Personal Delivery

Christ The King Sunday

11/24/2007

Rev. Steven D. Spencer – Pastor Messiah Lutheran Church

Colossians 1:13–20

¹³He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, ¹⁴in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

      ¹⁵He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. ¹⁶For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. ¹⁷And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. ¹⁸And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. ¹⁹For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, ²⁰and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.

Grace, peace and mercy from God our Father and our Lord and Savior  Jesus Christ, Amen.

Our text this morning is from St. Paul’s letter to the Colossians. But our text actually starts two verses earlier than our reading. Colossians 1:11 & 12: “May you be strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy, giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light.” Here is the summary of the doctrine of the gospel concerning the great work of our redemption by Christ Jesus. It doesn’t come to us in merely hearing a sermon, but as the matter of thanksgiving; for the salvation that Christ furnishes gives us abundant reason to give thanks in every view of it: “Giving thanks unto the Father.”

“For He has delivered us from domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son.” The word domain is translated in the KJV as power or in the NIV as dominion. It is literally darkness personified. We have been delivered from the kingdom of Satan. And the characteristics of that dark kingdom are sin, error, misery and death. Over us, by nature, these things have uncontrollable power; but now we are delivered from them, and brought to the enjoyment of the privileges of those who are connected with the kingdom of the light. For we have been delivered, transferred to the kingdom of His beloved Son.

The word transferred as used by St. Paul’s explains how a Roman ruler would move people from one country or kingdom to another. It means, here, that they who are Christians have been transferred from one kingdom to another, as if a people were thus removed. They become subjects of a new kingdom, are under different laws, and belong to a different community. This change is made in regeneration, by which we pass from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of light, from the empire of sin, ignorance, and misery, to one of holiness, knowledge, and joyfulness. No change, therefore, in a man’s life is so important as this; and no words can suitably express the gratitude which they should feel who are thus transferred from the empire of darkness to that of light, the Kingdom of the Son. When did you get transferred? When you died to the kingdom of death in the waters of baptism and were raised into the kingdom of life in His beloved Son.

The kingdom of the Son “in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.” Verse 14 is an interesting verse. The KJV translation says: “In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins.” The ESV and many others simply translate it as “in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.” The understanding is the same. It is by the blood that your sins are paid in full. So who paid that redemption price with His own blood that our sins might be cancelled, and that we are made fit partakers of the inheritance among the saints in light? You know, for only one can save you from sin, death and the devil and His name is Jesus. It is Jesus that has taken our sins to the cross with Him. It is He that takes away our sins, all the power, the guilt, and infection of sin. All sin, of every kind, with all its influence and consequences. If there’s some unresolved sin in your life, it’s not because He hasn’t taken it, it’s because you still hang on to it. For God has released you from all sin.

And this was one the problems that the Colossians’ had. They had become influenced by some of John the Baptizers disciples. After John’s death they continue in their Jewish traditions but combined with them with allegiance to Jesus. They became known as Judaizers. These are the same Judaizers who had infiltrated Galatia and Philippi and now have shown up in Colossae. They insisted that one must do acts of faith to overcome the consequences of sin. They also insisted that all the cleansing and dietary laws of the Old Testament must still be obeyed. Do you know we still have people today that insist we must contribute, in some manner, to overcome sin in our lives?  Do you know who they are? It’s us! Any time we don’t allow the forgiveness purchased on the cross to resonate in our lives, we are the Judaizers. In a not so obvious way we are saying; “Jesus the cross wasn’t enough!”

There was a second problem the Colossians faced. All through the region of Asia Minor, false teachings were spreading.  Some believed Jesus was just a spirit and not flesh, bones and blood. Other believed that Jesus was just a man that God adopted to be His son. And there was one other group from Colossae itself, the ancients of Phrygia. These men claimed they were children of the gods. They were tall in stature and lived long lives. Therefore St. Paul desires to set the people straight concerning the identity of God. Starting at verse 15 St. Paul writes: ^“15He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. ¹⁶For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. ¹⁷And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. ¹⁸And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. ¹⁹For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell”.

He is the image of the invisible God. Jesus is the image, the form and the very appearance of God made flesh. He’s not a reflection of God, He’s not an empty shell carrying some form of godliness, nor is He just a spirit imitating a human. He is 100% God and 100% man. Jesus is the creator of all things. But even more all things were created for Him. That’s a pretty incredible thought. Jesus created all things for Himself and that includes us. Jesus is God and that means He’s all knowing (omniscient). Jesus created all the earth and all its inhabitants knowing that some day He would have to give His life to redeem what was His. What a gracious God!  

You see, Satan stole, literally kidnapped you and me from God. Even worse we went willing to join the kingdom of darkness. But Jesus didn’t want us to die in that dark kingdom. So He came into the dark kingdom as a man to redeem us and to restore us to His Kingdom. Verse 20 “and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.”  Jesus came to personally deliver you. He delivers you by His blood. He’s not like the UPS or the United States Postal Service who leaves a package on the doorstep or in the box. Jesus comes personally to save you. He came to earth as man to deliver you by the blood of the cross. He comes to the font to yoke Himself to you through baptism. In the Lord’s Supper He strengthen that yoke. And He continues today to strengthen that yoke through His Word. For you have a personal delivery, no, a person delivering you and His name is Jesus. You are personally delivered into His kingdom. For in Him, Jesus, His blood forgives all your sins. Now and even forevermore, In Jesus name, amen and amen!

And now may that peace which surpasses all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen!

\