Hidden in Christ
"So if you have been raised with the Messiah, seek what is above, where the Messiah is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on what is above, not on what is on the earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with the Messiah in God. When the Messiah, who is your life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory.”
Colossians 3:1-4 HCSB
What does it mean to be hidden in Christ? This is a big question, one that I have tried to find answers to many times over the years. Usually, I've ended up unsatisfied with the answers I’ve found.
Something really bothers me when I hear people say that being hidden in Christ means God sees Jesus instead of you or that you no longer matter or have a life; it's just Christ.
On the one hand, that’s true! Ultimately, Christ is the only One who matters and our lives are His property. Spiritual life is life given to us by the Spirit and lived out for God. And our sinful man has been removed from God’s sight by Christ. God no longer sees our sinful nature, but when He looks at us, He sees us as the new creatures we are only in union with Christ.
But we are not invisible to God, blocked from His view by Christ. And God has given us lives that matter. So what does being hidden in Christ really mean?
When I get stuck, it’s often helpful for me to look at things from a new angle. So I ask instead: what does it mean to not be hidden in Christ? And the first and most apparent answer that comes to mind is, it means to be exposed.
If you are not hidden in Christ, you are exposed.
Exposed to the enemy and his attacks.
Exposed to temptation and helpless to resist it.
Your sinful, shameful past and sin nature are exposed for all to see and exposed in the presence of God as deserving of wrath.
Even more, your one and only life is entirely visible, physical, touchable, and ends when you die. It is a life of pain and suffering in a broken world, full of a desperate and hopeless, apart from Christ, pursuit of something to cover your shame and protect you from evil, a pursuit that ends in death.
This is a rather depressing thought. It isn't a wonder that anxiety and depression mark the lives of so many. Even believers tend to focus on their earthly lives and suffer from the understandable fear and heaviness that attend to such an earth-bound perspective. Life here is hard.
But life hidden in Christ is hopeful.
If all of that is what it means to not be hidden in Christ, then being hidden in Christ means the opposite.
A life hidden in Christ means you are covered, safe.
Covered by the Warrior who protects all who are His from being destroyed by the enemy and his attacks.
Safe from being dragged down by temptation and able, instead, to resist it.
Covered by the blood of Christ and His righteousness so that you are no longer defined by your sin nature. You are a new creation, safe from the wrath of God and standing before Him in robes of righteousness, able to tell the world: I am forgiven!
Best of all, to be hidden in Christ means that your true life is invisible, spiritual, indestructible, and eternal. It is a life of union with Christ, of growing more into His likeness and gaining heavenly treasure day by day. It can’t be seen, but your life in Him can be experienced through worship. And one day, your faith will become sight and everything you have experienced in part on earth will become the whole of your reality forever.
To be hidden in Christ is to be safe, covered, and have the greatest hope you could ever ask for or imagine!
Do you have confidence that you are hidden in Christ?
If so, friend, rejoice with me! Run to the Father and thank Him for the covering of Christ. And don’t let the enemy keep your gaze earth-bound. Fix your eyes on things above, on the hope you have and the One who is the source of your hope.
But if you do not know where you stand with God today, my friend, this is a beautiful opportunity. I encourage you to confess to God the sinful state you are in, that you are exposed and need His covering. Believe in Christ as the perfect sacrifice who died and rose again to offer you forgiveness of sins. And then, oh dear friend, then receive the wondrous gift of forgiveness and a robe of righteousness! Today, you can be hidden in Christ.