A Secured Status: Union with Christ | Colossians 3:1-4

Good morning, Watermark. How are we doing today? Good to see you. If this is your first time ever with us, thanks for trusting us with your Sunday morning. I hope this place feels like home to you very quickly. We're about to jump into the Word of God. We do this every week. I want to give you a chance really quickly to prepare your heart to hear from God through the teaching of his Word. That might be new to you if you're just checking out church, visiting today, but I do want to give you an opportunity to talk to God now and ask him to speak to you.

So pray that really quickly. Just say, "God, would you speak clearly to me today?" Then would you pray for the people around you, your family and friends and other people in the room? Say, "God, would you speak clearly to them as well?" Then would you pray for me and ask God to speak clearly through me to you?

Lord, I thank you that you've given us your Spirit and your Spirit leads and guides us into truth. I pray that your Spirit would do that now. Give us eyes to see you and ears to hear you. I pray that our hearts would be receptive to all that you want to say to us now. We love you. Thank you for this time. In Jesus' name, amen.

My wife Kat and I are about to celebrate 18 years of marriage, which is awesome. We're excited about that. As I was preparing for today, I thought back to our sixth date. Some of y'all have heard about this before. On the sixth date, I took Kathryn to a U2 concert. You young people are like, "You…who?" U2. Look them up. They will change your life.

I decided I was going to take her to a U2 concert, and at this U2 concert it was my intention to have what's known as a DTR. Are you familiar with this terminology? It stands for define the relationship. It was that point in our time together that I felt a responsibility to define the relationship. So, we go to the U2 concert, and I don't know when we're going to have this conversation. I'm going to let U2 lead the way for us, and we'll just figure it out in the moment.

In the middle of the concert, Kat tells me she needs to go to the restroom. I decide to go with her. I come out first, and I am standing in the breezeway, waiting for Kat to come out. While I'm standing in the breezeway, U2 starts singing a song called "Sunday Bloody Sunday." In the midst of them singing this song, which is not a romantic song at all, I sense deep in my core, "This is the moment. I'm about to have a DTR with Kat during 'Sunday Bloody Sunday.'"

So, Kat comes out. She joins me in the breezeway. "Sunday, bloody Sunday!" That's what's happening in there. I stop Kat, and this is exactly what happened. I go, "Hey! I want to tell you something! I like you!" She was like, "I like you too." I was like, "I like U2, but do you like me too?" She was like, "I like you too." I was like, "That's cool." Then we went back to our seats. That's all that was said. We just stood there awkwardly next to each other for 15 to 20 minutes.

We had a much clearer conversation where the relationship was really defined, but that was while watching the animated movie Chicken Little. I just thought the U2 concert sounded way better than a conversation during Chicken Little. The importance of a DTR… What happens is it's a moment of clarity. Kat and I had this conversation where feelings were put on the table, and that conversation led to clarity, that clarity gave birth to confidence, and that confidence led to closeness.

The reason I tell you that is as we step back into the book of Colossians, specifically chapter 3, this is going to basically be a divine DTR. This is going to be God having a DTR with us through the apostle Paul. The goal of this passage is to bring clarity to our status with God, and the hope is that clarity would lead to confidence and that confidence would lead to closeness. So, if you have a Bible, I invite you to turn with me to this divine DTR. Listen to what Paul says in Colossians 3:1-4.

"If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory."

There are four aspects to this divine DTR that I want to point out to you today. The first is simply this one truth: you are united with Christ. If you know Jesus Christ, then you need to gain clarity that you are united with Christ. We are united with Christ. Because we're united with Christ, that truth leads to three other truths we're going to see in the text today. The first is because we're united with Christ, we are seated with Christ. Secondly, because we're united with Christ, we are hidden with Christ. Finally, because we're united with Christ, we will appear with Christ.

Now, I want to make sure you see what's happening in the text. In the text, Paul talks about past, present, and future truths. He says if we have been raised with Christ… That's something that has already happened in the past. We have been raised with Christ if we know Christ in a real way. Then he says we are hidden with Christ. That's a present reality. Then he says we will appear with Christ. That's a future truth. There are past, present, and future truths.

If you were to go back to Colossians, chapter 2, you would pick up two more past truths. Paul says we have died with Christ. He also says we were buried with Christ. So, get the picture of what Paul is trying to communicate in the book of Colossians. He says we have died with Christ, we have been buried with Christ, we have been raised with Christ, we are hidden with Christ, and we will appear with Christ.

Do you understand what's happening? Paul is associating us with every aspect of Jesus' work. This is what baptism symbolizes when you get baptized in the pond, that you have died with Christ, you have been buried with Christ, and you have been raised with Christ. Paul is associating us with every aspect of Jesus' work. This is a theological concept known as union with Christ. Charles Spurgeon says this about union with Christ: "There is no joy in this world like union with Christ. The more we can feel it, the happier we are…"

The reason I tell you that is if you and I were to sit down for coffee and I were to ask you, "What does it mean that we have union with Christ?" if you don't have a clear answer, then today is especially for you. If Spurgeon is right, this is a key that will unlock greater joy. This is the divine DTR. This is clarity that leads to confidence that can lead to closeness.

It's my clear belief that, especially after last week, some of us desperately need a new understanding of our status with Jesus, because so many of us live under the label "Not enough," so we go through life believing we need to somehow either gain or sustain God's pleasure in us in our relationship with him. So, instead of seeking to enjoy the already existing, unwavering pleasure God has in us, we spin our wheels trying to either gain it or sustain it.

We engage in various spiritual activities, trying to earn something we already freely have in Christ. We gladly receive eternal life with Jesus by grace through faith, yet we then try to earn God's pleasure through our own performance. Union with Christ is the remedy to the banner of "Not enough." So, if you left last week with this deep conviction, like, "I don't know that I fully understand just how enough I am because of Christ," union with Christ is the beautiful remedy.

Paul starts out by saying in verse 1 of chapter 3, "If then you have been raised with Christ…" The reason he's talking about being raised with Christ is because in chapter 2 he talked about dying with Christ. We have been united with Christ in his death. We have been united with Christ in his resurrection. We have died with Christ. We have risen with Christ. What does that mean? What it means is you are not who you were before you knew Jesus Christ.

The BC (before Christ) you has died. The you who put you at the center of the universe died. The you who lived like you were in charge of your life died. The you who was ruled by Satan and sin, looking for satisfaction in all of the wrong places, died. The you who didn't believe in God or mocked God or worshiped other things as God died. The you who thought he or she could earn God's love and eternity in heaven as a reward through good living died. The you who could never be enough for God died. The you who was an enemy of God and deserving of eternal hell died.

Now you have been united with Christ, not just in his death but in his resurrection. What does that mean? It just means you are permanently new. In God's eyes, you are a completely new person. You are a new creation in Christ. Let me try to explain it this way. Last week, we finally traded in Kat's minivan, which means…I'm just letting y'all in on the Ateek family situation…we finally stepped out of the minivan phase for forever. It came to a close. In the name of Jesus it's over. The old is gone, the new has come. Praise God.

It was about to hit 200,000 miles. It had gotten to the point where, when we would drive it, we were just waiting for it to take its last breath. It kind of had that feeling to it. Kat went out and cleaned it up. She wiped it down. I got inside the van, and I was like, "Oh my gosh! This looks incredible." It looked so clean. I was like, "I've not seen this car this clean in so long." It looked so good, because we were trading it in to the dealership. We wanted to get as much on trade-in as we could.

Then I started looking under the seats to make sure we had gotten everything. I don't know how to explain it besides, when I looked under the seats, there was like a film that had been fermenting for nine years because of my three boys. It was like a hodgepodge of all of the different Chick-fil-A crumbs from all three of my boys combined with applesauce from whenever that was a thing for us combined with Goldfish crumbs combined with the toys we had gotten from tickets at Chuck E. Cheese. It was baked in. It was like, "There's no getting that out. That's a part of the car."

When we turned it in, the guy at the dealership was like, "Have y'all gotten everything out of it?" I was like, "Whatever you find you can keep. It's yours. Enjoy." Here's the thing. I think we can operate a lot like that as Christians, where we know that Christ went to the cross and, because of that, we somehow know we've been forgiven of our sins and he has made us clean, yet something in us believes that if you look closely enough, if you kind of look in the hidden parts of our lives, you're going to find some gross things.

I'll be honest. I prayed that van to the dealership, because I was like, "Man, this thing at some point is just going to stop working." I think sometimes we as Christians are like, "If you look closely enough, I still feel broken inside sometimes. I still feel like the way I operate, the way I function is a little bit broken. I just don't feel like I'm who I should be at this point as a Christian. I feel a little bit more like a failure than a success as a Christian."

So we live under this banner of "Not enough." Like, "I'm just a little bit of a cleaned-up, broken, busted, still-a-little-bit-gross-inside Christian." Paul is saying you have to understand your status. This is a DTR. He is meaning for you to gain clarity that leads to confidence in your relationship with Jesus that then leads to closeness. He's saying you've died with Christ, but not only that. You've been raised with Christ. You have new life in Christ.

That's why at the end of last week I told you a bunch of things about you that are new. You have a new start. You've been completely forgiven. God has given you a new heart with new capacities to please him. Not just that. You have a new identity. The truest thing about you is not that you're a CEO or a lawyer or a doctor. The truest thing about you is that you're a child of God. You were an enemy of God, but because of what Christ has done you've become a child of God. The God of the universe looks at you and calls you his kid.

Not only that. You're not just a stereotypical young adult. You're a saint, according to the Scriptures. You're an ambassador for Christ. You've been invited into the family business. You have a new identity. Not just that. According to the Scriptures, you have a new power. God himself lives inside of you through the presence of his Spirit. The same power that raised Christ from the dead is available to you every single day. Not just that. You have a new position.

So, when Paul talks about being raised with Christ, when he starts verse 1 saying, "If you have been raised with Christ," he's zeroing in on your new position in Christ. Remember, what we said is we have been united with Christ, and because we've been united with Christ, the first reality of that is we are seated with Christ. Where do I get that from? Look at verse 1 again. "If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God."

You might read that and say, "That says nothing about where we are seated. That says everything about where Christ is seated. Christ is seated in the heavenly places." Well, in order for me to help you grasp this, I need to take you to Ephesians. If you were to read Ephesians and Colossians, you would see they have the same messages.

Listen to how Paul puts it in Ephesians. It gives a little bit more clarity to Colossians 3:1. He says this in Ephesians 2:4-6: "But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus…"

Because of your union with Christ, you are seated with Christ. What does that mean? It means, in some sense, Jesus has raised you all the way up to heaven. Here's the question you're not asking but should be asking. When Paul says we've been raised with Christ, the question you should ask is…How high has he raised us? High enough to seat you with him in the heavenly places.

He has pulled up a chair for you to sit with Jesus who sits at the right hand of the Father. The right hand is the position of favor. Jesus is the King of the universe, and you have a seat. That is your status. You have heavenly status. My dad loves to travel. He has flown a lot. Because of that, American Airlines at some point just said, "Look. We get it. You love to travel, so we are giving you a lifetime status of Platinum." Lifetime status.

So, for the rest of his life he's welcome in the Admirals Club. For the rest of his life, he's at the top of the upgrade list. For the rest of his life, that's his status. Paul is like, "This is your status. Not just for the rest of your life but for the rest of eternity, you have a place. You belong with Christ in the heavenly places." That doesn't start when you die; it started the day you believed.

So, how do we grasp this idea that you are already seated with Christ in the heavenly places? Like, you're physically here but spiritually seated with him in the heavenly places. How do we grasp that? Let me explain it this way. Follow me on this. Have you ever gone on a trip somewhere that has changed the way you lived when you came back?

For example, I went on a mission trip to the Dominican Republic one time, and when I came back, first, I wanted to start eating mangoes more, because I had them there and I was like, "That's delicious." They're not as delicious here as they were there. Secondly, I tried to start conserving water by flushing the toilet less, because over there that's what you did. Kat put an end to that very quickly.

Thirdly, I started living with more gratitude, because we were building a house over there with no equipment except our hand tools. So I came back, and I got on my Echo weed eater. I'm like, "Praise the good Lord for this." I just found myself with so much gratitude. So think about that. If you've ever had that experience where you went somewhere and it changed the way you live, I want you thinking about that.

Now I want to invite you to picture how your life would change if God gave you the ability to spend the weekend in heaven. I want you to picture this. If it helps you to close your eyes, I encourage you to do that. You're going to have them closed for a little bit of time. I really want to invite you to focus, because if you can grasp this, it can be very helpful. I found it to be extremely beneficial in my relationship with the Lord this week.

Here's what I want you to imagine with your eyes closed. Imagine going to heaven and sitting down with Jesus and seeing him face-to-face. Now remember, in the book of Revelation, when John saw Jesus, the glorified Christ, he fell to the ground thinking he was dead because of how overwhelming Jesus was. So, when you think about sitting and seeing Jesus face-to-face, think of an overwhelming Jesus.

Imagine seeing Jesus and all of the angelic beings worshiping him night and day. The entire weekend, they're just worshiping him because of his beauty, majesty, power, purity, and authority as the King of the universe. Imagine feeling so satisfied and having crystal clarity about just how good Jesus is. Like, you find yourself overwhelmed by the love he has for you. You just keep thinking to yourself, "I had no idea that this is how good he is."

Then imagine seeing Jesus pull levers on earth. It's like you're in mission control, watching screens of his mission play out. You're seeing all of the miracles he's working all day long. You see all of the prayers he's answering, and it's overwhelming how powerful, generous, and good he is. Imagine getting to even have this beautiful understanding of his attentiveness and care toward those whose prayers he doesn't answer how they would like.

You get to watch people all over the world share the gospel, and you get to see unbelievers all over the world trust in Christ, and anytime someone trusts in Christ you hear the angels erupt in celebration every time. In some way, you feel the weightiness of Christ's victory on the cross over Satan, and you sense how crushing of a defeat was handed to Satan. You see people you knew who had died of cancer, but now they're living cancer free. They're full of joy in the presence of Jesus, and they're coming up to you, saying, "Jesus was so worth it."

Then imagine right before you head back to earth, Jesus looks at you and says, "You belong with me here. I have remade you for this. I can't wait until you are here forever." Now, with your eyes still closed, I want you to imagine Monday morning back in reality. After everything you saw and experienced, now imagine how ridiculous it would seem to go a day not spending any time with Jesus. Imagine how absurd being a workaholic just to feel like somebody and to make a bunch of money so you can buy whatever you want… Imagine how absurd that would feel.

Imagine how disgusting looking at porn would feel. Imagine how dishonoring yelling at your spouse or kids would seem. Imagine how ungrounded your fear of sharing your faith feels. You can open your eyes. This is what Paul is getting at when he says, "If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth."

When he says, "Seek the things that are above," that's his way of saying, "Look. Let your heart and your affections be shaped by heaven." When he says, "Set your mind on things above," he's saying, "Live and see life and think about life with heavenly prescription lenses." You want to see your life with lenses you get from having your seat with Christ in the heavenly places.

Think about last week. We talked about the false teachers. Do you remember what the false teachers were advocating? They were advocating this type of life where if you starved yourself enough, then you starving yourself would allow your mind to click into some state where you would get visions of heaven and have meaningful experiences with angels.

Paul is like, "What are you talking about? Y'all are sitting there saying that's spiritual maturity. That's not spiritual maturity, because you have the wrong starting point. You guys are starting down here, trying to get up there. Spiritual maturity is learning to start up there because somehow you're already seated with Christ in the heavenly places. The right starting point is in the throne room of God, and then you allow that to impact your life here on earth."

But here's the thing. When I went to the Dominican Republic and came back, the changes I made wore off very quickly. That's why Paul says, "Set your mind on things above." In the Greek, it literally means, "Keep setting your minds on things above." It's a continuous and ongoing action. Why must it be continuous? Because it won't come automatically.

Maybe a more biblical way to think about things is to consistently picture yourself sitting in the throne room of heaven throughout your day. So, imagine having that tough meeting at work sitting in the throne room with Christ or imagine having an argument with your spouse or your roommate seated in the heavenly places with Christ or imagine scrolling on your phone while seated in the heavenly places with Christ.

This past Friday, Kat and I were in a fight. You know pastors aren't perfect, right? I just want to make sure you know that. Kat and I have a great marriage, but it is not a perfect marriage. We found ourselves in a fight on Friday, and in the midst of the fight, I began to picture myself seated in the heavenly realms with Christ. I imagined everything going on, everything I would be experiencing, and as I did, do you know what I realized? It became clear so quickly that my attitude, my tone, even my wording felt so out of place sitting in heaven with the King of the universe. It brought great clarity.

Then Kat and I resolved our conflict. We got in the car and made our way to Waco. There was an event I was speaking at for five minutes. I was giving a five-minute message…that's it…to about 100 people, yet on the way down I found myself getting really nervous, for some reason, about this five-minute speech to 100 people.

So, as I'm driving, I'm trying to hype myself up. I'm like, "This is what you do for a living." That's what I'm telling myself. "You speak to a room with 3,000 people in it every week. You can do this. You've got this, man." It didn't work. That hype didn't work. So then I started picturing myself in the throne room of heaven, seated in the heavenlies, because that's where I have status. Part of this DTR between God and me is that I have status.

As I pictured myself in the throne room of God, do you know what I realized? There was a fear of man in me. There was a need for approval in me. All of that began to evaporate when I thought about stepping out of that throne room and giving a five-minute talk. When I did that, there was an urgency in me to want to testify to how good God has been at Baylor University.

I tell you that just to say maybe this is how we can love the Lord our God with all of our minds. Maybe this is one practical way the peace of God that transcends all understanding can guard our hearts and minds, because we have clarity on our status that we are seated with Christ. May we let that clarity lead to confidence that leads to closeness.

Secondly, because we're united with Christ, we're actually hidden with Christ. Paul says in verse 3, "For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God." That word that has been translated hidden is the Greek word krypto, which can mean being hidden in a safe place. See, if you want clarity on your relationship with God, you need to know that because of what Christ has done you are hidden with Christ. That should bring safety and security in your life. Your relationship with Jesus should breed safety and security in you. Why? Because you are hidden with Christ.

Okay. I brought the tubs back. Do you guys remember these things? I saw David Platt do this. I was so encouraged by it I shared it with you in the first message of this series. I just want to run it back really quickly but add on to it. Remember how we started last time. We said that this is us. Our tendency is to live like Christ is over here and we are down here.

We know Christ has died for us, has risen from the dead, and has made a way for us to have eternal life in heaven one day. That's great, and we look forward to that, and we're thankful for that, but you know what? It's 2024, and we have to wake up tomorrow and go to work, and we have to do this and do that, and it's an election cycle, so life is chaotic. There's stuff going on with roommates. There's stuff going on with kids. There's just stuff going on.

So, I want to try as hard as I can to be connected to Christ. I want to try as hard as I can to honor Christ, but reality is reality and there's just stuff to do, life to be lived. Paul is saying, "Look. If that's the way you're living, you don't get your status with Christ. You need a DTR, because there's some confusion."

Paul reminds us in different parts of his books that Christ is in us by the presence of his Spirit. The Holy Spirit is known as the Spirit of Christ. When you put your trust in Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, Christ put his Spirit in you. If this is all we got, this is amazing. When you go to work, you're not just out there trying to muscle through the day and do everything on your own. No, God actually lives inside of you. He's resourcing you. He's giving you power to make it.

But it doesn't stop there. Not only is Christ in us but we are in Christ. I'll put the lid on this, because that's a permanent deal. We're in Christ. So, that's pretty incredible, but did you see what Paul went on to say? He said, "For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God." So now he adds another layer. We aren't just in Christ; we are hidden with Christ in God.

This is your status. If you know Jesus Christ, this is you right now. This should breed all types of safety and security in your relationship with God, because this should change the way you view yourself. Imagine this being your reality and telling yourself, "You're not enough for God." How crazy does that sound? You can't even see yourself in there.

You're so hidden by Christ in God that to tell yourself you're not enough, you have to tell God he's not enough. You have to tell Christ he has not been enough for you. Why? Because you're united with Christ. You can't separate yourself out from Christ. You're inseparable from him. To look at your past and allow shame to overwhelm you and make you feel like you're a failure, to look at yourself and be reminded and say, "I am such a failure…"

To tell yourself you're a failure, you have to tell God he has been a failure. You have to tell God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, "You have failed," because you can't separate you from God. It makes no sense. Now, if this is your reality, can you imagine waking up in the morning and being like, "Today is all about me"?

Like, "Today is all about chasing that dollar. Today is all about what I want to do. It's about my comfort. It's about my pleasure. My life is for me. I'm trying to chase something and achieve something because I want everyone in the world to know I'm enough." How crazy does that sound? Your life is so hidden with Christ, so intertwined with Christ… Your life isn't yours. You've died, and you are hidden with Christ. Your life is about him. It changes how you understand how God views you.

So, I want you to imagine you, as a Christian, on your worst day, on the day where it just doesn't go well. Like, you wake up. You skip your time with the Lord. You fall into sin. You're short with your roommates. You're short with your spouse. You yell at your kids. You cut corners at work. It is you on your worst day. How does God view you on your worst day? Well, if this is your reality, here's what's amazing: even on your worst day, God sees what he has done, is doing, and will do in your life…in the midst of your worst day. Isn't that amazing?

God isn't looking at you like, "What a failure. Why would I ever have saved you?" No. He cares about the days you're running from him, but he is so committed to you, he looks at you and sees what he has done, is doing, and will do for you. Because of that, he can continue to pour out his love upon you. He can continue to pursue you and draw you to himself.

Now I want you to think about this. I want you to think about the attacks of the Devil, because our tendency is to be like, "Man, the Devil is really after me today. This week he's just coming after me. He's just kind of beating me down." Look. That's a real thing. We do have an enemy who is seeking to steal, kill, and destroy in our lives, but our tendency, when we think about the Devil and his attacks on our lives, is to think it's like this.

Okay. Christ is there, but Satan is here, and he's just going after us. He's just beating us down. He's just attacking us. So we feel like we are hopeless, we feel like we're failures, and we live in fear. That's when Satan is most effective in our lives: when he catches us so unaware of our relational status with Christ, so unaware that we've actually been hidden with Christ.

Just imagine if you really dial into your relationship status, if each day you're aware that Christ is in you. But not just that. You're in Christ and that's a permanent thing. But not just that. It's not just that you're in Christ. You are hidden with Christ in God. So, when the Evil One comes after you, he has to come at God the Father who cast him out of heaven. He has to come at Jesus Christ who conquered him through his resurrection. And even if he gets to you, do you know who he finds? Christ in you.

Here's my point. Are the attacks of the Enemy real? Should we live sober-mindedly? Absolutely. Scripture calls us to that. But we need clarity that leads to confidence that God hasn't left us here to defend ourselves. No, he has hidden us with Christ. We are safe. We are secure in him. It changes things.

Just think about anything that can come at you, whether it's unemployment or cancer or losing a loved one or your kids really struggling or mental illness. Can you imagine those things coming at you when this is your reality? You're never alone. You're safe. Sometimes I think when our world is falling apart we find ourselves getting frustrated with God. We're like, "God, where are you? Where are you?"

Maybe that's where you are right now. Maybe there's something going on in your life where you're like, "God, where are you?" As I was preparing, I pictured God looking at us very lovingly and gently, saying, "Where are you?" Not because he doesn't know but because, clearly, we don't. We have forgotten where we are, that we are hidden with Christ in God.

So, because we are united with Christ, we're seated with Christ and hidden with Christ. Finally, we will appear with Christ. Paul says in verse 4, "When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory." This is incredible news for the Christ follower in the room. It says, "When Christ who is your life appears…" That means he is coming back. With certainty, Jesus Christ is coming back someday.

"…then you also will appear with him in glory." That means Jesus Christ is so committed to us and so united with us he refuses to spend eternity without us. Isn't that good news? Jesus Christ refuses to spend eternity without you. For you and me to appear with him in glory means we won't just be with him for all of eternity; we will become like him for all of eternity.

Sinclair Ferguson explained it this way. When you appear with him in glory, all that God has done on the inside will become clear on the outside. Right now, you are new internally, but you're walking around in this world, and you don't look different than anyone else, yet a day is coming where it will be abundantly clear who the sons and daughters of God truly are. We will become like him.

That's why John says in 1 John 3:2, "Beloved, we are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is." Here's what this means. Because of our union with Christ, we have hope. We have hope that an even better day is coming for who we are. I can't wait for that day. I'm so sick of a fear of man or a need for approval.

I've been in recovery for that for a long time, and I've experienced a lot of victory and a lot of growth. Jesus has done a lot in my life to help me grow in my need for approval or fear of man, but it still creeps into my life. I'm so sick of that. I'm so tired of that. I can't wait for the day all of that is done. That's what's coming. I long for the day of no old-man injuries, like injuring myself in my sleep. I'm tired of that. A day is coming where we will become like him. We'll appear with him in glory.

We have some friends right now living in Florida who have been devastated by the hurricane. We received a text and we've received videos from them saying that everything that still exists for them can fit inside of their dining room. They have lost a lot. It is a reminder that this world can take everything from you in a moment. Everything you own can be washed away except one thing: your union with Christ. That is something this world can never take from you.

Here's the great news. When you appear with him in glory, you're going to realize you had everything you ever needed all along. D.A. Carson puts it this way: "I'm not suffering from anything a good resurrection can't fix." Some of you need to be reminded that glory is coming. If you're battling cancer, glory is coming. If you're struggling with unemployment, glory is coming.

If chronic pain is a part of your story, good news: glory is coming. If mental illness is a part of your story, glory is coming. Whatever your sin struggles might be, glory is coming. A day is coming where there will be no more death, no more pain, and no more sin, because Christ has come. He has appeared and we, too, appear with him in glory.

My fear is that some of you who don't know Jesus Christ… For you, that won't be the best day of your life; it'll be the worst day of your life, because on that day when Christ appears you'll realize that on this earth you had everything you wanted but nothing you needed. So, let me say this, to take it back to that DTR I had with Kat at that U2 concert. The goal of a DTR where you define the relationship is to bring clarity that leads to confidence that leads to closeness.

If you're here this morning, and you don't know where your relationship with Jesus stands… If you're pretty clear you don't have a relationship with Jesus, here's what you need to know: you can't be united with Jesus in his death, burial, and resurrection until you receive Christ as the one who did die for you, who was buried for you, and rose from the grave for you. If you're here today and you're realizing you're a sinner in need of a Savior, then this is a moment for you to call out to God, to invite Christ into your life, to turn from your sin, and to receive him as your Lord and Savior. Today you can leave here united with Christ.

If you already know Jesus, here's my question to you: What's going to be different this week? Because here's my fear. We just spent all of this time unpacking the truth that Charles Spurgeon would say this is where the most joy is found: in understanding union with Christ. I've told you that you're seated with Christ, you're hidden with Christ, and you're going to appear with Christ.

What a royal waste of time if you walk out those doors and are just like, "Yeah, okay, great. Where are we going to lunch?" If you wake up tomorrow morning and nothing is different, what a waste of time this would have been. So make a decision. What are you going to do this week to remember your status with Jesus? Would you allow clarity this morning lead to confidence tomorrow and the next day and the next day that leads to closeness with Christ? Let's pray together.

Lord, thank you for that beautiful reality that we are united with you through faith, that we've been identified with every aspect of your work, and because of that, Lord, thank you that even right now we're physically here at Watermark Community Church, but we are spiritually seated in the heavenly places. Thank you that we're hidden with you.

Thank you that we will appear with you one day, God. I pray that that would transform our lives, that we would live differently this week. We need you, God. If there's anyone in this room today who doesn't know you, I pray that this would be the moment they call out to you in faith. We need you. In Jesus' name, amen.