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Deliverance – we are rescued from the power of darkness, the domain of darkness. This is in sharp contrast to the life spoken of at the end of verse 12. This rescue includes a change in ownership, we are qualified to be children of light by an act of God in us.
Translation – we are translated, transferred, transplanted from the kingdom of Satan and darkness into the Kingdom of Christ. Sometimes it is helpful to actually stop and think about what the scripture says! Think about the Father’s view of the Son. This translation is something that God does, not something that we can do for ourselves.
Redemption – to be freed from bondage. Redemption is possible because Christ died on the cross for us. Our redemption cost Christ His life, His blood. In scripture, we see that “the life” is in “the blood.” If we were more aware of the grand and glorious things that Christ, the Holy Spirit, and the Father do inside of people.
Forgiveness – to be released from obligation and punishment. The New Testament view of forgiveness is that it renews the whole person.
Christ is the agent in creation, the Lord of the universe, the Lord of the Church, and the Agent of reconciliation. In Christ the nature and being of God have been perfectly revealed, the Son has revealed the Father. He is the perfect expression of the Father.
Christ is working in creation to bring everything that He has created into the fullness of His purposes. The goal that He has for creation, He has been working to fulfill. We know that this can be a very puzzling thing to ponder in light of all that is going on in the world around us.
We are called to trust that Jesus Christ is actually doing this, rather than to fall into hopeless despair that everything is a disaster. He is doing this thing that He says He is doing, working to bring all of creation to its created purpose.
Christ earned the right to be the Head of the Church through His death and resurrection. What does it mean that Christ is Head of the Church? Christ is the Church’s life, and He is the Lord and Master.
Christ is the Beginning, the First Born from the Dead. He is the first to experience the resurrection power. He communicates this to His people. He is the first of more resurrection life and power. Christ is the first fruit of the dead, this gives Him the right to be preeminent. He is the source of the resurrection from the dead.
All that are in Christ have access to the fullness of God, the fullness of God’s grace. We do not need a special revelation.
Christ’s reconciling work brings harmony, peace, and fellowship. The goal of reconciliation is that we can be set apart to God, set apart from sin, unreprovable, etc, this is a blessed place to be because of Jesus.
Scriptures used – Colossians 1:13-23, Romans 3:24-25, Hebrews 1:3, John 1, Romans 8, Colossians 2