This Bible study is the fifth in the Colossians series. The
first Bible study is Background
of Paul’s Letter to the Church at Colossae. In that study, we
learned of the cultural, political, religious, and philosophical thoughts that
occurred in Colossae at the time of Paul’s writing his letter to the Colossian
Christians. The second Bible study in this series is Identification.
In that study, Paul introduced himself and Timothy and taught about their identification
with Jesus and the believers at Colossae. With the Bible study entitled Thanksgiving
in Colossians, Paul prayed with thanks to God for the growth of the
Christians in Colossae. This growth showed in their love for God and the
saints, and their bearing of fruit and maturing in their faith. Paul identified
Epaphras, the founder of their church, as a “beloved fellow bond-servant,” one
who willingly submitted to Christ as Paul taught him. In Glorious
Might, Paul continued praying over the Colossian Christians in
supplication for them. In these verses, Colossians 1:9-12, he told them he
prayed for them daily that they would grow in Christ so they would be
well-pleasing to God. Paul prayed for God to fill them with the knowledge of His
will with all spiritual wisdom and understanding so they would please Him in all
respects by bearing fruit in good works. He asked for God to increase their
knowledge of Him, strengthen the them with all power, and give them
steadfastness and patience. Paul ended this prayer for the sanctification of
the Colossians by asking that they joyously give thanks to God who qualified
them to inherit eternal life with the saints in the kingdom of His Son.
In Colossians 1:13-14, Paul explained who is the Father of
verse twelve who gives these gifts for which he asked for the church in
Colossae. The Colossian Christians knew about Jesus from Epaphras’ teaching.
The Jewish believers in Jesus knew about Father God. Paul taught the Colossae believers
who the Father is so they would know Him and His gifts as Paul prayed for in
verses nine through twelve.
Rescuer
“For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son…” (Colossians 1:13 [NASB])
To understand this verse, we must understand well the Greek meanings
of the original words. Paul said, “For He (this refers back to the Father in
verse twelve) rescued us. The word “rescued” comes from the Greek word rhuomai,
which means to snatch up or out for oneself. Father God snatched from danger
and for an eternal relationship with Him “us,” the Colossian Christians,
Timothy, Epaphras, himself, and each believer in Jesus Christ. God didn’t
snatch them away from the fire and tell them to go on their merry way. He
snatched them out for Himself because He loves each person and wants each to
have the best in life, not just what is merely good. Only God gives the best.
The musings and thoughts of people, and for the Colossian people the musings of
the early Gnostics, never could be good enough. Nothing Gnostics or any person
thinks can ever save people from an eternal death separated from God. Only by
God’s snatching people away for Himself from Satan gives people the best. Paul
explained next what God’s best is.
In this part of the sentence, Paul said, the Father snatched
the Colossian believers from the domain of darkness. What is the “domain of
darkness?” The word “domain” means a place where a person or being has
authority and power over others. This person or being has power over how one
lives. This one has authority to establish morality for that dark domain. For
Paul, a spiritual power ruled over this domain. He made this point with his
next word, “darkness.” Jesus said He is the light of the world in John 8:12.
So, the spiritual power who ruled in this darkness has morals and authority
opposite of Jesus’. That being is Satan. Jesus’ moral authority always comes
from His characteristic of goodness. This means Satan’s moral authority comes from
his evilness. When Satan exercises his moral authority on people, they do
things of which God does not approve. Satan blinds people not to see or think
of God. He makes them ignorant of divine things and leads them deeper into
ungodliness and immorality. What Paul wrote in this verse means God snatched out
for Himself believers in Jesus from the spiritual power and influence of Satan’s
immorality and ungodliness.
As noted, “rescued” means to snatch out. So, once God
snatches believers out of Satan’s domain, He puts them in His perfect place. The
Father, by His grace given to repentant sinners who believe in Jesus, extends
His mighty hand to snatch believers out of Satan’s domain of darkness. He puts them
in His holy place, where no immorality and godlessness exists. He puts
Christians in the “kingdom of His beloved Son.” Jesus’ godliness and divine
moral authority reign in His kingdom. Because His Spirit lives in each
believer, Jesus’ authority reigns in their hearts. They no longer need fear
Satan, but “be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom
and understanding,” be strengthened with all power according to His glorious
might, be steadfast and patient, and joyously give thanks to the Father for
giving them the hope of an inheritance in His kingdom. (Col. 1:9-12).
Deliverer
“…of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.” (Colossians 1:13c-14 [NASB])
Beloved
The Father snatches people from Satan’s grip. He rescues
them and sets them on moral, godly ground in Jesus’ kingdom. The Father’s Son
is not a mere mortal He used to affect His plan of salvation. This Son is
beloved by the Father. The word “beloved” comes from the word agape, of which
Paul wrote in verses four and eight when he spoke of the Colossians’ love for
the saints and their love in the Spirit. Agape love comes from God’s
character and is a pure, unselfish, and visible love. First, God acts based on
this love, then His snatched-out children act on it. 1 John 4:8 testifies, “The
one who does not love does not know God, for God is love.” [NASB] Further in 1
John 4:16, he wrote, “We have come to know and have believed the love which God
has for us. God is love, and the one who abides in live abides in God, and God
abides in Him.”
God is love, and this love comes from His character. This agape
love for people occurred before He formed them, as He strove to lead, provide,
and protect them, and when He came in flesh with His Son’s birth, life, and
death to cleanse people from their sins. Paul said in verse 13, the beloved Son
of God reigned in the kingdom of righteousness and the children of God He
snatched from Satan lived in Jesus’ kingdom. Just as the Father loves the Son
and the Son loves the Father, this same love flows to people. God’s heart, His pure
and unselfish love, desires that He snatch out each person from Satan’s
dominion of darkness and to live in the beloved Son’s kingdom. He acted on this
love by sending the Son to show His love by living a sinless life and dying a
sinner’s death as the sacrifice for all sins for those who believe in Him and
repent of their sins. Jesus’ sacrifice of pure love made it possible for people
to live no longer in Satan’s domain of darkness, but in the kingdom of light.
Redeemed
With most of verse thirteen, Paul told the Colossian
Christians who the Father is. With verse fourteen, He told them how
God transferred the Colossian Christians from the domain of Satan to the kingdom
of His Son. Paul told them it came because of redemption, the forgiveness of
sin. Redemption is an old word and so we need to understand its context to
grasp the depth of its meaning. It comes from the Greek word apolutrosis,
which means a ransom caused by payment. In slave days whether that be ancient, medieval,
renaissance, Victorian, or modern times, people could indenture themselves as
bond-servants to have a debt paid by the one to whom that person would serve.
The only way that person could have freedom from their servile position was by
repayment of the indenturing loan. This purchasing gave to the person what they
had previously forfeited, their lives in exchange for a debt. For people sold
into slavery, the only way for release from slavery was for someone to pay the
slaveholder. These examples emphasize the distance between where the rescued
person now stands and what had enslaved that person, a debt, whether or sin,
destitution, or entrapment. God caused that distance for the person because of
His payment of the redeeming price and snatching the person away from slavery
to Satan, sin, and death. Christ paid that redemption price for sin with His
sinless death on a sinner’s cross. Redemption by Jesus allows the redeemed
person to see God’s work of grace, the greatest of His riches (His Son), given
for payment of his/her death penalty. That defines God’s grace. Jesus’ cross redeems us and puts a distance
between believers and Satan. Satan cannot cross the bridge of the cross because
he is unholy. He has no power over Christians’ salvation or eternal life with
God. Jesus is the deliverer of the redemption payment for people. He delivers
people from sin to salvation, from godlessness and immorality to godliness and
morality.
Redemption came with a great price for God. That price was
the sacrificial death of His sinless Son, who died as a man on a sinner’s cross.
Redemption moves Christians from the domain of Satan to the authority of Jesus.
Yet, redemption is more than just Jesus dying and people believing in Him as
the Son of God. We must understand people are sinners. They are unholy. Holy
God will not be where unholiness is, just as dark and light cannot be in the
same place. For sinners to be in God’s presence, forgiveness of sins and
cleansing from sins must occur, too.
A person sins when he/she misses the mark; they do not live
holy lives. No person can live a holy life without the help of God. Likewise,
no person can become holy without the help of God. Jesus redeems a person from
the domain of Satan and puts him/her into the kingdom of light when the person
believes in Him as the Son of God and when that person confesses and repents of
his/her sins. This person regrets his/her sins and way of life and gives
his/her life completely into the hands of God. God snatches the person away
from Satan. He redeems him/her from his/her old way of living and sends the
Spirit to live within him/her to guide that person in His moral way of living
as a redeemed and cleansed child of God. Jesus paid the redemption price for
each soul from the one who enslaves each person. He paid this price because of
His agape love for us from before He created us. God’s agape love
now lives in each Christian. That Christian should live out each day the faith,
love, and hope God gives so other people will see Him and want to follow Him.
Thoughts to Consider
God snatches us for Himself away from Satan, sin, and
eternal death. He transfers us to His Son’s kingdom. Jesus delivers us by paying
the redemption price to buy us from the one who enslaved us and returns us to Life.
Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. [John 14:6] Jesus will save us from our
sins and the death we deserve when we believe He is the Son of God and confess
and repent of our sins. He is our deliverer. As we live with God daily in
obedience to Him, we mature as Christians. Maturing as a Christian means
pleasing God in all respects, increasing in the knowledge of Him, and receiving
His strength with all His power. Redemption should cause us to look at God’s
grace and realize we do not deserve it. We do not deserve God’s riches. We sinners
deserve death. But God, in His love and mercy, gave the greatest of His riches,
His Son, to die on a sinner’s cross, to redeem and forgive us, and reconcile us
to Him.
Questions to Consider:
- Do you recognize you are a sinner?
- Do you want the path of your life to change, to be moral and godly?
- Do you want God’s grace to snatch you for Himself out of Satan’s hand and save you?
- Do you want Jesus to redeem you from your slavery to sin?
- Have you asked Him to forgive you and to save you?
- Are you already a Christian, but recognize you have sin in your life you want Jesus to forgive so you can be in a right relationship with Him?
Today is the time for each person to
consider his/her life and decide if they want to live in the domain of darkness
or the kingdom of the Son.
For next week, reread Colossians 1
and focus on verses 15-20.
“He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For my Him all things were created…” (Colossians 1:15-16a [NASB])
