“To Depart and Be With Christ”

Read Philippians 1:21–24 and 1 Thessalonians 4:13–18. When did

Paul expect to be “with Christ” (Phil. 1:23) and “with the Lord”

(1 Thess. 4:17)?

Paul was driven with the passion to live “in Christ” now (2 Cor. 5:17)

and “with Christ” after His second coming (see 1 Thess. 4:17). For the

apostle, not even death could break the assurance of belonging to his

Savior and Lord. As he said in the epistle to the Romans, “neither death

nor life” can “separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus

our Lord” (Rom. 8:38, 39, NKJV). “For if we live, we live to the Lord;

and if we die, we die to the Lord. Therefore, whether we live or die, we

are the Lord’s” (Rom. 14:8, NKJV).

With this certainty in mind, Paul spoke of the believers who already

had died as “those who sleep in Jesus” (1 Thess. 4:14, NKJV) and who

will be raised at Christ’s second coming to receive eternal life (1 Cor.

15:16–18, 1 Thess. 4:13–18).

When Paul mentioned his “desire to depart and be with Christ”

(Phil. 1:23, NKJV), did he imply that after death his soul would

depart to live consciously with Christ? Not at all. In this text, “Paul

verbalizes his desire to leave this present troubled existence and be

with Christ, without reference to any lapse of time that may occur

between the two events. This verse does not teach that Paul expected

to go to heaven at death. He was very clear that he would not receive

his reward until the Second Coming (2 Tim. 4:8).”—Andrews Study

Bible, p. 1555, note on Philippians 1:23.

In short, Paul “is saying that the next thing he would know after

departing (death) would be Christ coming in the clouds of heaven to

raise the dead, when he would ‘be with the Lord’ (1 Thess. 4:17). It

also should be noted that the Bible writers at times refer to two events

together that may be separated by a long period of time.”—Andrews

Study Bible, p. 1555, note on Philippians 1:23.

But why would Paul prefer to die than to live? Because then he could

finally rest from all his troubles, without needing any longer to suffer

pain in his body (1 Cor. 9:27, NRSV). And he would do so with the

full certainty that he would receive “the crown of righteousness” at the

Second Coming (2 Tim. 4:6–8, NKJV). Though Paul certainly didn’t

want to die, he knew what would follow when he did.

Particularly in hard times, who hasn’t thought about how nice it

would be to close your eyes in death and, the next thing you know,

“be with Christ”? How does this thought help us understand

what Paul was saying in Philippians?