Colossians 3:1-4 Easy-to-Read Version
Your New Life
3 You were raised from death with Christ. So live for what is in heaven, where Christ is sitting at the right hand of God. 2 Think only about what is up there, not what is here on earth. 3 Your old self has died, and your new life is kept with Christ in God. 4 Yes, Christ is now your life, and when he comes again, you will share in his glory.
The Word of God for the Children of God.
Adeste Fideles! Laeti Triumphantes! Venite Adoremus! Dominum.
Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Amen.
Colossians 3:3 Amplified Bible
3 For you died [to this world], and your [new, real] life is hidden with Christ in God.
Where is Jesus today?
That seems a good place to answer this question.
If a Christian’s life is hidden with Jesus Christ, we ought to want to know where that hiding place is.
We know that after Jesus died, He rose again from the dead and ascended into heaven.
There He was seated at the right hand of the Father in heaven (Mark 16:19; Acts 2:33; Romans 8:34; 1 Peter 3:22).
Jesus is in heaven with the Father.
Yet we are told in Colossians 3:3 that our life is “hidden with Christ in God.”
How can our life be hidden with Jesus in heaven, whilst we carry on living here on the earth?
Moreover, believers are hidden in Jesus Himself.
We are in Him and He is in us (1 John 4:13).
We are united with Him by the Spirit He has given to us.
What does all of this mean?
Colossians 3:3-4 The Message
3-4 Your old life is dead. Your new life, which is your real life—even though invisible to spectators—is with Christ in God. He is your life. When Christ (your real life, remember) shows up again on this earth, you’ll show up, too—the real you, the glorious you. Meanwhile, be content with obscurity, like Christ.
These beautiful verses are in a section of Scripture where Paul deals with one of the most basic aspects of the daily Christian life; believers are One in union with their Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, to reiterate this – we are each one with Him.
Our Savior Jesus Christ, chose our life over our condemnation, died on the Cross and because we believe, we are His children (His seed), we also died with Him.
We were with Christ and we were in Him when He was nailed to the Cross, for we are His seed.
We died at the same time that Christ died on Calvary.
The deadly sin issue in our lives was a settled action at this point, for in Christ Jesus, our sins were forever forgiven and we were each eternally redeemed.
We were bought back by God with a great price – the precious blood of Christ.
As far as God is concerned, every sin you and I have ever committed, past, present, future, was directly, decisively dealt with at this point on the Cross.
Because the Lord Jesus died, we who are His seed also died and the sin issue in our lives was dealt with there and then.
Because of Christ’s finished work in the past, sin is no longer an issue in my life, in your life, now or forever.
But it is even better…
Because our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ was raised from the dead, we too share in the same “raised” life that He has.
We are in union with His life and our life is now and forever hidden in Christ.
The wonderful thing is, we not only live in the security of being in union with CHRIST and are hidden in HIM, but we have double security, for we are ALSO hidden WITH Christ IN GOD.
This position of safety, this safe haven, was secured in the past at the Cross of grace and the tomb or life and continues to be the case in our present life today.
And because the gifts and calling of God are without repentance, because God does not change (Hebrews 13:8), this is an unchangeable fact in each of our lives.
And it is as if God has underlined this truth in His Word, for He has written this glorious truth in the past tense, to demonstrate that in His economy it is a done deal – a fait accompli – which literally translates into an accomplished FACT.
Being in union with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ means to us that the past, present, and future aspects of our life are now and forever tied up and remain in perfect union with Christ, and it all began at the Cross when we died with Him.
The unchanging condition of our sin lives may appear to contradict this truth, when difficulties uncountable, unmanageable, rain down upon us all, but no matter what life throws at all our souls, our union with Christ is 100% secure.
We are the possessors of eternal life because when the Lord Jesus was raised, we who are in our Savior Christ are all His seed, were all raised at the same time.
And in God’s economy – because our Savior Christ was raised from the dead, we were raised at the same time into an undeniable, unimaginable newness of life.
As far as God is concerned, our new life is already eternal because we are in union with Christ: “For you are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.”
A New Life in Christ Jesus
Followers of Jesus are given a new life in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17).
We become united to Jesus in His death and resurrection.
Those desires that we used to have for earthly things are weakened as we set our minds on heavenly things (Colossians 3:2).
The following verse (Colossians 3:3) says that “you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.”
Our old, sinful nature was permanently crucified with Jesus on the cross.
Romans 6:6 says
“We know that our old self was crucified with Him so that the body of sin might be rendered powerless, that we should no longer be slaves to sin.”
If we belong to Jesus, we have “crucified the flesh with its passions and desires” (Galatians 5:24).
We begin to walk in step with the Holy Spirit at work in us (Galatians 5:16-18).
As our new life begins by the power of the Holy Spirit working inside of us, we will subtly look at the world around us differently – “growing strangely dim.”
In turn, others may look at us differently too.
Those who do not yet know Jesus may wonder why our life is different.
They may see the love and grace of God at work in us and want to know more.
Then there are others who will look at us strangely.
After all, we are strangers, pilgrims, and temporary residents here (1 Peter 2:11).
It is when our lives conform to the world that we do not appear any different to those around us.
As Jesus sends us His Holy Spirit to be in us and with us, we are transformed by the renewing of our minds (Romans 12:2).
We can live for Jesus in this generation, empowered, inspired and strengthened by God, who lives with us and within us.
A Living Hope For A Living Future
When we are born, we enter a broken and fallen world, and we ourselves carry sin in our body that we have inherited from Adam.
We are dead in sin but ALIVE in Christ.
Yet, Jesus is the “last Adam,” and He gives new life where we are born again into a new and living hope.
Through one man, sin entered the world, and all died (Romans 5:12), yet through the one man Jesus, the gift of God’s grace abounds (Romans 5:15).
Christians become part of God’s family, adopted as sons and daughters, and have an “eternal unchanging inheritance” reserved for them in heaven.
Knowing that believers have died to sin should shift our gaze upwards to where Christ is enthroned.
As it says in 1 Peter 1:8:
“Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy…”
He is the object of our faith, and our hope is based on the wonderful truth that Jesus has risen from the dead.
Peter says that Jesus
“has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, reserved in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God’s power for the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time” (1 Peter 1:3-5).
Christians are hidden with Christ where a future inheritance that cannot ever be taken away is waiting for them.
It is “reserved in heaven” where Jesus is.
This is something we can look forward to on earth now as we wait expectantly for what is to come.
But we can have access to God directly today because Jesus has reconciled us to Himself.
We can pray to our ABBA Father in heaven knowing that Jesus “is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them” (Hebrews 7:25).
Being hidden in Christ means we have eternal fellowship, eternal relationship with Father, Son and Holy Spirit, which is a solid hope for today and forever.
A Blessed Assurance
Christians have not yet been raised to eternal life with Christ.
But God has awakened us to the truth.
He has “made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions” (Ephesians 2:5).
It was His forgiveness, His mercy, love and grace which saved us on the cross.
When we were given this new life, “God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 2:6).
When the Father looks upon us now, He sees Jesus the Son and His perfect righteousness.
We are no longer separated from God because of our sin.
Our status has changed before God from guilty sinner to a free saint.
We are raised with Jesus, hidden with Him in heaven now “in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace” (Ephesians 2:7).
One day in the near or not too distant future, we will glorify God for eternity because of His loving-kindness towards us.
Yet, we do not need to wait until that glorious day when Savior Jesus calls us heavenward – each and everyone of us can glorify Him exactly today, right exactly and exactingly right now, where we are sitting, standing or reclining.
Being hidden with Him means there is a security about our life after death.
We have an eternal inheritance that will not spoil or fade.
There has been a deposit made into our account from the account of Christ.
He has emptied Himself completely on the cross, so that we may be filled with the Spirit to live as strangers on the earth, raised on the last day with Him in glory, and have everlasting security in the presence of our wonderful Savior.
With this eternal guarantee, we can eternally rejoice with great anticipation of our Savior Christ’s return and know that we are “hidden” and safe with Him.
An Impenetrable Refuge
We are precious to God.
He protects us from evil, hides us under the shadow of His wings, and He is described as a shield and a refuge (Psalm 91:4).
There is no safer place than being in and with Jesus.
Even if our souls and bodies came under attack, our soul is safe with Jesus.
We do not need to fear the one who can destroy the body, but not the soul (Matthew 10:28) for our Savior Jesus is the protector of our life for all eternity.
When we repent and place our faith in Christ’s saving work on the cross, we experience a new birth, a new life, and we are a new creation.
It is Christ’s work by the power of the Holy Spirit that is at work in us.
Knowing how loved we are by God, that He sent His only Son so that whoever believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16) frees us to not love the world, but to look to and adore Christ.
We can have close communion with Jesus, today and for all eternity.
Being hidden with Christ in His everlasting arms can give us confidence to live for Him in a fallen and perverse generation.
He is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in times of trouble (Psalm 46:1).
A Heavenly Perspective
As our lives are hidden with Christ in God, we can keep our eyes fixed on Him in the heavenly place.
In the same letter to the Colossians, Paul says we are to “set [our] minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth” (Colossians 3:2).
It is because we are “hidden with Christ” that we are able to set our minds to where He is.
This perspective on looking to Christ because we are united to Christ is one which believers around the world need to be reminded of often.
Just like we hear the gospel and believe, it does not mean we need to stop hearing and believing the gospel.
We need the good news of Jesus every day of our life!
In the same way, just because we are secure and hidden in Jesus once for all, it does not mean we stop fixing our eyes on Him.
Being rescued from this present evil age by Jesus (Galatians 1:4), a heavenly perspective is still needed.
When Jesus prayed to His Father for His followers before His death, He said, “My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one” (John 17:15).
As we live for Jesus in the world, we can know He is with us, has prayed for us and He will protect us. We can live boldly knowing our life is hidden with Him.
As we reflect often on all Jesus has done, we are empowered by the Holy Spirit to live with Him and for Him on earth, as we wait with greatest expectation and joy-filled, thankful hearts for Him to come again from heaven.
As it says in 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17: “For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.”
Being hidden with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ means we have a new life, a living hope, a blessed assurance, a secure refuge, and a heavenly perspective.
Nothing can separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 8:39).
One day, what is hidden will be revealed as Jesus returns once again for His bride, His body, His people – the church.
May we all rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, and be constant in prayer until that glorious day (Romans 12:12).
In the name of God, the Father and God, the Son and God the Holy Spirit,
Let us Pray,
Heavenly Father, thank You that my life is hid with Christ in You. As I die to self and live for Christ, may my life reflect Your love, gentleness, compassion, and truth. Dear Father, My God, I know that I have died and that my life is hid with Christ. He holds the outcome of my life wholly in his hands; He is my whole life. Grant that I may wait patiently yet expectantly, knowing that when He appears, I will also appear with him in His glory. Father, I thank you for this blessed hope. Let the true joy of it fill my life every day as I daily sojourn here on this earth. Let me put the things of this world in perspective through the victory that Christ brings. In the name of Jesus I ask. Amen.
Adeste Fideles! Laeti Triumphantes! Venite Adoremus! Dominum.
Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Amen.
Loving God, Living God, Loving Hope, Living Hope, Loving Living Life His Way! "Many things are possible for the person who has hope. Even more is possible for the person who has faith. And still more is possible for the person who knows how to love. But everything is possible for the person who practices all three virtues." - Brother Lawrence (1605-1691), Practicing the Presence of God (1692). 