Big Idea - We all feel the pressure to prove that we are somebody, that we are important, and that our life has worth to others. So, we may do things to get attention or to prove to people that they should respect us or praise us. Sometimes, we may feel that we are not important, we are just a nobody, so instead of trying to get attention, we must just try to hide and be invisible so no one will see what a nothing we are. The people Paul was writing to at Colossae were being told by influential people around them that they were no good, that they did not measure up, that they were second class, and that their faith in God was fake. Paul wrote this letter to encourage them and to give them assurance and confidence that their faith was real and that they had incredible value and significance. In this passage, Paul shows them that the issue is not that their lives do not have incredible significance but that they are not seeing their worth and significance because they are looking at their life from the wrong perspective. They needed to change their point of view and see their life in a different light. This same message is incredibly relevant to us today. How do we see our lives? Are we looking at life from the right perspective, or are we trying to find meaning and significance in the wrong place? Do we need to see our life in a different light?

Paul's message to the Colossians is that they absolutely need to see their lives in a different light. First, they need to see their life in the light of the resurrection. Jesus died, but He also rose again to new life. BY faith in Him, our old life was put to death, and we are raised to a whole new life in Christ. We need to see our life not in light of who we were before but in light of the new person we now are in Christ. Second, we need to see our life from a new vantage point, a new perspective. We can view our life from ground level or from the vantage point of the throne where Jesus reigns on high. We must seek Jesus in His resurrected and exalted position, ruling at God's right hand in power. We also need to see our life from His perspective, that is, to see ourselves as He sees us. This will have a tremendous impact as we face the challenges, temptations, and problems of life when we look at things from heaven's vantage point rather than from ground level. Thirdly, Paul tells us that this new life is, for now, a hidden life. Other people do not see us as we really are. We don't even see ourselves in the light of the full wonder and glory of our new life in Christ. Our life may seem anything but spectacular or special. But it will not always be that way. One day Jesus will appear when He returns in the fullness of His splendor and resurrected glory. And when He appears, we too will appear with Him in glory. What we are will no longer be hidden, but the full glory and splendor of our life in Christ will be visible and plain for all to see! And we cannot imagine how spectacular and extraordinary that life is! But, by faith, we can live in the light of that day of revelation.