Introduction
Paul has been warning his readers about a Christless religion which certain false teachers were promoting in Colosse. We don’t know exactly what they were teaching, but from what Paul says about it, it seems that this Christless religion was an amalgamation of Judaism and paganism. The false teachers had taken bits and pieces from Judaism such as the Old Testament laws about food and festivals; and they had taken bits and pieces from paganism about spiritual beings and magic and astrology; and they had combined them together to create their own brand of Christless religion. Follow our directions, they seemed to be saying, and you will be kept safe from evil spirits in the world. Follow our directions, they seemed to be saying, and you can enjoy the higher life: you can enter heaven like one of the angels to have communion with God in heaven.
It seems the false teachers were saying something like that. And Paul was warning his readers not to be taken in by the false teachers. They should stay away from their Christless religion. And, as well as warning his readers about this Christless religion, Paul has been reminding his readers about the glory of Christ. He’s the image of the invisible God. He’s supreme over creation, because all things were made through him. And he’s supreme over the new creation, because he was the first to be raised from the dead. And all the fullness of God dwells in him. And God reconciles all things in heaven and earth to himself through him. And he is the mystery, once hidden, but now revealed and the only Saviour of the world. And all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hidden in him. And the fullness of Deity lives in him in bodily form. And in him we have died to our old life of sin and unbelief and we’ve been raised with him to a new life of faithful obedience. And he suffered the penalty we deserve for all that we have done wrong when he died on the cross so that we can receive forgiveness from God. And because of Christ, God has stripped the powers and authorities of whatever power they held over us so that we need not fear them now.
Paul has been reminding his readers about the glory of Christ. And in the last passage we studied today, he told his readers that they should not let anyone judge them with regard to food and festivals and all the other things the false teachers considered important. Those Old Testament laws about food and festivals have now expired. They are past their ‘use by’ date. And they have expired, because Christ has come. And we are cleansed from our guilt, not by avoiding certain food, by trusting in Christ, because he suffered the wrath of God in our place so that we can have peace with God forever.
So, Paul has been warning his readers about the false teachers and their Christless religion. Instead of following a Christless religion, they should hold on to Christianity, which is a Christ-centred religion. And I’ve said that there are still plenty of Christless religions in the world. There are all the main world religions like Judaism and Islam and Buddhism. And then there are all the cults and sects. And there are all the modern day isms and ideologies which people rely on to make sense of the world and to help them cope with the sin and misery of life.
Everyone has to believe in something. That’s just the way we are. We have to believe in something. And these world religions and philosophies and beliefs and ideas offer a way to control our destiny and to remove problems from our life; and they offer a way to obtain a happy life. And people still turn to Christless religions, when they should be turning to Christianity and to Christ, who is the only one who can save us from our sin and misery in this life and in the next.
Today’s passage
Today we come to verses 1 to 4 of chapter 3. And these four verses can be divided into two parts. Theologians and biblical scholars sometimes talk about ‘The Already’ and ‘The Not Yet’. ‘The Already’ and ‘The Not Yet’. They’re referring to the benefits and privileges we receive because of Christ. And we have already received some of those privileges. We already possess some of them and we already enjoy them, because we received them in the past. But there are other privileges and benefits which we have not yet received. We will receive them and possess them in the future. But we have not yet received them. And in verses 1 to 3 of today’s passage, Paul refers to the privileges and benefits, the blessings, which we have already received from Christ. And in verse 4 he refers to the not yet privileges which we will receive in the future. And that means the emphasis in verses 1 to 3 is on the past; and the emphasis in verse 4 is on the future.
And so, he says in verse 1 that we have been raised with Christ. Being raised with Christ also implies that we died with him. And, in fact, Paul makes that explicit in verse 3 where he says that ‘you died’. You died with Christ. This has already happened. In a few minutes, we’ll think about what Paul means when he says we have already died and been raised. But for now we simply note that just as Christ died and was raised, so believers have already died and been raised with him. And Paul also says that our life is hidden with Christ in God. That too is something that is part of ‘The Already’. Our lives are already hidden in Christ. And since this is the case — since we have died with Christ and we have been raised with Christ and our life is now hidden with Christ — then we should set our hearts and minds on things above, where Christ is seated.
That’s verses 1 to 3. In verse 4, Paul goes on to speak about ‘The Not Yet’. And so, he refers to the time in the future when Christ will appear. And when Christ appears, then ‘you also will appear with him in glory’. So, this is something which has not yet happened. It will happen, but it hasn’t happened yet. And when Christ appears, believers will also appear in glory. That is, we will be raised in glory and will come into the presence of God in body and soul to be with him forever.
So, that’s today’s passage in a nutshell. For the remainder of our time, I want to focus on a few of the things which Paul mentions in these four verses.
Where Christ is seated
And we’ll begin with the words, ‘where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.’ Paul commands us to set our hearts and minds above, because that’s where Christ is. He is above the world, because he’s seated in heaven.
The image of Christ, sitting at God’s right hand, recalls what we read in Psalm 110, which is the Old Testament passage which is quoted the most in the New Testament. And in Psalm 110, the Lord God Almighty invites the Lord Jesus Christ to sit at his right hand as King over all. When he was on the earth, the Lord Jesus was despised and rejected by men; and he was a man of sorrows; he was familiar with suffering; he was despised; and we esteemed him not. These are the words of Isaiah and they describe the Lord’s life on earth perfectly. He was pierced and he was crushed and our iniquity was laid on him so that he suffered and died for us and for our salvation. And after he died, he was buried and he remained under the power of death for a time. But on the third day, God raised him from the dead. And then God raised him to heaven and installed him as King over all. And from his throne in heaven, he now rules over all things for the sake of his people. And so, we don’t need to be afraid of anyone: whether dark spiritual powers like Satan and his demons; or powerful enemies here on earth. We don’t need to be afraid of them, because Christ our Saviour has conquered all his enemies and ours. He has conquered them and he now sits above them as King over all. Whoever is against us is under his power and authority; and they cannot do anything to us without his permission. And even when Christ our King lets them hurt us, he’s able to use what they do to us for our good. Our destiny is in his hands; and so, we don’t need to be afraid.
But the image of Christ, sitting at God’s right hand, recalls something else from Psalm 110. In that psalm, God not only invites the Lord Jesus to sit at his right hand as King over all, but God also tells the Lord Jesus that he has made him a priest for ever. As our Great High Priest, the Lord Jesus offered himself on the cross as the once-for-all, perfect sacrifice to take away our guilt and to make peace for us with God. And having provided for our purification by his self-sacrifice, he has now sat down at God’s right hand. Sitting down speaks to us of a work completed, because none of us can sit down and relax until we’ve finished our work. And so, after he finished his High Priestly work on earth, he was able to sit down in heaven at God’s right hand.
And so, Paul reminds his readers of where Christ is seated. Where is Christ seated? He’s seated in heaven at God’s right hand side. He’s seated there as King over all and as our Great High Priest, who has finished his work to purify us.
Died and raised with Christ
Let’s move on to the next point, which is that we have died with Christ; and we have been raised with Christ. Verse 3 begins: ‘For you died….’ And verse 1 begins: ‘Since, then, you have been raised with Christ….’ We have died with Christ and we have been raised with Christ.
When Paul says that we have died and that we have been raised, he’s not using metaphorical language. He’s not using picture language. The Bible often uses metaphorical or picture language to describe God. So, the Bible says that God is a rock. But we know that God is not really a rock. He’s not really a rock, but he’s like a rock in some ways. The Bible says that the Lord Jesus is a lion and a lamb. But we know that he’s not really a lion or a lamb, but in some ways, he’s like a lion; and in some ways, he’s like a lamb. And so, from time to time the Bible uses metaphorical or picture language to describe God. However, when Paul says we died and we have been raised, he doesn’t mean it was like we died and were raised, or that it’s as if we died and were raised. He’s not saying that it’s as if we died and were raised, but we didn’t really die and we weren’t really raised. He doesn’t mean that. He means that we really died. And he means that we really were raised. We didn’t die physically or bodily, but we died in a spiritual sense, because when we first trusted in Christ, our old life of sin and unbelief died. It was no more. And when we first trusted in Christ, we were raised with him to live a new life of faith and obedience: of faith in Christ and of obedience to God’s will. Just as Christ really died and was raised, so we really died and we really were raised. Not physically or bodily, but spiritually. Once we belonged to this present, evil age which is destined to perish; but now we belong to the new age to come, which will never end. Once we were part of this old creation, which is marked by sin and suffering and death; but now we are part of God’s new creation, which is marked by righteousness and happiness and life. And so, we died; and we were raised.
I’ve spoken before about the three resurrections in the Bible. The first resurrection is Christ’s bodily resurrection from the dead which took place two thousand years ago. The second resurrection is the believer’s bodily resurrection from the dead which will take place when Christ comes again. Both of these resurrections are bodily: Christ was raised bodily from the grave; and so will every believer. And since both of these resurrections are bodily, then they are both visible. They can be seen.
But then the Bible refers to a third resurrection, which is not a bodily resurrection. And therefore it’s not visible, but invisible. And so, after it happned in us, we didn’t look any different than we did before. Our outward, physical appearance didn’t change in any way. But when the Spirit came into our lives and enabled us to believe in Christ, then the inward change that took place in us was so decisive and so radical that the only way to describe it is by calling it a death and resurrection. Our old life of sin and unbelief died; and we were raised with Christ.
And since we’ve been raised with Christ, then we should live a new kind of life. That’s why Paul tells us to set our hearts and minds on things above, where Christ is seated. And he unpacks what that means in the verses which follow today’s passage, where he tells us to put to death whatever is earthly. So, put to death whatever belongs to this fallen world; and live as those who belong in heaven with Christ.
Now, in the verses which follow today’s passage, Paul will make clear that — although we’ve been raised with Christ, who is in heaven — we’re not to abandon the world or flee from it. When God gives us this new life, he does not take us out of the world; he leaves us in the world. But we’re to live in the world as those who have been raised with Christ. We’re to live in the world as those who belong in heaven with Christ. Our life here on earth should reflect the glory of heaven above. We’ll learn more about that the next time.
But before moving on to the next point, note that Paul uses the passive tense in verse 1. Being raised is something that happens to us and it’s not something we do ourselves. We don’t raise ourselves, but God raises us. The false teachers were teaching the people to do certain things or to avoid certain things in order to raise themselves up to heaven: Do this in order to reach up to the higher life and to deeper communion with God. And so, they emphasised human effort.
But we don’t raise ourselves. God raises us. He sent his Spirit into our lives to unite with Christ through faith. And having been united with Christ through faith, we are raised up by God to live this new heavenly life of faith and obedience. And the ability, the power, the energy comes from God and not from ourselves. And so, as in all things, we rely on God. We depend on him. Everything we are and everything we do comes from him. And we, in turn, give thanks to him and praise him for his kindness to us in Christ.
Hidden in Christ
But let’s move on now to the next point which is that our life is hidden with Christ in God. That’s in verse 3. By saying that Christ is in God, Paul is saying that Christ is God. And so, Paul means that our life is hidden with Christ who is God.
And the image of being hidden conveys two important truths which we need to know. The first is to do with protection. One of the reasons we might hide something which belongs to us is to keep it safe and to protect it from damage or from thieves. And so, when Paul tells us that our life has been hidden with Christ, he means that we are now under Christ’s protection. We’ve been hidden with him in order to keep us safe. Psalm 31 uses the same kind of image, where the psalmist says to the Lord that God hides his people in the shelter of his presence from the intrigues of men. So, in the psalm, evil men were plotting against God’s people. However, God was keeping his people safe. And our life is safe, because of Christ.
And so, the Devil cannot harm us in this life, despite his wicked schemes, because Christ will keep us safe. And other people cannot harm us in this life, because Christ our Saviour will keep us safe. As the Lord says in John’s gospel, no one can snatch us from his hands. And Peter says in his first letter that we are shielded by God’s power. And Paul says in his letter to the Romans that we know that in all things God works for the good of his people. So, while we might still suffer in this life, God is able to use our suffering for our good. And Paul goes on to say that if God is for us, then who can be against us and succeed? Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, nor neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus. Our loving God will continue to guard us and to keep us, because our life is hidden with Christ.
But then the image of being hidden is also to do with being concealed. Believers, in a sense, have a secret identity. We have a secret identity, because we are hidden with Christ. Christ himself is hidden in the sense that he is now in heaven, where no one on earth can see him. And many on earth do not believe in him. And we too are hidden in the sense that people look at us and they can’t see anything different about us. We look the same as everyone else. And therefore they don’t realise our true identity, which is that we are God’s people, sons and daughters of God, who are destined for glory in the presence of God.
I’ve mentioned before the time I visited an old man in hospital. And to the other patients in the ward, and to the other visitors who were there that day, he was just an old man who couldn’t walk properly because of a bad leg; and who couldn’t see properly because of a bad eye; and who couldn’t hear properly because one ear was completely deaf and the other wasn’t much better. He just seemed like an old, frail, broken man. But what they didn’t realise was that that old man was a child of God.
The apostle John says about us in his first letter that the world does not know us. It does not recognise us. And the world doesn’t know us, because it did not know Christ. So, it didn’t know him and it doesn’t know us. It doesn’t know that we’re children of God. Our true identity is concealed; but our true identity will be revealed when Christ returns.
Again Paul writes about this in Romans 8, where he personifies the creation and says the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed. So, right now, no one realises who we are or what we are. But the day will come when our true identity will be revealed. Right now, our life is hidden, concealed. People look at us and we look the same as everyone else. In fact, we might seem very ordinary and plain to them compared to other people in the world who are rich and powerful and dynamic and striking and successful. Compared to them, we’re very plain and ordinary. But the day will come when our true identify as children of God will be revealed.
So, the image of being hidden conveys the idea that Christ is keeping us safe. He’s protecting us. And the image of being hidden conveys the idea that our true identity is concealed. And so, we shouldn’t be surprised if the world disregards us or despises us. We’re nothing to them. But one day, our identity as children of God will be revealed.
When Christ appears
And our true identity will be revealed when Christ appears. Right now he is concealed in heaven. No one on earth can see him there. No one can look up at the stars and see him sitting at God’s right hand. The astronauts in space will not be able to find him there and take a photo of him. He cannot be seen. He’s hidden. But one day he will appear. The clouds will open and Christ the King will return from heaven to earth. And whereas he came the first time in weakness and humility and lived a life that was full of sorrows and sufferings, the next time he comes, he will come with glory and in power to condemn his enemies forever and to raise his people from their graves and to bring us into the presence of God in the new heavens and earth, where we will be glorified in God’s presence and where we’ll be happy forever and forever. And so, when Christ appears, we will appear with him in glory. This is our ultimate destiny.
The false teachers in Colosse may have claimed that they could give the people a higher life and let them enjoy a deeper communion with God in heaven. That’s what they claimed, but they could not deliver it, because the way into God’s presence is not a matter of food and festivals, and dos and donts, but it’s a matter of faith, because whoever believes in Jesus Christ as the only Saviour of the world, receives forgiveness and peace with God and the hope of everlasting life in the presence of God, so that though we die, yet we shall life forever in body and soul with God and with Christ our Saviour.
Paul says in verse 4 that Christ is our life. He is our life, because he’s the one who gives us life. He gave us this new, resurrection life in the present, because he sent his Spirit into our lives to change us. And when he comes in the future, he will raise our dead bodies from the ground so that we will live forever in body and soul in the new heavens and earth. And so, Christ is our life, because he gives us life.
And he is our life in the sense that our life is centred on him. Think of Paul in his letter to the Philippians, saying that ‘to him, to live is Christ’. He meant that the whole of his life was for Christ. So long as he goes on living on the earth, he will serve Christ. He will devote his whole life to Christ. He will not hold back any part of himself, but the whole of his life, the whole of his being, is devoted to Christ. And that is to be our attitude, isn’t it? We’re to say to ourselves that Christ is my life. He is the source of my life and he is my reason for living. The reason I’m alive and the purpose of my life is to serve Christ. And therefore, in all I do and say, I will seek to honour him.
We’re to say to ourselves: ‘I will put to death whatever is sinful and wrong and which belongs to my old life of sin and unbelief. And I will put on and clothe myself in whatever behaviour honours Christ my Saviour. I will aim to live the heavenly life now, because I have already been raised with Christ. My old life of sin and unbelief died when I believed in Christ; and I will not live that way any longer.’
Someone leaves one country to live in another country. And that person must therefore forget the old ways and learn to do what his new neighbours do. And believers must forget the old way of sin and unbelief; and we must live like Christ and for Christ while we wait for Christ to come again.
Sermons and Stuff 