The Rhea Herald-News
August 20, 2014
“For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.” Colossians 3:4
My grandchildren do something that reminds me of Jesus.
We have a long ottoman in front of our sofa, and Hailie and Shawna love to hide behind it when someone enters the room. Of course, their posteriors are usually visible (and wiggling)—but it is a child’s fun game to be discovered and their giggles are priceless. You, of course, would never have done any of this when you were a child…
Please stay with me for a paragraph or two. The Scriptures have unusual ways to speak about our relationship with the Father and Son. Colossians 3:1-3, for instance, states we have died and have been raised with Christ. This is odd until we consider how radically different our status and lives are since we received Christ. We don’t just add religion to our crowded heart.
Followers of Christ have moved into a new house. Our dangerous, deadly shacks have been torn down and we live in a new neighborhood of mansions. Jesus Himself said about the far-reaching new status we have in John 5:24: “Truly, truly, I say you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.” Think about this: we have already started eternal life.
The phrase <em>“your life is hidden with Christ in God” in Colossians 3:4 also speaks of deep, supernatural realities and have captured my heart lately. One language expert suggests three uses of the word “hidden” in light of the times it was written: secrecy, safety, identity. Secrecy in the sense of the believer’s life is nurtured from the well of living water Jesus in ways unbelievers cannot know (Cf. John 7:37-39); safety since we are doubly protected—“with Christ in God”; identity because we are identified not with anyone or anything temporary but with our risen Lord.
By contrast, we struggle with secret sins and lives, trying to hide from God and others. Others may not know; nothing is hidden from our omniscient, all-knowing God.
Positively speaking, consider marriage as an illustration of “hidden.” Called a “profound mystery” in Ephesians 5, in marriage we are no longer two but our identity is as one, we live safe in the literal and figurative arms of one another, and we bask in spiritual, emotional, and physical intimacy and nurturing that is for our eyes, ears, and hearts only.
These are sacred hiding places—in marriage and most of all in Christ—where we live secure from a world hostile to God and us.
The ottoman provides short bursts of unbridled joy for Hailie and Shawna. Their giggles are contagious. Father, thank You for the joy of an eternal place in Your strong arms where there is safety, identity, and our own private closeness.
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