Christ the Life and Hope of the Church
Joseph Davies. Colossians 3:4 When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall you also appear with him in glory. I. CHRIST IS OUR LIFE. Our life is bound up with His. He is Source, Medium, Giver. This destroys every hope of obtaining salvation without Him. Then let the sinner trust Him alone; and let this truth fill the Christian with joy. II. CHRIST IS NOW HID. 1. He was so to the Old Testament Church, before His first coming; He is so to the New Testament Church before His second coming. There is nothing that speaks to our eyes or ears. But this is true also of God Himself. 2. But as the invisible things of God are manifested in creation, so the invisible things of Christ are made patent by the influence of His preached truth upon the mind and heart. We live "by faith not by sight." 3. This does not interfere with His purposes of mercy. Both God and Christ can bless without discovery to the senses, and if this fact becomes a snare and an affliction to those who trust Him, it is because they seek Him by sense not by faith. 4. By this arrangement the gospel appeals to the higher elements of our nature, to those faculties which identify us with the angels; and thus it tends to lift us above the seen and temporal. It compels us to think, and should call forth gratitude. III. CHRIST SHALL ONE DAY APPEAR. 1. This subject is shrouded in mystery, and every speculation as to the time, etc., has been falsified; which should warn us off, and turn us to practical preparation for His coming. 2. There is a sense in which Christ appears — (1) in proportion as His cause triumphs; (2) to nations, that knew Him not, when they receive His gospel; (3) to believers at conversion and every stage of the spiritual life; (4) to dying saints; (5) to His people in the disembodied state. But these are all different from and inferior to the manifestation at the last day. 3. His second coming is looked forward to not only by the Church on earth. Patriarchs, etc., who never saw Him on earth await it; so do glorified saints who have not forgotten the promises they learned here. 4. The purposes for which He shall appear are important in relation to — (1) His adversaries, who shall be completely subdued. (2) His friends, who have been aspersed and persecuted, and shall then be honoured and rewarded. (3) Himself; for His honour will then be vindicated in the presence of the Jew, unbeliever, and denier of His Godhead. (4) God, whose justice and mercy have been denied. IV. HIS PEOPLE SHALL APPEAR WITH HIM IN GLORY. 1. As Christ is hid so are His people. The angels know them (Luke 15.; Hebrews 1.) but not the world, and sometimes not one another; and many are hid in heaven. 2. When He appears so will they. (1) In countless multitudes; think of the millions of infants who have been saved the conflict, and the millions of believers who have triumphed over it. (2) In distinct individuality, as "every eye shall see Him," so they. (3) As identified with Christ. "Thine they were, and Thou hast given them Me."(4) In glory — free from sin and sorrow; publicly acquitted; possessed of the kingdom; body and soul happy for ever, and both like Christ. Let us hasten forward to meet this glory. (Joseph Davies.) Parallel Verses KJV: When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory. WEB: When Christ, our life, is revealed, then you will also be revealed with him in glory.