“For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God”
~Colossians 3:3
Something that is hidden can’t be seen, right? Does this mean that because my life is hidden with Christ in God that no one else needs to see it – it’s personal – just between God and me? I think not. Ponder a safety deposit box: something is protected, concealed in a place of security. This something also has great worth and value.
Jesus told a parable of a man who discovered treasure in a field (Matthew 13:44). Overjoyed, the man hid the treasure in the field, sold all that he had, then bought the field. He put all that he had into possessing that field because he recognized the great value of the treasure hidden in it. This is also the testimony of Paul who counted all things as loss for the surpassing worth of knowing Christ. This treasure – the kingdom of God, the knowledge of Christ – is acquired only through faith in Jesus Christ. It is what is referred to in Scripture as life. With meaning that transcends mere existence, life, in the Old Testament, was understood as the ability to exercise all one’s vital power to the fullest. Death was the opposite. In the New Testament, life is the state of one who is possessed of vitality – full, active, and vigorous. John informs us that “in Him was life (John 1:4)”; he also states, “he who has the Son has life” (1 John 5:12). The only way to “get a life” is in Jesus Christ where your life is hidden with Christ in God.
That fact that Paul used the present is hidden indicates a present reality with an eternal prospect. It is a secure belonging, as he stated to the Roman believers: nothing can “separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:37). Also, it is not up to you to guard and keep this life; your life is hidden with Christ; and as Peter stated, you are “kept by the power of God through faith” (1 Peter 1:4). It is safely entrusted to the only One who can securely guard it (2 Timothy 1:12).
It follows that the one whose life is hidden with Christ in God is now living for the greater reality to come. Hence, “Seek those things which are above . . . set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth” (Colossians 3:1-2). Jesus’ specific command was that we “seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness” precisely because we belong in this realm; in Christ, “our citizenship is in heaven” (Philippians 3:20). This is how the apostle Paul described this realm: “A far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal” (2 Corinthians 4:17-18).
This realm is a greater reality because it is superior in character and quality. It is established, permanent, and eternal. It will be a much fuller manner of life that produces absolute fulfillment and satisfaction to our humanity in God’s image. All that hinders our abundance of life and our relationship with God is eradicated; there will be no effect of evil or sin. We will be forever in the very presence of God.
The imperative to “seek those things which are above” (Colossians 3:1) is a call to be heavenly minded – to live in this temporary condition with our focus on the eternal destination. It can be affirmed from Colossians 3:1-3 that the most heavenly-minded person will indeed do the most earthly good because he will be the one who invests what has been entrusted to him temporally into what yields eternal fruit. Wouldn’t you say that Jesus was heavenly-minded, or the apostles and all the great Christian movers of the last two millennia? The writer of Hebrews asserts that even the patriarchs sought a homeland and desired a “better . . . heavenly country” (Hebrews 11:16), yet they were those “of whom the world was not worthy” (Hebrews 11:38).
The most heavenly-minded person is the one who is most in tune with God’s character and purpose; the one with the greater grasp of the big picture, who best discriminates between temporal futility and eternal productivity. This is the one who will be most beneficial to his fellow man on this earth – for the glory of God. “Those who have believed God should be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable to men” (Titus 3:8).
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