Talk 2. Freedom in Christ – what he has done for us (1)
Welcome to the second talk in our series Themes from Colossians. Last time we considered The Supremacy of Christ – who he is. Basing our thoughts mainly on Colossians 1:15-20, we saw that:
Jesus is God
Jesus is eternal
Jesus is creator
Jesus is sustainer
Jesus is head over all things
Jesus is saviour
Today and next time we’ll be looking at Freedom in Christ – what he has done for us
Today’s passage is Colossians 1:12-14
Next time we’ll examine Colossians 2:9-15
Colossians 1:12-14
- giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light.
- For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves,
- in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
- He has qualified us to share in his inheritance (12)
As we saw last time, Jesus is described as the firstborn (1:15, 18)
- The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.
- And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy.
We saw that this is strongly connected with inheritance and supremacy. But as Christians we are also described as firstborn:
Hebrews 12
- But you have come to Mount Zion, to the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of the living God. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly,
- to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven
Romans 8
- Now if we are children, then we are heirs – heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.
Sunkleronomos joint heir. By sonship, marriage, grace.
- He has rescued us from the dominion of darkness
- For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness
In the NT light and darkness are frequently metaphors for good and evil (e.g. John 3:19, Romans 13:12, Ephesians 5:11 etc.)
Note the significance of the word dominion here.
Gk. exousia means sovereign authority, control
- He has brought us into his kingdom (13)
- and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves
Kingdom, Gk. basileia, refers to his kingly authority rather than a geographical location. We were under the control of evil, but now we’re under the kingly authority of Christ
The kingdom is present wherever the King is present.
In the NT it’s referred to in three tenses: Past, Present, Future.
In the ministry of Jesus it was manifested in deliverance from demons, healing, raising the dead, power over nature, forgiveness of sin.
This ministry continues through the church by the power of the Spirit.
When Jesus returns, his kingdom will be manifest in all its fullness.
- He has redeemed us and forgiven our sins
- in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins
This is another way of saying the same thing
To redeem = to buy back. When Jesus died on the cross he paid the price to buy us back from the power of evil. This is primarily to do with the forgiveness of our sins as the verse makes clear. Cf.
Romans 3:24
all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.
Ephesians 1:7
In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace
But there’s an aspect of our redemption which is yet future:
Romans 8:23
Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies.
Ephesians 1:14
who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession – to the praise of his glory.
Ephesians 4:30
And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.