Introduction
One of the characteristics of Paul's writings is divine rabbit trails. He writes something that reminds him of something else, so he chases that thought. Or, he writes something that causes him to break forth into a doxology, and he goes for a little while just praising God. What we read in verses 13-14 is one of these divine and glorious digressions.
In verse 12, Paul ends his prayer for the Colossians by saying that "the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light." All of sudden, he stops praying and starts explaining what that last expression, "partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light," means. It is as if he couldn't contain himself: "let me tell you what being a saint in the light means, you will love it!" This explanation will eventually lead to one of the greatest and most important declarations of whom Christ is in the whole Bible.
I. A Review of 1:1-12
A. Paul is truly excited about the Colossians' faith and so should every Christian.
B. Paul, with thanksgiving, prays for the Colossians and so should every Christian.
{TRANSITION: I would like for us to see two very important things in verses 13-14: 1) the Christian has been delivered from darkness, 2) the Christian has been redeemed by Christ.}
II. The Christian Has Been Delivered from Darkness, 13.
A. When the apostle Paul stood before King Agrippa, he gave an account of what happened to him on the road to Damascus.
Acts 26:18 – [Jesus was sending him to the Gentiles] "to open their eyes, in order to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in Me."
1. Paul uses the same type of language in writing to the Colossians 30 years later.
2. Through the proclamation of the Gospel, their eyes had been opened and they were no longer under the power of Satan.
B. The Bible clearly teaches that there are two and only two spiritual realms, and all humanity belongs in one or the other.
1. There are not multiple religious options, each of equal saving value.
2. There is darkness and there is kingdom of God.
a. Those who do not as yet know Jesus Christ are in the realm of darkness, subject to the authority and power of Satan.
b. The apostle John said it in unmistakable terms when he declared that "the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one," 1 Jn. 5:19.
c. By the "whole world" John means everyone and everything that is not in Christ by faith.
3. The irony is that few, if any, who are under the authority of Satan and walking in spiritual darkness feel as if they are.
a. If anything, they are entirely persuaded they live in light and freedom and power
b. In fact, they are utterly blind, in bondage to the enemy, and powerless to rescue themselves by their own efforts.
C. The word Paul uses in v. 13, translated power, is the standard Greek word for authority.
1. It indicates an active power or energy that Satan exerts over those who are his.
2. His dominion is characterized by darkness: intellectual, moral, and spiritual.
a. No matter how high one's IQ, no matter one's physical abilities or beauty, no matter one's suffering, apart from Christ you are under the authority of Satan and subject to the power of darkness.
b. Apart from Christ you lie in the power of the evil one.
3. If you ever felt you needed a good reason to share the Gospel with an unsaved neighbor, family member, friend, or co-worker this is it.
a. Don't be misled by what appears to be worldly success.
b. There is only one hope, for them or us.
1) It is the forgiveness of sins that is found only in Jesus Christ.
2) Give thanks joyfully to the Father because you were once as they are, thinking yourselves wise when in fact you were fools, rejoicing in a freedom that only deepened and intensified your bondage.
D. God has delivered you from Satan's tyranny and has placed you under the loving and kind authority of his Son.
1. To be conveyed suggests the notion of being uprooted from one kingdom and transplanted into another.
2. This is the kingdom or rule or reign of God's own beloved Son.
a. Have you ever stopped to think about this description of Jesus? Jesus is the Son of God's love and yet he is the one who became the object of the Father's eternal wrath.
1) But how can this be? If the Father truly loved the Son, surely he would not have exposed him to such horrific suffering.
2) How can the Son be the beloved of the Father and yet also the object of his wrath and judgment?
3) Such is the glorious, soul-saving, redemptive mystery of penal substitutionary atonement.
a) Penal = punishment
b) Substitutionary = in place of
c) Atonement = satisfaction
b. It is possible because the Son and the Father are united in their love for the elect and together entered into a covenant to redeem them from their sins.
1) This could only be accomplished by the Son willingly and freely offering himself as a substitute who would completely absorb in himself the wrath of the Father which those for whom he died deserved.
2) Had Jesus not satisfied the wrath of the Father, we would still be under the dominion of darkness, held captive in our sins and subject to the authority of one who hates us.
3) But thanks be to God because he has, at great and unimaginable cost to himself and his beloved Son, removed us from the grip of Satan and now embraces us with an eternal and irrevocable love.
2 Cor. 5:21 – For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
1 Pt. 2:24 – … who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness….
1 Pt. 3:18 – For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit….
III. The Christian Has Been Redeemed by Christ, 14.
A. Jesus Christ, the one into whose kingdom we have been conveyed is also the only one in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
B. To be redeemed is:
1. to be bought out of slavery (primary meaning);
Mk. 10:45 – For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.
2. to be provided for (Ruth and Boaz);
3. to be avenged (the kinsman redeemer was also the avenger of blood).
C. The Christian has been purchased by the obedience of Christ represented by his blood.
1. We tend to think of the cross, and we should, but dying on the cross was not all that Jesus did.
2. He also lived for 33 years in perfect obedience and submission to his Father in heaven and his Word.
3. Dying on the cross, Jesus took upon himself the wrath of the Father that should have been poured upon us and, by doing, that paid the penalty for our sins.
4. But if that was all that happened, we would still be guilty people who were not going to be punished for our sins.
5. Christ's perfect obedience makes us, not only not guilty of our sins, but complete innocent – American courts never declare anyone innocent, just not guilty.
D. Because we have been redeemed (purchased) by Christ, we are forgiven as well.
1. To forgive someone means to release him or her form liability to suffer punishment or penalty.
2. When God forgives us because of the Lord Jesus Christ, he doesn't dwell on our sins anymore, he does not use our sins against us, he does not allow our sins to stand between him and us.
3. Notice Paul's use of the present tense – we have forgiveness.
a. Forgiveness of sins isn't just a future hope, something that will one day be ours.
b. It is ours now!
c. It is an existing, ever-present, liberating and life-changing reality in the present moment.
4. An illustrations of forgiveness – the Etch-a-Sketch
a. The "Etch-a-Sketch" was made for people like me who can't draw.
b. If you don't like what you've "drawn" and especially don't want to be embarrassed should anyone else see it, you simply tip the screen and your work of "art" vanishes!
1) That is a lot like what God does with your sin when he grants forgiveness.
2) Through the course of our earthly existence we sketch an ugly scenario of sin and rebellion and ingratitude and jealousy and lust.
3) There it is, vividly imprinted on the screen of our souls.
4) But when we confess our sin, God's loving and gracious hand tips the toy and the slate is wiped clean!
5) No matter how often we return to deface our lives with ugly pictures of hatred and anger and pride and envy, God is faithful to tip the screen.
6) All it takes is confession.
7) All it takes is the blood of Christ.
Is. 43:25 – I, even I, am He who blots out your transgressions for My own sake; and I will not remember your sins.
Micah 7:18-19 – Who is a God like You, pardoning iniquity and passing over the transgression of the remnant of His heritage? He does not retain His anger forever, because He delights in mercy. He will again have compassion on us, and will subdue our iniquities. You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea.
Ps. 32:1-2a – Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin iscovered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord does not impute iniquity….
IV. How Shall We Then Live?
A. Don't live your life beating yourself because of your sins – just repent through faith in Jesus Christ and believe what God says concerning his all-encompassing forgiveness.
B. If you are in Christ, you are no longer in the dominion of Satan and of sin; therefore, you do not have to live in sin.
Rom. 6:14-18 – For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace. What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? Certainly not! Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one's slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness? But God be thanked that though you were slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered. And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness.
C. You are a saint in the light because God transferred you from the realm of darkness to the kingdom of his son; therefore; shine!
Mt. 5:14-16 – You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.
Conclusion
Redemption and forgiveness through faith in Jesus Christ. What a glorious digression on Paul's part!
http://olympiabp.blogspot.com/2016/10/a-glorious-digression-colossians-113-14.html
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