Hidden with Christ

Call to Worship

“He is Risen!”

“He is Risen, indeed!”

----

To all who are weary and in need of rest

To all who are mourning and longing for comfort

To all who fail and desire strength

To all who sin and need a Savior

We, Moraga Valley Presbyterian Church, open wide our arms

With a welcome from Jesus Christ.

He is the ally to the guilty and failing

He is the comfort to those who are mourning

He is the joy of our hearts

And He is the friend of sinners

So Come, worship Him with us.

Scripture Reading & Reader

Colossians 3:1–4 NIV

Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

Deidre Wiley, Reader (First Service)

Ryan Wagner, Reader (Second Service)

Post-Scripture Prayer

Pray.

Introduction to Sermon

John Chrysostom wrote these words some 400 years after the death of Jesus:

If anyone is devout and a lover of God, let him enjoy this beautiful and radiant festival. If anyone is a grateful servant, let him, rejoicing, enter into the joy of his Lord. If anyone has wearied himself in fasting, let him now receive recompense. If anyone has labored from the first hour, let him today receive the just reward. If anyone has come at the third hour, with thanksgiving let him feast. If anyone has arrived at the sixth hour, let him have no misgivings, for he shall suffer no loss. If anyone has delayed until the ninth hour, let him draw near without hesitation. If anyone has arrived even at the eleventh hour, let him not fear on account of tardiness.

For the Master is gracious, and receives the last even as the first; He gives rest to him who comes at the eleventh hour, just as to him who has labored from the first. He has mercy upon the last and cares for the first; to the one he gives, and to the other he is gracious. He both honors the work and praises the intention. Enter all of you, therefore, into the joy of our Lord, and, whether first or last, receive your reward. O rich and poor, one with another, dance for joy! O you ascetics and you negligent, celebrate the day! You who fasted and you who disregarded the fast, Rejoice today!

The table is rich-laden: feast royally, all of you! The calf is fatted: let no one go forth hungry! Let all partake of the feast of faith. Let all receive the riches of goodness. Let no one lament his poverty, for the universal kingdom has been revealed. Let no one mourn his transgressions, for pardon has dawned from the grave. Let no one fear death, for the Savior’s death has set us free. He who was taken by Death has annihilated it! He descended into Hades and took Hades captive! He embittered it when it tasted His flesh! And anticipating this, Isaiah exclaimed: “Hades was embittered when it encountered you in the lower regions.” It was embittered, for it was abolished! It was embittered, for it was mocked! It was embittered, for it was purged! It was embittered, for it was despoiled! It was embittered, for it was bound in chains! It took a body and came upon God! It took earth and encountered Ηeaven! It took what it saw, and crumbled before what it had not seen!

O Death, where is your sting?

O Hades, where is your victory?

Christ is risen, and you are overthrown! Christ is risen, and the demons are fallen! Christ is risen, and the angels rejoice! Christ is risen, and life reigns! Christ is risen, and not one dead remains in the tomb! For Christ, being raised from the dead, has become the first-fruits of them that have slept. To him be glory and might unto ages of ages.

Amen.

He is risen!

He is risen, indeed!

Our time together is rooted in the very story we just heard: the transformation that Jesus provides in His death, burial, and resurrection.

And Colossians 3, where we’ll spend our time today, is uniquely rooted in that same transformation. It’s a very specific kind of transformation.

Becoming a Christian is not making a new start in life; it is receiving a new life to start with.

John Blanchard

Let’s turn to Colossians 3, verses 1-4, to experience Paul’s thoughts on this new life from Jesus. Let’s begin in verse 1.

Colossians 3:1 NIV

Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.

Scripture is abundantly clear on the fact that what Jesus experiences, His followers experience as well. Our New Life is tied to the life of Jesus — from beginning to end. Here's how we might say this:

Christ has died.

We are dead in sin.

God raised Jesus to new life.

We have resurrected new life because of Jesus.

This is what scholars have called UNION WITH CHRIST, and it’s actually a progression of thoughts in the Book of Colossians.

Sufficiency of Jesus, that He is Enough;

the Universality of Jesus, that the gospel is for everyone;

now we're talking about Union With Christ, that everything that Jesus endures, we endure too -- death, resurrection, and then glory!

Paul, the author of Colossians, writes elsewhere, that Jesus is the first to be raised, and if He is the first, it means there will be a second, a third, and a fourth, and many more to follow -- Romans 8:29 “that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.” The Son of God, raised by the Father, with the Children of God to follow!

Here’s the very simple progression of thoughts:

If Jesus was raised, we will be raised too!

This is the whole idea of Union with Christ: that we will endure what He endured. — It does not matter the heavy blow that sin has dealt on humanity, God is resurrecting us as He resurrected His Son.

I love how Colossians, confirms that truth again and again in the rich language it uses to illustrate what the Resurrection does for the whole family of God. The Resurrection is always a total victory, and that's what we get from Chapter 2, that Jesus has already been victorious over the forces of darkness… Union With Christ applies here, too… We live victoriously because Jesus lives victoriously.

A victorious life with Jesus comes with some new bells and whistles, and it should, the very miracle of God, being raised from the dead, ought to change some things about us, we've got new ways of living to look forward to.

I like using atypical Resurrection texts on Easter, because it keeps my awe open for hearing the gospel… and I need it daily, and so give to me as many possible ways that you can.

Back to verse 1 for what we have to look forward to — “Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.”

Paul says that we have to set our hearts on the things, and set our mind on the things -- all of which are above. We set our affections and thoughts there because it’s meant to lead into action — we look towards the one who gives us new life. The whole notion of this is to let the new life in you, do new life things through you.

What does the new life in us want to do? Set on our sights on Jesus!

Above is where Jesus is, it's where he's seated, sitting at the right hand of God, this is what happens after His resurrection, He ascends to the right hand of God.

One of the best things about new life in Jesus is that I get to enjoy Jesus, and enjoying all that comes with Him.

Part of setting our minds on things above, and seeking Jesus, are considering what it means to be God's people under the care of the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. The Resurrection provides not just new life, but a better life. Last week I was speaking with a student on our Mexico trip who doesn’t follow Jesus, and is unsure if God even exists, and I said, “Well, if He does exist, does He care for the people of Tijuana? Is His heart moved towards them?” What would it mean for us to experience flourishing under His attentive care? I set my heart and mind on the hope where Jesus is. Where is He? Seated above.

My friend Tony Merida says that Jesus is sitting. He isn't pacing. He's not wringing his hands in worry. That’s descriptive of His flourishing care for everyone who finds new life with Him. We have the utmost confidence in Him because what He’s done, so, like it says in verse two, we don’t worry about earthly things anymore.

When Paul talks about “earthly things,” he isn’t challenging the notion of physical things, Paul is challenging a false teaching in Colossae that to be a follower of Jesus, we have to combine it with other sets of beliefs… Paul in, called it “hollow and deceptive,” it has the appearance of wisdom, but does not have power.

This false teaching in Colossae is the belief that we need Jesus plus something else. That you’ll really be on track with Jesus if you follow Jesus, and do this, or don’t do that. The word for this is “syncretism,” the lie that you can add something to Jesus and still get the purity of the gospel. Let me illustrate a couple of ways we do this today… we try to add the words: Conservative, Progressive, Democratic, Republican all before the word, “Christian,” and the reality is that they are all insufficient adjectives to put before our identity. We’ve made something other than the death, burial, and resurrection central to following Jesus.

How we follow Jesus in the world matters, and certainly some of those titles I just mentioned are wisdom-seeking, knowledge-wielding, honest attempts to follow Jesus the way that we think Jesus would have us. But it’s not something plus Jesus, it’s just Jesus. You don’t level up your new life by adding something more to it, what more can you add to the finished work of Jesus?

We don’t need some self-imposed set of guidelines to do that, there is nothing that can set my heart towards meaning, more than Jesus.

I love what one of my favorite preachers says, "he wants us have our affections stirred up for Christ" part of growing in our new life identity is that our affections are turned towards Jesus, that over time, I want more and more and more of Him -- and I want His presence, His joy, His gentleness and mercy -- that I want what He wants. I’m going to Jesus to have those needs met.

Scholar Douglas Moo says that we can start to seek the things above by deliberately and daily committing ourselves to the values of the heavenly kingdom and living out of those values -- which is what Colossians talks about later, that we have to get rid of things that are inconsistent with new life in Christ, but that there’s all that we have to put ON, everything that's consistent with our new life in Jesus.

New life in Christ has the means within itself to transform every single part of us.

Look with me in verse 3

Now again we're touching again on this whole part of our union with Christ, - -- that what Christ experiences, we experience

Colossians 3:3 “For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.”

Our new life is hidden -- we're totally secure -- we're safe with Jesus

Not long ago I had read Psalm 91:8-9 “You will only observe with your eyes and see the punishment of the wicked. If you say, “The Lord is my refuge,” and you make the Most High your dwelling,” — Jesus is the dwelling place of the people of God.

We are safe in EVERY way.

Later on in Chapter 3, Paul talks about judgment, about the wrath of God, but we don't have to worry about the wrath and judgment that is due for the wicked, because we're secure with Jesus, we're safe with Christ -- this is exactly Paul had been talking about in Chapter 2, specifically in verse 15, when Jesus disarmed the rulers and authorities, the powers and principalities, the forces of darkness, at the Cross, -- our union with Jesus has freed us from the thumb of oppression from our old life.

Notice that Paul says “hidden,” not, “hiding.”

A lot of us have opted for a lesser form of hiddenness, not dwelling in the covering of what Jesus has done in His death, burial, and resurrection, but hiding behind a lesser security.

Recently I was talking with my own dad, and I heard the language of hiding, rather than hiddenness. He had been working on a deal, and the short of it is that it may end up in some great form of prominence and influence, some real wealth in his life, and I kept hearing the language of hiding. That somehow he could just hide behind those things, and I didn’t, but I wanted to just yell in the phone, don’t hide behind wealth, not in assets or superficial security, hide with Jesus, nothing can ever take that away.

I’ve noticed that I want to be born of my earthly Father, rather than my Heavenly father — because my natural inclination is to want to run into hiding.

Do you remember Genesis 3? What did Adam and Eve do in their shame? They ran into hiding.

Have you ever noticed that when we talk about hiding, we often talk about hiding behind something else?

My entire life I’ve hid behind humor and being smart. They’re pretty cool party tricks, but they don’t last forever. I’ve got deep wounds that I’m still dealing with, I’ve got skeletons in the closet, I’ve got massive shortcomings, I’ve got failures, I’ve got three boys that I’m begging God that I don’t screw up royally. I enjoy being liked. I don’t really want conflict, because who does? Colossians 3 has kicked the crap out of me. Why would I hide, when I could be hidden? Perfectly kept, perfectly secure, fully loved in Jesus and with Jesus. Hiding is never a replacement for being hidden.

And the place of our hiddenness is very important. We’d be right if we just said, we are HIDDEN in CHRIST, but Paul says WITH Christ. Where is Jesus? Where is He right now? With the Father. Jesus is Hidden with the Father, waiting to be revealed in the Last Days, and Paul means to say, that WE are there with Him, hidden.

Let’s look at verse 4 now

Colossians 3:4 “When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.”

what is hidden, will be revealed

When Christ, who is your life, — Remember — it's not our life, Jesus is our life, -- if we're a Christian, Christ is our life -- this is what Paul writes elsewhere in Galatians 2:20 “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” -- Jesus is your life, and when He appears, we will also appear with Him in glory --

We have glory to look forward to -- if Jesus appears in glory, then we will appear in glory, too -- which is so hard for us to conceptualize, what will it be like when Jesus comes back

His glory will revealed

And you'll be covered in His glory

One author said, right now we look ordinary, but when Jesus comes back, we'll look extraordinary. The best of ourselves is yet to be revealed!

New life means there’s a fundamental shift in identity, that we're holding out for the extraordinary, glory-filled future with Jesus, where I await the full benefit of what He has secured for me -- but until then we can be confident that we're safe with Jesus, and already victorious over the power and penalty of sin and death.

We have the freedom to glory over the hope that the Resurrection has given us, we can set our hearts and minds on what Jesus has for us now and later, because our lives are so perfectly secure with Jesus. From today until we see Him face to face, there is nothing that can separate us. We are so deeply rooted with Him, so hidden, if you will, that not even our sins will be revealed on the day of judgment. Jesus isn’t keeping us hidden with Himself, and then at the last second, surprising us.

Jesus Himself will be the judge at the last day, this is what Acts 10:42 says, and when He renders His judgment of us, He will see His own sacrifice, perfect and whole, covering us. And in objection, we’ll be waiting for the final shoe to drop as it were, and we’ll try to bring up past offenses. Jesus, what about this… or what about that… 2 Corinthians 5:19 “that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them.” So hidden that Jesus’ response to us is that He doesn’t remember our sins anymore.

Remember, Paul wrote in verse 1, since, then, you have been raised… We are only able to declare these truths, to share in His promises, because Jesus rose from the dead.

And if Jesus didn’t raise from the dead, Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15:17 this is all in vain, we have no hope, there is no new life, he says, “your faith is futile; you are still in your sins.”

But today we proclaim that Jesus has risen, God has raised us from our death into new life, and we are awaiting the great glory to be revealed.

He is Risen.

He is Risen, indeed.

If you’ve never heard of this good news, of the transforming new life made possible by the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus, I want to meet you after the service, and together we can meet this Risen Jesus.

---

Let’s pray.

Blessing

Go now, glad and rejoicing, for Christ is risen and has become your saviour. Set your minds on the things of God for your lives are hidden in Christ. Preach and testify that he is the one ordained by God to judge the living and the dead.

And may God surround you with everlasting love. May Christ Jesus raise you with him to life in glory. And may the Holy Spirit anoint you with power to do good.

We go in peace to love and serve the Lord, In the name of Christ. Amen. (from Nathan Nettleton)