{"id":6544,"date":"2024-12-02T23:26:36","date_gmt":"2024-12-03T04:26:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/joy-in-the-journey.com\/?p=6544"},"modified":"2025-06-05T19:02:31","modified_gmt":"2025-06-05T23:02:31","slug":"hidden-with-christ-in-god","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/joy-in-the-journey.com\/?p=6544","title":{"rendered":"(In the Moments) Understanding Our Death in Christ"},"content":{"rendered":"

Wrightsville Beach, NC, is one of our favorite destinations, not just for its turquoise surf and pristine sand, but also for its secluded atmosphere. When our kids were growing up, we enjoyed many summer weeks with their cousins at my brother-in-law\u2019s beach house on the south end of the island. Today we\u2019re at Shell Island Resort, close to where Mason Inlet, fed by the currents of the Atlantic Ocean, forms a sandy semi-circle at the northern end.<\/p>\n

Looking at the ocean from the condo we rented, I read:<\/p>\n

For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. (Colossians 3:3 <\/strong>NASB)<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

I want to understand what being hidden with Christ in God really means. It’s comforting to think of it. Hidden with Christ I have His righteousness, His peace, His protection, His joy.\u00a0 I want to fully understand my crucifixion with Christ and my union with Him in His resurrected life. [1] It seems to me the more I decrease, the more Christ’s life will shine through.<\/p>\n

Lord, please show me how this works.<\/em><\/p>\n

On either side of our grandparent\u2019s side porch, below towering circular white columns, sat nicely groomed holly bushes with red berries. During my childhood, my siblings, cousins, and I called these thick hedges the enchanted forest. Whether we were playing hide and go seek, fleeing an approaching giant, or any number of invented games, we’d slip in between them the hedges into an open area, completely hidden from view. Lost in our imaginations, the holly bushes protected us from any outside harm.<\/p>\n

So, how does being hidden with Christ in God protect me now?<\/p>\n

The verses before read:<\/p>\n

Therefore, if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth.\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 (Colossians 3:1-2 <\/strong>NASB)<\/strong>.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Only by diligently seeking the truths of eternity can I live hidden with Christ in God. I live in time and space, but God isn\u2019t bound by time.<\/p>\n

Right now, I\u2019m spiritually positioned with Christ in God. Paul is telling me that if I want the peace, joy and security of being hidden with Christ in God, I must orient my life around the eternal, unchangeable spiritual fact that I died, and am hidden.<\/p>\n

Beyond the magical realm of the enchanted forest, life can be harsh. People I love are deeply hurting. There\u2019s critical illness. Relationships are strained. Marriages are splintering. But in the midst, God is asking me to rest in His nearness and trust His process.<\/p>\n

In the next verse, I’m told how my story ends: When<\/span> Christ who is your life appears, then you will appear with Him in glory. (Colossians 3:4<\/strong> NASB)<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Lord, as I read these truths, I believe in them. I want to always keep an eternal mindset, rejoicing in Your continual nearness, even during very hard times. As I look out at the spread of Your ocean before me, I remember Your love for me is beyond knowledge – wider, deeper, longer and higher than the expanse of water and sky before me. I need to know how to preserve this very real eternal orientation, especially through sadness and loss.<\/em><\/p>\n

We just walked to the end of the island and dipped our feet in Mason Inlet. By the pool now enjoying the breeze before a late lunch. A black bird keeps returning to the ladder to drink and bathe. I catch a whiff of a white lantana beside the lounge chair. The rhythmic sound of the ocean surf sooths my soul. I appreciate the gifts God has given me, they remind me of His love and presence.<\/p>\n

Understanding what it entails to walk around with Christ, embraced in a God hug, requires me to fully confront my spiritual death. Paul tells us Even so, consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus. (Romans 6:11<\/strong> NASB)<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Knowing and reckoning my spiritual death truly frees me from much of life\u2019s angsts.<\/p>\n

For example, if I died:<\/p>\n