“Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.” Colossians 3:2,3
There came a day in the life of Moses, after he had known the Lord for some time, even at a time when “the Lord talked with Moses…face to face,” that Moses asked the Lord, “…show me Thy glory.” (Exodus 33:18) There seems to be no hesitation on the part of the Lord in granting this request, for He said to Moses: “I will make all My goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the Lord before thee.” (v.19) It will be then however that the Lord will tell Moses, “Thou canst not see My face: for there shall no man see me, and live.” (v.20) The provision of God so that Moses could see His glory would be two-fold. First of all, the Lord told Moses that he should come to a specific place, and stand upon a rock, the Lord standing beside him. With regard to the revelation of His glory, the Lord would then say this: “I will put thee in a cleft of the rock.” That cleft is a small, narrow opening in the rock. It is the provision by God to give Moses an entrance into a secure, howbeit, limited space, but one where he is protected, and his life and his existance, is spared. The last thing to note is that the Lord tells him, “…(I) will cover thee with My hand while I pass by.” (v.22) Not only does God promise Moses that He will take him and put him in a secure place, but at vantage point from which he will be able to see something of the glory, the goodness of the Lord. With His Almighty hand of authority, He will shield Moses from overexposure to His glory. In other words, He will protect Moses perfectly, and absolutely, and all the time revealing His glory to him. What does this picture have in common with Paul’s words to the Colossian believers: “…for ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God?”
The gospel of Christ is a powerful compilation and declaration of truths that saves, delivers, and provides power to live, with the eternal promise and assurance of life with Christ forever. When by the grace of God, an individual comes to Christ, repenting of his sins, trusting only Christ for salvation, and being born of the Spirit, that believer is placed INTO Jesus Christ. The Apostle Paul tells us in his letter to the Corinthian believers, that the Lord Jesus is the very Rock, this spiritual Rock, that followed the people of Israel as they came out of Egypt. Paul makes it clear that this Rock was also the very spiritual food, and spiritual drink, from which the people would live. In the Gospel according to John, the Lord Jesus makes this very clear, declaring that He is the bread of life, and the living water which gives life. So, we come face to face with the fact that the believer has been put INTO this eternal Rock, to partake of Christ in fullest measure, both beholding His glory as the Spirit of God reveals Christ to the heart, and living by the faith of the Son of God, abiding in Him, and He abiding in them. But what about Christ as our Rock, and we being HID in Him?
All that is of the old life, in Adam, in God’s sight, is crucified and buried. That which is OF Christ, the believer being in living union with Him, is “hid,” having been put in a Christ, forever protected, kept, and shielded, since Christ IS his eternal life. In that cleft, with the Absolute authority of the Almighy God upon him, the believer is sealed, forever preserved, in the Rock. Though the world pass away, and feeble flesh may falter, nothing can separate the believer from Christ, and His love. As the Rock is, so is the believer.
Dear Father, Be our perfect Keeper. In Jesus’ name, Amen.