Colossians 3:4

Col_3:4

When Christ who is our life shall appear then shall ye also appear with Him in glory.

Christ our life

What is meant by life? The word is very comprehensive, and includes--

1. Appropriate activity.

2. Happiness. The life here intended is

(1) not natural life;

(2) not intellectual life;

(3) but spiritual and eternal life. Christ is our life in that He is--

I. Its author.

1. He saves us from death.

(1) By His atonement which satisfies the law.

(2) By delivering us from the power of Satan.

2. He is the author of inward spiritual life. Because--

(1) He procures for us the gift of the life-giving Spirit. He has redeemed us in order that He might receive the promise of the Spirit.

(2) He not only merits, but imparts the gift of the Holy Spirit.

II. Its object.

1. The exercises in which Christian life consists terminate on Him.

2. The happiness involved consists in fellowship with Him. He is our life as He is our joy, portion, inheritance.

III. Its end. It is Christ for us to live. While others live for themselves--some for their country, some for mankind--the believer lives for Christ. It is the great design of his life to promote Christs glory and advance His kingdom. Inferences:

1. Test of character. The difference between the true and nominal Christian lies here. The one seeks and regards Christ as His life only as He delivers from death; the other as the end and object of life.

2. The true way to grow in grace, or to get life, is to come to Christ.

3. The happiness and duty of thus making Christ our life. (C. Hodge, D. D.)

Christ our life

1. Life is seen around us striking out in tender beauty in the tiny flower which opens its delicate bosom to the light of the sun, or developing into majesty and grandeur in the giants of the forest--this is vegetable life.

2. Life is seen breaking out in the songs of birds, and displayed in the movements of the lower creatures and in the manifold activities of men--this is animal life.

3. Life is seen in the speculations of the philosopher, the research of the historian, the musings of the poet, and the contrivances of the architect and mechanician--this is intellectual life.

4. Life is seen in that hatred to sin, those yearnings after holiness, those graces of faith, hope, etc., the anticipation for heaven which characterize the true Christian--this is spiritual life, To Christ all these may be traced, but Paul is here speaking of the last.

I. Christ on the cross is the source of our life. Spiritual life is no new principle; it was bestowed by Christ as the Almighty Creator. But here we have to view Christ not as the Lord of life, but the victim of death. What an amazing contrast. Yet by the latter He brought life and immortality to light. From this His life flows out to those dead in sin.

II. Christ in the heart is the essence of our life. He not only procures, but is our life. I am the life. When we receive life we receive Him. The faith which saves embraces not an abstraction, a truth, but a Person. Many are satisfied with knowing about Christ--the Christian has vital union with Him.

III. Christ in his ordinances is the support of our life. All life requires sustenance. A flower that receives no rain or sunshine withers. God has appointed means for the nourishment of our life.

1. Secret prayer. What is this? An interview with a Person, not the mere utterance of desire breathed into the vacant air; growing intimacy with Christ; the soaring of the soul into the atmosphere of love and joy which makes the pulse of life beat more firmly. The Christians vital breath, etc.

2. The Sabbath, and its opportunities for sustained intercourse with Christ in sanctuary services (Psa_63:2). The want of profit in these arises from not seeking God in them. Those who find Him receive augmentation of life.

3. The Lords Supper, in which Christ brings Himself specially near, and to realize Him in it is to receive out of His fulness grace for grace.

IV. Christ on earth is the pattern of our life. All life has some outward manifestation. Every grace embodies itself in act. Work of faith, etc. God has given us a rule in His Word after which we should conform ourselves. But He has taught us also by example. In Christs lowly condition He has taught us not to be ashamed of our poverty. As a workman He ennobled trade. The sorrowful may be comforted by thinking of the Man of sorrows. What an example we have in Him of self-sacrifice, love, forgiveness, courage, etc. The closer we study His life the more we shall be assimilated to it as Moses was to the glory of God (2Co_3:18).

V. Christ in heaven is the consummation of our life. Here we have but grace, glory lies beyond. His presence in glory is a pledge that we shall share it. The bonds of union will be drawn closer. For ever with the Lord, etc. Conclusion: There is no true life but in Christ. Let us beware lest Christs lamentation, Ye will not come unto Me, etc., be over us. (W. Steele, M. A.)

Christ our life

What think ye of Christ? The proper answer is the text. It is not said merely that He lives in us, or that we live by Him or through Him, but that He is our life. Let us apply this--

I. To the Christians relative life: justification.

1. We are all dead in law. The soul destitute of the favour of God is dead. There remains only the execution of the sentence to complete our misery.

2. In this state Christ finds us and undertakes to be our life. One of the first questions of an awakened soul is, How shall a man be just with God? The gospel replies, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. There was such merit in His cross that God, though just, becomes a Saviour. It is not by the works of the law or repentance, but by the atonement laid hold of by faith that we legally live. But this only justifies us instrumentally; Christ through it meritoriously. Whatever view the Scriptures take of it--release from curse, deliverance from wrath, remission of penalty, acceptance with God--Christ is always the author.

II. To the Christians actual life: sanctification.

1. Our death in sin is not only a death in law, but a proper alienation from the life of God. Before we can be restored to communion with God a life of purity must be imparted. Of this Christ is the cause, His Spirit the agent, His word the instrument, His example the model. The outcome of all which is that as He was so are we in the world.

2. But Christ is our life not only as it respects the way in which we are made holy, but as it respects holiness in detail. He is

(1) the life of all Christian graces.

(a) Faith which gives life to good works, holy tempers, joyful affections; but faith is looking to an object; that object is Christ. It is receiving a gift; that gift is Christ.

(b) Hope. Our anchor is cast within the vail, and is sure and steadfast; but if Christ had not entered first our attempts to cast it had been in vain.

(c) Love. Christ is its object, purifier, director.

(2) The life of all Christian duties. They are inspired by Him and directed to His glory.

(3) The life of Christian ordinances. These will be wells without water if He be absent--sacraments, prayers, thanksgiving, preaching.

III. The Christians future life.

1. Of resurrection.

(1) As His power is the agent to effect it.

(2) Because His raised body will be its model.

(3) Inasmuch as His appearance the second time will be its signal.

2. Of glory.

(1) It is His to assign to each saint his proper place and occupation in heaven.

(2) His presence mainly constitutes the bliss of heaven.

(3) The degrees of heavenly glory will be regulated by the degrees of our nearness and intimacy to Christ. Conclusion:

1. The subject addresses itself most powerfully to the hearers of the gospel. Preachers labour in vain, hearers listen in vain, if there be no communication of life.

2. To earnest seekers of salvation the subject affords much encouragement. You want pardon, purity, strength, hope. Secure Christ for your life and you will have all.

3. Let Christians learn to be grateful, consistent, useful. (Jabez Bunting, D. D.)

Christ our life

No thoughtful man can be satisfied with a mere worldly life--continued existence, a round of selfish pursuits, and sensual delights which deaden the finest instincts.

I. The vital principle that is recognized. The relation between Christ and His people is vital. Christ is not merely the source and support of their life, but is it. There can be no life--physical, mental, or spiritual--apart from the action of the Divine mind. A- sculptor may carve a most life-like figure, but he cannot impart the vital principle.

1. This life is spiritual in its nature. The Christian is surrounded by material things, and resides in a material body; but his spiritual life is distinct. Christ creates and controls it. It is the life of faith, hope, love.

2. It is eternal in its duration. It does not prevent physical dissolution, but survives it. Christ has given us the fullest assurance of our immortality? It is part of the Divine life; therefore age cannot enfeeble its powers, disease cannot impair its beauty, and death cannot terminate its existence.

3. What is your life? Are you living to gratify the lowest or highest instincts of your nature? If the former your life is not worth living.

II. The splendid spectacle that is predicted.

1. The manner of Christs appearing in the glory of His Father with the holy angels. It is a splendid sight to witness a military review, to see the glittering swords, serried ranks, waving banners, to hear the clattering drums, martial strains, triumphant shout. But no earthly scene is worth comparing with the grandeur and solemnity of the second coming of Christ. Millions were ignorant of His first advent; all shall see His second.

2. Its purpose.

(1) To be glorified. Once He appeared in weakness and humiliation; then in power and majesty.

(2) To glorify us.

3. Its time. Unknown, and to attempt to settle it is to trifle with Gods Word. When it comes it will be sudden and unexpected.

III. The glorious hope that is awakened. From the cradle to the grave our life is inspired by hope. The Christian hope is--

1. That one day we shall be with Christ. There are earthly companionships for which the heart sighs. Our affections cling to those we love. The believer clings to Christ who is the object of all his hope and desire.

2. That one day we shall participate in Christs glory. What that glory is no mind can conceive. Can the seed understand the sweetness and beauty of the flower? the stone the form and grace of the statue? Here Gods children are often poor and unknown. By and by Christ will recognize, honour, crown them. The poets fame is brief, the soldiers glory uncertain, the kings crown perishable, but the Christians triumph certain and eternal. (J. T. Woodhouse.)

Christ our life

Yet to appear.

I. Christ is our life.

1. This is Johns way of talking. In Him was life, etc.

(1) Christ is the source of our life. As the Father raiseth up the dead, etc. Jesus is our Alpha as well as Omega. We should have been dead in sin if it had not been said, You hath He quickened. He gives us the living water, which is in us a well springing up into everlasting life.

(2) Its substance. There is much mystery in the new nature, but none as to what is its life. Penetrate the believers heart and you will find Christs love throbbing there; penetrate his brain and you will find Christ to be its central thought.

(3) Its sustenance. He is the living bread which came down from heaven.

(4) Its solace. His loving kindness is better than life.

(5) Its object. As speeds the ship towards the port, the arrow to its goal, so flies the Christian towards the perfecting of His fellowship with Christ. As the soldier fights for his captain and is crowned in his captains victory, so the Christian. To me to live is Christ.

(6) Its exemplar. The Christian has the portrait of Christ before him as the artist has the Greek sculptures. If he wants to study life, he studies from Christ. Husbands and wives truly knit together grow somewhat like each other in expression, if not in feature, and the heart in near fellowship with Jesus must grow like Him. Grace is the light, our loving heart the sensitive plate, Jesus the object who fills the lens of the soul, and soon a heavenly photograph of His character is produced--similarity of spirit, temper, motive, action.

2. What is true concerning our spiritual life now is equally true of our spiritual life in heaven.

3. This life of Christ marks our dignity. Kings cannot claim it as such. Talk of their blue blood and pedigree, here is something more.

4. This accounts for Christian holiness. How can a man remain in sin if Christ is his life?

5. See how secure the Christian is. Unless Christ dies he cannot die.

II. Christ is hidden, so, therefore, is our life.

1. TO the unspiritual Christ is as though He did not exist. The worldling can neither see, taste, nor handle Him. Yet unseen as He is He is in heaven, full of joy, pleading before the throne, reigning, and having fellowship with His saints every where.

2. The servant is as his Lord, and is treated accordingly.

III. Christ will one day appear and we with him.

1. How?

(1) In person.

(2) With great splendour.

2. When? No one knows, and it is impertinent to inquire. (C. H. Spurgeon.)

Christ our life and our hope

There are two things in daily life which exert a great influence over men--fear and hope. A man will work hard through fear that want may come or through hope of bettering his condition. God appeals to both to awaken conscience and stir up the heart to diligence. Flee from the wrath to come. Lay hold on eternal life. Mortify, etc. (verses 5, 6, and text).

I. Christ our life. Many are Christs glorious titles, but none more precious than this. Christ is our life inasmuch as He negatively delivers from death. But He does much more. In a positive sense He is our life.

1. In bringing spiritual and eternal life to the soul dead in sin. There is no life without light. When God said, Let there be light, life soon came. So in Him was light, and the light was the life of men. We cannot believe Christ till we know Him; when we know Him we believe, and by faith comes life. This is life eternal, etc.

2. In being the indwelling life of the soul. An infidel once said to a negro, How can God dwell in man and man in God? How can fire be in iron and iron in fire? When the bar is in the furnace, was the reply. In Christ. Christ in you.

3. Through the souls going out to Him for spiritual life and blessing. Plants stretch towards the light. If they are closed in a dark house, and there be a chink through which the light shines, they will stretch in that direction. Where there is spiritual life it will move towards Christ in faith and love.

4. In being the strength of our life. Herein lies alone our power for good against evil. It is no easy thing to live the Christian life; and forms afford little help against temptation and for duty. The old man must be thrown off and the new man put on, and Christ only is sufficient for that and just as we are strong in Christ shall we be able to discharge the duties here laid down.

II. Christ our hope.

1. The present position of the Christian is good: his prospect is equally good. Hence not only Christ crucified, but Christ coming was the subject of apostolic Leaching. Christs first coming was the desire of all nations; His second the grand hope of the Church.

2. His redeemed people will appear with Him.

(1) They will for ever emerge from their obscurity.

(2) They will be made glorious. The ambition of many is to shine in positions of honour; but surpassing every earthly distinction will be that of appearing with Christ. If we suffer we shall also reign with Him, and be like Him A dying soldier said to his friend, I am going to the front. The front is a position of danger and honour. This good soldier of Christ was going to the front to meet the last enemy, and also to receive the crown of victory. (T. West, B. A.)

Christ the life and hope of believers

Paul in the previous verse tells believers that their life is hid. When shall it be discovered? they might object. He here tells them.

I. Christ is our life.

1. As its author (Joh_14:6).

2. As its matter (Joh_6:48).

3. As its exerciser and actor (Joh_15:5).

4. As its strengthener and cherisher (Psa_138:3).

5. As its completer and finisher (Heb_12:2; Php_1:6). This being the case let us--

(1) Not repent of anything done, suffered, or lost for Him. All that a man hath will he give for his life.

(2) Highly prize the Lord Jesus. He is worthy, and consider how highly He prizes you; and a Christ highly prized will be gloriously obeyed.

II. Believers shall at last appear glorious (Jdg_15:14; 1Co_15:43-44; 1Co_15:51-55; 1Th_4:13; Mat_19:26-28). The reasons are because--

1. The day of their appearing will be the marriage day of the lamb. Mourning weeds will be put off, and glorious robes put on.

2. They shall appear as kings crowned; here they are kings elected with the crown in reversion (2Ti_4:7-8).

3. Their enemies and persecutors will see them in their true character as Gods favoured ones.

4. Their manifestation will make much for the honour of Christ. The more glorious the body or the bride, the more glorious the head or bridegroom.

5. The wicked will then justify the goodness and mercy of God in His dealings with His people. Objections will then be answered (Job_21:15; Mal_3:14).

6. They shall be employed in glorious work (1Co_6:2-3). (T. Brooks.)

Christ the life and hope of the Church

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 (Luk_15:1-32.; Heb_1:1-14.) 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.)

The Christians winter and summer

In winter the green tree is like the dry. Summer comes, and the living loot produces leaves and fruits. So our winter is the concealment of Christ, our summer His manifestation (verse 3). Yes, dead full surely. But dead in appearance, alive at the roots. And think of the summer burst which is to follow--when Christ, who is our life, shall appear. Lo, my covenant, dear God! I will die to myself that Thou mayest live in me. (Augustine.)

Anticipations of glory

Do you ever feel like those lions in the Zoological Gardens, restlessly walking up and down before the bars of their cage, and seeming to feel that they were never meant to be confined? Sometimes they are for thrusting their heads through the bars, and then for dashing back and tearing the back of their dungeon, or for rending up the pavement beneath them, as if they yearned for liberty. Does your soul ever want to get free from her cage? Here is an iron bar of sin, of doubt, and there is another iron bar of mistrust and infirmity. You may have seen an eagle with a chain upon its foot, standing on a reck--poor unhappy thing! it flaps its wings--looks up to the sun--wants to fly right straight ahead at it and stare the sun out of countenance--looks to the blue sky, and seems as if it could sniff the blue beyond the dusky clouds, and wants to be away; and so it tries its wings and dreams of mounting--but that chain, that cruel chain, remorselessly holds it down. Has not it often been so with you? You feel, I am not meant to be what I am; I have a something in me which is adapted for something better and higher, and I want to mount and soar, but that chain--that dragging chain of the body of sin and death will keep me down. Now it is to such as you that this text comes, and says to you, Yes, your present state is not your souls true condition, you have a hidden life in you; that life of yours pants to get out of the bonds and fetters which control it, and it shall be delivered soon, for Christ is coming, and the same appearance that belongs to Him belongs to you. And then your day of true happiness, and joy, and peace, and everything that you are panting for, and longing for, shall certainly come too. I wonder whether the little oak inside the acorn--for there is a whole oak there, and there are all the roots, and all the boughs, and everything inside that acorn- I wonder whether that little oak inside the acorn ever has any premonition of the summer weather that will float over it a hundred years hence, and of the mists that will hang in autumn on its sere leaves, and of the hundreds of acorns which itself will cast, every autumn, upon the earth, when it shall become in the forest a great tree. You and I are like that acorn; inside of each of us are the germs of great things. There is the tree that we are to be--I mean there is the spiritual thing we are to be, both in body and soul even now within us, and sometimes here below, in happy moments, we get some inklings of what we are to be; and then how we want to burst the shell, to get out of the acorn and to be the oak! Ay, but stop. Christ has not come, Christian, and you cannot get out of that till the time shall come for Jesus to appear, and then shall you appear with Him in glory. You will very soon perceive in your rainwater certain ugly little things which swim and twist about in it, always trying if they can to reach the surface and breathe through one end of their bodies. What makes these little things so lively, these innumerable little things like very small tadpoles, why are they so lively? Possibly they have an idea of what they are going to be. The day will come when all of a sudden there will come out of the case of the creature that you have had swimming about in your water, a long-legged thing with two bright gauze-like wings, which will mount into the air, and on a summers evening will dance in the sunlight. It is a gnat you have swimming there in one of its earliest stages. You are just like that; you are an undeveloped being; you have not your wings yet, and yet sometimes in your activity for Christ, when the strong desires of something better are upon you, you leap in foretaste of the bliss to come I do not know what I am to be, but I feel that there is a heart within me too big for these ribs to hold, I have an immortal spark which cannot have been intended to burn on this poor earth, and then to go out; it must have been meant to burn on heavens altar. Wait a bit, and when Christ comes you will know what you are. We are in the chrysalis state now, and those who are the liveliest worms among us grow more and more uneasy in that chrysalis state. Some are so frozen up in it that they forget the hereafter, and appear content to remain a chrysalis for ever. But others of us feel we would sooner not be than be what we now are for ever, we feel as if we must burst our bonds, and when that time of bursting shall come, when the chrysalis shall get its painted wings and mount to the land of flowers, then shall we be satisfied. When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, we also shall appear with Him in glory. (C. H. Spurgeon.)

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

When Christ shall be manifested, our (or, your,) life, then shall ye also with him be manifested in glory (Rom_8:18-23; Php_3:21; 1Co_1:7 1Co_4:5; 1Ti_6:15; 2Ti_2:10-12 2Ti_4:8; Tit_2:13; 1Jn_3:2 1Jn_2:28) Our future destiny, with our present redemption, (Col_1:14) is wrapped up in Christ. Our life is not only "with him" (ver. 3); it is "himself" (Php_1:21; Joh_1:4 Joh_6:50-57; 1Jn_5:12) he is its source and ground, way and rule, means and end its all (ver. 11: comp. (Col_1:20 Col_2:6-10; Eph_1:3, 23 3:17-19 4:13; Php_3:10 4:19, etc.) From the hour of his ascension he has been hidden ; (Act_1:9 Act_3:21 1Pe_1:8) and his manifestation is as much a part of the Christian creed as his death and resurrection (Act_17:31; 1Th_1:10; 2Th_1:10 2Th_2:8; 1Co_15:23; Php_3:20; 2Ti_4:1; Joh_14:3; 1Jn_3:2; Rev_22:12, Rev_22:20) Then the Christian will have his manifestation also with him, in the "revelation of the sons of God"; (Rom_8:19) who will receive their second "adoption, to wit, the redemption of their body". (Rom_8:23) "Seeing him as he is" in his glory, "we shall be like him" (1Jn_3:2) in glory. At last the spiritual life of the soul will have its due organic expression, in a body perfect and heavenly as itself (1Co_15:35-49; 2Co_5:1-5) This is already the case with our human nature in Christ; (Php_3:21) and the change will proceed from the Head to the members, (1Co_15:23) who will be conformed to his "body of glory," as now they are being conformed to his spiritual image (Rom_8:9-11, Rom_8:29, 30 12:2; 2Co_3:18; Joh_17:22-26; 1Jn_4:17) The textual change from "your" to "our" is doubtful. (see note on Col_2:13) Observe that "Christ" is repeated four times in the last four verses.

The believer"s final manifestation with Christ.

Christ, who is our Life, shall be manifested, then shall ye also with him be manifested in glory." The believer"s life will not be always hidden, any more than the believer"s Lord. There will be a period of manifestation for both. This marks the last stage of spiritual life.

I CHRIST IS THE ESSENCE OF OUR SPIRITUAL LIFE. This is more than saying that our life is hid with him or that he is the Author of it. "He that hath the Son hath life". (1Jn_5:12; Gal_2:20; Php_1:21) We possess this life in virtue of our union with him and his resurrection. (Joh_14:19)

II WE SHALL SHARE WITH HIM IN HIS FINAL MANIFESTATION. 1, The manifestation of Christ is the blessed hope" of the saints. (Tit_2:13; 1Ti_6:14; 2Ti_1:10 2Ti_4:1-8) He will then be seen as he is, (1Jn_3:2) though mockers may ask, "Where is the promise of his coming?". (2Pe_3:4) He will then appear glorious in his person, glorious in his retinue of angels, glorious in his authority.

2. We shall share in that manifestation. "It doth not yet appear what we shall be, but we know that when he shall appear, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is"; (1Jn_3:1, 1Jn_3:2) "We wait for the Saviour"; (Php_3:21) "The glory thou hast given me I have given them"; (Joh_17:22) "If so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together". (Rom_8:17) We shall be manifested with Christ in the glory of our complete manhood, when the conjunction of soul and body shall be perfect and indissoluble. We may well set our mind on things above in view of such a glorious prospect. T. C.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Col 3:4. Ὅταν, when) This word, used absolutely, strikes (flashes upon) the whole mind of the reader, as if he had been unmindful of the preceding words, with a sudden light, so that it is doubtful whether and or but should be supplied.—φανερωθῇ, shall be manifested) in glory, 1Pe 4:13.—ἡ ζωὴ ὑμῶν, your life) This expresses the aspect (in relation to you), under which He will be manifested.—τότε, then) We should not demand it sooner.—καὶ ὑαεῖς, ye also) This hope draws men off from the earth.—ἐν δόξῃ, in glory) a glorious life.

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Col_3:4. And what a blissful future is connected with the ἡ ζωὴ ὑμῶν κεκρ. κ.τ.λ.! This bright, favourable side of the previous thought is the continuation of the proof of Col_3:2 begun in Col_3:3, detaching them thoroughly from earthly pursuits and elevating them to the courage of victory; vividly introduced without connecting particle (καί): repentina luce percellit, Bengel, which Hofmann fails to perceive, when he objects to the absence of δέ. The relation is not antithetical at all.

φανερωθῇ] shall have become manifest, have come forth from His present concealment, namely, by His Parousia. See on Col_3:3.

ἡ ζωὴ ὑμῶν] your life. Christ Himself is thus designated (comp. ἡ ἐλπίς in Col_1:27), because He is the personal author, possessor, and bearer of the eternal life of His believers (comp. Joh_14:6; Joh_11:25), and this, according to the context, inasmuch as they have entered into the fellowship of His resurrection: they are alive[141] with Him (σὺν τ. Χ., Col_3:3); His life is their life. The definite object of this apposition, moreover, is argumentative, for the following τότε κ.τ.λ.

καὶ ὑμεῖς] as Christ, so also ye with Him. The two subjects have the emphasis.

φανερωθ. ἐν δόξῃ] Comp. συνδοξασθῶμεν in Rom_3:17. It means nothing else than the glory of the Messianic kingdom, in which believers (also glorified bodily, 1Co_15:43; 2Co_5:1 ff.; Php_3:21) shall be manifested visibly. The offence which Holtzmann takes at the use of φανεροῦσθαι (instead of ἀποκαλύπτεσθαι, Rom_3:17 ff.) and ζωή, presupposes a too limited range for Pauls manipulation of language. Our passage has nothing to do with 2Co_4:10 f. Nor does it even almost look (Holtzmann) as if the author were conceiving the readers as already dead at the Parousia. The φανερωθῆναι ἐν δόξῃ takes place in the case of those still alive through their being changed, as the reader was aware.

[141] Comp. Ignatius, Ephesians 3, where Christ is designated τὸ ἀδιάκριτον ἡμῶν ζῆν, also Magnes. 1, Smyrn. 4.

Meyer — Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament — English translation by Peter Christie, edited by Frederick Crombie (T&T Clark, 1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Col 3:4 . This life is not always to remain hidden, it will be manifested at the second coming. And that not merely in union with Christ, for it is Christ Himself who is our Life. This is not to be toned down to mean that Christ is the possessor and giver of eternal life. Paul means quite literally what he says, that Christ is Himself the essence of the Christian life ( cf. Phi 1:21 , ἐμοὶ γὰρ τὸ ζῆν Χριστὸς , also Gal 2:20 ). His manifestation therefore includes that of those who are one with Him. And this can only be a manifestation in glory ( cf. Rom 8:17 ).

The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Translate, "When Christ shall be manifested who is our life (Joh 11:25; Joh 14:6, Joh 14:19), then shall ye also with Him be manifested in glory" (Pe1 4:13). The spiritual life our souls have now in Him shall be extended to our bodies (Rom 8:11).

then--and not till then. Those err who think to find a perfect Church before then. The true Church is now militant. Rome errs in trying to set up a Church now regnant and triumphant. The true Church shall be visible as a perfect and reigning Church, when Christ shall be visibly manifested as her reigning Head. Rome having ceased to look for Him in patient faith, has set up a visible mockhead, a false anticipation of the millennial kingdom. The Papacy took to itself by robbery that glory which is an object of hope, and can only be reached by bearing the cross now. When the Church became a harlot, she ceased to be a bride who goes to meet her Bridegroom. Hence the millennial kingdom ceased to be looked for [AUBERLEN].

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 4. When Christ, who is our life] When Christ comes to judge the world, ye shall appear with him in his glory, and in an eternal state of blessedness.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

4. But when Christ, our life, shall appear. Here we have a choice consolation — that the coming of Christ will be the manifestation of our life. And, at the same time, he admonishes us how unreasonable were the disposition of the man, who should refuse to bear up until that day. For if our life is shut up in Christ, it must be hid, until he shall appear

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

(4) When Christ . . . shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.—This describes the last stage of the spiritual life—the glorification with Christ in heaven, manifesting what now is hidden, and perfecting what exists only in germ. (Comp. 1Jn_3:1-2, “Now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when He shall appear, we shall be like Him; for we shall see Him as He is.”) This same conclusion ends the corresponding passage in Php_3:21.

In all these Epistles we note how constant a reference there is to the “glory of God,” and to the share in it reserved for us. So we also note the especial reference to the “appearance of Christ” in the Pastoral Epistles (see 1Ti_6:14; 2Ti_1:10; 2Ti_4:1; 2Ti_4:8; Tit_2:13), and the constant revelation of it in the Apocalypse.

The whole passage forms a complete and magnificent picture of the spiritual life in Christ—the means of its beginning, the signs of its presence, and the hope of its close. It may be compared with the fuller yet hardly completer picture of Romans 8.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

4. When Christ … shall appear] R.V., somewhat more closely, shall be manifested; leaving the Secret Place of His glory to return to human sight, in His Second Advent. The verb is used in the same connexion, 1Pe_5:4; 1Jn_2:28; 1Jn_3:2 (probably).—In connexion with the visible “manifestation” of the Son at the First Advent it occurs e.g. 1Ti_3:16; 1Jn_1:2; and in connexion with the “manifestation” of the Risen One after death, Mar_16:12; Mar_16:14; Joh_21:14.—The import of the word in all these passages far transcends mere visibility, and gives the thought of a discovery of what He is Who is seen; but it implies a quite literal visibility. “This same Jesus, in like manner, shall come” (Act_1:11).—This is the one place in the Epistle where the Lord’s glorious Return is distinctly mentioned (see Col_1:5, for a pregnant allusion to it). In the Ephesians no explicit reference to it occurs (but see Eph_4:30).

who is our life] The truth of the previous verse is repeated in an intenser form. The “life” which is “hid with Him,” in respect of your possession of it, is, in respect of itself, nothing less than He. So is Christ’s exalted life the direct secret of your regenerate life and faculty, that it is Christ, and nothing secondary. The Holy Spirit is “the Lord, the Life-Giver” (Nicene Creed); but the Life is the Son of God, as the Redeemer and Head of His saints.—Cp. Joh_6:57; Joh_11:25; Joh_14:6; Gal_2:20; 1Jn_5:11-12.

“Our life”:—he has just said, “your life is hid, &c.”; now he “hastens to include himself among the recipients of the bounty” (Lightfoot).

shall ye also appear] be manifested. “It hath not yet been manifested what we shall be” (1Jn_3:2). The believer has a supernatural secret of peace and holiness, but it is hidden; and the Divine quality of the effects will not be fully “manifested” till the Cause is “manifested.” Again, the effects, though in a partial sense “manifested” even now, “in our mortal flesh” (2Co_4:11), are as to their Divine quantity still “hidden,” till the final glorification of the saints. Then, the oneness of the members with their Head will be seen, in all its living power and wonder, and their perfect holiness will be discovered to be all “of Him.” So “the sons of God will be manifested” (Rom_8:19) in respect of the nature and the greatness of their sonship.

The Apostle’s practical aim is to bring his converts to use their “hidden” life the more freely and confidently, in view of its promised issues, and to cheer them by the same prospects under the cross of sorrow, temptation, limitation, or whatever else “conceals,” in God’s present order, their life eternal.

with him] from whom the glorified are never separated. Cp. 1Th_3:13; 1Th_4:14.

in glory] His glory, the effulgence, visible and spiritual, of His presence; shared by His members. Cf. Rom_8:17-18; Rom_8:21 (“the liberty of the glory, &c.”); 1Jn_3:2. And see 1Co_15:43; Php_3:21.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

When Christ, who is our life, shall appear,.... The Vulgate Latin version, and some copies, read, "your life". Christ is the author of spiritual life, the fountain from whence it springs, the object on which the saints live, yea, their very life itself; it is not so much they that live, as Christ that lives in them: and he is their eternal life; it is in him, and given forth by him; to know him now is the beginning of it; and its perfection hereafter will lie in the vision of him, communion with him, and conformity to him. The Jews have a saying (y),

"that lives depend upon the son of Jesse,''

all sorts of life, natural, spiritual, and eternal. At present, Christ, the life of his people, is, as it were, hid; when he had done the work he came into this world about, and which he was manifest in the flesh, he departed out of it, ascended up into heaven, and went to his God and Father, where he is, and will be retained, until the time of the restitution of all things; and though he appears in the presence of God, and on the behalf of his redeemed ones, yet he is now out of sight, and not to be seen with their bodily eyes; but, ere long, he will be revealed from heaven, and come in the clouds of it, and be seen by all, to the terror and confusion of some, and to the joy and salvation of others; when his appearance will be exceeding glorious, not only in his glorified body, or exalted human nature, and as the Judge of the whole earth, clothed with majesty, authority, and power, but as the Son of God, God equal with the Father, in all the perfections and glory of deity, which will be manifest and apparent to everyone:

then shall ye also appear with him in glory: the dead bodies of the saints will then be raised and united to their souls, which he will bring with him, when he appears; and living saints shall be changed, and be caught up together with the raised ones, into the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air; and so they all shall be with him together, wherever he is, whether in the air, or on earth, or in heaven, and while he is in either; and shall be for ever with him, enjoy communion with him, be made like unto him, and behold his glory: yea, they shall "appear in glory" too; with a glory on their bodies, which will be raised in glory like unto the glorious body of Christ; and on their souls, being in perfect holiness, having on the wedding garment, or robe of Christ's righteousness, being clothed upon with their house from heaven, and appearing in the shining robes of immortality, incorruption, and glory; having the glory of God upon them in soul and body, and such a glory revealed in them, as the sufferings of this present life, and all the enjoyments of it, are not to be compared with. All which furnish out strong arguments and reasons, enforcing the above exhortations to seek for, and set the affections on things in heaven, and not on earth.

(y) Zohar in Gen. fol. 2. 3.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

4 When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.

Ver. 4. Then shall we appear] What then do we loading onrselves with thick clay, or moiling ourselves here as muckworms?

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

When Christ, who is our life - Notes, Joh 1:4; Joh 11:25, note.

Shall appear - In the day when he shall come to judge the world.

Then shall ye also appear with him in glory - 1Th 4:16-17. Christians shall then be raised from the dead, and ascend with the Redeemer to heaven.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

When Christ, who is our life, shall appear; which will be, according to the purpose and promise of God, with whom it is laid up, Col 1:5, when Christ by whom they live shall so appear that they shall be like him, 1Jo 3:2, and be taken to be with him in the heavenly inheritance, 1Pe 1:4; then their conformity to him, began here, partly in holiness and partly in sufferings, Rom 8:18, shall be completed at last in glory and felicity, Phi 3:21; Heb 11:26,35.

Then shall ye also appear with him in glory; and then shall these adopted children be brought into glory with him, Heb 2:10, out of whose hands none shall be able to pull them, Joh 10:28; but however the world look upon them as despicable, Joh 16:2, and sometimes they are so in their own eyes, wherein ofttimes there be tears, so that they can see but as through a glass, darkly, Psa 31:22; 1Co 13:12; but then they shall see Christ face to face, all tears shall be wiped away from their eyes, Rev 7:17, and at the last day they shall shine as the sun in glory, Mat 13:43; 1Co 15:43,53; 2Th 1:7,10,12.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

4. When Christ… shall appear—Shall be manifested at his second coming, being in hiddenness no longer. As he is now the life of all believers, they will share with him in all its ultimate developments in the resurrection and in the glorification of both soul and body.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

When Christ - The abruptness of the sentence surrounds us with sudden light. Our life - The fountain of holiness and glory. Shall appear - In the clouds of heaven.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

That is, "When Christ, who is the author, and purchaser, and preserver of our life, shall appear to judge the world at the great day, then shall all believers, who have received spiritual life from him, be sharers in glory with him.

Here note, 1. That Jesus Christ, by whom believers live a life of grace, and from whom they expect a life of glory, shall certainly appear, yea, and have a very glorious appearing; he shall be glorious in his person, glorious in his attendants, glorious in his authority, &c.

Note, 2. That when Christ appears in glory to judge the world, then it is that all believers shall enjoy a full glorification with him.

Note, 3. That the faith of approaching glory, at Christ’s second appearance, is a strong argument to take off our affections from things below, and place them on things above.

St. Paul’s argument is, to press the Colossians to set their affections on things above, because Christ is above, and, when he appears, they shall appear with him in glory.

William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

4. ὅταν ὁ χριστὸς φανερωθῇ κ.τ.λ. The connexion of thought with Col 3:3 is as follows: Concealment is necessarily only temporary (cf. Mar 4:22); a day is coming when Christ will be made known in His true character and power, i.e. His glory; but your life is now concealed with Him; yes, more than this, He Himself is our life; it therefore cannot but be that when He is manifested in glory you will be also. Observe that this verse not only developes the thought of κέκρυπται, but also by the magnificence of the hope supplies a further reason against being intent on things of earth. “Haec spes abstrahit a terrâ” (Beng.); cf. 1Jn 3:2-3.

ὅταν. No δέ, cf. Col 2:20. The very abruptness brings out the hope more vividly.

ὁ χριστὸς. The fourth time in Col 3:1-4. St Paul will do his utmost to help them to set their thoughts above.

φανερωθῇ, Col 1:26, note.

ἡ ζωὴ ἡμῶν. “This is an advance on the previous statement, ἡ ζωὴ ὑμῶν κέκρυπται σὺν τῷ χριστῷ, in two respects: (1) It is not enough to have said that the life is shared with Christ. The Apostle declares that the life is Christ. Compare 1Jn 5:12, ὁ ἔχων τὸν υἱὸν ἔχει τὴν ζωήν, Ign. Ephes. § 7, ἐν θανάτῳ ζωὴ ἀληθινή (of Christ), Smyrn. § 4, Ἰησοῦς Χριστὸς τὸ ἀληθινὸν ἡμῶν ζῆν; Ephes. § 3, Ἰησοῦς Χριστὸς τὸ ἀδιάκριτον ἡμῶν ζῆν; Magn. § 1, Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ τοῦ διὰ παντὸς ἡμῶν ζῆν. (2) For ὑμῶν is substituted ἡμῶν. The Apostle hastens to include himself among the recipients of the bounty” (Lightf.; cf. Col 1:13, Col 2:13).

τότε, 1Co 15:28. “Prius non debemus postulare” (Beng.).

καὶ ὑμεῖς. Here he reverts to the proper form of the argument, the more readily as he is speaking not of need but of honour.

σὺν αὐτῷ. Observe the position of these words, (1) to keep ἐν δόξῃ for final emphasis, (2) to lay stress on the closeness of the relation of “you” and “Him.”

They also take up σὺν τῷ χριστῷ of Col 3:3. As surely as your life is hidden with Christ while He is hidden, so shall you be manifested with Him when He is manifested; cf. 1Th 4:14; 1Th 4:17.

φανερωθήσεσθε ἐν δόξῃ. See notes on Col 1:11; Col 1:27.

For the thought cf. Rom 8:17; Php 3:21; 2Th 2:14; Heb 2:10; 1Pe 5:4; 1Pe 5:10. On the nature of the “glory” as regards believers, see Moule. Even the body shares in it, 1Co 15:43.

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

4. ὅταν ὁ Χριστὸς φανερωθῇ, ἡ ζωὴ ἡμῶν. “When Christ shall be manifested, who is our life,” not “shall be manifested in the character of our life,” as Bengel and Eadie. Compare ὁ ἔχων τὸν υἱὸν ἔχει ζωήν, 1Jn 5:12. He is Himself the essence of the life; cf. Gal 2:20; Php 1:21. The absence of δέ or καί makes the expression more striking and vivid. Bengel observes on this: “Sermo absolutus lectorem totum … repentina luce percellit.” For the transition to the first person cf. 2:13.

φανεροῦσθαι is used here with propriety instead of ἀποκαλύπτεσθαι, which does not so distinctly imply actual present existence.

τότε καὶ ὑμεῖς σὺν αὐτῷ φανερωθήσεσθε ἐν δόξῃ. Compare 1Jn 3:2, οἴδαμεν ὅτι ἐὰν φανερωθῇ ὅμοιοι αὐτῷ ἐσόμεθα, and Rom 8:19, τὴν ἀποκάλυψιν τῶν υἱῶν τοῦ Θεοῦ ἀπεκδέχεται: and on ἐν δόξῃ, Rom 8:17, ἵνα καὶ συνδοξασθῶμεν, and 18, τὴν μέλλουσαν δόξαν ἀποκαλυφθῆναι εἰς ἡμᾶς.

For the reading; ἡμῶν is read in B Dbe K L most MSS., Syr. (both), Boh., Origen.

ὑμῶν in א C D* G P 17 47, Vulg., Goth., Arm., Eth.

ὑμῶν was very likely to be substituted for ἡμῶν on account of the preceeding ὑμῶν and the following ὑμεῖς. Tischendorf and Tregelles prefer ὑμῶν; WH. and Lightfoot ἡμῶν; and so Weiss.

International Critical Commentary — older volumes (1896–1929), various authors — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Who is our life [ζωη] . See on Joh 1:4. The life is not only with Christ, it is Christ. Compare Joh 14:6; 2Co 4:10, 11; 1Jo 5:11, 12. For the change of person, our for your, see on ch. Col 2:13.

Shall appear [φανερωθη] . Rev., correctly, shall be manifested. Compare 1Jo 3:2, note. See on Rom 3:21.

In glory. Compare Rom 8:17.

Marvin R. Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament (1887–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

4. ὁ Χριστὸς] A fourth occurrence of the name of Christ in this context; comp. ver. 2 τῷ Χριστῷ, ὁ Χριστός, ver. 3 σὺν τῷ Χριστῷ. A pronoun would have been more natural, but less emphatic.

ἡ ζωὴ ἡμῶν] This is an advance on the previous statement, ἡ ζωὴ ὑμῶν κέκρυπται σὺν τῷ Χριστῷ, in two respects: (1) It is not enough to have said that the life is shared with Christ. The Apostle declares that the life is Christ. Comp. 1 Joh. v. 12 ὁ ἔχων τὸν ὑὶον ἔχει τὴν ζώην, Ign. Ephes. 7 ἐν θανάτῳ ζωὴ ἀληθινή (of Christ), Smyrn. 4 Ἰησοῦς Χριστὸς τὸ ἀληθινὸν ἡμῶν ζῆν, Ephes. 3 Ἰησοῦς Χριστὸς τὸ ἀδιάκριτον ἡμῶν ζῆν, Magn. 1 Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ τοῦ διαπαντὸς ἡμῶν ζῆν. (2) For ὑμῶν is substituted ἡμῶν. The Apostle hastens to include himself among the recipients of the bounty. For this characteristic transition from the second person to the first see the note on ii. 13. The reading ὑμῶν here has very high support, and on this account I have given it as an alternative; but it is most probably a transcriber’s correction, for the sake of uniformity with the preceding.

τότε καὶ ὑμεῖς κ.τ.λ.] ‘The veil which now shrouds your higher life from others, and even partly from yourselves, will then be withdrawn. The world which persecutes, despises, ignores now, will then be blinded, with the dazzling glory of the revelation’. Comp. 1 Joh. iii. 1, 2 ὁ κόσμος οὐ γινώσκει ἡμᾶς, ὅτι οὐκ ἔγνω αὐτόν. ἀγαπητοί, νῦν τέκνα Θεοῦ ἐσμέν, καὶ οὔπω ἐφανερώθη τί ἐσομεθα· οἵδαμεν ὅτι ἐὰν φανερωθῇ, ὅμοιοι αὐτῷ ἐσόμεθα κ.τ.λ., Clem. Rom. 50 οἳ φανερωθήσονται (or φανεροὶ ἔσονται) ἐν τῇ ἐπισκοπῇ τῆς βασιλείας τοῦ Χριστοῦ.

ἐν δόξῃ] Joh. xvii. 22 τὴν δόξαν ἣν δέδωκάς μοι, δέδωκα αὐτοῖς, Rom. viii. 17 ἵνα καὶ συνδοξασθῶμεν.

J. B. Lightfoot, St Paul's Epistles to the Colossians and Philemon: a revised text with introductions, notes and dissertations (London: Macmillan, 1875) — public domain. Electronic text from Project Gutenberg (ebook #50857). Covers Colossians and Philemon only (the verse-by-verse notes; introductions and dissertations are omitted); Lightfoot's companion Galatians and Philippians volumes are not included, as the available public-domain scans carry garbled Greek that cannot be faithfully reproduced.