Sunday, December 29, 2013

Your Life is Hidden in God



What Does It Mean… Series
audio link here Your Life is Hidden in God    Or this one
 LEFC Sermon Center

Reading of the Word
Colossians 3:1-3
If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

Let’s pray
Father, you are for the Christians, a hiding place and shield. We put our hope in your Word. We say to you, Lord and Master “ Our refuge and our fortress… our God whom we trust.”  Work deeply in hearts of your children today. Holy Spirit bring to mind the truth of your word in the coming months and for some within the sound of my voice the coming years, of what it means to be hidden in Christ.
 Amen

Warming Up.
You may be seated. If  you need a Bible this morning please raise your hand high and the ushers will get you one. This coming year LEFC emphasis will be dwelling on the Word of God. The way you start dwelling on God’s Word is by opening God’s word and reading it.
If you don’t know, my name is Eric Mattie I serve as one of the elders here at LEFC. It has been some time, since I’ve been able to share God’s Word with you. I always appreciate the opportunities the Board gives me to share the Word.

And as I was preparing for this in my prayer time, there was a very distinctive direction I sensed the Holy Spirit wanted me to encourage this body toward. Very specific circumstances are going to happen to some you in the coming year, where dwelling on the Word and dwelling in the presence of God, will be all that you have to stabilize yourself through that situation. I don’t know what it is. But I know that today, God has directed me to preach on the Security of the Christian Hidden in God

Introduction
The title of today’s message is Your Life is Hidden in God. There are always verses in Scripture, where the question is asked what does that mean? This phrase in Colossians 3:3 is one such verse. What does it mean, your life is in hidden with Christ in God?

 I mean we understand the first part of the verse where it say, for you died.  We understand that before a person becomes a Christian he  is dead IN THEIR sin- because they were living a life apart from God Eph 2.. BUT NOW in Christ  is now dead TO THEIR SIN because they have been saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ and is alive to God  Romans 6.

So we understand that very first part of the verse “For you died” as we are dead to our sin and that life apart from God.
But what about this phrase “and your life is now hidden with Christ in God”?

I can summarize it like this.
To be hidden with Christ in God is both a mystery and a security.

Let’s talk about the first briefly, because we are going to dwell on the second one for the bulk of our time today. I’ve given you notes  in order to follow the train of thought if you want…



I.         Hidden in God: A Mystery of the Christian Life
For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.
My wife  Melanie and I like a good mystery.  Classics of Agatha Christie’s fictional sleuths of Hercule Poirot and and Miss Marple.  Growing up I read the adventures of Encylcopedia Brown. Which was a kids super sleuth  book series which gave you  the chance to figure out how Encyclopedia Brown solved the case.

But when I use the word “Mystery” it means that something is not fully understood.
You and I will walk out of this first point not fully know or being able to figure out the mystery of being hidden in God. So you need to accept that now. But there are clues about  the hidden life of the believer which gives us hope that one day, we will know. Look at v 4. our first clue.

Clue #1  v4 says that when Christ appears, we will appear.
When we say that we are appearing- it implies that we were unseen previously. That we were concealed in some way. Hidden.  So really our life will not be fully on display until Christ comes back.

There is something about the Christians’ life that is concealed now  (Hidden in God) and will be revealed later (When Christ appears). We wonder: “ what is it?” We ask:  “what will be revealed about the Christians’ life at the return of Jesus? THE ANSWER:  WE DON’T FULLY KNOW. OUR LIFE IS HIDDEN- Therefore even to us it’s a mystery.
         

Clue #2 He is saying to have a heavenly mindset- eternal mindset v 1,2...  Because NOW in Christ – is a hidden reality that is found in our union with Jesus Christ who right now is hidden in God the Father himself.

As one commentator said: “The world knows neither Christ nor Christians, and Christians do not even know distinctly themselves” - Bengel’s Gnomon

·         Remember that the Bible says that the world  did not recognize Christ when he came.  The world did not recognize Christ and it won’t recognize Christians either.  When the world looks at us there is something missing that they cannot understand. They can’t see it.  It is hidden.  From their logic and reasoning.

·         There is an element of mystery as to what motivates the Christian to act counter cultural to the worldly ways and dealings. We understand to a degree, that we walk as grace filled people, because we have new grace filled heart. It is a heart that wants to honor God by acting in graceful ways that acknowledge him.   It rids itself of bitterness, anger, and greed. It fights against lusts and selfish desires.
Why do we forgive and reconcile instead of just get bitter?
Why do we work hard even when we don’t get rewarded materially?
Believers understand to a degree of the motivation- its to glorify God, because giving that credit gives us joy.
                                                But the world says “I don’t get it. It’s a mystery. There is a hidden reason from their perspective that can only be understood by God revealing it to them.- Just as he does for us.
·         Our life is hidden with Christ and that is yet a mystery to us to. Here’s an analogy from Sam Storms- aPastor from Oklahoma:
Imagine a flower. “The root system is concealed beneath the surface of the earth. How it derives nutrients from the soil and contributes to the growth of the stem, leaf, and petal is unseen, being something of a mystery. But the beauty of the rose is for all to behold. Its color and fragrance are ever on display for the joy of all people. Likewise the Christian, whose strength and incentive and inner life are "hidden" from view, but whose kindness, faith, perseverance, and love are a perpetual witness to the glory of God's grace within.”

So the new life of believers in Christ is a mystery to the unbeliever and in part a mystery to the believer as well. We will not fully know what is hidden until Christ comes back and our life is revealed.

Clue #3 Look at Eph 2.. very familiar verse because we see the Gospel in it- that is Good News of our saving grace. But pay attention to the last verse.

But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,  so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.  Ephesians 2: 4-8
God’s going to reveal to us the riches of His grace and His mercy. It’s going to take ages, eons, a good bit of eternity for you to get into the depths and beauty that is Jesus Christ- who is our life and what ever that hidden mystery is—we will no get bored with it- there will always be more to behold, and worship God about and here in this verse it says it will take ages to show the immeasurable riches of grace.
So if you are struggling with the first concept of being hidden with God, because you want to know more- relax :  Our brains are small and our God’s grace is so big it is immeasurable.  J   There is more of God that he will show in due time

Ok that is the first part of what it means to be hidden with Christ. To be hidden with Christ in God is both a mystery and a security. Let’s talk about the second meaning To be…

II. Hidden in God: A Security of the Christian Life
We see throughout Scripture the concept of hiding in God going hand in hand with the Christian being secure in God. The word “secure” means to be firmly fixed. And the fixed or fastened so as not to give way, become loose, or be lost.  Of course it’s a metaphor, but a very important way to see our union in Christ. I propose this statement to understand the Hiding Place of God as a security. We’ll work through it in three parts
 The hiding place of God is
A place of grace that is settled in the Christ’s righteousness and secure in God’s sovereignty
1.     A Place of Grace
There are times in the Bible that the first instance a phrase is use is important to determine for the other times the phrase is used.  The phrase  “hiding place”  is first mentioned in Psalm 32-1-7. Turn with me there.
Ps 32:1-7
Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.2 Blessed is the man against whom the Lord counts no iniquity ,and in whose spirit there is no deceit. 3 For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away
through my groaning all day long. 4 For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer. 5 I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not cover my iniquity; I said, "I will confess my transgressions to the Lord, "and you forgave the iniquity of my sin. 6 Therefore let everyone who is godly offer prayer to you at a time when you may be found; surely in the rush of great waters, they shall not reach him 7 You are a hiding place for me; you preserve me from trouble; you surround me with shouts of deliverance.
·         Summary
v 1-4 trying to hide sin… as if that’s possible.
V 5,6 experiencing  the grace of confessing sin.
V 7 now Hiding in God.
Point:
David experiences a wonderful truth found in the forgiving Grace of God. And that is this that is :since God forgives our sin, our lives are guarded through God’s Grace.
Why is that?

Preach:
Because if our sin warranted us the greatest troubles and problem for our eternal destiny… and the Father God had every justifiable right because of his holiness and righteousness to pour his wrath on us-yet
Sent Jesus Christ to save us…
 Rescue us and take our sin and forgive us---granting us eternal life! ..
Than why  would his people- his children be insecure about this pety short lived life here on earth?
Pause

What could happen to the Christian if they are not separated from God’s love and care?
Rom 8:31-39

31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32  He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? 33 Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. 34  Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised— who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.  35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? 36 As it is written,

 "For your sake we are being killed all the day long;
we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered."

37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

This is the argument of the greater to the lesser. The hard to the easy.
If obtaining our salvation is the hardest obstacle because it took God to sacrifice his own Son—that is the hardest. If that can be done- and it has for the believer.- than the lesser obstacle- easier obstacle of graciously giving us all things can be done as well. If God did not withhold his Son, he will not withhold any good thing from us.
So the hiding place is a place of grace… He is For Us.
TRANSITION— Now…
Back to our original text Col 3:3  we’ll look at the next part of our statement about the security of the Christian’s life. A place of grace that is settled in the Christ’s righteousness

Settled in Christ’s Righteousness
 “…your life is hidden with Christ in God.” Col 3:3
           
DON’T MISS THE LITTLE PHRASE hidden with Christ… because if you are not with Christ, you will not be hidden in God.
·         We cannot know God without Christ. We are not saved from the consequence of sin in our life without Christ. We are not true believers without Jesus Christ. A person that is hidden in God, can only be hidden BECAUSE Christ is with him.
·         Remember the truth that sinful man cannot be near to a Holy God. PTL We can draw near to God and have our life hidden by Him because Jesus clothes us in righteousness that is His.

o   When we become Christians there is a A Great Exchange. At the great Exchange, I give my garbage (sin), and I get Jesus!  That’s the exchange for us.

o   Let me say it this way: at the  the Great Exchange, we are declared not guilty in God’s courtroom  and Christ carries our guilt. (doctrine of justification). Because While we were sinners, God attributed our sin to Jesus (imputed them to Jesus) and took Jesus perfect life and attributed (imputed)  to us. Therefore giving to us every spiritual blessing he deserved. This includes being hidden.

o   This Great exchange happens by grace alone through faith alone in  Christ alone.

o   When I struggle with my insecurity because of my sin. When I have to fight the condemning accusations of the devil. There are times I have to remember, that I am secure not because of my self and my goodness. But because of Jesus righteousness.

o   Picture:  My blog from last year: Reflecting on three major shifts in my life in the past nine years. Here’s what I said in one of them
3. God exchanged my sweetness for Christ’s righteousness.
I’ve always been the nice guy. The “so sweet” guy. Got a long with most everybody and everybody liked me. Or so I thought. No amount of my nice guy personality was going to excuse my sin against a holy God. Father God made sure of it in his disciplining of me. I had been playing with fire for too long and I was burning up (see Proverbs 6:27, 28).  My heart was beginning to become callous to the conviction of the Holy Spirit. I was unresponsive to God’s word. But outwardly still the sweet guy.
I praise God he didn’t leave me on the road that I was traveling on. Like Paul on the road to Damascus, he blocked my path, got my attention, disciplined me, called me to repentance and put me in an extended time of reflection to realize my need for a Savior to be my substitute. Because Christ is my substitute, I don’t live off of the “nice guy” reputation. Jesus is the reason for who I am and how I’ve changed. Not myself. 

o   When I think of the concept of being hidden With Christ… I remember that I am hidden  because of Christ.  Hidden in Christ’s clothing of righteousness. When I preach the gospel to myself, I remember that to be hidden for me a believer means His Imputation Declared Eternally (H.I.D.E.) over my life. He is my life!! None of what God sees is me and boy am I glad. I am secure because of my savior.
For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.           Eph 2:8
·         So it is given to all who have abandoned their efforts of good moral living for the sake of pleasing God and have put all their hope and all their trust into Jesus Christ- as the one who is their Savior.
Side note: It is because we have been gifted salvation and the faith to believe, that we can trust Jesus’ word, that says “I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand. I and the Father are one.”                     John 10:28-30
                That is security! Settled in Jesus’ hand and his righteousness. He will cause you to persevere in your faith in what ever you are up against this next year- or the rest of your life.
Secure in God’s Sovereignty
He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say to the Lord, “My refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.” For he will deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the deadly pestilence. He will cover you with his pinions, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness is a shield and buckler.                                Psalm 91:1-4
Know what pinion is?  It is the outer part of a bird's wing including the flight feathers.
Picture: Listen to Charles Spurgeon’s encouragement:
“Just as a hen protects her brood and allows them to nestle under her wings, so  will the Lord defend His people and permit them to hide away in Him. Have we not seen the little chicks peeping out from under the mother’s feathers? Have we not heard their little cry of contented joy?  In this way let us shelter ourselves in our God and feel overflowing peace in knowing that He is guarding us.
“While the Lord covers us, we trust. It would be strange if we did not. How can we distrust when Jehovah Himself becomes house and home, refuge and rest to us?”
(If you want something to dwell on, Think and meditate on the Scriptures that describe God as our Rock, refuge,and shelter.  Think through what it means that he is a Might Fortress, a shield and our strength.)
There are times that God’s sovereign hand is at work and we don’t see it.
Point:
We deny ourselves deep and wonderful security and assurance when we don’t embrace God’s sovereign work in our life.
There is great comfort when we hear that God is for us. Because we know that no one can be truly successfully against us.
Preach:
For the Christian
·         Death’s sting- fear- is Gone- we view dying as a promotion and homecoming and celebration TO BE WITH OUR Lord we should never fear that!!
·         Troubles and distress in our life- are real- but our strength to ride them through,grow us up in Christ and handle things in a God honoring way- doesn’t come from our wisdom, or righteousness of Character- it comes from Christ. Apart from Christ you can do nothing.
·         Loss of job or unfulfillment- Christ is to be our contentment and our provider.

Is being hidden with Christ mean we will never have trouble- of course not!

But  I make this point: that Christian going through trials need to see God as bigger than there troubles. The Christian who knows how big  God is in order to hide inside,  will see trouble  as a strengthening of the faith  and a lengthening of their perspective about how big God is.
Joseph:
One of the most familiar examples is the story of Joseph in the Old Testament. His brothers hate him because he has had a dream that some day he will reign over them. So they throw him into a pit, and then sell him into slavery in Egypt, and then lie to his father about his coat so the old man will believe that his boy was killed by a wild animal.  Finally, after about 17 years God  of nothing apparently working together for any lasting good for Joseph or his poor old father, he interprets a dream for Pharaoh and Pharaoh rewards him by making him a kind of vice president in charge of all the food in the land as a seven-year famine comes.
The famine is threatening his family in Canaan and so the brothers who hated him and tried to get rid of him come to Egypt. Who is the one ready to help them, but their brother Joseph, whom they don’t recognize?
The point of the story is given in three texts.
 "God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant on earth, and to keep alive for you many survivors." Notice the word "sent".                      Genesis 45:7

You see it again in
"When he summoned a famine on the land and broke all supply of bread, he had sent a man ahead of them, Joseph, who was sold as a slave."                     Psalm 105:16-17

And we understand the word sent as being important for  interpreting the main text of the story, namely,
"As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today."                             Genesis 50:20



The Cross of Christ
This is a picture of what God did for us in sending Jesus to the cross to save us.,
 "In this city there were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place."                 Acts 4:27-28
·         In other words, even though Jesus’ going to the cross involved the sins of Herod and Pilate and Gentiles and Jews, nevertheless it was God’s sending. They meant it for evil, but God meant it for good.
Job:
Look at this summary
“Behold, we consider those blessed who remained steadfast. You have heard of the steadfastness of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful.                        James 5:11
·         In all Job’s pain and loss God was aiming at compassion and mercy. He planned and purposed and worked all things for Job’s good.
It is For God’s good purposes that we can stand secure hidden in Him. We may not always know His good purposes, but you can trust his over your own.
Here at LEFC our Sunday morning philosophy of ministry is simple- we preach a big God and through our singing- Brag on God. You can get that on Sunday morning and amen what we say. But the times where it really counts are when we are in the middle of the storm and our prayer is this:

For he will hide me in his shelter in the day of trouble; he will conceal me under the cover of his tent;
he will lift me high upon a rock.                               Psalm 27:5


You are my hiding place and my shield; I hope in your word.                      Psalms 119:114

Deliver me from my enemies, O Lord! I have fled to you for refuge!                         Psalms 143:9

I love the way the Heidelberg Catechism expresses it…
Q & A 28
Q. How does the knowledge of God’s creation and providence help us?
A. We can be patient when things go against us, thankful when things go well, and for the future we can have
good confidence in our faithful God and Father that nothing in creation will separate us from his love.
For all creatures are so completely in God’s hand that without his will they can neither move nor be moved.

Closing:
So there you have it-
To be hidden with Christ in God is both a mystery and a security. And that Secure hiding place is a place of grace that is settled in the Christ’s righteousness and secure in God’s sovereignty
Let’s pray
Lord may we  be patient when things are against us, thankful when things go well and for the future have the confidence  in you who is our faithful God. That as refuge and hiding place, we may experience no fear, full joy and continual hope in what ever comes our way.
Amen