To me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. —Philippians 1:21.
The truth is often as simple as it is sweet — if Jesus is our life, then our lives have no end. In faith, we shared with Jesus in his saving death, burial, and resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:3-7) through our baptism as we called on the name of the Lord to save us (Colossians 2:12). Our lives — our eternal essence and identity — are hidden with Christ and will be fully revealed when we share with Jesus in his eternal glory (Colossians 3:3-4). Death does not strip life from us, but ushers us into life in Jesus’ very presence, where no power or event, not even death, can steal us from his grasp (Romans 8:38-39).