February 2nd, 2022
For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. - Colossians 3:1-3
Have you ever taken time to think about the verse above? To hide means to conceal or keep secret. It’s used several times in the New Testament, many times by Jesus himself, but this is one of the few times that it’s used in reference to the life of the believer. So, what exactly does it mean that our lives are hidden with Christ?
This may seem strange to think about, but the Bible talks about God hiding many things. There is nothing God wants more than for mankind to know the truth of His Word, however the Bible talks about Him hiding it! Why? So that we can seek and find it! We are commanded to search out the truth at any cost and to look for it as for hidden treasure (Prov. 2:4). Jesus compared the Kingdom of Heaven to buried treasure and a pearl of great price.
“The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, who, on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it” (Matthew 13:44-45)
That which God values, He hides, that only those who desire will find it. He hides it so that we have to discern the motives of our own hearts to find it. The Bible says that we will seek and find if we seek with all of our hearts. The point is that the Kingdom of God has so much value that we only find it fully when we seek it with everything we have. If there was no need to seek, then it would require no choice, no passion, no desperation on our part to pursue God and His purposes. He delights to be found by us, but He desires for us to search with our whole heart (Matt. 6:33).
Think about valuables in your own life. You don’t just leave things of great worth lying around in public for anyone to see and take. You protect them! This is what God does with our lives in Christ. It’s important to the look at the two verses preceding the one above to understand it’s meaning.
“If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds 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” Colossians 3:1-3
Paul then goes on to admonish the Colossian church in verse 5 to “Put to death therefore what is earthly in you” and then lists all of the carnal things that are unfit for the life of a believer. What Paul is saying here is that what was carnal and fleshly in us died when we were born again, and our spirits, our lives are now hidden in Christ, absolutely unable to be touched by the things of the world. We are free from everything that held us captive when we were not hidden in Christ. If we are hidden in Him, then nothing can hurt us that couldn’t hurt Him. What exactly was able to afflict or overcome Jesus? Not even death itself!
Hebrews 2:15 says,
“Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery.”
1 John 5:18 says,
“We know that everyone who has been born of God does not keep on sinning, but he who was born of God protects him, and the evil one does not touch him.”
Jesus defeated death, sin, sickness, and every other afflicting thing that was brought into the world through sin. When we receive what He did on the cross of Calvary, we get to sit with Him in that victory, free from every one of those things. This is what it means to be hidden in Christ. Darkness, death, sin, and the devil cannot touch that which is hidden in God.
David understood this protection and wrote about it many times in the Psalms! If you feel like you are unprotected, I encourage you to meditate on Scriptures like these:
Psalms 61:3
for you have been my refuge,
a strong tower against the enemy.
Psalms 27:5
For he will hide me in his shelter
in the day of trouble;
he will conceal me under the cover of his tent;
he will lift me high upon a rock.
Psalms 119:114
You are my hiding place and my shield;
I hope in your word.
Psalm 91:1-2
He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High
will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.
I will say to the LORD, “My refuge and my fortress,
my God, in whom I trust.”
One of the mysteries of God is the fact that we are hidden in Him in order to shine in the World. Just as God hides treasure in His Word in order to be found. He hides us in Him, in order that He might be revealed through us.
“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 5:14-16)
“But we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our glory.” (1 Corinthians 2:7)
We, as the church of Jesus Christ, have the privilege of imparting a hidden wisdom to those who will receive it. We carry the mysteries of God, hidden since the foundation of the World, made manifest in Jesus Christ, and revealed through His church. There is nothing more precious to Jesus than His church. The heart of God is that the world would hear the truth the truth of the Gospel and see the light of God shining through her! We are hidden in God, not to escape the world, but to go to it! We are completely safe in Him, even as we live in a World groaning for salvation. We are hidden in Christ for the purpose of seeing His truth revealed!
Have you ever taken time to think about the verse above? To hide means to conceal or keep secret. It’s used several times in the New Testament, many times by Jesus himself, but this is one of the few times that it’s used in reference to the life of the believer. So, what exactly does it mean that our lives are hidden with Christ?
This may seem strange to think about, but the Bible talks about God hiding many things. There is nothing God wants more than for mankind to know the truth of His Word, however the Bible talks about Him hiding it! Why? So that we can seek and find it! We are commanded to search out the truth at any cost and to look for it as for hidden treasure (Prov. 2:4). Jesus compared the Kingdom of Heaven to buried treasure and a pearl of great price.
“The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, who, on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it” (Matthew 13:44-45)
That which God values, He hides, that only those who desire will find it. He hides it so that we have to discern the motives of our own hearts to find it. The Bible says that we will seek and find if we seek with all of our hearts. The point is that the Kingdom of God has so much value that we only find it fully when we seek it with everything we have. If there was no need to seek, then it would require no choice, no passion, no desperation on our part to pursue God and His purposes. He delights to be found by us, but He desires for us to search with our whole heart (Matt. 6:33).
Think about valuables in your own life. You don’t just leave things of great worth lying around in public for anyone to see and take. You protect them! This is what God does with our lives in Christ. It’s important to the look at the two verses preceding the one above to understand it’s meaning.
“If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds 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” Colossians 3:1-3
Paul then goes on to admonish the Colossian church in verse 5 to “Put to death therefore what is earthly in you” and then lists all of the carnal things that are unfit for the life of a believer. What Paul is saying here is that what was carnal and fleshly in us died when we were born again, and our spirits, our lives are now hidden in Christ, absolutely unable to be touched by the things of the world. We are free from everything that held us captive when we were not hidden in Christ. If we are hidden in Him, then nothing can hurt us that couldn’t hurt Him. What exactly was able to afflict or overcome Jesus? Not even death itself!
Hebrews 2:15 says,
“Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery.”
1 John 5:18 says,
“We know that everyone who has been born of God does not keep on sinning, but he who was born of God protects him, and the evil one does not touch him.”
Jesus defeated death, sin, sickness, and every other afflicting thing that was brought into the world through sin. When we receive what He did on the cross of Calvary, we get to sit with Him in that victory, free from every one of those things. This is what it means to be hidden in Christ. Darkness, death, sin, and the devil cannot touch that which is hidden in God.
David understood this protection and wrote about it many times in the Psalms! If you feel like you are unprotected, I encourage you to meditate on Scriptures like these:
Psalms 61:3
for you have been my refuge,
a strong tower against the enemy.
Psalms 27:5
For he will hide me in his shelter
in the day of trouble;
he will conceal me under the cover of his tent;
he will lift me high upon a rock.
Psalms 119:114
You are my hiding place and my shield;
I hope in your word.
Psalm 91:1-2
He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High
will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.
I will say to the LORD, “My refuge and my fortress,
my God, in whom I trust.”
One of the mysteries of God is the fact that we are hidden in Him in order to shine in the World. Just as God hides treasure in His Word in order to be found. He hides us in Him, in order that He might be revealed through us.
“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 5:14-16)
“But we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our glory.” (1 Corinthians 2:7)
We, as the church of Jesus Christ, have the privilege of imparting a hidden wisdom to those who will receive it. We carry the mysteries of God, hidden since the foundation of the World, made manifest in Jesus Christ, and revealed through His church. There is nothing more precious to Jesus than His church. The heart of God is that the world would hear the truth the truth of the Gospel and see the light of God shining through her! We are hidden in God, not to escape the world, but to go to it! We are completely safe in Him, even as we live in a World groaning for salvation. We are hidden in Christ for the purpose of seeing His truth revealed!
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