June 14, 2025 - Colossians 3:4 - "Christ Our Life"

Colossians 3:4

"When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory."

What a beautiful, triumphant summary is here set forth of the believer’s Hope. It is founded not in works, effort, or merit, but in the gracious sovereign will of God revealed in Jesus Christ. For those chosen in Him before the foundation of the world, Christ is not merely a helper to life—He is their Life. His perfect obedience, His sacrificial death, and His victorious resurrection have obtained the eternal standing of every elect sinner. In this text, we are reminded that the believer’s identity, righteousness, and hope are found wholly in Christ Jesus alone. And just as surely as He now reigns in glory, He shall appear—and in that blessed appearing, all those in union with Him shall appear with Him, clothed in the glory He has earned for them. The Gospel of God exalts the LORD Jesus Christ from beginning to end, and in this glorious promise, our hearts rest.

First, He is the sum of the believer's life. Many talk about Him as the most important part of their lives. Preachers give these invitations, asking people to commit their lives to a “wanna-be Jesus,” and they speak of making Him the most important part of their life. That sort of appeal is not found in Scripture. No, the LORD Jesus Christ is not to be the most important part of our lives. If Christ is not our Life, then we don't have life. Only the true believer can say, "The LORD Jesus Christ is my life." Why? Because by His Spirit, He lives in us. And by His Spirit, we live in Him. There's that two-fold relationship: Christ in you, the Hope of glory. But then, you are in Christ. This is a mystery, but spiritual life is a mystery.

Second, He's the source of a believer's life. All people, by nature, are born into this world in spiritual death. In Romans 5:12, it says, "Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:" This is not just talking about physical death—although physical death is one of the consequences of being a sinner—but death by sin entered this world by the disobedience of one man. Go back to the garden. When Adam and Eve fell, did not the LORD say that the day that you eat of it, you will most certainly die? The actual day that Adam and Eve disobeyed, they did not die physically. They lived many hundreds of years more before their physical death. Does that mean that the Word of God was not fulfilled? No! The day that they ate of it, they did die. They died spiritually. That fellowship, that communion with God was immediately cut off.

As you read what they endeavored to do to rectify their sin, it shows spiritual death. Rather than confess their wrong, they tried to blame each other. Adam blamed Eve, and Eve blamed the serpent. They tried to cover their nakedness with fig leaves. They did everything that their conscience dictated, but none of it was the right thing. But it says in Genesis 3:21 that God killed an innocent animal and took the skin from that animal, and clothed Adam and Eve. The only remedy for disobedience—the only remedy for sin—is death: death by a Substitute. Our sin must either be paid in a Substitute, or we'll have to pay for it ourselves. "The wages of sin is death" (Romans 6:23). It's spiritual death now, then physical death at some point in this life, and then eternal death—unless God is pleased to intervene by His grace in this life and reveal Christ in us. "But not as the offence, so also is the free gift. For if through the offence of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many" (Romans 5:15).

Third, He's the substance of life. Think about what substance is. It's something concrete. It's like food and drink that are necessary to maintain physical life. Even so, the believer's spiritual life is maintained and sustained by daily feeding upon the life and death of Christ, by faith. In John 6:50, Christ referred to Himself as the bread of life: "This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die." He referred the Jews back to the Old Testament, where manna was given in the wilderness. He said, "Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead" (John 6:49). That manna was but a type. It couldn't maintain their lives forever. It was but a type of the Lord Jesus Christ, who was to come down from heaven. He says, in John 6:51, "I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world." For Christ to be our life means He's the substance of our life. We feed upon Him daily, in His Word. We see Him as the Bread of Life, and we partake of Him.

Fourth, He is the solace of a believer's life. If Christ is our life, He's our solace. He's our comfort. He's our consolation. But if you're not a believer, you have no lasting comfort. But if it has pleased God to reveal His Son in you, oh, what a solace and consolation He is! For Him to be our life, that means that He is all the comfort we need. Those who have seen Him by God's grace, high and seated upon that throne of glory, see Him there by faith. They see Him as the Great High Priest, as it says in Hebrews 4:14–16, "Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need."

Oh, that's good news! We need a righteousness that will stand us in good stead before God. We know that our righteousness is nothing but filthy rags, but, oh, His righteousness! That's the believer's comfort and consolation in the face of sin and temptation. He was tempted in all things, like as the believer, "yet without sin" (Hebrews 4:15). It's not a throne of judgment for those for whom He paid the debt. That's been taken care of at the cross for His people. It's a Throne of Grace. Why? That we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Are you in need?

Fifth, Christ is the standard of a believer's life. Some preachers try to whip people into shape with the law, with rules and regulations, giving them things to do. If that's the case, there's an indication that there isn't any life there. Where Christ is someone's life, He is the standard of that life. Christ Himself is the standard by which God's children live in this world. He's the standard of righteousness—He worked it out perfectly on behalf of His people. He's the standard of forgiveness because He laid down His life. Where there's shedding of blood, there's forgiveness (Hebrews 9:22). He shed His blood unto death. And those for whom He shed His blood are forgiven because God has accepted the sacrifice of His Son (Colossians 2:13-15). He's the standard as an example of what believers follow. He teaches us how to love, how to forgive, how to suffer, how to bear reproach, how to pray, and how to honor God in all things. The believer sets his eyes on Christ—he does not look within himself, to his neighbor, or to the law, but to Christ alone. That's what it means for Christ to be our life.

Sixth, for Christ to be our life, He's our security. "Our life is hid with Christ in God." To be hid means that He's our refuge. If Christ is our life, then my life is secure, not only here below, but eternally. This is a glorious thought for the believer. "As He is, so are we in this world" (1 John 4:17). And where Christ is our life, we must live. That's why the Scriptures say, "And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell" (Matthew 10:28). That's God Himself. Man might be able to lay his hand on this body, but he can't lay his hand on our life. Christ said, "I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live. And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die" (John 11:25).

Seventh, for Christ to be our life, He is our satisfaction. Since Christ is our life, we can never find true satisfaction in this world or in the things of this life. As the psalmist said in Psalm 17:15, "As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness: I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with thy likeness." This was the prayer of our LORD Jesus as He anticipated dying, rising again, and beholding the face of His Father upon completion of His earthly work for the salvation of His people. So it is the satisfaction of every child of God for whom Christ is their Advocate and Representative before God the Father.

In conclusion, Colossians 3:4 sets our hearts and hopes upon the risen and reigning Christ, who is our very life. For those who are His, all glory, all righteousness, all fullness, and all hope are found in Him alone. When He shall appear, the veil shall be removed, and we shall be made like Him, clothed in the perfection of His glory. Until that day, we live not for the things of this world, but by faith in Him who loved us and gave Himself for us. Let every believer rest in this blessed assurance: “Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.”