“Colossians 3:4
That Which is Hidden Shall Appear
A. Christ Is Our Life
Phil. 1:21 – for to me to live is Christ.
I John 5:12 – He that hath the Son hath life. John equates possessing Christ with possessing eternal life. He IS our life. He dwells within us.
John 11:25 – He is the resurrection and the LIFE.
John 14:6 – He is the way, the truth and the LIFE.
He is our life… and our life is hidden with Him in glory.
B. Christ’s Glory Was Hidden From the World During His Earthly Ministry
Jesus came to earth and didn’t look like anyone special… He had no form or comeliness… He looked like any other man in Israel. (Isa. 53:3)
He came to His own and His own received Him not.
He was in the world and the world was made by Him, but the world knew Him not.
Christ was in the world in a mortal human body but His true glory as the Eternal Son of God was HIDDEN from most men.
His deity was VEILED (covered up) in human flesh. (Veiled in flesh the godhead see! Hail the incarnate Deity!)
But at His first coming He was NOT seen for who He really is. He was NOT hailed as Deity. He was crucified as a common criminal.
On the mount of Transfiguration, the Lord gave His disciples a GLIMPSE of His glory… but they were told to tell no man.
The world did not see the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. His true identity & glory were HIDDEN from the world.
The world looked upon Him as a root growing out of dry ground… nothing comely or special about Him.
Þ But Jesus WAS special and unique, whether men in the world recognized it or not! He was the glorious Son of God… Creator of Heaven and earth, but it was veiled in human flesh!
Þ Christ was physically present on earth, but His inner glory was veiled… hidden from the world.
C. The Glorified Christ is Presently Hidden From the World
Because the world did not recognize Him, they rejected His claims as the Son of God and crucified Him for those claims.
But because He WAS who He claimed to be – whether the world saw Him as such or not – it was not possible that He should be held down by death!
3:1 – Christ arose from the dead, ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of God.
From that heavenly position, He is HIDDEN from the world even further. His inner glory was veiled on earth. Now He is hidden altogether.
In heaven, Christ now appears in the full dazzling glory of Deity on God’s very throne!
The glory that was ALWAYS His is no longer veiled from sight in heaven. All the saints and angels see Him in His glorified human body… in the full splendor of divine glory… and they worship Him.
There is no mistaking who He is in heaven.
On earth, Christ’s glory was veiled in mortal human flesh and thus HIDDEN from the unbelieving world.
In heaven, that veil of mortality has been removed, and He now appears in heaven in the same glory that He previously shared with the Father in eternity past.
His complete glory is fully revealed in heaven, but because He is in heaven, His glory is still HIDDEN from those upon the earth. Natural eyes cannot see into this realm.
The unbelieving world cannot touch the Lord any more.
He is out of their sight and out of their reach.
Christ has not been seen for over 2000 years… in spite of all those who have claimed to have seen Him.
He entered within the veil of the heavenly Holy of Holies and is hidden from the sight of us who dwell upon the earth.
Paul got a glimpse of the resurrected Christ’s glory on the road to Damascus.
The apostle John got a glimpse of the glorified Son of God in Revelation chapter one, and fell down as a dead man.
No one has seen Him since. He is hidden.
Christ is presently hidden from the world. But He will not be hidden forever.
God’s plan is to fully manifest His glorious Son before the world.
But Christ Shall Appear
A. Christ Shall Appear
Christ will not be hidden away in glory forever.
One day He will be SEEN for who He really is… God Almighty… Creator of heaven and earth… eternally incarnate in glorified human flesh… the God-Man… King of Kinds… our Savior and High Priest in heaven.
That’s who He is… and though this truth is hidden from most men now, His true identity & glory will one day be revealed in an unmistakable and undeniable fashion