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. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.
Colossians 3:1-3
I’ve read this passage from Colossians Chapter 3 often. Perhaps you have, too.
And I’ve always zeroed in on the sentence “set your mind on things that are above” as an exhortation to direct my thinking toward God and the things of His kingdom. I haven’t really thought much about the next sentence.
What does Paul mean when he says “For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God?” After all, that appears to be the very reason we should set our minds on things that are above. He implies that “above” is where God is and that is where our life is hidden. And it is hidden there as a result of our death.
But I’m still alive, thank-you-very-much. So what gives?
I think Paul speaks out of a mysterious principle that is very fundamental to understanding how the kingdom of God works. He received his knowledge of kingdom principles from Jesus Himself during the 13 years he spent in the Arabian desert prior to busting loose in ministry. And Jesus spoke frequently of the hidden aspects of God’s kingdom, albeit in parables. Matthew 13 is full of those. He likens the kingdom of God to a treasure hidden in a field, to seed sown into the soil and hidden beneath the ground, and to leaven hidden in a measure of flour. And in Matthew 6 when the disciples ask Him to teach them how to pray He tells them they should not make a public spectacle of it like the Pharisees do but to go into their inner chamber and speak to the Father in secret because He sees in secret and rewards in secret (Matthew 6:6).
They all point to the same thing. The kingdom of God enters our souls in secret and develops within us in secret by the indwelling Holy Spirit. It is a hidden kingdom within us that becomes visible by the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22), evidence of a life changed from the inside out.
Our lives are hidden with Christ. I think that means that we are united with Christ in His death and resurrection to new life (Romans 6:1-11). We belong to Him. We are not our own anymore. He bought us with a price (1 Corinthians 6:19b-20).
Our lives are hidden in God. Acts 17:27b-28 says that God is not far from us, for in Him we live and move and have our being. The phrase “in Him” occurs a lot in the New Testament. It means that He surrounds us and indwells us. Ephesians 4:6 tells us that there is “one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.” I don’t know the physics of how that works, but I do know that God is omnipresent. He is the only Being in the universe who can be everywhere at the same time. That means He can be in me, over me, work through me, and be around me. And millions more beside me at the same time!
It is comforting to know that God the Father loves us so that He wants our lives to be hidden in Him. Some day, when judgment is passed on sin, it will be revealed to all creation who His sons and daughters are.
Until then, our daily walk with Him stays hidden from public view, our battles take place in secret, His life in us grows without it being immediately recognizable, and our faith grows in our secret intimacy with Him. Indeed our entire spiritual life takes place out of sight, in our “inner being” (Ephesians 3:16).
Think of it like a mighty oak. We are the “oaks of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he may be glorified.” (Isaiah 61:3) What is the secret to the might of an oak? The depth of its roots that take in nourishment from the soil, out of sight. The beauty of the Christian character visible on the outside comes from spiritual nourishment on the inside. We put down those roots deep and strong into the Word and the all-sufficient grace of God, and His nourishment causes His life to grow and flourish within us for all to see, to the praise of His glory.
That is very different than making a public spectacle of your religious devotion on your own. That is a form of self-glorification. It comes from you, not God. It does not glorify Him and does not withstand the tests of adversity.
So the strength of our Christian life comes from the hidden portion of it – our souls, rooted in Christ by seeking Him daily, thirstily lapping up the nourishment He gladly pours out into us. He does not force that on us. We have to seek it, every day afresh. The soil does not force its nutrition into a tree’s roots. The tree has to, well, suck it out of the soil.
Proverbs 4:23 says: “Guard your heart with all possible vigilance, for from it flow the wellsprings of life.” (NCB) Your heart is your inner life. It’s your thought life, your emotions, your appetites, and your will. The outworking of your life in Christ depends on what happens there. If you yield it to the passions of your flesh and drink in the entertainment and creature comforts the world has to offer at the expense of staying attached to Jesus every day, your growth as an oak of righteousness suffers. But if you present yourself in your secret chamber to Him every day eager to have His help, eager to be fed by His Word, and desirous to worship, pray, and seek His grace for every aspect of your life and the lives of the people for who you intercede, His hidden life in you grows strong and becomes visible on the outside to the praise of God’s glory and to HIs great delight.
Your life is hidden with Christ in Him. And His life is hidden in you by the Holy Spirit. The conjoining of those two hidden lives makes for mighty things in the universe!
So if you feel hidden -unnoticed, small in ministry, embattled, perhaps even unneeded, or without a grand purpose for which you were born – do not despair! Your life is in God. It doesn’t get any higher than that. Hidden to the world, yes. Hidden to God, no. And out of your hidden life flow things that are precious to God. Things that He wants to work in you and through you in secret. You don’t need to be a high-profile super saint. You just need to stay close to Him. Even the smallest thing you do out of the strength of your inner life with Him is great in His eyes!