Forty-six years ago a ceremony and certificate told the world that my wife and I were married, but this isn’t what validates our relationship today.

What enriches our oneness is KNOWING we are married. In every decision we make, every thought that passes through our heads, every moment awake or asleep (without analysis) we KNOW we are married.

A shared purpose bonds Carol and me, whether we “feel” it or not. I don’t need to constantly reassure her that we are married. She knows it. She doesn’t need to remind me. The ceremony years ago confirmed it—but KNOWING resides in our souls.

In this same way, we can understand the meaning of “being raised with Christ.”

We KNOW: Historically Roman soldiers drove nails through Jesus’s hands and feet, securing him to a wooden cross.

We KNOW that he physically died while hanging on that cross. We KNOW that Jesus’ body lay three days in a tomb.

We KNOW that Jesus resurrected into his human frame again—walking, talking, and being hugged and handled by skeptical, rational women and men.

As believers, when we gave up our old life, we died “with” Jesus Christ too. When God’s Spirit entered our eternally-oriented inner selves, we, too, were “raised” (resurrected) with Christ.

God’s word validates this experience. We KNOW we are saved.

As ones “raised” (made alive) with Christ, every decision we make, every thought that passes through our heads, every moment awake or asleep (without intellectually analyzing it), we KNOW that our old way of life is dead.

We KNOW that Christ’s resurrection is our resurrection. We have been raised to a new life.

Like marriage, or being a father or mother… like accepting our role as grandparents, KNOWING resides in our souls—and God’s word confirms it.

Our (raised) lives are hidden (treasured and protected) with Christ in God.

Colossians 3:1-4 

Since you have been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits in the place of honor at God’s right hand. Think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth. For you died to this life, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God. And when Christ, who is your life, is revealed to the whole world, you will share in all his glory.