A Man Who Had Learned to Live

(This is the first of several installments that will be taken from the book TO LIVE IS CHRIST by Tom and Sheila Jones)

God is always surprising us.  Who would have expected him to use a short letter written by a prisoner in first-century Rome to a church in a small uncelebrated city to teach millions of people the true keys to life and happiness?  But then, who expected him to teach us the power of love at the foot of a cross?

Sometime in the seventh decade of the first century AD, chains were fastened onto a middle-aged Jewish man, whose appearance probably impressed no one, as he was held prisoner by the greatest power on earth. Later, with chains in place, he penned several letters to Christian churches around the Roman Empire.  None of these letters showed any sign of despondency or discouragement, but one in particular, the letter to the church in Philippi, literally resounded with joy. 

Victor Frankl, the psychiatrist and Nazi prison camp survivor, would write 1900 years later about the power that a deep sense of meaning can give to  a person even in the worst circumstances.  His first-century Jewish brother Paul understood this long before the advent of modern psychology.  He had lived a hard life.  He had been accused, persecuted, beaten, banished and then arrested and imprisoned; but through it all, the man showed that he had learned how to live.  He had learned that fullness of life is not determined by circumstances, but by the God you know and by how deeply you understand his love.

As he writes to the church in Philippi, he stands falsely charged by the governing powers.  Among religious people there are those who are trying to undermine his authority and compete with him for influence.  Even some of his own brothers in the faith are acting with insincerity.  Sisters in the faith are behaving contentiously with one another.  In all likelihood, he has not seen some of his own dreams come true¾like taking the message about Jesus Christ all the way to Spain.  But no matter¾the man is grateful.  He could list for you 100 things that had not gone well.  But he is still thankful and joyful. What does he know that we need to know? That is what we will look at in the next few weeks.