BETWEEN NOW AND THEN

Philippians 1:1-6
Holy Bible. New Living Translation copyright © 1996, 2004 by Tyndale Charitable Trust.

Greetings from Paul

1 This letter is from Paul and Timothy, slaves of Christ Jesus.

I am writing to all of God’s holy people in Philippi who belong to Christ Jesus, including the elders and deacons.

2 May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace.

Paul’s Thanksgiving and Prayer

3 Every time I think of you, I give thanks to my God. 4 Whenever I pray, I make my requests for all of you with joy, 5 for you have been my partners in spreading the Good News about Christ from the time you first heard it until now. 6 And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.


The ‘now’ is today. We can’t change yesterday. That is already recorded in the annals of time. What we did or did not accomplish yesterday, can only be impacted by what we do today. It has been said that today is the first day in the rest of your life.

The ‘then’ is “…when Christ Jesus returns.” Jesus is coming back again. He will appear in the clouds and gather to himself His church. When ‘then’ comes, there will be no time left to do anything.

Between ‘now’ and ‘then’, we have the privilege to be “…partners in spreading the Good News about Christ…”.

Joyfully embrace this privilege, knowing it will only be finished when we are caught up with Jesus in the air.