Hidden in Christ

Paul warned the Colossian church against legalism and other “ism-traps,” making a clear argument that we must simply trust what God says about those who have died with Christ. We don’t need to work ourselves into favor with God; we have that perfectly in Christ. If we read what the Bible really says, we will see things as they really are. And that’s a safe place. I have never done any dangerous rock climbing with harnesses and carabiners and climbing shoes. But there’s an analogy here to how we must live in the reality of God’s Word and His creation. A professional rock climber said, “If we are keenly alert and aware of the rock and what we are doing on it, if we are honest with ourselves and our capabilities and weaknesses, if we avoid committing ourselves beyond what we know is safe, then we will climb safely. For climbing is an exercise in reality. He who sees it clearly is on safe ground. But he who sees reality as he would like it to be, may have his illusions rudely stripped from his eyes when the ground comes up fast.” The answer to a fleshly desire for legalism is a day by day, sometimes moment by moment reminder of what is real for us as believers. We have died, we have been buried, and we are resurrected with and hidden in Christ.  
 
Paul then starts chapter three with “If then.” If (or “because”) we are raised with Christ, then we should seek the things that are above. If Christ is our treasure, then we look to Him, we put all our hopes in Him, and not in things on the earth. Where our treasure is, Jesus said, is where our heart will be. I was reminded this week of the old Jack Benny routine where the penny-pincher was accosted by an armed robber. The man said to Benny, “Your money or your life!” There was long pause as Benny didn’t respond. The robber said, “Well?!” Jack Benny replied, “Don’t rush me. I’m thinking about it.” Funny, but sad that there are many who live as if their money and their stuff is really all that matters. Their identity is in what they can accumulate. I like Kent Hughes comment on this: “Paul is not suggesting that the Christian withdraw from commerce and any possibility of prominence or achievement. Taken to absurdity, there would never be a Christian surgeon or chef; there would be no excellence. The difference is that the Christian is no longer to see these things as if they are all that matters. His mind-set is to be dominated by ‘the things that are above.’” 
 
What we set our mind on determines our seeking. What matters to us most will be evident in our actions. I know my dog Bella has her mind set on playing fetch with me. She hears my car arrive in the afternoon. And she waits. As soon as I walk out on the back deck, that’s her cue. She runs to get her ball and runs out from under the deck with it in her mouth, looking up at me and wagging her tail as if to say, “I have waited all day for this. Come throw this ball!”  
 
Paul says, “Set your mind on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.” You and I have died, and our life is now hidden with Christ in God. Our spiritual identity is not always visible to the naked eye, and the world certainly does not understand our faith. But we are and we will be hidden with Christ in God, and all will become clear on the last day.  That truth looks back to the cross and the resurrection, where our life began. That truth also looks forward to the glorious day of Christ’s return. Paul writes, “When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.” If we are raised with Christ, we seek what is above. And because we are in Christ, He will return for us. Paul wrote in Philippians, “Our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him to subject all things to himself.”  
 
Stay hidden, saints. But don’t let the Gospel be hidden. Live in Christ out loud every day.