Colossians 3:3-4
"Your Hidden Life"
You children might be familiar with the story of The Prince and the Pauper, written by Mark Twain. If you have not read the book, maybe you have seen the Disney version with Mickey Mouse, which is actually very funny. The Prince and the Pauper is about two boys who looked very much alike. The prince was raised in the palace to be the next king; the pauper was raised in the village and begged for a living.
One day the poor boy met the prince, and for fun they put on each other's clothes. A guard mistook the prince for the pauper and threw the real prince out of the palace and into the village, and the poor boy was then treated as the prince. The real prince tried to convince the villagers that he was the prince, but of course they did not believe him because he did not look like a prince; his true identity was hidden. I won't spoil the ending in case you haven't read the book.
In Colossians 3:3 the Bible tells you that as Christians your lives are hidden with Christ. Just like that prince whose true identity was hidden from the people, as Christians your spiritual identity for now is hidden. Your spiritual lives are hidden in that which God has done for you and in you cannot be seen with the naked eye. Unbelievers especially cannot recognize or value the grace of God in you.
What happens to Christ's people first happened with Christ. When Jesus was on the earth his true identity was hidden. People did not know he was the Son of God, the creator of the world. Because the majority did not recognize his true identity, they did not treat Christ as he deserved to be treated.
Those who believed in him did not see him in his full glory either, but by faith they recognized him. They saw his holiness, his mercy, his love, his miracles, they listened to his words, and they recognized he came from God. But Christ's identity was hidden while on the earth, and now your spiritual identity is for the present hidden.
How is your spiritual identity hidden in Christ? Well, v. 3 states that you have died. Now that's a strange thing to say to people who appear alive. You do not look like you have died.
Even though you are alive, spiritually you have died and become a new person. As Christians, you died when Christ died. When Christ died your old man bound for hell also died; that old man was crucified with Christ; it was punished in Christ. Thus spiritually you have died and risen again. You have been made alive and stamped with Christ's image. Others may not see it, but you are a new person.
The Scriptures bring out many aspects to your spiritual death. When Christ died, you died to the Law. You are no longer bound to that Law that pronounced you cursed if you do not obey it. The law has no more power to condemn you because you have already experienced the curse of the Law when Christ became your curse. Thus you have died to the Law and its condemning power.
You have also died to sin. Before God gave you his Holy Spirit, you were bound to sin; you had no power to not sin. The love of money, the desire for personal glory, the lusts of the flesh, these ruled you at one time.
But your old sinful heart died with Christ. Now you have a new heart that has power not to sin; you have a new desire to please the Lord. You have died to the enslaving power of sin.
When Christ died you also died to this world. Your hope is not in this world; you are not those who base your happiness on the politics or circumstances of this life. You have died to your enslavement to this life, because in Christ you have eternal life; life that does not depend on the politics or circumstances of this world.
Your lives are hidden in Christ; you still look the same from the outside, but you have become new people. You have died to the overcoming power of sin, died to the Law and it's requirement for personal perfection, and died to the power of this world to give you your value and hope.
There is another way your lives are hidden with Christ, and that is seen in v 4, where the Apostle writes that Christ is now your life. You cannot see it with human eyes, but as Christians you live in union with Christ who is at the right hand of God. Theologians call this union our mystical union with Christ. Though you cannot see him, Christ is the source of your spiritual lives; he communes with you from heaven; you receive spiritual strength and power from him.
This mystical union is seen most clearly in the description of the church as the body of Christ. Christ is the head of his body; which is his church. This does not mean that in some way we as the church share in Christ's divinity, or that Christ's physical body in some mysterious way expands to include the church.
The church is called the body of Christ because a body is a wonderful metaphor to denote the special, close relationship between Christ and his people. Can there be a body without a head? Can a body survive without being connected to the head?
As Christ's body we are in close union with Christ. He keeps us in close union by his Holy Spirit. The Spirit enlivens us, fills, us, and empowers us. Our union with Christ is hidden from the naked eye, hidden from the world. You cannot look at someone from the outside and know they are in communion with Christ. For now that mystical relationship between Christ and his people is hidden.
What are the implications that your lives are hidden with Christ? First of all, you should be content to be treated the same way Christ was treated. Let us be content to pass through this world hidden.
People will not often praise you for the grace that is inside you. They will only focus on your failings and ignore the grace. Many will be jealous, some will attribute your character to ulterior motives, such as fear, or simply political conservatism. They do not see that you have died with Christ and receive life from him.
We often think we deserve to be treated with more respect because we are sincere Christians; we are God's children. We know the Bible so people should listen to us.
But we should not be surprised when we are criticized and and ignored. The Christians in the first century were accused of being cannibals, for they spoke of feeding upon Christ in the Lord's Supper. Of course the world cannot understand the mystical union between Christ and his people, so this type of slander was expected.
Do not expect a family member, or your boss, or even your husband or wife, to respect every word you say simply because you speak them; simply because you are a Christian. You must be content that for now your lives our hidden. You should not expect to be treated any better than your Savior was treated.
The second implication of your lives being hidden in Christ is that you must see yourselves as God sees you. God has set his glory and grace on you; he has placed a crown upon you and stamped you with the image of his Son. You must believe what God says about you, even if you can't see it with your eyes.
Seeing yourselves rightly in Christ will strengthen you not to sin. If I am a king, an heir of heaven, a child of God, a freed man, should I take my crown and throw it in the mud? Should you take the image of Christ growing in you and soil that image with sexual immorality, or lying, or laziness, or bitterness, or hatred?
When you are tempted to sin, you should say, since I am a child of God, since if I have been raised with Christ, since I am God's prized possession, shall I ignore the excellencies of Christ in me and act like the devil? When you see yourselves rightly in Christ, you will have less desire to sin and more desire to reflect the image of Christ.
Finally, the reality of your lives being hidden in Christ has great implications for how you treat other Christians. The world places great value on attractiveness, or power, or riches. Wealthy, attractive people gain much favor and attention in the eyes of man. But you have eyes of faith. You are to prize God's grace in others more than all outward attributes.
What would you think if God lifted the veil and you saw your brother or sister in Christ the way God sees him or her from heaven? You would see a person attended to by angels, a person stamped with God's ownership, a person filled with the shikinah glory that filled the OT temple. If that person walked into the room, what honor would you give him? With eyes of faith that is exactly what you are to see, and therefore honor him or her accordingly.
Jesus said, if you treat the least of my brethren with honor you will be greatly blessed in heaven. Why? Because even a Christian child has more honor in God's eyes than the kings of this world. By your honoring of a fellow Christian, no matter how ordinary that person seems to the eyes of man, you demonstrate you believe what Christ says about his people.
You are to discern the image of Christ in other Christians, though the world does not recognize Christ's image in other Christians. You are to glory in a certain characteristic of Christ that may be more advanced in them than you, and thus honor them for the grace in them. We all have areas we are weak in and others are stronger. You are to recognize the grace in others and praise it. Jealous, arrogant people refused to be outshined by anyone, but a true Christian sees Christ in others and loves it; honors it, praises it.
By faith you are to look at your fellow Christian and see what God sees, treat that person as important, meet his needs as you are able, pray for him, rejoice when he rejoices and weep when he weeps, and praise the good in him. The image of Christ in your brother and sister, though of no value to the world, is to be of great value to you.
Beloved, your lives are hidden in Christ. You have died with him. You have been raised with him anew, stamped with Christ's image. You are united to him; he shares by his Spirit true spiritual life with you from heaven. Your spiritual identity for now is hidden.
So be content that you are not recognized and honored by men. Do not expect to be treated better than your Savior was treated. Honor God by honoring yourself and not staining the image of God in you with deliberate sin. And believe what God says about your brother and sister in Christ, seeing them with eyes of faith and honoring them as Christ does.
The Apostle reminds you at the end of verse 4 that this hidden character of our Christians lives is temporary. As sure as Christ will return in visible glory, so you will be revealed for the glorious sons and daughters of God that Christ has made you. That is your destiny.
The glory that you are now, which is for the present hidden, is just waiting to be revealed when Christ returns. Until then be content and rejoice in this glorious, mysterious, and for now hidden gospel that has united you forever with God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen