COLOSSIANS (19) Christ, Our Life

“Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.” (Col 3:1-4)

Review
For the past few months, we've been talking about the book of Colossians, in which Paul emphasizes the importance of having the knowledge of Christ.
 
The Colossian church was built upon the gospel of Jesus Christ. The gospel that Paul had taught Epaphras was delivered to Colossae, and people there accepted it with sincere hearts. That was how the Colossian church was started.
 
Even though they had faith in Jesus, as well as eagerness and passion to grow spiritually, their faith wasn’t strongly based on the true knowledge of who Jesus is.
 
So, when some new teachers came to the church and started to teach things that were not based on the gospel but actually went against it, the Colossians were easily deceived and simply accepted it without discerning whether or not it was true.
 
They paid attention to some false teachings that they would’ve never been interested in if they had really known who Jesus was and the salvation He had given them through His crucifixion and resurrection.
 
That’s the reason Paul starts the letter with a prayer for the Colossian Christians which says, “We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives” (Col 1:9).
 
So, in Colossian chapters 1 and 2, Paul focuses on who Jesus is, what spiritual blessings, victories, and freedoms He has brought to us, and what we have become in Him spiritually. Thus, if you read these chapters carefully and contemplate who Jesus is, you will come to know more about Him.
 
After explaining all these important things we must know as Christians, Paul lists some practical ways to live out the truth in our daily lives, especially through the various relationships we have. That’s what the rest of the book is mainly about.
 
1. Relationship with Christ (3:1-8)
2. Relationship with the Church Community (3:9-17)
3. Relationship with Family (3:18-21)
4. Relationship with Masters and Servants (3:22-4:1)
5. Relationship with Outsiders (4:2-6)
 
Last Sunday, we started to talk about the first relationship found in the first paragraph of Colossians chapter 3, in which Paul discusses the most important relationship we have—our relationship with Christ.
 
In our relationship with Jesus, Paul urges us to do two things: “set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God” (Col 3:1), and “Set your minds on things above” (Col 3:2).
 
In English, the same verb ‘set’ is used in both verses, but two different verbs are used in the original Greek Bible.
 
In the first verse, the Greek verb  ζητέω (zeteo) is used, which basically means “to seek after or seek for,” while a different Greek verb φρονέω (phroneo), which means “to think or to direct one’s mind to a thing,” is used in verse 2.
 
The first verse explains where our hearts must be set—on things above, which refers to heaven, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. And the second verse tells us how to do that—we are to continue to set our minds on things above by diligently directing our thoughts to heavenly things.
 
These are the two things Paul said we must do to maintain a close and proper relationship with Jesus. In other words, if we fail to set our hearts and minds on things above, we can’t really live out our faith in Jesus but will end up drifting away from Him without noticing.
 
Christ, Our Life
Now, let’s continue to talk about how to maintain our relationship with Christ. As I said before, we find 4 commands regarding our relationship with Christ in the first passage of Colossians chapter 3.
 
In the first command, Paul urges us to “set your hearts on things above” because that’s “where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God” (Col 3:1).
 
Then, after saying, “Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things” (Col 3:2), Paul adds,
 
“For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.” (Col 3:3).
 
Here, we find one of the most important words that are essential in understanding the essence of Christianity —life. Christians are described as those whose lives are ‘hidden’ with Christ in God. What does that mean? In order to answer this question, we need to first explore the usage of the word ‘life’ in the Bible.
 
In the New Testament, a Greek word, ζωή (zoe) is often used, which is translated as ‘life.’ This word is used in three different ways which are closely related to each other.
 
1) Zoe: The Life That God Has
First, zoe is used in the Bible to refer to the eternal life that belongs to God and His Son, Jesus.
 
The Bible describes God as the only One who has eternal life. In Daniel 4:34, the Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar said, “I praised the Most High; I honored and glorified him who lives forever. His dominion is an eternal dominion; his kingdom endures from generation to generation.” (Dn 4:34).
 
Psalm chapter 102 praises God’s eternity, saying,
“In the beginning you laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands. They will perish, but you remain; they will all wear out like a garment... But you remain the same, and your years will never end” (Ps 102:25-27).
 
The apostle Paul also described God as the “only Ruler, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone is immortal… To him be honor and might forever” (1 Tm 6:15-16)
 
So from these verses, we know that God alone has eternal life. He is the source of all life because He remains forever without beginning or end. We can only find true, eternal life in God.
 
But, what’s amazing is that we as finite beings are able to perceive eternal life in God because “the word [His Son] became flesh and made his dwelling among us” (Jn 1:14).
 
Because “The Son is the image of the invisible God” (Col 1:15) and “The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being” (Heb 1:3), we can actually see God’s existence through Him.
 
As the apostle John said, “No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known” (Jn 1:18)
 
And because Jesus is the Son of God, He also shares the exact same essence that God the Father has, which means that He also has eternal life. Jesus said,
 
“For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself” (Jn 5:26).
 
And later, Jesus proved that He had the authority to give life and raise the dead by raising Lazarus from the dead. Jesus said “I am the resurrection and the life” (Jn 11:25). This was demonstrated in the most glorious way when God raised Him from the dead on the third day after being crucified and buried. 
 
2) Zoe: The Life Believers Have in Christ 
That was the first usage of zoe in the Bible. It refers to eternal life that only God the Father has and that He gives to the Son of God. But, that’s not the end. One of the most remarkable truths we find in the Bible about this life, zoe, is that we also join in it through Jesus.
 
John said, “We know also that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true. And we are in him who is true by being in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.” (1Jn 5:20)
 
The gospel of John says that “In [Jesus] was life, and that life was the light of all mankind” (Jn 1:4). Jesus came to the world not only to show that He had life but also to give us eternal life in Him. So now, those who follow Jesus, the light of the world, “will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life” (Jn 8:12).
 
The Bible says that that was God’s purpose in sending His Son to the world—to give us eternal life in Him.
 
As John 3:14-16,
“The Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him. For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” (Jn 3:14-16)
 
According to John, we can have this life by believing in the Son of God. “Whoever has the Son has life” (1 Jn 5:12). “Everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life” (Jn 6:40).
 
This is the second usage of zoe in the Bible. It refers to believers’ new life they come to have in Christ. What’s important is that the Bible doesn’t say we will have eternal life someday in the future. We receive it immediately when we believe in Jesus and accept Him as our Savior and Lord.
 
By believing in Jesus, we are born again. The lives we have now are different from the lives we had before we believed in Him. His life has already started to change our lives. Through faith, we’re united with Christ in His death and resurrection.
 
That’s our spiritual status now. We were “buried with him in baptism, in which [we] were also raised with him through [our] faith” (Col 2:12). Not only that, “God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus” (Eph 2:6).
 
This is ‘zoe,’ the new life that we have in Christ. But what we also know is that this life hasn’t been brought to fulfillment yet. Eternal life has already started working in us, but the promise of full eternal life still remains like all the other promises related to the return of Christ.
 
Just as the kingdom of God has already begun on earth but has not yet been completed, and just as our salvation has already started but isn’t finished yet, eternal life in Christ has already entered our lives, but we’re not perfectly united with Him yet.
 
Even though the same power that raised Christ from the dead is working in our lives right now, we still see our sinful nature also working powerfully in our lives.
 
But there will come a time when we completely overcome our past selves along with our weaknesses, desires of flesh and sinful nature, and be completely transformed into the image of the Son of God and join in His life.
 
3) Zoe: Eternal Life on the Last Day
That’s the third usage of zoe in the Bible. Eternal life will be given to us as a result of the judgment we will all go through when Christ comes back. 
 
Paul said in Romans 2,
“God will repay each person according to what they have done. To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, he will give eternal life. But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger” (Rom 2:6-8).
 
On that day, “in Christ all will be made alive.” (1 Co 15:22). “The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable… it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body…” (1 Co 15:42, 44) “And just as we have borne the image of the earthly man, so shall we bear the image of the heavenly man” (1 Co 15:49).
 
These are the amazing promises of eternal life that we’ll have in Christ. When He returns, “what is mortal may be swallowed up by life” (2Co 5:4) and “we will all be changed - in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet” (1Co 15:51-52). “When Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is” (1Jn 3:2).
 
What amazing and glorious promises we have in Christ! It will be the greatest change we’ll ever experience. Creatures who were made by God will become beings born of God. We’ll “participate in the divine nature” (2 Pt 1:4) and we’ll be like Christ.
 
That’s the essence of Christianity. In Christianity, salvation doesn’t merely refer to living forever. We’ll definitely live forever with Christ, enjoying eternal life in Him, but that’s not the point. The point of salvation is what we’ll be transformed into. We’ll join in Jesus’ resurrection and be transformed into the image of the Son of God. That’s the glorious hope we have as Christians.
 
The Hidden Life
  So, we’ve talked about three usages of the word ‘life,’ zoe, in the Bible. It refers to the life God has, that He gave to His Son, and that we have now in Christ. But it also refers to the eternal life we’ll receive on the last day.
 
Here, we find tension between “already and not yet” regarding zoe. Our new lives in Christ do exist now but they have not been perfected yet. That’s why Paul said “your life is now hidden with Christ in God” (Col 3:3)
 
Because we’re only united with Jesus’ life spiritually right now and not physically, our eternal lives can’t be seen yet. Christ’s life was revealed in a hidden way. Even though it’s true that Christ is our life, and we’re united with Him in His life, that life hasn’t been revealed in a way that can be perceived.
 
Just because something isn’t perceivable doesn't mean it's not true. Even though it’s not physically visible, we experience His new life changing us and transforming us to be more like Him every day.
 
And there will come a time when our life that’s been hidden in Christ will be clearly revealed. That’s what Colossians 3:4 indicates.
 
“When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory” (Col 3:4)
 
When Christ appears, all truths will be evident. We will see Jesus coming down from heaven in a cloud with power and great glory, and we will be able to see the kingdom of God in its fullness. The transformation we’ll experience will be so obvious that no one will fail to notice it. The life we have in Christ which is now hidden, won’t be hidden anymore.
 
That’s the reason Paul said that we should set our hearts and minds on things above. Because we are new creations in Jesus, we should live as new creations.
 
We should try to live out this verse: “I no longer live, but Christ lives in me” (Gl 2:20) by “[putting] to death whatever belongs to [our] earthly nature” and “[ridding] [ourselves] of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from [our] lips” (Col 3:5, 8)
 
The more we think about who we are in Christ and the eternal life we’ll have in Him when He appears, the more we’ll try to get rid of everything that isn’t in line with  our new lives and instead try to set our hearts and minds on things above.
 
Then, we’ll be able to show the precious life we have in Christ to those around us. I hope and pray that all of us here today are reminded of this great blessing we have in Christ so that we can fix our eyes on Him and live lives that please the Lord.
 
Let’s wrap up with prayer.
 
Prayer
Heavenly Father, thank You for teaching us about Your life. We thank You for everything You’ve done to give us Your life. You sent Your Son to the world as the light of life so that we could see Him, walk with Him, and have eternal life in Him by believing in Him.
 
Now, Lord, we want to live out our faith in Jesus. Please open our eyes and allow us to see the precious new life You’ve given us through Jesus Christ so that we can live lives worthy of the life You’ve shown us.
 
Please help us to see Christ in us, so that we no longer live, but Christ lives in us. We want everything we say and do to reflect the new life we’ve come to have in Christ. Please change us so that we can continue to be conformed to the image of Your Son.
 
We thank You and love You, Lord.
In the precious name of Jesus Christ, we pray. Amen.
 
Reflection Questions
Today, we mainly talked about the new life we have in Christ. Here are the questions I want us to think about.
 
1) Do you believe that you have new life in Christ? When did you realize that you have it? What does it mean to you that you’re united with Christ in His life? What are some ways that you can live out your new life in Christ?
 
2) Christians are those who are looking forward to the day when Jesus appears and completely transforms us to be like Him. John said, “All who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure” (1 Jn 3:3). What are some things in your life that you want to put to death or get rid of to purify yourself?