Greek: apethanete (2PAAI) gar, kai e zoe humon kekruptai (2SRPI) sun to Christo en to Theo
Lightfoot: This life indeed is hidden now: it has no outward splendor as men count splendor; for it is a life with Christ, a life in God.
Phillips: For, as far as this world is concerned, you are already dead, and your true life is a hidden one in Christ.
TLB:  You should have as little desire for this world as a dead person does. Your real life is in heaven with Christ and God.
Message: Your old life is dead. Your new life, which is your real life—even though invisible to spectators—is with Christ in God. He is your life.
Wuest: for you died, and your life has been hidden with Christ in God.

FOR YOU HAVE DIED: apethanete (2PAAI) gar: (Col2:12, 20 Ro6:2,7, 10, 11, Ro7:4,6, Ga2:19,20 5:24 6:14 1Pe2:24)  Note "died" is first in Greek sentence to emphasize this life changing event. "For [as far as this world is concerned] you have died" (Amp)

"For" (gar) introduces and explains the reason "living in the heavenlies" (seeking & minding the things above) is to be the norm for the believer even though he is on earth. Believers have died to the world system (Gal6:14), through their faith & consequent intimate union with Christ in His death and resurrection. 

"You have died (2PAAI) (apothnesko from apo = away from + thnesko = die) means literally to die off and so to cease to have vital functions, whether at an earthly or transcendent level. The aorist tense speaks of a past completed action -- believers "died" with the moment they believed in Christ they died as clearly implied in 2Co5:17). Indicative is the mood of reality indicating that this spiritual death was a real event even if one cannot completely comprehend it. When you died in the past, you died to the power, rule, mastery, enslavement to the old task master sin, which has now been rendered inoperative (Ro6:6 "done away with")  by the death, burial and resurrection of Christ Jesus and your faith in His finished work which effected your "participation" with Christ. To be sure the presence and power of SIN will continue to harangue us for the remainder of our physical earthly existence but it can no longer condemn us. The question then is: Are you living like a ''dead'' man? Since we died and were raised with Christ, anything foreign to Jesus should be foreign to us. Although it's a "done deal" so to speak, we still need to make daily daily choices in light of and consistent with that truth. These choices often involve "Death to self" a truth emphasized often by Jesus as a requirement of those who wished to follow Him as His disciples (Mt16:25; Mk8:35; Lu9:24;17:33; Jn12:25 See Torrey's Topic on "Self Denial"). In these verses in Colossians Paul is explaining what "death to self" should look like (Col3:5-4:6). Dying to self and living to God (Christ increasing, us decreasing Jn3:30) is the essence of the heavenly minded "much fruit" life (Jn15:8) our Father desires all His children. But praise God it is no longer we who  are "living' but Christ living His life thru us (Gal2:20).

Eadie adds "Neither “seek nor savour” the things of earth; for having died, and having been even buried with Christ, your sphere of being, action, and enjoyment, is totally different from your former state. As Luther says— “we live not in the flesh, but we dwell in the flesh.” When they did die, their death was but a birth into a new life."

Spurgeon (CLICK HERE for complete text) has some insightful comments regarding the our death & new life in the Spirit: "Aforetime we were natural men and discerned not the things that be of the Spirit of God. We minded earthly things and were moved by carnal lustings after the things which are seen; but now through divine grace a spirit has been created in us which feeds on spiritual bread, lives for spiritual objects, is swayed by spiritual motives and rejoices in spiritual truth. This change from the natural to the spiritual is such as only God himself could have wrought, and yet we have experienced it. To God be the glory. So that by virtue of our rising in Christ we have received life and have become the subjects of a wondrous change,- “old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.(2Cor5:17)”

MacArthur notes that "By using such phrases as with Christ (3:1); where Christ (3:1); with Christ (3:3); when Christ (3:4); and with Him (3:4), he stresses again Christ’s total sufficiency (cf. 2:10). Unfortunately, many Christians fail to understand and pursue the fullness of Christ. Consequently, because of not knowing what Scripture says, or not applying it properly, they are intimidated into thinking they need something more than Him alone to live the Christian life. They fall prey to false philosophy, legalism, mysticism, or asceticism."

AND YOUR LIFE IS HIDDEN: kai e zoe humon kekruptai (2SRPI):  (Jn4:14; 5:21,24,40; 6:39,40; 10:28-30; 14:19; Ro5:10,21; 8:2,34-39; 1Co15:45)  "and your [new, real] life is hidden with Christ in God. " (Amp), "you have a secret life with Christ" (BBE)

"Hidden" (krupto) is in the Perfect tense which indicates that it was hidden at some point in time (day of your salvation) and remains hidden or concealed which conveys the ideas of permanency and irrevocability. The death (aorist tense) is over, but the results of the hiding (perfect tense) of the life in Him abide. Or as Handley Moule says, “The ‘death’ is fact accomplished, the resulting ‘life’ is fact continuing.”

Eadie explains our hidden lie as the "life is at once divine and mediatorial—God's gift to believers through Christ; and the gift, along with its medium and its destiny, are hidden in the Giver, as the infinite source. But this concealment is no argument against present and partial enjoyment; for one may drink of the stream and be unable either to detect its source, which hides itself far away and high among the mountains, or conjecture at what distant point its deepening current pours itself into the ocean. The life is not said, by the apostle, to be hidden in itself, either from the world or from believers themselves, as so many commentators suppose. True, indeed, it is mysterious. It is not among things of vulgar gaze. It is a strange experience; none can know it save he who has it. For Christians die and yet live; nay, the moment of death is that of life—the instant of expiry is that of birth. Yet this life is now enjoyed—is therefore now a matter of secret consciousness, though much about it is beyond inquiry and analysis. No one can lay bare the principle of physical life; the knife of the anatomist cannot uncover the cord which binds the conscious thinking essence to its material organ and habitation. But the special thought of the apostle is, that the ethereal nature of spiritual life eludes research, alike in its origin and destiny. Its source is too high for us to climb to it, and its destiny is too noble to be written in human language. As to the former, it is hidden with Christ in God; and as to the latter, it shall not be fully revealed till Christ come the second time in glory. But it shall be ultimately disclosed. For Christ, with whom our life is hidden, shall reveal Himself, and we whose life is so hidden with Him shall also appear with Him in glory. When its medium is revealed, its character and destiny shall also be laid bare."

Vincent notes that a believer's "new spiritual life is no longer in the sphere of the earthly and sensual, but is with the life of the risen Christ, who is unseen with God". As Paul reminds the Philippians "our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ." (Php3:20) Believers were a colony from heaven in Philippi! Christians are citizens of a kingdom not of this world for as our Lord has said "My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, then My servants would be fighting so that I would not be handed over to the Jews; but as it is, My kingdom is not of this realm." (Joh18:36)

Three thoughts are suggested by this figure "hidden":
(1) Safety or security: Believers are permanently hidden, securely locked together with Christ. Satan can’t break the lock & no burglar (even false teachers) can break the combination. Thus a believer's salvation is safe & secure with Christ (Jn 10:28). Indeed as Paul writes elsewhere, who shall ''separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.'' [Ro8:35-39]
(2) Identity. Believers are now intimately linked "together with" (sun) Christ in (en) God. This picture expresses the fellowship of the believer, his identity with his risen Lord. Ignatius wrote, “You are then all fellow travelers and carry with you God, and the Temple, and Christ, and holiness, and are in all ways adorned by commandments of Jesus Christ.” He used the word χριστόφοροι, which means Christ-bearers, and it is a lovely description of a Christian identified with Christ, who is in the bosom of the Father (cf Jn 1:18, 10:27–30).
(3). Secrecy. The believer’s life is nourished by secret springs and located “where the world sees Him no more” (cf. Jn 14:19). Thus, his bent of life is to be directed toward its source and away from the visible and carnal.

T. R. Kelly has this devotional thought on a practical aspect of our lives being hidden with Christ in God "There is a way of life so hid with Christ in God that in the midst of the day's business one is inwardly lifting brief prayers, short sudden utterances of praise, subdued whispers of adoration and of tender love to the Beyond that is within. No one need know about it. I only speak to you because it is a sacred trust, not mine but to be given to others. One can live in a well-nigh continuous state of unworded prayer, directed toward God, directed toward people and enterprises we have on our heart. There is no hurry about it all; it is a life unspeakable and full of glory, an inner world of splendor within which we, unworthy may live. Some of you know it and live in it; others of you may wistfully long for it; it can be yours."

Larry Richards gives an interesting illustration of our new life with Christ: "In Tarpon Springs, a little city about 10 miles from where we live, one of the major occupations is sponge diving. The sponge diver puts a helmet on his head, drops into the water, and as he gathers sponges he breathes through air lines fed by pumps in a boat far above him. Without that connection to a source of life far above him, the diver would be unable to survive. Paul is telling us that we too live this life in a dangerous and deadly environment. But we too are connected to a source of life far above us. Whenever we feel down, or get discouraged, or feel endangered, we’re to fix our minds not on what surrounds us, but on what sustains us. The very life force of Jesus flows into and through us. Because we are connected to Him, we will not only survive. We will triumph." (Ro8:37)

WITH CHRIST IN GOD: sun to Christo en to theo:(Jn14:19, Php4:7;1Jn3:2, see Torrey's Topic Union w/ Christ) 

"With" is "sun" which conveys the picture of intimate union, bringing out the truth that we are now in (new) covenant with Him and our oneness and identity with Christ. A T Robertson adds that your life "remains concealed, locked “together with” (sun) Christ, “in” (en) God. No hellish burglar can break that combination." Believers now share a common life with the Father and Son (cf 1Co6:17) and are “partakers of the divine nature” (2Pe1:4). Furthermore our new life with Christ in God is concealed from the world & unbelievers are unable to grasp the full import of the believer’s new life (1Co2:14). The true manifestation of the sons of God is yet to come in the next world, so that people cannot see what believers really are like (Ro8:19)

Greek: hotan o Christos phanerothe, (3SAPS) e zoe humon, tote kai humeis sun auto phanerothesthe (2PFPI) en doxe
Lightfoot: Christ, our life, will be manifested hereafter; then you also will be manifested with him and the world will see your glory."
GNB: Your real life is Christ and when he appears, then you too will appear with him and share his glory!
Message:  When Christ (your real life, remember) shows up again on this earth, you’ll show up, too—the real you, the glorious you. Meanwhile, be content with obscurity, like Christ.
Phillips: One day, Christ, the secret centre of our lives, will show himself openly, and you will all share in that magnificent dénouement.
Wuest: Whenever the Christ is made visible, our life, then also you with Him shall be manifested in glory.

The hidden life is not hidden forever. There shall be a glorious consummation at the manifestation of the Son. The writer of Hebrews expresses the aim of the Father as that of "bringing many sons to glory" (Heb2:10).

"Revealed" (phaneroo) means to be manifested or revealed as to one's true character.

The point is that one day we will be seen externally as we really are & the lost world will see who we are in Christ for when we see Christ we shall be like Him. [1Jn3:2]  This refers to Messiah's second coming, which in the meantime is to be earnestly expectantly looked for. The first "phase" of His return is what most evangelicals refer to as the 'Rapture" describe in (1Th4:13-18) As the Bible Knowledge Commentary notes "Paul added a new direction to the believers’ focus of attention: they should look UPWARD to Christ’s reign over them in heaven and also FORWARD to His return for them in the clouds."

''Who is '' is added by translators, "Christ our life" is even better! Christ does not merely give life; He is life. We as His bride are to be so focused on His return to take us home to His Father's house that we are motivated to lay aside our old filthy fleshly garments and put on His robe of righteous acts (see Col3:5,10,12 for what those ''acts'' consist of...they in fact constitute our wedding gowns that we are in the process of making ready cf. Rev19:7). See Jn1:4. The life is not only "with" Christ, it "is" Christ. For the change of person, "our" for "your" see Col2:13

Eadie comments that Christ "is our life, not simply because he reveals it, and He alone has “the words of eternal life;” nor yet because coming that we “might have life, and that we might have it more abundantly,” He “died that we might live,” and has given us this blessed pledge—“as I live, ye shall live also;” but specially, because by His Spirit, as His representative, He enters into the heart and gives it life—fans and fosters it by his continuous abode—gratifies all its instincts, and evokes all its susceptibilities by His word and His presence. “If Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the spirit is life because of righteousness.”

1Jn5:11-12 "And the witness is this, that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life." Many believe that Christ gave us life as one would put a living seed into a flower pot. The pot would hold a detached thing—life. But Christ is more than that. He Himself is in the believer. The life that is in Christ is in the believer. To show His love, Jesus died for us; to show our love, we should live for Him! If your life does not demonstrate this NEW LIFE IN CHRIST you have missed the whole point about what this new life is about. As Wayne Barber emphasizes "Living the Christ life is daily surrendering to His will and Word which allows us to enter into His divine enablement. I must decrease and He must increase. (John3:30) As I am willing to deny self, and surrender to Him, He takes it from there and energizes my very being, empowering me to do what He has commanded me to do. [Php1:21] " For to me to live is Christ and to die is gain". The key to living the risen life is to have a life centered on Christ. The Son, not this present world, is the center of the believer’s universe.

Oswald Chambers: "God nowhere tells us TO GIVE UP THINGS for the sake of giving them up; He tells us to give them up for the sake of the only thing worth having, viz. LIFE WITH HIMSELF."

Barclay: "This is the kind of peak of devotion which we can only dimly understand and only haltingly and imperfectly express. Sometimes we say of a man, "Music is his life-Sport is his life-He lives for his work." Such a man finds life and all that it means in music, in sport, in work, as the case may be. For the Christian, Christ is his life. And here we come back to where this passage started-that is precisely why the Christian sets his mind and heart on the things which are above and not on the things of this world. He judges everything in the light of the Cross and in the light of the love which gave itself for him. In the light of that Cross the world's wealth and ambitions and activities are seen at their true value; and, the Christian is enabled to set his whole heart on the things which are above."

THEN YOU ALSO (WITH HIM) WILL BE REVEALED IN GLORY: kai humeis sun autôi:phanerôthêsesthe (FPI) en doxêi: (Ps17:15; 73:24; Is25:8,9; Mt13:43; Jn6:39,40; 14:3; 17:24;Ro5:2, Ro8:18,24-25, 1C15:43; 2C4:17; Php3:21; 1Th4:17; 2Th1:10-12; Titu2:13,1P5:10, Jude24)

That is the joy of this blessed hope. For this the called are kept (Jude1:1) and though the adversaries and difficulties are many, “Faithful is He Who calls” (1Th5:24). Our calling is accompanied with a great hope (Ep4:4). Those that experience the call not only partake of justification, adoption, and sanctification in this life, but when Christ who is their life shall appear, they shall also appear with Him in glory.

Eadie explains our "revelation" this way "When it is said—“Christ our life shall appear,” the meaning is, that He shall appear in the character of our life. In this peculiar aspect of His operation shall He make Himself manifest. To appear as our life, implies our relation to Him as His living ones; and the unveiling of the Fountain shall allow the eye to discover the myriads of rivulets which issue out of it; or, as our life is hid with Christ, so, when Christ comes out of His hiding-place, our life shall accompany Him into openness and light. Nay more, as our life, He appears to perfect it, and to give it fulness and finality of development. At present it is checked by a variety of causes. It exists in a body “dead because of sin,” and it feels the chill of a mortality that so closely envelops it. The distance, too, implied in the fact—that it is hidden with Christ in God—keeps it from its perfect strength, and induces occasional debility and lassitude; but the revelation of Christ brings it into nearness and vigour. Nay more, at that period, the body is to be brought into harmony with it, and “mortality shall be swallowed up of life.” For He who is our life shall diffuse life through us—“change our vile body, and fashion it like unto His own glorious body.” The physical frame then to be raised, spiritualized, and imbued with life, shall be a fit receptacle for the living soul within it, which shall then indulge its tastes without hindrance, feeling no barrier to activity in any of its occupations—no stint to capacity in any of its enjoyments" Eadie goes on to explain "in glory" "It is here the result of life— vita gloriosa , of life in its highest form and fullest manifestation — life diffused through “spirit, soul, and body.” Nor is our appearance in glory with Christ a momentary gleam; it is rather the first burst of unending splendour. And it has, or shall have, for its elements— final freedom from the sins and sorrows of earth; perfect holiness beyond the possibility of loss, with unmingled felicity beyond the reach of forfeit; an endless abode in heaven, and in the brightest province of it; the rapturous adoration of God, and unbroken fellowship with Christ; the exalted companionship of angels and genial spirits of human kindred; and the successful pursuit of Divine knowledge in a realm where no shadow ever falls, but where is chanted the high halleluiah, welling out of the consciousness that all this ecstasy is of sovereign grace, ay, all of it sealed to us for eternity, in connection with “Christ our life.”
 

"Life with Christ is an endless hope, without Him a hopeless end."
 

Then we will be manifested is to be revealed in one's true character. Paul’s teaching is that when Christ is thus manifested, believers also “will appear with him in glory.” “The veil which now shrouds your higher life from others, and even partly from yourselves, will be withdrawn. The world which persecutes, despises, ignores now, will then be blinded with the dazzling glory of the revelation” (Lightfoot).
 

Paul could think more deeply than any man who ever tried to express the Christian faith; he could travel along uncharted pathways of thought; he could scale the heights of the human mind, where even the best equipped theologian finds it hard to follow him; but always at the end of his letters he turns to the practical consequences of it all. He always ends with an uncompromising and crystal clear statement of the ethical demands of Christianity in the situation in which his friends are at the moment.

Lewis Johnson sums up this section beautifully "There have been many attempts to describe heaven, but it, of course, is indescribable. The fact that it is a place is clear, but otherwise it is for the most part beyond us. Most of the Biblical statements about it are couched in negatives; it is not like things down here. For the believer the fundamental aspects of it are expressed in two simple phrases: “like Him” and “with Him.” Having these assurances, we are content to wait patiently for the complete manifestation. In the meantime, let us in the power of grace seek and set our affection on the things above and live in the power of the hidden life we have. The taboos are taboo!"

This glorious truth is what creation is waiting for (Ro8:19) & this same truth should motivate us by the Spirit to put to death the deeds of the body (Cp "therefore" in Col3:5). The hope (certainty) of so great a salvation future, such motivate us to live as mature sons of the King, realizing that we are no longer obligated to the flesh (Ro8:12) and that we are aliens (1Pe2:11) in a hostile environment called & empowered (Ro8:9,10) to live set apart from the corruption of this world (2Pe1:4) which is passing away (1Pe1:14,15 Lv11:44 Nu14:24 1Jn2:17). We have been identified in