In the Lycus River valley of first century Asia Minor, about one hundred miles west of the nearest coastline was the small agricultural town of Colossae. About one hundred years earlier, it had been a much larger city, but when the Romans came to power, they moved the main highway several miles to the north, bypassing Colossae, and the town shrank in population and importance.
Through God’s perfect will, Epaphras, a citizen of Colossae happened to be in Ephesus when the Apostle Paul preached about salvation in Jesus Christ of Nazareth, and Paul’s message so convicted Epaphras that he received Christ as his Lord and Savior. Transformed by God’s grace, he returned to Colossae, and spread the gospel of salvation in Christ to his family, neighbors, and friends. In that remote town, it was God’s plan to establish a local church. All true local churches are planted because of the will of God and the church at Colossae was no exception.
Once Epaphras told Paul about this new church ministry, the apostle quickly wrote to them to help them to grow in their new faith. It is our Lord’s desire that all believers grow in their faith. Paul chose to tell them of his prayers for them. He began by explaining the three core necessities of spiritual growth: knowledge, wisdom, and understanding. Paul urged them to be filled with “the knowledge of His will,” which meant a thorough and complete understanding of the Word of God. Their knowledge of God’s Word would give these new Christians the facts they would need to turn away from the worldly system around them and completely embrace a biblical world view.
Once they knew the facts, they would grow in wisdom, which is the ability to see the principles found in God’s Word and begin to see how those principles are applied to daily Christian living. To be effective, the truth of the Bible must be brought into the Christian life by empowering Christian thinking followed by Christian behavior. Knowing the principles of God’s Word would lead to the understanding, or, the application of God’s truth into every part of their lives. Knowledge, wisdom, and understanding transforms the Christian’s thinking into seeing that all of life, with all of its various components, must be lived with godliness and biblical principles. Paul wanted the Christians of Colossae to see that God’s wisdom applies to every part of life.
Having prayed for those three necessities, Paul then pointed out three aspects spiritual knowledge, wisdom, and understanding would develop in the Christian’s life: they would walk in a worthy manner–what they did in life would please the Lord; they would bear spiritual fruit in every good work, and they would be strengthened with God’s dynamic spiritual power.
All of this sounds great, but how did God take these ordinary people from this small town and grant them these benefits? These were simple men and women, who had families and jobs. Like those around them, they had worshiped at pagan temples and had celebrated pagan rituals and events. How could they grow spiritually in God’s grace with that background? What did God do in them so that they could set aside their pagan wickedness and embrace God’s grace and truth?
In verses twelve through fourteen of chapter one, Paul lists six things God had done for these new Christians to transform their lives. This is a list of God’s graces that are given to every true believer in Jesus Christ. We will examine them in the order the Apostle Paul listed them: Through the grace of God, Christians are grateful and qualified; delivered and transferred; redeemed and forgiven. We will begin with verse twelve: God’s grace empowers Christians to be grateful and qualified.
GRATEFUL AND QUALIFIED. Colossians 1:12
Giving Thanks to the Father. Having a grateful heart is clear evidence of genuine salvation. Once a person is genuinely saved, they respond with thanksgiving to God for their salvation. The giving of thanks is an expression of our continuous dependence on God as well as our gratitude. The Bible repeatedly stresses the importance of giving thanks. The list of Scriptures that call for our gratitude is quite long. Here are some verses that will summarize the Old Testament’s call for thanksgiving. Psalm 107:21-22, “Let them give thanks to the Lord for His lovingkindness, and for His wonders to the sons of men! Let them also offer sacrifices of thanksgiving, and tell of His works with joyful singing.” Psalm 92:1-2, “It is good to give thanks to the Lord and to sing praises to Your name, O Most High; To declare Your lovingkindness in the morning and Your faithfulness by night.” Repeated several times in the Old Testament are these words, “O give thanks to the Lord for He is good; for His lovingkindness is everlasting” (Psalm 136:1).
In several places the New Testament calls upon believers to give thanks to the Lord. Just before the miracle of raising Lazarus from the dead, Jesus thanked the Father (John 11:41). Paul called for thanksgiving to be included in public worship services, “First of all, then, I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men” (1 Timothy 2:1). We are called upon to give thanks in all circumstances, “In everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus” (1 Thessalonians 5:18). In our verse in Colossians one, Paul tells us that one way we walk in a worthy manner is to give appropriate thanks to God the Father for His mercy and grace in granting us His great salvation.
Qualified for an Inheritance. Imagine for a moment that as you scroll through the latest news, that you read that Mr. Archibald Megabucks has died leaving an estate worth multiple billions of dollars. In an interview with Mr. Megabucks’ attorneys, only one heir is known to exist and efforts are underway to find this missing heir. The lead attorney was quoted as saying, “With this inheritance, this man or woman will become the wealthiest person on the planet!” To be that heir would be a blessing, but Christians have an even greater inheritance.
This text tells us that every Christian will receive an inheritance from God. Romans 8 tells us that “We are children of God, and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ” (Romans 8:16-17). Whatever the Lord Jesus will inherit He will share with us as His fellow heirs. God has made us qualified to share in His inheritance. Qualified means to “make sufficient, to empower, to authorize, and to make fit.” God has conferred on believers the grace sufficient to partake of all His blessings. Look carefully at the text, “The Father has qualified us…” We are not qualified by our own merits or by anything we have done–God has qualified us. No one through their own strength or abilities can ever make themselves fit for heaven. No good works are equivalent for the eternal rewards of heaven. No one can redeem his or her own heart and none can transform themselves and give themselves spiritual life.
Only God can make a person fit for heaven. Only those who have truly repented of their sins and who believe in the death, burial, and resurrection of the Redeemer, Jesus Christ are qualified to receive God’s mercy and through God’s mercy be pardoned of their sins. And along with that pardon is the instant and eternal qualification to be a fellow heir of the Lord Jesus. Have you trusted Jesus Christ as your Lord, Master, and Savior? If you have, then you are qualified to share in the inheritance of the saints in Light. “In Light” modifies the “saints” who are people who have been made holy by the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross. The children of God walk in the Light even here on earth. 1 John 1:7 tells us, “If we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.”
DELIVERED AND TRANSFERRED. Colossians 1:13
Delivered from the Domain of Darkness. This verse, as does the rest of the Bible, insists that all people possess the same spiritual problem that always leads to condemnation. The Bible says that all have sinned and fallen short of God’s glory and that absolutely none are righteous. This verse takes us one step further toward God’s wrath by saying we are all in the domain of darkness. This is true of all people, young or old, no matter what place or at what time. All begin life in Satan’s domain of darkness. None are exempt or excused. The human race rebelled against God and chose Satan’s dismal and dark dominion instead. This explains the great volume of evil in our world. People are presently in the domain of darkness.
Why did Russia attack Ukraine? Because they exist in the domain of darkness. Why did Hamas brutally attack Israel on Yom Kippur? Because they exist in the domain of darkness. Why can this world not find peace? Because it is held in the domain of darkness and its ruler, Satan, hates peace. Why is there so much murder? Because Satan is a murderer and his dominion is characterized by murder. Why is there so much deception? Because Satan is a liar and the father of lies and his domain is one in which deception rules. The Lord Jesus said, “This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil” (John 3:19). What a tragic indictment of the human race–we loved the darkness rather than the Light.
Before our salvation we were under the control of the evil world system: its wicked ruler, Satan, and our own fallen natures. We were without Christ, without hope, without life and without God. Our thoughts were given to arrogant futility, our minds and understanding was darkened and rendered incapable of understanding truth. We were separated from the life of God, ignorant, hard-hearted, callous, immoral, impure, and greedy. At that point the only thing for which we were qualified was God’s wrath and judgment.
Transferred to the Kingdom of His Beloved Son. But then something miraculous happened–grace appeared! The Lord Jesus Christ took our punishment and our penalty upon Himself on the cross. In that dark hour, when the sins of all men and women for all time crushed down upon Him, He confessed that that hour belonged to the power of darkness (Luke 22:57). In that agony He was pierced through for our transgressions and crushed for our iniquities. All our sin fell on Him.
Through His death and His blood we can be cleansed of all sin and impurity. By faith we come to Him and we receive Him as Lord and Savior. And when we do, He does something miraculous. He removes us from the domain of darkness and places us forever in the kingdom of His beloved Son. To “transfer” means to change place. In this case, those who are saved by the blood of Christ are no longer under the dominion of darkness and they are forever free from Satan’s power.
We are transferred into the kingdom of God’s beloved Son. The Son is Jesus and only Jesus. At the baptism of Jesus Christ, the Father spoke from heaven and said, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased” (Matthew 3:16). The Father said this to Jesus alone. To no angels or any other being did the Father designate as His beloved Son. On the Mount of Transfiguration, once more God the Father’s voice thundered from heaven saying, “This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well-pleased” (Matthew 17:5). At the moment a man or woman, a boy or a girl receives Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, they are instantly and forever transferred from the domain of darkness, and placed immediately into the kingdom of God’s beloved Son, Jesus Christ. There they are, and there they will forever remain.
REDEEMED AND FORGIVEN. Colossians 1:14
Redemption in Christ. The songwriter wrote, “Redeemed how I love to proclaim it, redeemed by the blood of the Lamb.” Redemption is one of many beautiful words of salvation by grace. It means paying the price of ransom. It was the word used to describe the purchase of a slave out of the slave market. It pictures those who are in the domain of darkness being sold in the slave market. Hopeless, and helpless, slaves were sold by one wicked and cruel taskmaster to another. Only this time, in great mercy, the Lord Jesus stepped up and agreed to pay the purchase price for the slave. I was a slave to sin and so were you. Hope came only when Jesus stepped forward and paid the price of our redemption, and He paid it in His own blood. That was the cost of our redemption.
This is shown in Ephesians 1:7, where we read, “In Him we have redemption through His blood.” Again, Paul wrote in Romans 3:24, that we were “justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus; whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith.” Think of the joy these people in this small church must have felt when they heard that they were redeemed by the blood of Jesus through His sacrifice on the cross. They were not Jewish, they had not grown up knowing all about God and the wonders of His creation. But now they knew Jesus and accepted Him as Savior. And these ordinary people in an obscure town centuries ago were eternally redeemed by Jesus. God’s offer of eternal redemption in Christ is still available today.
The Forgiveness of Sins. Redemption in Christ always brings the complete forgiveness of sins. Always. All people are born in the domain of Satan, and all are sinners. Yet through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross, anyone who believes in Him can be forgiven all of their sins. Forgiveness means the slate is clean, that the sins are gone and with them all the penalties and punishments. God’s forgiveness is full and complete. Throughout the Bible God describes His gracious forgiveness. We are told, “As far as the east is from the west so far has He removed our transgressions from us” (Psalm 103:12). North and south meet, but east and west never do. God’s forgiveness has completely removed our sins.
Through Isaiah, God said, “I have wiped out your transgressions like a thick cloud and your sins like a heavy mist” (Isaiah 44:22). Isaiah also said, “For you have cast all my sins behind Your back” (Isaiah 38:17). The prophet Micah wrote, “He will again have compassion on us; He will tread our iniquities under foot. Yes, You will cast all their sins into the depths of the sea” (Micah 7:19). The Lord declares, “I will forgive their iniquity and their sin I will remember no more” (Hebrews 10:17). So full and complete is God’s forgiveness that Paul could write, “Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1). No wonder Jesus said, “If the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed” (John 8:36). So, which sins has God forgiven those who have trusted in Jesus Christ? All of them–past, present, and future. The believer in Christ continuously lives in a sphere of God’s love, grace, and forgiveness.
Once again, Christians are grateful, qualified, delivered, transferred, redeemed, and forgiven. This is the message of the gospel. This is the good news God has graciously given to the human race. It is accessed only by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. This was God’s commission to Paul at the moment of his salvation. The Lord said, “I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. But get up and stand on your feet; for this purpose I have appeared to you, to appoint you a minister and a witness not only to the things which you have seen, but also to the things in which I will appear to you; rescuing you from the Jewish people and from the Gentiles, to whom I am sending you, to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the dominion of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who have been sanctified by faith in Me” (Acts 26:15-18).
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 eternal subjects of Christ’s kingdom. Knowing these wonderful truths should cause us to continually give thanks to our heavenly Father. In the quietness of this moment, why don’t you simply say, “Thank-you, Lord for my great salvation”?
Are you saved today? Have you been rescued from Satan’s domain, or are you still suffering under his power in sinfulness and rebellion. Only Jesus can set you free. Come to Him right now and He will forgive you of all your sins.
