Once I Drifted out in Sin, Had No Hope Nor Joy Within, and My Soul Was Burdened Down With

HE IS MY SAVIOR

COLOSSIANS 1:9-14

FOCUS: 1:13-14

INTRODUCTION:

Once I drifted out in sin, had no hope nor joy within,
And my soul was burdened down with pride, with sinful pride;
Then my Savior came along and He showed me I was wrong,
Now I know I'm on the winning side.

Chorus
Well, I am on the winning side, yes, I am on the winining side,
Out in sin no more will I abide;
I've enlisted in the fight for the cause of truth and right,
Praise the Lord, I'm on the winning side!

From the straight and narrow way I was drifting ev'ry day;
Out upon the waters deep and wide, so deep and wide;
But it all is over now, glory light is on my brow,
And my soul is on the winning side.

I will never have a fear, for my Lord is ever near,
And in Him so often I confide, in Him confide;
He's the keeper of my soul since I gave Him full control,
And He placed me on the winning side.

Paul mentions the faith of the believers at Colossae in verses 4-5. He speaks of their “faith in Christ Jesus” and speaks of their “hope which is laid up in heaven.”
Where did these believers in Christ hear the message of the gospel so they could be saved and where did they hear about their hope in heaven?
Paul states that they “heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel.”
Paul would go on in verse 12 to talk about how on in Jesus Christ are we “qualified to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light. Then he goes on to tell us what God has done for us in Christ.
During this Christmas season let us never forget that the greatest gift ever given to us and the greatest gift we can
When the announcement was made to Mary and Joseph about the birth, the angel said that His name would be called Jesus “for He would save people from their sins.”
The Birth of Christ in a stable in Bethlehem, His obscure life lived in the home of Joseph and Mary, His vicarious death on the cross, His burial in a borrowed tomb, His victorious resurrection were all toward the same end: to provide salvation to sinners who could not save themselves.
Christmas can be summed up in these words “For God so loved the world that He GAVE His only begotten Son that whosoever would believe in Him would not perish but have everlasting life.”
What has God in Christ done for in salvation? Paul lays it out in verses 13-14.

I CHRIST HAS DELIVERED US

“He has delivered us from the power of darkness”
Delivered
To draw to one’s self, to rescue
Christ has rescued us, drawn us to Himself as if to protect from further harm.
“From…”
Out of
Christ has rescued us “out of…”
“Power of Darkness”
Power or authority of the darkness
This is a reference to unrestrained power; unruly power. Obviously it is a reference to the power of darkness, evil, Satan and his demons.
Sin, death, self all describes this power over us.
Now Christ has delivered us out of the power of darkness.
The verse carries the ides that we are enslaved or imprisoned by this darkness. And yes Satan will bind you with sin.
And what we need is a setting free from the shackles that bind us.
We need a rescue: I cannot rescue myself.
Sin has us bound and chained and we cannot get free nor free ourselves. Christ came to our rescue, overcame the power that had us bound and drew us to Himself.
Like a loving Father drawing us into His arms and away from the evil and putting us in a place of protection.
“I need you Jesus Come to my resuce; where else can I go”
If it is deliverance you need today it is found only in Christ.

II CHRIST HAS TRANSLATED US.

Translated (NKJV: Conveyed): to transpose, transfer, remove from one place to another. Thus it speaks of a change in situation or place.
Thayer defines the word as “a change of situation or place; to depart from life or to die”
When Christ saved us from our sin we got a change of location.
Christ has transposed us, transferred us to the “kingdom of His dear Son”.
You and I without Christ live in the realm of the kingdom of darkness and when Christ redeems us He carries us from that kingdom to His kingdom.
When we were part of Satan’s kingdom we were subject to his rules and regulations.
Now Christ has taken us out of that kingdom and moved us to His kingdom where we are under new authority, under a new set of laws and we belong to a new community.
I love Thayer’s definition: “to depart from life or to die” In Christ when we die physically we are absent from the body but present with the Lord.
Well when we come to faith in Christ we die to self and sin and become alive to God.

III CHRIST HAS REDEEMED US.

Redemption: “a releasing effected by payment of ransom; liberation procured by the payment of ransom”.
Paul continues the theme of those in sin being enslaved: “delivered us…translated us…redeemed us…”
The idea conveyed is that apart from Christ we are enslaved by our sin. And being enslaved I cannot set myself free.
Christ has redeemed us:
He paid a ransom so that we might be free.
That ransom was paid to His heavenly Father. He who owed no debt to the Father took on our debt and paid it in full (It Is Finished) so that we could go free.
Notice the redemption results in forgiveness.
The word “forgiveness” is “a release from bondage or imprisonment”. Thayer says “a pardon of sin or remission of the penalty (as if the sin had never been committed).
It comes from a word meaning “to send away, to bid to go away or depart.”
Forgiveness speaks of an act of God at Calvary, paying the penalty price of human sin thus satisfying the just demands of His holy law and thus putting away sin.
This is the Old Testament picture of the scape goat who, having had the sins of the people transferred to his account was led out of the camp and into the wilderness to die by himself.
It is what the writer of Hebrews was conveying when he said that Christ was the express image of the person of God and when “He had by Himself purged our sins…”
So Christ took on our sin and died our death alone on the cross in order to ransom us from bondage.
Christ has paid the ransom price for our souls: He has bought us out of the slave market of sin and has forgiven us.

CONCLUSION: