Philippians 1:21 – The Fish and the Camel

 For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.

Summary: Death and dying are subjects most people don’t like to talk about, yet each of us will have to confront death at some point. In this passage, Paul’s words give us a clue as to what is waiting for us on the other side of the doorway called death. 

When is dying a “good” thing? 

Paul seems to be wrestling with this question as he considers the pros and cons of life in the flesh compared to life in the spirit. 

In this passage, he points to the fact that life in the flesh is Christ because he has subordinated his flesh to Christ. Death, on the other hand, is freedom from the flesh and the joy of being with Jesus without the distractions of the flesh. 

I should probably end this meditation right here, but let’s consider the word “gain” for a moment. 

What is it about being dead that Paul thinks is a “gain?” You might as well ask, “What is it like to be in heaven?” 

Here is the problem with knowing things. In our physical world, the word “knowing” means that we have direct experience with something. For example, if I ask you, “Do you know how to swim?” and you say, “Yes,” then you are telling me that you have experienced swimming. People who have never gone swimming cannot truthfully say they “know” how to swim!

Since God existed before the creation of the universe (Genesis 1:1), our universe is like a dollhouse inside of a real house. The real house is the spiritual realm, and the doll house is the world we live in. We can “know” things inside of the doll house, but the spiritual realm is only knowable if we are given a special preview by God or if we die and completely shed the physical realm. 

Paul has some experience with this. 

In one letter, he writes about being “caught up to the third heaven.”* While there, he heard “inexpressible things, things that no one is permitted to tell.” Jesus himself speaks to this when he talks with Nicodemus. He says: 

“Very truly I tell you, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, but still you people do not accept our testimony. I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things? No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven—the Son of Man.” (John 3: 11-13)

Jesus uses parables to explain heaven and hell to us. To make sense of this mystery, imagine a camel trying to describe what life in the desert is like to a fish. Just as there is no way for the fish to “know” what the desert is like, there is no way for us to “know” what heaven is like until we get there. But Paul has had a glimpse, courtesy of Jesus Christ. If he is excited about it, we should be, too. 

Application: Believe what the Bible teaches us about heaven. 

Food for Thought: How does knowing Jesus and the writings in the Bible help us with our fear of dying? 

*2 Corinthians 12:1-4, In this passage, Paul attributes the vision of heaven to “a man” he knows. Many believe that this is a literary device similar to John’s use of the phrase “the disciple whom Jesus loved” (John 13:23). For our purposes, we will adopt the position that Paul is writing about himself. This does not materially change the meaning of Scripture in this case, nor does it change the value of the meditation. It is for convenience only.