036 DRRIC Biblical Articles – Holding on to What Endures
036 DRRIC Biblical Articles – Holding on to What Endures Quote: “Those who set their minds on the heavenly, live as people who have been raised with Christ and are securely hidden in God.” May 30, 2025
Colossians 3:1-4
If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. 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.
To the one who hears or reads,
In Colossians chapters 1 and 2, Paul emphasizes the fullness of Christ and warns against misleading human traditions. Believers have died and been raised to new life with Christ. That is why, in chapter 3 verse 1, he calls us to seek the things that are above, where Christ is. This immediately confronts us with a searching question: What are you seeking? Where is my life truly focused?
‘If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God.’ Clear words from Paul, as he writes to believers. If you were raised with Christ. That is not a given, because mankind has fallen into sin and no longer lives in communion with God by nature. Yet the apostle speaks with certainty: salvation is possible, because he is addressing those who have been raised with Christ. Not by any merit of their own, but by God's grace. Made alive by the Spirit.
Christ, sent by the Father, did not merely come into the world as an inspiring example or a teacher of moral values. He came as the Son, full of grace and truth (John 1:14), sent to save sinners, to seek the lost and reconcile them to God (Galatians 4:4–5). His coming was not our initiative but God's movement toward us. Therefore, it is not self-evident that someone is raised with Christ. It is grace. Pure grace.
If we have been raised with Christ, this calls for a life focused on Him. Paul exhorts us to seek the things above, where Christ is. Not the perishable, but the enduring must have our attention. To live by grace means that our desires, choices and thoughts are aligned with Him. For, as the apostle writes: ‘Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.’
This is a deep truth that does not gloss over the realities of life, but teaches us to see from a different perspective. The one who believes has died to the old life. This means that the connection to the sinful existence, in which a person lived according to their own insight and desires, has been broken. The former focus on earthly certainties, on what is perishable, has come to an end.
But this does not create a void, quite the opposite. Our new life is hidden with Christ in God. It is not always visible to the world, not tangible like possessions or status, but it is real and secure. This hiddenness means safety. Our existence is anchored in Him who lives, reigns and is able to save. That is why Paul calls us to set our thoughts, our hearts, our lives continually on the things above. There is Christ. And where He is, there is our life.
If our life is truly hidden with Christ in God, then we live from a different source and for a different purpose than what the world presents to us. This calls for a continual letting go of what is temporary and a conscious turning toward what is eternal. Not because we naturally do this well, but because Christ is our life. The question comes close again: What occupies my mind? What is my heart focused on? Do I live from what is visible and tangible, or from the certainty that is hidden in Christ? Whoever entrusts themselves to Him may find rest in the hidden and draw hope from what has yet to be revealed.
For we read: ‘When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.’ That is the future, for believers, that awaits us. What is now still hidden will, in His time, be revealed. Not only will Christ appear in glory, but all who are in Him will be revealed with Him. That gives us courage to persevere, to live not by the judgment of people but by the promise of God. For our life is not aimed at what passes away, but at what is to come: the revelation of Christ and with it our true identity in Him.
That is why this is an urgent call. If your life is not yet hidden with Christ in God, be united with Him. No longer entrust yourself to what perishes, but to Him who lives forever. The world offers false security, but Christ gives true life, now hidden, soon to be revealed in glory. Turn away from the old life that seeks itself and turn to Him who came to save sinners. He does not call you to bring something of yourself, but to receive everything from Him. Whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life. Seek the things that are above. Seek Christ. For whoever finds Him has found life.
Let this word cause us to pause and move us to action. Our lives are not meant to dissolve into the temporary but to be rooted in the eternal. In Christ there is forgiveness, renewal and future. He is our life, our certainty, our hope.
Soli Deo Gloria. To God alone be the glory. Amen.