Magyar Egyház, 2004 (83. évfolyam, 1-4. szám)
2004-01-01 / 1. szám
4. oldal MAGYAR EGYHÁZ FOR ME TO LIVE IS CHRIST ! Philippians 1:21-26. We have here a discussion of the life and death of the Apostle Paul. His life was Christ and his death was gain. It is the undoubted character of every good Christian that to him to live is Christ. The glory of Christ ought to be the end of our life, the grace of Christ the principle of our life, and the word of Christ the rule of it. The Christian life is derived from Christ, and directed to him. He is the principle, rule, and end of it. All those to whom to live is Christ, to them to die will be gain. It is great gain, a present gain, and an everlasting gain. Death is a great loss to a carnal worldly man; for he loses all his comforts and all his hopes. But to a good Christian it is gain, for it is the end of all his weakness and misery and the perfection of his comforts and accomplishment of his hopes. It delivers him from all the evils of life, and brings him to the possession of the chief good. When did Paul speak these words ? It was not as he rose from earth dazzled into blindness by the Redeemer’s glory, and the words of the first corn-mission were ringing in his ears. It was not in Damascus while as the scales fell from his eyes he recognized the Lord’s goodness and power. Nor was it in Arabia where supernatural wisdom so full unfolded to him the facts and truths which he was so uniformly to proclaim. It sprang not from some momentary elation as at Cyprus where he confoun-ded the sorcerer and converted te Roman pro-con-sul. No, it was written in Rome, in bonds, and after years of unparalleled toil and suffering. His past career had been signalized by stripes, imprisonment, ship-wrecks, and unnumbered perils, but his ardor was unchilled. Let him be freed, and his life prolonged, and his motto would still be: ’’For me to live is Christ !” Paul did not regret, now, when he was old, sick, and a prisoner, with a terrible doom suspended over him, that he had done, trave-led, spoken, and suffered so much for Christ. Nor was the statement like a suspicious vow in a sense of danger, which is to often wrung from cowardice, and held up as a bribe to the Great Preserver, but forgotten when the crisis passes, and he who made it laughs at his own timidity. No, it was no new course that the apostle proposed, only a continuation of pre-vious habits which bondage had for a season interrupted. Could there be increase to a zeal that had never flagged, or could those labors be multiplied which had filled every moment and called out every energy ? This was no idle boast. For the apostle had the warrant of a long career to justify his assertion, and who can doubt that he would have verified it, and nobly shown, as before, for him to live was Christ ? He sighed not under the burden, as if aged needed a rest, nor sank into self-complacency, as if he had done enough, for the Lord’s commission was still upon him, and the needs of the world were as numerous and pressing. There is no other name but Christ’s which has life in it. There is no life in the world’s wealth, learning, honor, or love. As good as they may be, they are without Christ, and to be Christless is to be lifeless. What is needed in the service of Christ is the same unity of purpose which has ruled all men who have won the object for which they lived. He who makes God’s glory the one and only aim before which all other things bow themselves, is the man to bring honor to his Lord. To be Christless is to be lifless. So, if you want life, you must choose Christ! Our Hope at Easter The meaning of history is justification by faith and forgiveness of sins. Is this not true of our lives as persons ? Being a Christian means that our past with all its burdens is cancelled when our sin is forgiven, and that God opens up a new future filled with fresh possibilities for us when he justifies us by faith. We know the experience of being freed through God’s redeeming grace. It happens to us again and again when we confess and are forgiven. This same redemptive possibility runs throughout human existence. God is able to overcome our mistakes and to create new opportunities for building a world that is just and humane, more in accord with his intention for his people, and fit for human habitation. Easter is the guarantee of all of this. It has meaning for persons and for nations. The Easter event began when the Word became flesh, when God and man were united forever in Jesus of Nazareth. In this act God took our future upon himself, and at Easter life triumphed over death for all eternity. The celebration of Easter should really begin at midnight as it used to be observed by the Orthodox in Old Russia. In St. Petersburg, for example, the Cathedral of St.Isaac would be filled by the faithful awaiting in total darkness the stroke of midnight. Then the guns from the fortress of St.Peter and St. Paul would boom out. The great doors of the Cathedral would be thrown open; candles would be lit; and the choir would enter singing the Easter anthem. Easter is that dramatic. It represents the triumph of light over darkness, freedom over bondage, hope over despair, life over death. It is the miracle of grace that enables us to rise. Above the perils of today and to become witnesses and partners in God’s work of making all things new. When Apostol Paul completed his great statement on the resurrection in 1.Corinthians he included a doxology: ’’But thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” However, he did not stop here. In the light of the ressurection every human being is set free to serve the living God. And Apostol Paul concluded, ”So then, my dear brothers, stand firm and steady. Keep busy always in your work for the Lord, since you know that nothing you do in the lord’s service is ever useless.” from the dead, the first fruits of those who have died. 1 Corinthians 15:20
