Mystical union with Christ

"If then you were raised with Christ, seek what is above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Think of what is above, not of what is on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God." (Colossians 3:1–3)

This passage, placed at the beginning of the third chapter of Saint Paul’s Letter to the Colossians, serves as both a theological affirmation and a spiritual exhortation rooted in the believer’s mystical union with Christ. Paul speaks not conditionally but prescriptively: "If you were raised with Christ" refers to a foundational Christian truth, accomplished in baptism, where one dies to sin and rises to new life (cf. Romans 6:3–4). The exhortation that follows—to seek what is above—urges believers to live according to the heavenly identity they already possess in Christ, not simply awaiting a future transformation but living its reality now.

The believer’s life is no longer defined by earthly categories of status, success, or desire. Instead, it is oriented toward the risen Christ, who reigns in glory “at the right hand of God,” a phrase denoting sovereign authority and divine intimacy. To "seek what is above" is to direct one’s aspirations, values, and motivations according to the realities of the Kingdom of God. It is a reordering of the interior life: the heart longs not for passing things but for what is eternal. To "think of what is above" is a constant mental renewal—an act of faith, hope, and love that sees every earthly circumstance through the lens of eternity.

The declaration “For you have died” recalls the baptismal death to sin and the old self. This is not merely moral exhortation, but an ontological change. The Christian no longer belongs to the dominion of the flesh but to Christ. Yet this new life is described as “hidden with Christ in God”—a mystery both real and veiled. The life of grace is not always visible or celebrated in worldly terms. It is often concealed beneath suffering, obscurity, or the ordinariness of daily fidelity. Nevertheless, it is secure, anchored in God, and destined for full revelation when Christ returns.

This passage calls believers to a daily discipline of detachment and contemplation. Detachment does not mean withdrawal from the world but a refusal to let the world’s values dictate one’s identity and purpose. Contemplation means lifting the mind to Christ through prayer, Scripture, and the sacramental life. In a culture preoccupied with immediacy, appearance, and self-promotion, this hidden life challenges believers to find joy in fidelity, to cultivate interior silence, and to seek above all the things of heaven: truth, holiness, love, and communion with God.

Colossians 3:1–3 proclaims that Christian life is a hidden but glorious participation in the risen life of Christ. The believer is already seated with Him in the heavens by virtue of grace, though this reality is not yet fully manifest. It invites the Church to live not as those who merely endure the world but as those whose lives proclaim a deeper belonging, a loftier hope, and a transforming communion. To seek what is above is to live each moment in the light of Christ’s Resurrection, drawing from Him both identity and destiny, and awaiting with joyful hope the day when what is now hidden will be revealed in glory.

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