Your Life is Hidden with Christ

Colossians 3:3–4 is a great consolation for those prone to forget their identity and destiny in Christ, 

"For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. [4] When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory."

First it says, "For you have died." Now what in the world does that mean? It means something glorious that happened by God's mercy and power. It means that you have died to the ruling power of sin. It means that the "you" who was enslaved to sin has died. The "you" who was blinded by sin and to sin has died. It means the "you" and the "me" who loved sin and were not grieved by it have died. It means the "old me" has died and God has given my new life in Christ, life in the Spirit.

Second, it says, "your life is hidden with Christ in God." We died to our old, sin-enslaved, sin-loving selves by being united to the exalted Lord, Jesus Christ. Paul testifies to this in a personal way when he says,

"I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me" (Galatians 2:20)

The question is, how did we die in this way? 

"Your life" is your true identity. It is your standing with God. It is your spiritual condition. Your life is quite simply who you are and what you are.

Now, as a believer, your life, "is hidden with Christ." That means that your identity is determined by who Christ is and what Christ has achieved. And since Christ in heaven is invisible to us, and since the Spirit of Christ within us in also invisible to us, our identity is said to be hidden. Take this point to heart: the only way you will grasp the wonder of your spiritual condition and status in Christ is BY FAITH. Why? Because who and what your are in Christ is invisible to you, it is hidden away in heaven until Christ returns. This is precisely why, "we walk by faith, not by sight" (2 Corinthians 5:7).

And then Paul writes, "in God." What wonderful love we have found in Christ! Our union with Christ has united us to God. We are in Christ, and Christ is in God (see Ephesians 2:5-6). Christ is seated at the right hand of God, and we are seated with Christ. "And you are Christ's, and Christ is God's" (1 Corinthians 3:23).

Third and finally, it says, "When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory." Take heart of the promise that heaven, God, Christ, and the fullness of life in Christ will not always be hidden from us. Yes, beloved, faith in Christ reshapes life here in this world. But that is not the end of the story. Those in Christ will one day step into an eternal inheritance of heavenly glory, free from sin and all its causes, effects, guilt, and trouble. Praise the Lord!

"Beloved, we are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. [3] And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure" (1 John 3:2–3).

Whatever happens this week, take comfort that, "you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. [4] When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory" (Colossians 3:3–4).

by: Matt Fortunato