I never thought much about my own death until I was diagnosed with cancer 7 years ago (I’m still here). Cancer doesn’t automatically mean you are going to die, in fact, the majority of people with cancer do not die from cancer, at least not right away. There are many treatments to delay or send many cancers into remission. But I can tell you from experience when you hear the word cancer it does make you at least think about death, not just as a remote possibility but as something that you will actually have to experience someday. I imagine an accident or other near-death experience will do the same thing. PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder) can be caused by exposure to death or fear of dying.
People deal with the fear of death in a variety of ways. One approach goes back to the time of Epicurus 300 BC who taught that there was no judgment or afterlife. When you die you simply cease to exist. There is no future reward beyond this life, and there is no fear of future punishment. Modern day atheism has embraced this approach to death. Another common approach to dealing with death is the denial of death by believing in the natural immortality of the soul. We are all immortal by nature. Our bodies die but our souls are immortal and when our bodies die our souls live on in another place like heaven or hell or come back in another form, reincarnation.
The Apostle Paul offers a third, biblically consistent, and hope-filled understanding of death. We are mortal by nature, not immortal. Death is a reality, but it does not have to be the final reality. In Christ there is the hope of the resurrection from the dead. Just as Christ died and went to the grave and on the third day was raised from the dead (in the same way that Jesus had previously raised Lazarus from the dead) Paul hoped that in Christ he too might attain the “resurrection from the dead.” (Philippians 3:11 NRSV).
Paul’s hope was that his savior, the Lord Jesus Christ who is currently in heaven will come and transform “the body of our humiliation” (Phil 3:21) into a glorious body like Jesus is today. Paul’s term “the body of our humiliation” can also be translated as “of low estate” or even “vile”. In my work at a hospital chaplain, I am daily acquainted with how our bodies suffer decay and corruption. When people are sick the fragility of their bodies is exposed. The fragility of Jesus’ body was also exposed in his crucifixion. Ultimately, our fragile bodies will suffer disease, injury, and slow decay and we will die. But our hope in Jesus Christ is that he will come again and raise our bodies up in glory, in bodies that are no longer corrupt and subject to death. This is our blessed hope.
For Paul there was a daily awareness that he had not yet arrived at the fullness of the resurrected body, that will only happen when Christ comes at the end of this age. So for now Paul’s focus was to “press on” (Philippians 3:12) or “strain forward” (3:13). It gives us the image of a runner keeping his eye on the finish line. Paul is saying “keep your eye on the prize”.
Paul contrasts this way of being with those whom he says live as though they were “the enemies of Christ”. Their gods are earthly things (their belly or human appetites- 3:19). Paul makes their end clear – destruction (3:19). For Paul, humans are mortal, death is a reality that we will all face one day. For those who make themselves an enemy of Christ by rejecting him and making their own appetites their gods, the end is final destruction. But for those who put their hope in Jesus Christ, whom God raised from the dead, their hope is to be raised up from among the dead to be transformed into a glorious body like Jesus has been transformed into at his resurrection. A body that is not corruptible and cannot die. They will be clothed in immortality by Jesus upon his return from heaven.
I hope that you, like Paul and like me and countless other believers, trust in Jesus Christ and keep pressing on to follow him. Keep your eye on the prize.
“There Ain’t no grave, gonna hold my body down. There ain’t no grave, gonna hold my body down. When I hear that trumpet sound, gonna rise right outta the ground. There Ain’t no grave gonna hold my body down.”
-Jeff Fletcher
Reflection Questions:
- What value can you see in understanding the reality of death and the hope of bodily resurrection at the return of Christ as opposed to the no hope of life after death or the natural immortality of the soul?
- Paul named those who were doomed for destruction as those whose gods were their belly/appetites. What might you name as other appetites/gods of people today? In what ways do pursuing those gods lead to destruction?
- What does the promise of resurrection from the dead reveal to us about God’s character and plan for the world? What difference does that make in your life?
Seek Grow Love 