For you
died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is our
life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory (Colossians
3:3-4)
God creates excellent teachers out
of ordinary people who give us new ways of looking at things that stay
with us all our lives. A couple of weeks ago, we were in
Louisville, Kentucky and the teacher at the Sunday morning service was
WONDERFUL in presenting Daniel Chapter Three! That church in
Louisville is, we were told, one of the six largest churches in the
United States and I could see why - the message presented was first
rate! The man is a gifted teacher, led by the Spirit of God.
Another excellent teacher for me
was a professor of history in college, who wanted us to understand TIME,
as it relates to the SHORTNESS of human history. This was the man
who got me interested in history in the first place. He said, "If
you, as a young person, five years of age, shook the hand of someone
relatively old, say 95, and that elderly person, when he or she was just
five years old had shaken the hand of a 95-year old person, and that
person had done the same, and so on - you are just three handshakes from
George Washington!" He continued the analogy and said that
"we are 20 handshakes from Jesus Christ,"
and as he put it, "we are "about 40-handshakes
from Father Abraham." Human history became fresh and alive for me
because of his analogy.
And then there was Dr. Wilson. He
announced at the beginning of the semester that he never gave an 'A'
grade, and it was true for our class. His multiple choice tests were so
convoluted and difficult to understand that I was blessed to get a B.
Yet, when Dr. Wilson TAUGHT, he made Scripture ALIVE to us all. An
example is a portion of our Scripture for today You
died and your life is hidden with Christ in God (Colossians
3:3). To illustrate that Scripture, he borrowed a quarter from a front
row student. He placed the quarter into one hand and pointed at it with
the other, as though he was going to perform some kind of magic trick.
Then he closed his fist over that quarter, saying This
quarter is you; it is your life. You are 'with
Christ,' he said, and then his
other fist closed over the first one and he continued, In
God! He held his fists in the air, the one closed over the other
with the quarter inside, and he looked at every one of us as he slowly
repeated each word from the verse YOUR life is
hidden with Christ in God (Colossians 3:3).
That verse also says, You
died, to which you might ask, How did I
die? and the answer is given to us every time we take communion,
as we did on that recent morning in Kentucky Christ died for the sins
of us all, and to place your trust in Him is to DIE to this world. When
you trust in Christ, as signified by taking the broken cracker
representing His body and drinking the liquid representing His blood,
you are showing that everything of His is yours: His death, the
forgiveness offered in Him, and His life. All of this is expressed
through the grace of God by your faith in Christ, and it lasts
forever.
Without Christ, you are just as dead
as that borrowed quarter the professor held in his hand. You may be
walking around, breathing, talking, laughing, and think youre alive,
but youre not, unless you are in Christ Jesus. To die
in Christ is to become hidden from the
sins of this world and your life now belongs to Him. Just as the Lord
Himself was hidden during the time He was in that tomb, you are hidden
with Christ in God. When He died, you died, and your sins died
with Him. And there is more.
When you, through faith, through
Gods grace, become hidden in Christ, you
receive His Holy Spirit. Jesus gave very specific promises to His church
(the "called-out ones" of God) as He was
leaving this earth. Among those promises was this one: You
shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you
shall be witnesses to Me to the end of the
earth (Acts 1:8).
In other words, when you have died,
when you are hidden with Christ in God,
youre no longer alone. You are not alone in your decisions, your fears,
the words you choose to speak, the direction you will go in life you
are not alone. When the Holy Spirit has come upon
you, is a reference to the same Spirit who has filled the great
teachers and prophets of this world since the beginning and that Holy
Spirit is in and with YOU, when you trust in Jesus Christ. All the power
and love of God is yours in Him.
Have you thought about seeds and
the way they grow? The seed must dry out and die, and then it is planted
in the ground. The ground is prepared with proper nutrients; and the
seed is given just the right amount of water. The farmers hope is in
that seed, but nothing is seen of it for a considerable time. If its an
apple seed or some other kind of tree, a green shoot will finally
appear, but it will be years before apples are produced. When you trust
in the Lord, a holy, precious seed of God is planted in your heart. The
seed is not seen by those around you. The Lord has been preparing the
soil of your heart for this moment, all your life. The proper
nutrients are present because He has made it so. A painful graft may
have occurred in order that the fruit you
eventually produce will be perfectly suited for the Table of the Master
Gardener.
And still the wait continues. The
seed of God in you has died, the time when the seed is hidden is at
hand and then suddenly a healthy green shoot appears. People notice that
something is different about you; and Gods purpose for your life
starts to be revealed you begin to bear the fruit
of the Spirit in the Vineyard of God. Jesus said, without
Me you can do nothing (John 15:5), and then He continued, If
anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered
(John 15:6). But those who are in Christ abide
in Him. And IF you abide in Him and His words
abide in you; you will ask what you
desire, and it shall be done for you (John 15:7). You "die"
in one way, and become fully alive in another. And you notice - your
prayers are being answered!
Those who trust in the Lord have died
to this world. They are hidden with
Christ. And they begin to discover the joy of prayers in the will of the
Lord that are ANSWERED by God! And within our Scripture for today, there
is even more: When this time on earth is done, when
Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in
glory (Colossians 3:4). Where He is, you will be, too. You are
with Him forever.
Father, I want to die to the
sins of this world and be hidden with
Christ. Forgive me and fill me with Your Spirit. Let me be with my
Savior forever. In Jesus Name. Amen.
