February 1999 God Views
“For you have died when Christ died, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God. And when Christ, Who is your real life, is revealed to the whole world, you will share in all His glory. Colossians 3:3 (NLBT)
“Christ is all that matters, and He lives in us all.” Colossians 3:11b (NLBT)

There is so much to talk about in these passages, but the main point is that Christ truly is all that matters. So many other things matter to us today. I’m not saying that things or people, or situations shouldn’t matter, but too often they matter more than Jesus does! Too often we forget to look at our life in the context of Who He is. As the old hymn says, if we turn our eyes and look at Jesus then, “the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace.”

I have been meditating on “Christ is all that matters” for a few weeks and I have prayed this passage over everybody I know and love so that we would see all of life in light of this statement. Sometimes we think that this world and all that we are doing is reality, and while it is real to us now, it is only a shadow of the true Reality which exists even now with God and Christ in those heavenly unseen realms. We see this when Paul talks in Colossians 2:17 that all the aspects of life from eating, to drinking, festivals, and life in general are “only shadows of the real thing – Christ Himself.” (NLBT)

Our real life is in Christ and what a glorious safe picture we have of being hidden with Christ who is neatly folded into God! What a mystery! But if being in Christ is a mystery, what about the mystery of Christ in us? He is alive in us and we are in Him and He is THE reality. He is our real life! Everything else is a shadow, vapor, fog that fades away with time. Difficult situations always try and tell us how real they are; how real our hurt, disappointments, and desires are. But someday they will be distant or non-existent when our true reality – Jesus - is revealed. When He returns we will see how real He and His glory truly are. Everything else will pale and be insignificant in comparison. Think of the time we will have wasted worrying and fussing over everything that doesn’t matter!

So how do we live in this time and space reality? What I have been doing for years is weighing life on the scale with Jesus. I often ask myself, “In light of eternity, how much does this matter?” Is it more important to be vindicated, or get my own way, or prove my point, or do I give it all to Jesus and let Him deal with what is really important? Frequently I ask Jesus to live through me in various hurtful circumstances.

When I’m hurt, I know Jesus isn’t hurt so He can be my peace. When I am frustrated, I know Jesus isn’t frustrated so He can be my joy. When I am irritated, I know Jesus isn’t irritated so He can be my patience and on it goes. Whatever I may need in any situation I know He is alive in me and can live through me. By faith I have accepted Galatians 2:20. I know that He is alive in me and God has made me alive in Him. He has given me this new life, which is still a mystery after all these years, and I want my God View more and more to be - Christ is all that matters!