{"id":1534,"date":"2015-07-19T06:55:10","date_gmt":"2015-07-19T13:55:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hobart-community-church.org\/?p=1534"},"modified":"2015-07-19T06:56:14","modified_gmt":"2015-07-19T13:56:14","slug":"look-at-what-god-has-done","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/hobart-community-church.org\/?p=1534","title":{"rendered":"Look at What God has Done"},"content":{"rendered":"

Look at What God has Done<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Colossians One: 13-14<\/strong><\/p>\n

13<\/sup> For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, 14<\/sup> in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Usually when you talk about someone, the Bible begins with who that person is.\u00a0 It seems to me to be more important to ask who a person is before you answer what He has done.\u00a0 But in the case of Colossians One, before Pual writes about Christ, He writes about the Father.\u00a0 Paul begins with what the Father has done for us.\u00a0 These are just two short verses, but it is worth the time to look at them on a deeper level and ask ourselves some important questions about what is listed in this verse.\u00a0 I think it is also important to see who did what.\u00a0 In order words, to have a deeper understanding of what part of the Trinity was acting out our behalf and why is this important to comprehend?<\/p>\n

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  1. For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and <\/strong>\n
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    1. There doesn\u2019t seem to be a quick way to know who did the rescuing unless you read a little further on in the passage. At first glance and because the title of this section that is provided by most Bibles, you might think that Paul is beginning with what Christ did, but reading a little deeper into the context you see that the He mentioned here has a Beloved Son.\u00a0 The one that did the rescuing is the Father.\u00a0\u00a0 Rescue is a great word but other versions use delivered us. But I prefer rescued because of the drama of that word.\u00a0 It makes us look like we were helpless and we were.\u00a0 We could not save ourselves and in fact, we are told that God prompts us to call for His deliverance.\u00a0 If you are a normal person, you would like to think that you were at least smart enough to realize you were lost but again the Bible tells us that we were blinded by the God of this world. (2 Corinthians 4:4).\u00a0 Do you think that a blind person is bothered by darkness?\u00a0 \u00a0We get so frustrated trying to explain to people what it is like to live in the light when they have become overly familiar and even comfortable with the darkness.\u00a0 The point of this passage is about the fact that we were rescued.\u00a0 We were delivered.\u00a0 And notice that the verb tense of this passage is past tense \u2013 meaning that we have been rescued, we are not being rescued.\u00a0 What difference does that make?\u00a0 And what does that do to help us understand what this \u201cdomain of darkness\u201d is that Paul mentions here?<\/li>\n
    2. What did it take to rescue us? Think about all the actions that God took to move us from the domain of darkness to the Kingdom of His beloved Son.\u00a0 There is redemption, forgiveness, mercy, grace and many other things.\u00a0 And it was not a rescue that was free, even though we often talk about free grace, but it was grace that purchased at the cost of the sacrifice of His Son.\u00a0 One of the great ways to remember those things we have grown too familiar with is through music.\u00a0 There are songs that stir up in us the reminder that we were saved at a great cost.\u00a0 What are some of your favorite hymns that cause you to be reminded of God\u2019s great work through Christ and in you?<\/li>\n
    3. Now, what were we rescued from: the domain of darkness.<\/strong> \u00a0I hope we all realize that Satan has his own domain and it is a place of ruin.\u00a0 There might be some who live there who are perfectly content to stay there for the time being.\u00a0 Satan can be very patient.\u00a0 He knows that if he can keep you from God\u2019s Kingdom, the victory will be his as far as you are concerned.\u00a0 I used to wonder what Satan has to gain by creating more and more trouble for people.\u00a0 Anyone ever wondered what a little child has to gain by refusing to eat?\u00a0 I mean, you know they are probably hungry but for some reason they refuse to come to the table and eat.\u00a0 I think they believe they can hurt you most by not eating.\u00a0 Satan believes he can hurt God most by destroying what and who He loves.\u00a0 That is people and the earth.\u00a0 It is obvious that God loves mankind \u2013 look at all that He did to rescue us from the domain of darkness.\u00a0 He drew us to Himself.\u00a0 God and God alone had the power, the desire, the means and the ability to rescue us.\u00a0 Ever notice that it takes someone stronger than one being rescued to rescue that person?\u00a0 Imagine a little child jumping in the water to save a full grown person.\u00a0 If the adult was drowning, the child would be taken with them.\u00a0 Behind the idea of being a rescuer, is the idea that the rescuer is stronger than the person being rescued and that they are able to overcome whatever holds the person hostage.\u00a0 Only God meets that requirement.\u00a0 Only God is strong enough to rescue anyone from the darkness.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n
    4. transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, <\/strong>\n
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      1. He transferred us<\/strong> \u2013 He moved us, relocated us, and again notice the time tense of this action. What this says to me is that we are now in that kingdom of His beloved Son.\u00a0 You might say, well if this is heaven, you can have it.\u00a0 Well, God didn\u2019t say this was heaven, He says that we have been transferred to the Kingdom of His Son.\u00a0 We live under the rule of Jesus Christ, who will someday return and take us to live with Him but we are living under a different set of rules than those who are not a part of this same kingdom.\u00a0 This is why other passages tell us that we are citizens of the King, citizens of heaven living abroad if you will.\u00a0 This earth is not our home.\u00a0 This is one thing that I believe living or going to another country begins to help us grasp, that even if they might look and sound like us, they are different.\u00a0 Other countries think differently than we do, and react differently than we do.\u00a0 The same can be said of believers and non-believers.\u00a0 Of course we think differently from non-believers because we are not from around here.\u00a0 This earth is not our home.\u00a0 This all means that we should accept and acknowledge that we are under the rule of Christ and not just for the future, but for now as well. \u00a0\u00a0One big difference is that we were not raised into our present citizenship, we were adopted into it.\u00a0 That is why we spend so much time getting to know how things work in God\u2019s Kingdom.<\/li>\n
      2. To the Kingdom of His beloved Son<\/strong> \u2013 things are different now, and even if you haven\u2019t noticed, the enemy has. Does it seem fair that each believer is born with a target on their back?\u00a0 Don\u2019t be too overwhelmed.\u00a0 I am fairly sure that Satan\u2019s hate for the believer is because of our relationship with the Heavenly Father.\u00a0 Not to mention, we were stolen from his domain of darkness and brought into the Kingdom of Jesus Christ.\u00a0 Probably the last thing he wants is us telling others what life is like in the light. \u00a0Also look at the fact that previously we were in rebellion to God, now we are living in the truth and that is not anything that the Father of lies is going to welcome.\u00a0 Satan doesn\u2019t have more power than God, we know that.\u00a0 But we should face the fact that this planet is Satan\u2019s home turf and this is the only time that he has any opportunity of victory.\u00a0 When this age is over, he is aware that he will be locked up.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n
      3. 14<\/sup> in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. <\/strong>Now he steps out on the thought that Paul will continue to develop in the rest of the Chapter about all that Christ means to believers and that is to try and put into words just how remarkable is our Savior.\n
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        1. In whom we have redemption<\/strong>. \u2013 after Paul makes the point that our salvation is two sided, in that we have both been removed from the darkness and transferred to the light, he reminds us of what that means. It means that we have been redeemed.\u00a0 Redemption is the forgiveness of sin and the drawing us to Himself. When God put Christ on the cross, and He bore your sin and He bore my sin, the penalty was paid and God had paid the price to redeem us back from being Satan\u2019s property.\u00a0 Now that might sound little dramatic, but consider the point that Romans tells us prior to coming to God, we were slaves to sin.\u00a0 The number one thing about the word \u201cslave\u201d is that it denotes ownership.\u00a0 For one human to own another is something that we all find disagreeable.\u00a0 But the Bible tells us that we were slaves, or we were under the rule of sin.\u00a0 We were owned by sin.\u00a0 Many people are not comfortable with that because they believe they had the ability to choose not to sin, but not if they were in the domain of darkness.\u00a0 Don\u2019t think of darkness as always sinning, although it might be, think of it being under the dominion or power of Satan. A person can live in deception that they have the ability to work their way to heaven and that person is in the darkness as much or more than the person who is heavily involved in very bad activities, such as murder and robbery and drugs.<\/li>\n
        2. The forgiveness of Sin<\/strong> \u2013 not an easy task. When we fall on our face and tell the Lord we don’t really have any capability of paying, in His compassion He forgives us. That is the most important element of God’s nature to us as sinners because we need forgiveness more than we need anything else. This then is the heart of the Christian message. This is the heart of the gospel.\n
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          1. Why is it that God could not just overlook sin<\/span>? Why can\u2019t God be as gracious to us as we are told to be to others?\u00a0 The reason we are told to be forgiving is because we have been forgiven.\u00a0 Has God ever been less than perfect that He would require forgiveness?\u00a0 Of course not.\u00a0 So God because He cannot deny who He is, made a way to satisfy both sides of His nature.\u00a0 He is both just \u2013 so He won\u2019t overlook anything \u2013 and He is love, so in His love He sent Christ to die for the sins of the world.\u00a0 Non-believers will often ask the question: How can a loving God send people to hell?\u00a0 The answer is that God doesn\u2019t wish anyone to perish, so in His great mercy He sent a deliverer.<\/li>\n
          2. What\u2019s wrong with grading on a Curve<\/span>? The top 20% of humanity gets into heaven. That is pretty simple, you can see right away that would create all kinds of insecurity about our eternal destiny.\u00a0 And you can also see that there could be no chance for a change in our life if we believed we had already been excluded by previous choices.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
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            • How was our forgiveness purchased<\/span>? It was the separation of the Son from the Father on the cross.\u00a0 The work of redemption was accomplished when Jesus declared on the cross, \u201cIt is finished.\u201d\u00a0 His death and resurrection was a confirmation that He had conquered the grave.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

              \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

              Look at What God has Done \u00a0 Colossians One: 13-14 13 For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":464,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[83],"tags":[88,87,89],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/hobart-community-church.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1534"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/hobart-community-church.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/hobart-community-church.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/hobart-community-church.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/hobart-community-church.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1534"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/hobart-community-church.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1534\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1535,"href":"http:\/\/hobart-community-church.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1534\/revisions\/1535"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/hobart-community-church.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/464"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/hobart-community-church.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1534"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/hobart-community-church.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1534"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/hobart-community-church.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1534"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}