Colossians Chapter 1 Verses 12-14, part 2 

Colossians 1:13

Col. 1:13 “Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son:”

The “Who” refers to God and this tells us that God has delivered us from the power of darkness.” There are three questions that come to my mind as I study the first half of this verse:

    1. What is “darkness” referring to?
    2. Who has the power of darkness?
    3. How were we delivered from the power of darkness?

Throughout the scriptures God has made a separation between light and darkness. For instance in the creation we read where God called the light day and the darkness he called night. Moreover, God is referred to as light: 1 John 1:5 “This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.” Since God is light and in Him is no darkness, then darkness must refer to something that is contrary to the very nature of God. Things that are contrary to God include unrighteousness, sin and death. The following twelve verses connect together darkness and death: Job 3:5; 10:21; 10:22; 12:22; 28:3; 34:22; Ps. 107:10; 107:14; Isa. 9:2; Jer. 13:16; Matt. 4:16; and Luke 1:79. It is safe to conclude that darkness in the subject verse has reference to sin and death.

The following verses point us to Satan as the one who has the power of darkness:

        1. James 1:13 “Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man: 14 But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. 15 Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.”

        2. Gen 3:1 “Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? 2 And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: 3 But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. 4 And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: 5 For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. 6 And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.”

        3. Heb. 2:14 “Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil;

Satan uses deception to entice men to sin. When fleshly lust conceives with the enticement, it brings forth sin and when sin is finished it brings forth death. In the Garden when Satan enticed Eve to eat of the forbidden fruit and she gave unto Adam and he did eat, death followed for both Adam and Eve. According to Rom. 5:12: “Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:” Thus, through the one enticement of Satan, death subsequently passed upon all mankind. This death is a three-fold death as it brought a condition known as being dead in trespasses and sins upon the nature of fallen man; it ultimately brings forth death of the body; and it brought man kind into a state of eternal damnation that is called in Revelation as the second death.

Being under the power of darkness, meant that we were dead in trespasses and sins. This condition is described for us in Rom. 3:9 “What then? are we better than they? No, in no wise: for we have before proved both Jews and Gentiles, that they are all under sin; 10 As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: 11 There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. 12 They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one. 13 Their throat is an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips: 14 Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness: 15 Their feet are swift to shed blood: 16 Destruction and misery are in their ways: 17 And the way of peace have they not known: 18 There is no fear of God before their eyes.” Being under sin, meant that we were under sins’ control. We were slaves to sin. We were altogether unrighteous (darkness-vj); we had absolutely no understanding of spiritual things; we could not seek after God; we could not do good nor did we want to do good; we were sinners by word and by practice; and we did not fear God.

When we under the power of darkness as described above, God delivered us from the power of darkness through covenant arrangement. This covenant is stated for us in Rom. 8:29, 30: “For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.”

Being under sin we were under the bondage of sin and under the condemnation of sin and under the corruption of sin. By God’s covenant arrangement we are delivered from all three aspects of being under sin. First, God delivered us from the bondage of sin by His “effectual call” unto spiritual life:

    1. Eph. 2:1 “And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins:”

    2. John 5:25 “Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live.”

As a result of the quickening of God through the voice of the Son of God we have been given a nature whereby we can seek after God; we can understand the things of the Spirit of God; we can do good; we can cease from sin; we do fear God. Sin no longer has us as slaves.

We are delivered from the condemnation of God through the justifying work of Jesus Christ for us at the cross: Rom. 3:24 “Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:”

Moreover, we have the promise of eternal glorification which delivers us from the corruption of sin. The glorification of the body will take place in the resurrection when our vile bodies will be changed and made like unto Jesus glorious body. Heb. 2:14 “Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; 15 And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.” Jesus by means of his death on the cross has destroyed him that had the power of death (Satan no longer has the power of death over the children of God) and delivered them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. By the death of Jesus which delivered us from the condemnation of sin and by his resurrection, he gained the ultimately victory over death and gave us hope that when He returns our bodies will be resurrected also just as God promised.

In the second part of the subject text we read, “and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son:” Translation means to take from one state, condition, or language and bring to another state, condition, or language. For instance, if we speak English and an article is written in French and we don’t speak French, then for us to read the article it has to be translated from French to English.

Before, our translation we were in the kingdom of Satan, under the power of darkness. When God delivered us from the power of darkness, he also delivered us into the kingdom of his dear Son. In order for us to be delivered into the kingdom of his dear Son, we had to be translated. Before, we were under the condemnation of sin, the bondage of sin, and the corruption of sin. In order for us to be in the kingdom of His dear Son, we had to be justified, delivered from the bondage of sin and delivered from the corruption of sin. By the covenant work of Jesus Christ (Rom. 8:29, 30: “For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.”) We are called by the Holy Spirit into spiritual life, which delivered from the bondage of sin; we are justified by the shed blood of Jesus Christ for the elect, which delivered us from the condemnation of sin; and we are glorified in the glorious morning of the resurrection, which delivers us from the corruption of sin. God has made us fit subjects and placed us in the kingdom of His dear Son. For this, we give him all the praise, honor and glory.
 

Colossians 1:14

Col. 1:14 “In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins:”

In the United States, merchants often allow for customers to put things on layaway and come later and pay for the purchase. Payment for the previously selected item is called redeeming the item.

Redemption as taught in the scriptures requires three things. First, it requires a previous selection of the one to be redeemed. Second, it requires that the redemption price be paid. Third, it requires that the ones redeemed be taken home to the redeemer. Also, we note that the ones, who are purchased, belong to the one who purchased them. Prior to the redemption, the ones who are selected for redemption were the slaves of sin.

Back in the morning of time, when Adam was in the Garden of Eden, God made a covenant with him. The covenant read, “Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.” When Adam ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, he sold himself under the curse of the law of sin and death. From that point he became the servant of sin. Moreover, under the laws of servitude, all that proceeded from the loins of Adam would also be the servants of sin and death.

Remember that under the laws of redemption a prior selection had to take place. This selection took place according to Eph. 1:4, 5: “According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will.” Here, we see that God selected a people with the purpose of redeeming them and making them his. We also see that this selection took place before the foundation of the world. In this passage, we see that redemption and adoption are tied together.

Next, after the selection has taken place, the payment for redemption had to take place. We note several verses of scripture that point to the payment of the redemption price for those selected:

    1. Rom. 3:24 “Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:”

    2. Rom. 8:23 “And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.”

    3. Eph. 1:7 “In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;”

    4. Eph. 1:14 “Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.”

    5. Heb. 9:12 “Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.”

    6. Heb. 9:15 “And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance.”

We notice several things from the verses quoted above:

        1. Redemption is free to us and by the grace of God through the atoning blood of Christ.

        2. It is our body that is being redeemed.

        3. Redemption and forgiveness of sins are tied together in the atoning sacrifice of Christ for us.

        4. The eternal redemption price has already been paid. All that is left in redemption is for the ones purchased to be taken home.

        5. The redemption took place by covenant arrangement.

        6. Christ is the mediator of the covenant of redemption.

        7. We, who were selected before the foundation of the world, have the promise of eternal inheritance as a result of the redemption having been paid for us.

Based on the covenant of redemption, outlined for us in Rom. 8:29, 30, the last of the five items in that covenant is glorification. When Christ comes again, in the morning of the resurrection, we will be glorified and taken home to our eternal inheritance in heaven where we will be joint heirs with Jesus Christ.

As we stated at the beginning, now that we have been redeemed, we cannot consider ourselves to be our own but that we are the servants of Jesus Christ: 1 Cor. 6:19 What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? 20 For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.” What a glorious blessing it is to know that we are no longer the servants of sin, but we have been redeemed and now we are the servants of Jesus Christ who has bought us.