Philippians 1.21 For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.

The Bible says, “You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body” (1 Corinthians 6:19-20).  Jesus Christ has bought us at the price of His own  death, which means that we now belong doubly to God:

1. As our Creator, He made you.
2. As our Redeemer, He bought you.

That means your life is not your own. It is God’s. Therefore, the Bible says, “Glorify God in your body.” God made us and He redeemed us with the blood of His Son for this one purpose. And that one purpose, brothers and sisters, is to bring glory to Him in your life by seeking to magnify Him in whatever situation you are.

The ultimate Christian experience is knowing Christ and magnifying Him in my life. Paul is in prison for the crime of preaching the glory and the gospel of The Lord Jesus Christ. Paul is writing this epistle that is called the “epistle of joy” from a prison cell. Where does this joy that Paul writes about come from? His circumstances? His beaten body? I would say that there are three primary sources of his joy:

1. Paul comprehended in the gospel the redeeming love that God has for us in Christ that is beyond human comprehension. The love of Christ constrains me (2 Cor 5.14).
2. It comes from his faith in Jesus and his absolute trust in the sovereign hand of God ordering the events of his life.
3. Paul embraced the adversity of being imprisoned for Christ’s sake not only as the will of God for his life, but as an opportunity to magnify Him, whether in life or in death.