How God is Redeeming the World

 13 He has delivered 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. — Colossians 1:13–14

I’ll never forget the first sermon I preached; many things stick out to me about the experience. For one, I preached in Portuguese which is not my native tongue. I remember having long awkward pauses trying to remember words. I remember people looking at each other and asking for clarification because they didn’t understand what I was saying. It felt like a nightmare.

What felt like a nightmare, brought a lot of good. Literally, for years after, people reminded me of the example I gave during that sermon. The example centered around leaving our comfort zone. I used a comparison between sitting under a shaded tree and basking in the hot sun (cf: Jonah 4).

Often, God’s desire for us is not comfort. Sometimes comfort can be our enemy. It was the enemy of Jonah. Jonah preferred to sit under a tree, mad at God, rather than preach to spiritually quenched souls.

Reflecting upon Colossians 1:13–14 reminded me of that illustration. My sermon was missional, and this text is theological. My sermon was focused on how we shouldn’t be like Jonah. God wants us to exit our comfort zone and reach the lost for him. This text is theological. It is focusing on the great truth of the redemption we have in Christ.

Much like the story of Jonah — this text — reminds us we have been “delivered”, “transferred”, and “redeemed”.

Delivered

“Beloved, we still are tempted by Satan, but we are not under his power; we have to fight with him, but we are not his slaves. He is not our king; he has no rights over us; we do not obey him; we will not listen to his temptations.” — Charles Spurgeon

How should we think about deliverance?

The first thought I had was mail delivery. We order something online, we wait a day, and before we know it, the package is delivered.

I don’t believe the Bible talks about deliverance in this fashion. The Bible talks about deliverance from the ‘inside-out’ not the ‘outside-in’. A package comes from the store to us. The deliverance we need is from our internal sin nature. We are the package that God has taken out of the “domain of darkness”. He doesn’t send a rescue kit in the mail from a billion miles away.

The phrase “domain of darkness” is interesting. It’s referring to the realm of Satan and the powers of evil. Our deliverance is spiritual. We are taken out of bondage to Satan and evil. We are rescued from the power of sin.

Many people think we need to be taken out of the world. This is not true. We need to have the sin ripped from us. It’s the internal world of sin that wreaks havoc. God is delivering us from ourselves.

“We may understand again, therefore, from this picture, that God’s purpose in the cross of Jesus Christ was two-fold: first that we might be forgiven, being saved from sin’s penalty because Christ died for us, and secondly, that we might be delivered from sin’s power, because this old sinful nature, called the flesh, died with Him.” — Major W. Ian Thomas

This is a great quote. The beauty of the cross is that the penalty and power of sin vanish. The devil cannot condemn nor control us. We are free from all the consequences of his domain.

Transferred

“There is not a square inch in the whole domain of our human existence over which Christ, who is Sovereign over all, does not cry, Mine!” — Abraham Kuyper

The word transfer carries an interesting connotation. Even though we are still in the world and experience the effects of sin, we are living in the “kingdom”. This “kingdom” is ruled by the “beloved Son”. Jesus’s kingdom is already and not yet.

It is already, in the sense, that the penalty and power of sin have dissipated. It’s not yet, in the sense, that we are awaiting the kingdoms consummation. Jesus is gradually suffocating the evil out of this world.

This is seen in the word “transferred” or in other translations “convey”. Jesus has defeated Satan — the previous ruler — and now Jesus is the sovereign ruler of the world.

I offer an illustration.

Imagine what would happen if England came and defeated the United States. England would be our sovereign ruler. Little by little, we would be transformed by England to reflect their principles and values. Gradually over time, we would become another England.

This is what the Bible says Jesus is doing. He is changing the world now so that when he comes back, He will rule and reign from His throne. Have you ever thought about that?

Notice the phrase “us” is plural. The text isn’t using the singular, “I”. This text is soteriological but in a group sense. The imagery of a massive shift in sovereign power is highlighted. Whereby, all Christians have entered into a spiritual yet physical kingdom in the here and now.

“Men will allow God to be everywhere but on his throne. They will allow him to be in his workshop to fashion worlds and make stars. They will allow Him to be in His almonry to dispense His alms and bestow his bounties. they will allow Him to sustain the earth and bear up the pillars thereof, or light the lamps of heaven, or rule the waves of the ever-moving ocean; but when God ascends His throne, His creatures then gnash their teeth. And we proclaim an enthroned God, and His right to do as He wills with His own, to dispose of His creatures as He thinks well, without consulting them in the matter; then it is that we are hissed and execrated, and then it is that men turn a deaf ear to us, for God on His throne is not the God they love. But it is God upon the throne that we love to preach. It is God upon His throne whom we trust.” — Charles Spurgeon

Redeemed

The ultimate purpose of redemption is not to escape the material world, but to renew it. — Timothy Keller

We are redeemed by the sacrificial blood of Jesus. He is the door, through whom, we enter the kingdom.

The word redeem can be confusing. The Greek word is translated “freedom” in another translation. The idea is the chains of the old satanic rule have been broken. We are now free to place our faith in Christ. We are not free to do whatever we want, but we are free to live in Christ. To submit to him as king and fulfill our purpose as God worshippers.

We have been freed by forgiveness. Forgiveness allows us to unshackle our hardened hearts in praise to God. We praise God through relishing in the conquest of Christ on the cross for our sins.

This new kingdom won’t be marked by self-worship, but by God-worship. It will be a new heaven and earth completely redeemed.

Jesus paid full price for us. He didn’t walk into the store and redeem his coupon. We weren’t bought on sale. We were bought with the most precious blood. The reality of Jesus’s sacrifice is invaluable.

The only response we can give is surrender. We must surrender to His lordship and worship Him. He deserves it. No other king, president, or monarch compares. Jesus Christ is unique. He is the perfect king and since He is, let us serve Him with great joy.

“Non-Christians seem to think that the Incarnation implies some particular merit or excellence in humanity. But of course, it implies just the reverse: a particular demerit and depravity. No creature that deserved Redemption would need to be redeemed. They that are whole need not the physician. Christ died for men precisely because men are not worth dying for; to make them worth it.” — C.S. Lewis