Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life,appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

In this section of the letter, Paul begins by insisting that we have been raised with Christ. In what way is this true? While we still struggle in our weak bodies can we truly say that we are raised with Christ?

This ‘inaugurated eschatology’ is something we still have to grasp after twenty centuries. What the New Testament teaches us is that in the life, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus, the kingdom of God has been established. While there are many who reject this kingdom and while there is still evil in the earth, the testimony of scripture is that the kingdom of God has come. Not in its fullness for sure. But it is not something that remains wholly a future hope.

What Paul is saying is that our resurrection is a certainty because our lives are hidden in Christ. He is our surety. He gives us the assurance that when he returns we will be raised in glory.

So if this is the case, if indeed our true lives are hidden in Christ and that we simply are waiting for Jesus to return to raise us to glory, then why should we not live like that right now? If we know where we are headed, and if that destiny is glorious, why wait to begin living like that?

And so Paul would have us focus on the things that are above, things that belong to the new creation that is even now invading our present reality as a consequence of Jesus’ resurrection.