SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 1/12/2017 6:50 PM
My Worship Time Focus:
PT-2 Transference
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Colossians
1:13b-14
Message of the verses: “and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.”
In the last part of verse thirteen we see that Paul tells
his readers who are believers that they have been transferred into the kingdom
of the Lord Jesus Christ which means that we are no longer what we were when we
were born which was that we were born into the nature of Adam which gave us the
sinful nature, but now once we have become a believer in Jesus Christ then the
Spirit of God transferees us into His kingdom, now remember that we learned
yesterday that this does not speak of the Millennial kingdom, but what is going
on now right here on planet earth where Jesus Christ is the King over His
kingdom. I know that this may sound
strange because of all the violence that is going on now, but He is still King
and in control of what is going on here on earth and is working out His plan to
bring about the end of this world system as we now know it and then after the
tribulation period will usher in His kingdom, the Millennial Kingdom where He
will rule and reign for 1000 years and those of us who are alive and have been
alive since the beginning of the church age will reign with Him as we will do
His bidding around the world while the Lord Jesus Christ rules from Jerusalem.
Now since we are now a part of His kingdom we have a tremendous responsibility that accompanies us being a part of His kingdom. As subjects of His kingdom here on earth we represent our King. Paul writes to the Thessalonians in 1 Thessalonians 2:12 “so that you would walk in a manner worthy of the God who calls you into His own kingdom and glory.” John MacArthur writes “Even their persecution was a plain indication of God’s righteous judgment so they might be considered worthy of the kingdom of God, for which indeed they were suffering (2 Thess. 1:5). The writer of Hebrews reminds us, ‘Since we receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us show gratitude, by which we may offer to God an acceptable service and reverence and awe’ (Heb. 12:28).”
Now we want to look at verse fourteen which tells us that
before we could be fit subjects for the Kingdom of Christ we had to receive
redemption, which is the forgiveness of our sins. MacArthur adds “Apolutrosis (redemption) is one of the magnificent New Testament
words expressing a blessed aspect of the work of Christ on our behalf. Alongside such terms as sacrifice, offering, propitiation, ransom, justification, adoption, and
reconciliation, it attempts to
describe the riches of our salvation. It
means ‘to deliver by payment of a ransom,’ and was used to speak of freeing
slaves from bondage. The meaning of apolutrosis is expressed in our English
word emancipation. The Septuagint uses a related word to speak
of Israel’s deliverance from bondage in Egypt.
Apolutrosis is used in several
places of the New Testament to speak of Christ’s freeing us from slavery to
sin.” Redemption speaks of being bought
out of the slave market of sin, similar to what we discussed about how God took
the Israelites out of Egypt where they were slaves for four hundred years. As mentioned we are all born into Adams race
as the sin nature is passed on through the male and every person that has ever
been born on this earth with the exception of Jesus Christ has a human father
through which the sin nature is passed on to them. Jesus Christ paid the price so that once we
accept Him as Savior and Lord we can then be purchased out of the slave market
of sin and into His glorious kingdom.
Ephesians 1:7 tells us “In Him we have redemption through His blood, the
forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace.” 1 Corinthians 1:30 tells us “But by His doing
you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness
and sanctification, and redemption.”
MacArthur writes “In the midst of perhaps the most thorough
soteriological passage in the New Testament, Paul writes that we are ‘justified
as a gift by His grace through the Redemption which is in Christ Jesus’ (Rom.
3:24). Soteriology is the study of
salvation.
The word “forgiveness” “is Aphesin and this refers to pardon, or remission of penalty” writes
John MacArthur. “It is a composite of
two Greek words, apo, ‘from’ and hiemi ‘to send.’ Because Christ redeemed us, God has sent away
our sins; they will never be found again.”
We see this in Psalm 103:12 “As far as the east is from the west, So far
has He removed our transgressions from us.”
Aren’t you glad that the Psalmist did not write as far as the North is
from the South, (think about that).
MacArthur concludes “So Christ’s death on our behalf paid
the price to redeem us. On that basis,
God forgave our sins, granted us an inheritance, delivered us from the power of
darkness, and made us subjects of Christ’s kingdom. Those wonderful truths should cause us to
give thanks to God continually, as did Paul in his prayer. And when we contemplate all He has done for
us, how can we do any less than pray to be filled with the knowledge of His
will?”
We have seen in our Spiritual Diaries on these first
fourteen verses of Colossians some wonderful truths as they were packed into
these verses. I can’t say that we have
totally unpacked all the truths found here, but I can say that it is my hope
and prayer that we have learned many things from them and that we now can look
forward to look at verses 15-19 which speaks of the “Pre-eminence of Jesus
Christ.”
1/12/2017 7:36 PM
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