COLOSSIANS 3:1-17 TEXT: v3 [YOUR LIFE IS HID WITH CHRIST/GOD]
For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.
The Bible makes it clear: there yet remains a rest for the child/God
This world is not our resting place and while we may (in one sense) say to the Lord:
Tell me, O thou whom my soul loveth,
where thou feedest, where thou makest thy flock to rest at noon: for
why should I be as one that turneth aside by the flocks of thy
companions? (Song 1:7) and, in so asking, expect to say:
He maketh me to lie down in green
pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. (Psalm 23:2) yet in
another sense, the child/God is always striving
In Philippians 1:27 he is commanded to strive for the faith/gospel
In Romans 15:30 he is to strive in prayer for God's servants
In Hebrews 12:4 he is expected to strive against sin
There is always something more for the child/God to do
(Not in order to be saved…but because he is saved)
The child/God has all that he needs from within the Bible
All scripture is given by inspiration
of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction,
for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be
perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works. (2 Timothy 3:16-17)
The problem in Colosse is that false teachers - Gnostics - had come in
and sought to draw Christians away from the sufficiency/their Bibles by
telling them that they needed something else - something which the
Gnostics alone could supply
Of course, they parcelled this false teaching up in Biblical language -
but the aim was to draw the Lord's people away from their Bibles
As long as you stick close to your Bible, then you need no one else
Every cult adds something to the Bible and effectively denies it
In an attempt to help God's people retain their Biblical faith, Paul
penned this letter and in our text, he points out the sufficiency of
Jesus Christ - if they are to have "something more" - then let it be
something more in their knowledge of Christ as He is revealed/Bible
This is sufficient to enable us to go on with God
The Christian is in union/Christ - as Christ is and where Christ is, so
(positionally) is the Christian (v1) and therefore he is secure
All these dark foreboding warnings/cults and Gnostics etc., that they alone could secure safety were totally false
The Christian's spiritual life is hid with Christ in God (4 points)
1) THE CHRISTIAN IS A POSSESSOR OF ETERNAL LIFE:
A/ This is the life that is spoken of/passage
A man may/will eventually lose his physical life
He might even do so (humanly speaking) early - as a martyr/Christ
Had he not professed Christ - he would not have been cut down early
Acts 12:1-4 - Vexed Church - slew James - took Peter
Even this, however, should not be seen as outside of Christ's control:
This spake he, signifying by what death he should glorify God (John 21:19)
But Paul is speaking here of a higher form of life than the mere physical
For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost. (Romans 14:17)
B/ Sinner is in a state/death: Death passed on all men…all/sinned
Eternal death: eternal separation from the presence/God in hell
It is to be a continuous state/condemnation, ever facing the angry wrath of a sin hating God in the lake of fire for ever
Every day the sinner sins more/more and adds to his own condemnation
But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again: for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full. (Genesis 15:16)
Man in his folly thinks that because God does not move immediately against him, that he is going to get away with his sinning
Not so! Sometimes God just lets men have their own way and lets them
drink their wicked brew until their cup is full and then He falls in
wrath upon them and sweeps them off to the dark midnight experience of
hell
C/ The Christian is no longer to be found in the state/condemnation
Christ stood as the Innocent One in His guilty room and took
every last ounce of the wrath/God in His place and secured peace/God
for him (1:20)
In the place/death…He gave us eternal life
Eternal life is a quality thing as much as a quantity thing
In John 10:10 it is described as being life more abundant
It is described living godly in Christ Jesus (2 Timothy 3:12)
It is spiritual life begun in the soul and will be perfected/Heaven
It is the present possession of every child/God, no matter how young or how weak they might be in the faith:
He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. (1 John 5:12)
2) SATAN'S DESIRE IS TO EXTINGUISH THIS ETERNAL LIFE:
A/ Which is why he sent in the Gnostic troops into Colosse and the Legalism Brigade into Galatia etc.,
B/ Can Satan rob a Christian of eternal life?
Answer: Ultimately he cannot, but that doesn't stop him from trying
Satan is the world's biggest fool - the world's biggest loser
The first rule of the hole: "Stop digging" but he keeps on and on
C/ Picture a young man who arrives as a stranger in a rough area of town
All sorts of hoods are running around the joint
In his pocket there is a package and in that package a large sum/money
In fact…all his living in that package
Would he be at ease in such a case? Hardly
He would be in a permanent sweat - worried/death over his package
D/ Why is Satan so interested in getting your eternal life from you?
[i] First of all, it is no use to him
There is no redemption for the Devil (Genesis 3:15) so robbing the
saint of it brings no immediate/long term advantage for Satan
And the devil that deceived them was
cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false
prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.
(Revelation 20:10)
[ii] Any desires/attempts are all inspired by a hateful spirit of revenge
Satan hates the people/God!
We were once his vassals - his willing slaves - but we "swapped sides"
We broke loose (by the power/God) and we ran for it
Straight into the loving arms/the Lord Jesus - Satan's Great Arch foe
What a slight on a being who spends his time convincing the blinded world that he has something to offer them!
Every faithful Christian is a living contradiction/the Devil's blackest lie
What would Satan give to get you back on board again?
If he could, he would bore your eyes out and make you grind in the
prison house (cp. Philistines and Samson) and he is trying to do that
During WWII, the Japanese were great folk for offering generous terms
to the Allied forces for surrender - Propaganda leaflets etc.,
Generally those who heeded the messages were butchered/killed
Satan is on the hunt for the soul of each/every Christian
There be no mercy shown if he got his way
[iii] If Satan could get your eternal life from you, he could taunt God
for all eternity that He [God] was unfaithful to His word
So at least you can see where Satan is coming from on this one
3) THIS ETERNAL LIFE IS SECURELY HID WITH CHRIST IN GOD:
A/ I have acknowledged that Satan for various/twisted reasons wants to
get his filthy fingers on your eternal life - but he can't do it!
Because your eternal life is hid
The Greek word for hid is crupto (cryptic: hidden)
Translated in John 19:38 as "secretly" (Joseph's discipleship)
Joseph feared the Jews and therefore it was not generally known that he
was a follower/Jesus - indeed, it was a very secret matter
Word secret (same Greek) is used of Martha in John 11: 28
And when she had so said, she went her way, and called Mary her sister secretly, saying, The Master is come, and calleth for thee.
Can see the almost clandestine meeting with the barely audible whisper
B/ Let's go back again to the lad in town with his precious package
It is hardly safe in his pocket is it? it could drop out - he could be
the subtle victim of a pickpocket or the not so subtle victim of a
mugging
That money needs to be banked in a strong Institution with armed guards
and written and legal guarantees so that a thousand hoods could never
access it or rob the young man of it
C/ Your present possession of eternal life is not in your hands
That's where our Arminian friends in their naivety have it
Even the strongest Christian who ever lived couldn't keep it there
Satan would make mincemeat of the of Paul's/John's of this world
Where is it then/ Ans:- It is hid with Christ in God
There's a double lock for you!
Satan cannot get near it, much less wrest it from His blessed hands
A number of things keep it safe:
[i] The unchangeable decree/God that gave it you in the first place:
Malachi 3:/James 1:17/Hebrews 13:8/Romans 8:28-30
Every thing falls into line in accordance with the divine decree
No wisdom nor understanding nor counsel against the LORD. (Proverbs 21:30)
[ii] The absolute power of God to ensure that no other power - even Satan's infernal power - can snatch this eternal life away:
Matthew 16:18/1 Peter 1:5/Romans 1:16 (not merely justification)
Never forget that God is the Almighty God
[iii] The price that the Lord Jesus paid for your eternal life
Even the giving of His own life as a ransom for many:
Now the God of peace, that brought
again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep,
through the blood of the everlasting covenant, Make you perfect in
every good work to do his will, working in you that which is
wellpleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ; to whom be glory for
ever and ever. Amen. (Hebrews 13:20-21)
Satan can't get unto the blood splattered ground - that's where our eternal life lies:
And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. (1 John 5:11)
[iv] The wisdom/God prevents Satan from outwitting us
Although Satan is a cunning enemy - he can't outfox the all wise God
The all seeing eye of the all present God ensures every attempt fails
So your life is safe because it is secretly hidden in Christ in God
4) THIS PRIVILEGE BRINGS BOTH WONDERFUL AND SERIOUS RESPONSIBILITIES FOR THE SECURE CHRISTIAN:
A/ Privilege is that our salvation is eternally secure in Christ in God
B/ Responsibilities: We are to live as those who have eternal life
Therefore: v1-2/v4/v8/v12 etc.,
C/ We certainly can't just sit back and expect to cruise to Heaven
Must I be carried to the skies on flowery beds of ease/While others fought to win the prize and sail through bloody seas?
Although salvation is entirely/grace …yet it works through means and we are commanded to strive/war etc.,
Let us not neglect these things
THE END