Future Gospel
Colossians 3:3-4
Read
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 3:3-4
Explain
In these verses Paul gives us a past, present, and future view of the Christian life.
You have died with Christ — past
Your life is hidden with Christ in God — present
You will appear with him in glory — future
Our life is hidden with Christ in God. To the world, we are a mystery. The world sees us living and breathing, going to work, raising families, and paying bills, but our real life, is Christ himself.
We draw from wells unseen to the naked eye. We are empowered by the Holy Spirit. Our life is with Christ. We are safe and secure. The world may kill the body, but Christ holds our life. This gives us great confidence for living the Christian life. We are no longer driven by fear of the world. We are dead to it. We now live for a different kingdom, and a different king.
This is the deep mystery of our personal union with Christ. I cannot pretend to fully understand how this divine reality works. But from this text, we can clearly praise God for three great truths.
First: We Are Hidden with Christ in God
Paul begins, “For you have died.” He is not speaking of our physical death, but of our death through Christ’s death.
How are we safe from God? Only through Christ.
I love golfing. I should confess that I am a terrible golfer. I don’t go to golf, rather I go to socialize. I am the guy you do not want stuck behind you on the course. I can’t get the ball in the air, and after every bad swing I send up a few “blessed praises” to the Lord. On a good day, I shoot a 105. That is awful.
But every year I get invited, purely as comic relief, to play in a golf scramble. In a scramble everyone plays, but you are only scored on the best ball. I play with good golfers, so we almost never play my shot. At the end of the round someone asks, “What did you shoot?” I say, “88” because that’s what the scorecard says.
How did I get that score?
I was hidden by a better golfer.
In the same way, we are saved from death because Christ died our death for us. We are safe from the wrath of God because Christ absorbed that wrath in full. On the cross, he drank the bitter cup down to the dregs. He died the death we deserved.
We are hidden and safe in Jesus because on the cross he was exposed. The Son of God was humiliated, condemned, and forsaken so that we might be covered, justified, and accepted. Christ exalts us on the basis of his humiliation. He saves us through his better sacrifice, purchased with his precious blood. The author of Hebrews says it best: “This makes Jesus the guarantor of a better covenant.”
Brothers and sisters, we have a glorious Savior. In him, we are eternally safe.
Second: We Are Hidden with Christ from the World
The mystery of the incarnation is that God became flesh. And when the Son took on flesh, he was hidden from the world. He looked ordinary. He came not in blazing glory, but in veiled humility.
To this day, the world says he was merely a Palestinian carpenter. His identity was so humble that the world rejected him. His own family doubted him. His own people mocked him. His own nation condemned him. His identity remained hidden, until the resurrection.
In the same way, Christians look ordinary. Some of us are tall, some short. Some young, some old. Some strong, some weak. The world does not see crowns of glory on our heads. It does not see resurrected bodies. Instead, the world sees the church as weak. Christians as foolish. Simple-minded. Outdated.
The world does not see who we really are: heirs of the kingdom, sons and daughters of the living God. And so they mock us. They scoff at us. In some parts of the world, they slaughter us. Brothers and sisters, do not think for one second that the Christian life is ordinary. It is extraordinary. If the world could see us with supernatural eyes it would see the envy of the angels in the lives of ordinary faithful believers.
Do not place your hope in how the church looks now, rather set your minds on things above.
Third: We Will Be Revealed with Christ in Glory
“When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.”
Right now, our lives are hidden. We see imperfections. We see blemishes. We see sin. We see the messiness of ministry and church life.
But take heart, Christian. There is a day coming when the mystery will be revealed in its fulness. Christ will appear, and you with him. Every burdened believer will be fully transformed into the image of Christ. All of the tears we have sown in faithfulness will be reaped with great joy.
Apply
Pastors, Let future gospel hope motivate and encourage you.
Pastors, place your hope in this day. You have labored for years in the trenches. You have fought sin alongside your people. Today, you may only see their struggles. But one day, you will look up and see only Christ reflected in them.
The kingdom we now experience in shadows will be revealed in fullness. On that day the kingdom of God will shine in full radiance, strength, and beauty. The humble churches mocked today will be pillars in the kingdom. The weak will be made strong. The lowly will shine. Those with frail bodies and weary souls will sing and dance with joy at the coming of the King.
Paul says, “When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.”
This is future glory. This is our hope.
Don’t exchange future glory for immediate gratification
Ordinary faithfulness does not look glorious, but make no mistake, there is much glory in the secrete, ordinary, and the faithful worship of God’s people. Consider this when we fight sin, or sloth in the christian life. This is the difference between wisdom and folly. The fool chooses immediate gratification. Wisdom waits for the better reward. The fool takes a dollar today rather than ten tomorrow. So it is with sin. When we focus only on immediate pleasure, we gratify the flesh. We trade the promise of glory for the fleeting pleasures of the age.
But Paul holds out something better. Christ is our life. He is on the throne now, make no mistake: the King is coming. And when he comes, those whose lives are hidden in him will be revealed with him in glory.
Pray
Lord, our life is hidden in you. Your work is accredited to us. Your faithfulness, obedience, and perfection is ours before the Father. Thank you for your grace and mercy. Teach us to trust you deeper, and to behold you with the eyes of faith. Holy Spirit, lead us in ordinary faithful ways all of our days. Teach us to be heavenly minded for earthly good. Amen.