HIDDEN IN CHRIST

"For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God." [Colossians 3:3]

I have to admit this verse written by the apostle Paul perplexed me for some time!

What does it mean?

What is it telling me?

When I think of people being hidden, I think of danger. When Jochebed hid Moses for three months, it was to keep him alive, because Pharoah had ordered his death. When Rahab hid the two spies on the roof, she did this to protect them from being killed.

Even in ourselves we have hidden parts of us that no one sees.

Do you feel like parts of yourself, in fact some of the most important parts of yourself, are hidden from other people?

If you do, then you are not alone. There are parts of us that just cannot be fully seen and known by other people.

Our minds, our hearts, our deepest worries, motivations and joys, are all inherently hidden to varying degrees from the eyes of other people, no matter how much we desire to let them in. That is simply part and parcel of being human; we are made up of more than what can be seen.

But, our God sees everything. He knows us fully. He knows us better than we know ourselves.

So what did the apostle Paul mean when he wrote that "our lives are now hidden with Christ in God?"

Well, Paul wrote this letter to the Christians in Colossae who, externally were faced with being persecuted by the Roman Empire, and internally there were strife and division, primarily because of false teachers who were confusing the heart of the gospel. So, Paul is strong in his emphasis of the true heart of the gospel. He wants them to know that they are new creations in Christ. Their old selves have died and they have been raised to a new life in Christ through faith, and they are called to live out that new identity in Christ. The old has gone, the new has come!

It means that no matter what, the very core of us are no longer bound to the things of this world. Christ pulled us out, and hid us with Him. Our lives are hidden in Christ because He is our mediator to the Father. When God the Father looks at us, He does not see us, He sees Christ because we are hidden in Him.

Being hidden with Christ in God, means our previous history - our old life - is over and done, and our new life with an entirely different and glorious future has begun.

The apostle Paul said:

"My old self has been crucified in Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me." (Galatians 2:20)

Our heavenly Father ceases to count our sins against us because of our identification with the death and resurrection of His Son. In the eyes of God, we are changed, into a new creation in Christ's image and likeness, yet we are still being transformed.

The idea of being "hidden" with Christ in God also relates to our eternal security. No matter what happens, we are as secure as Christ Himself, for we are hidden with Him; when our lives are lived by the faith of Jesus, who loved us and gave Himself for us. God Himself has secured us. We are here in the flesh, but our lives are not in this visible world. We have a life that is eternal, incorruptible and indestructible.

This is total security.

How should we respond to such a beautiful and core changing action?

Every breath we take should feel different. We may think air gives us life, but it is the life of Jesus that sustains us. We can be hidden in many things, but the only true source of life is Jesus. He is the very air that we breathe.

God is hiding us, protecting us in Christ, until He is ready to fully reveal all of His children. Until that day comes, we must live by faith, knowing we are hidden in Christ.

How incredible is that!