Hidden in Christ

Colossians 3:3-5 “For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory. Therefore consider the members of your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry.”

1. INTRODUCTION

a. One of the most fascinating things about life is that it’s unpredictable. Things happen when we least expect them and this unexpected turn of events either give us great joy or great stress.

2. BODY

a. Reveals the glory of Christ (3:3-4)

i. Paul starts verse 3 that we have died and our lives are hidden with Christ in God. The context being that in Christ, if we have indeed died and have been raised up with Him, then keep looking above to the kings above. Stop looking at the things below here on earth.

ii. This leads Paul to tell us if you have indeed been raised up with Christ, then keep looking up. Why should we keep looking up? For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God.

iii. This is a beautiful phrase because it tells us that we have died to ourselves, we have died and we have entered into the new life. Paul is telling us that once you have died with Christ, you have passed on the old and the new has come (2 Corinthians 5:17). The result of “having died” is that they have also been raised with Christ” (3:1), so that their true life (“your life”) is in union with Christ’s resurrection life. Resurrection life with Christ, as in verse 1, is now offered again here in verse 3b as a reason why they should seek heavenly things and also as a basis for not seeking earthly things (3:2). But the beautiful part here is that Paul writes, your life is hidden with Christ in God. Paul uses the word hide to hide in a safe place.

iv. The context here is that if indeed you have died, and you follow Christ, and you stand for His word, you will face hardship. And when you face hardship, keep setting your minds on the things above. Stop looking at yourself and stop looking at how others are treating you. Instead, keep looking up. Stop looking at yourself and looking at the things below. Instead, keep looking up and consider Jesus (Hebrews 12:1-3).

v. This reminded me of the early years when we first moved here. I think about the past couple of weeks and sometimes when I pray, I ask God, why does it have to be this hard? And the verse that I’ve read over and over when I’ve gone through hardship is James 1:2.

vi. James 1:2 tells us “Consider it all joy” when you encounter various trials. 1 Peter 4:12 tells us don’t be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering as if this is strange. The Scriptures tell us that we will face suffering and yet, when we face it, it’s still hard. We know it’s coming and it doesn’t make it any easier.

vii. But as I’ve been going through hardship and I’ve been asking God why are these things happening, God tells me in His word, consider it all joy. A good translation here could be, lead with all joy. Whenever you face all types of trials, lead into those situations with all joy. One thing we want to know what James is not saying is, He’s not saying when we face trials, that the only response we will have is joy. James is not commanding us to never be saddened by difficulties. The reality is, sadness is apart of our growth. We know from being alive, that it’s impossible not to be sad. But James’s point here is that even in the midst of our trials, it gives us an opportunity for genuine rejoicing.

viii. This leads us to read verse 3. James tells us why believers can react to trials with genuine joy. How do we respond? James tells us that we know that the testing of our faith produces endurance. What James is telling us here is that, God uses trials to perfect our faith and make us stronger Christians. One of my favorite Bible verses about Christ is found in Hebrews 2:10.

ix. It tells us that Christ was perfected as the author of our salvation through sufferings. This verse stands as a reminder that Christ suffered to tell us that He understands what we are going through. But it doesn’t end there. The Word of God is telling us that God uses hardship to make us better people. Verse 4 tells us that this endurance, this ability to keep going, causes us to be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

x. When we think about this whole situation, we should never be naïve to think that this is easy. All trials are difficult and we should never take them lightly. But we should not pretend that sadness and even depression is something that Christians shouldn’t feel. No, this is the way all people feel. But what James reminds us is, even if you are sad and depressed, you have the opportunity to lead with joy. How?

xi. Now we know that the Bible answer is because God uses everything to make us a better man. The reality is that it’s not that we don’t know the answer. We know the answer. We’ve read the answer and tried to believe the answer, but sometimes, it’s hard to believe.

xii. So the reality is, we know that God uses everything to make us better people. The question is how does He accomplish this? He accomplishes this because He breaks us. As God breaks us down, not only does it help us to see how small and weak we are, it teaches us humility and also, it allows us to share with others when others go through the same problem, it helps us to understand how they feel and what they are going through. Simply put, it gives us perspective and understanding. This should cause us to have more compassion for other people. You see hardship is not for me to grow stronger alone, but hardship is to there to help me to be more like Christ. Hardship causes me to be more loving, compassionate and gracious.

xiii. If the goal of the Christian is truly to be more like Christ, there is nothing that makes us more like Christ than suffering. This is why Paul writes in Colossians 3:4, that when Christ is revealed, when He returns, we will also be revealed with Him in glory. This is speaking that when Christ returns, we will also be in Heaven with Him, but it also helps us understand that through our sufferings, He has caused us to be more like Him. Suffering causes us to trust in God more and truly help us to believe that God does use everything (in this case suffering) to make us a better man.

3. CONCLUSION