Colossians 3:1-4 implies that with Christ we have one position, one life, one living, one destiny, and one glory. Because we and Christ have one position, we are where He is. We and Christ also have one life, even the same life. The life He has we have also. Moreover, we have one living with Christ. Our living is His living. When we live, He lives, for He lives in our living. If we have one living with Christ in a practical way day by day, then whatever we do, He does also. This means that when we talk, He talks. If we do something different from what Christ is doing, we do not have one living with Him. For example, if we become angry and Christ is not angry, we do not have one living with Him at that particular time. In such a case, our living is not His living. We should refrain from losing our temper not because we are trying to obey a biblical command, but because we sense that the Christ who lives in us is not losing His temper. If we simply try to control our temper, we are religious. But if we do not lose our temper because we are living with Christ, then we are one with Him in life and in living. Praise the Lord that we have one position, life, and living with Christ!
We also have one glory and destiny with Christ. Glory is our future and our destination. The Lord Jesus is now in glory. However, He is in glory in a way that is hidden from mankind. If you ask the people in the world where Jesus is, they will reply that they do not know. But we know where He is—He is in glory. One day Christ will be in glory no longer in a hidden way, but in an open way, in the way of manifestation. Then everyone on earth will know that the Lord Jesus is in glory. Christ’s destiny is to be openly in glory. This is our destiny as well. We can say, “Glory is our destination. We are heading for glory. Our destiny is not simply heaven—it is to be in glory.” Since glory is our destination, we shall eventually have one glory with Christ. It is not possible for us to describe this glory now because we have not yet entered into it. I believe, however, that when we are in glory, we shall be beside ourselves with joy and ecstasy. We may want to dance, shout, and praise the Lord. In glory we shall realize how exciting our God is. When we are in glory with Christ, we shall be excited also.
Our position is that we are in Christ. Because we are in Him, we are where He is—at the right hand of God (3:1). In John 17:24 the Lord Jesus prayed, “Father, I desire that those whom You have given Me may also be with Me where I am.” To be where the Lord Jesus is, is not a matter of geography. The Lord is in the Father, and He prayed that the disciples, who were not yet in the Father, would be brought into Him. The Lord prayed, therefore, that they would be where He is.
It is crucial for us to realize that our position is not only in Christ, but also in the Father. In the Gospel of John we are told clearly that the Son is in the Father (10:38; 14:10). This means that the Son’s position is in the Father. Since our position today is that we are in the Son, in Christ, we also are in the Father. The Father, of course, is in heaven. Hence, our position also is that we are in heaven. In saying this, however, we have a different understanding from that held by many Christians. Often when Christians say that we shall be in heaven, they mean that we shall be in heaven outside the Father. But when we say that we shall be in heaven, we mean that we shall be in heaven in the Father. There is a great difference here. We are in Christ, in the Father, and therefore in heaven.
If we stop here, we shall have nothing more than a mere doctrinal understanding of our one position with Christ. We shall only know the fact that we are in Christ, in the Father, and in heaven. What makes this real is that we are one spirit with the Lord (1 Cor. 6:17). It is when we are in the spirit that we are in Christ, in the Father, and in heaven practically and experientially.
Consider as an illustration how the lights in the meeting hall are connected to the power plant by the flow of electricity. Apart from this electrical flow, the lights are related only to the meeting hall, not to the power plant. But by the flow of electrical current, they are connected to the power plant. Likewise, by the transmission we experience in our spirit, we are connected to the heavenly power plant. Praise the Lord that a transmission is going on from heaven to our spirit! When we experience this transmission, we are truly in Christ, in the Father, and in heaven. Our spirit is directly related to heaven. The heavenly transmission begins in heaven and ends in our spirit. Because we may experience and enjoy this unique transmission, there is no need for us to go to heaven in order to be in heaven. Simply by being in our spirit where we experience the transmission from heaven, we are in heaven. Just as the lights in the meeting hall are connected to the power plant by the flow of electricity, so we are connected to heaven by the divine transmission which flows from the throne of God in heaven into our spirit.
When I was a young believer, I tried my best to understand, according to the Bible, how I could be in heaven. To my realization, I was on earth and was by no means in heaven, no matter how happy I may have been in the Lord. Now I realize that, because of the transmission from the throne of God in heaven into my spirit, when I enjoy the Lord here on earth, I am simultaneously in heaven.
In 3:1 Paul says that since we were raised together with Christ, we should seek the things which are above. This verse indicates clearly that we have one position with Christ. How could we seek the things which are above if we were not above also? To seek the things above we must be in heaven where these things are.
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