From Darkness to Light: The Gift of Salvation | Colossians 1:13-23

[0:00] Welcome to Ontario Community Church, where we're dedicated to encouraging, equipping, and engaging lives for Christ. Located in Ontario, Oregon, Pastor Patrick Daly preaches insightful sermons from the Word of God, offering practical applications for modern living.

[0:16] We're delighted to share this sermon with you. All right. Well, good morning, Ontario Community Church. It is great to be with you this morning as we are continuing our sermon series on the Book of Colossians.

[0:31] You know, we began this series by emphasizing the public reading of Scripture. And it's a great time for us to read Scripture together as the Church, as the body of Christ.

[0:44] And this last week, we read about how the apostle Paul is grateful for the Colossians, the Church at Colossi. Paul talked about how this Church was faithful to the Lord and the love that they exhibited, this love of Christ they shared with other believers and with others.

[1:05] And what a remarkable reminder for us to be faithful to the Lord and to exhibit the love of Christ to others. We discovered that, you know, there is an encouragement for us as Christians to remain, to remain having Jesus as the foundation for our life.

[1:25] Let us be encouraged to share in the love of Christ with others. And that leads us to today, where we are going to have this sermon on from darkness to light, the gift of salvation, which is based off of Colossians, chapter one, verses 13 through 23.

[1:44] You'll find that there are many connections with these verses as these are theologically deep. You'll find in your notes, it's a two pager and my goodness, there's a lot on here and that's okay.

[1:57] We're going over 10 different verses and there's so many connections that we find in the word of God. You'll find that there's a chart in the back that we will go towards the end that'll break down the main verses in our message today.

[2:13] We will learn that these verses, you know, there's a time where we have our life before Christ and then we come to know the Lord.

[2:24] We are transformed, right? By the renewal of our mind, having God transform our heart in the very essence of who we are. And because of this transformation, we live for him.

[2:37] And before we go any further though, I would like for us to open in a word of prayer and let's ask God to be present with us today. Let us offer our time together for him and for his glory.

[2:51] Will you pray with me? Let's pray together. And gracious Father, we thank you for bringing us here together as we continue this verse by verse line by line series on the book of Colossians.

[3:05] We ask that you are here with us and we're reminded of that verse where two or three are gathered in your name, there you are with us. We ask that you reveal the truth of your word to us.

[3:18] Soften our hearts, change our minds to come to know you and to grow in you. We offer our time, may we offer our burdens and our cares to you this morning.

[3:31] For you God are a loving God. You sent your son Jesus Christ to change the course of history by providing salvation through faith.

[3:43] It is in this salvation that we are secured in you. Help us to learn that it is so important that by you sending your son Jesus Christ, you paved the way for salvation and you brought us from darkness into your marvelous light.

[4:02] May we come to know you, be transformed by you. And because of all this, may we live for you. It is in Jesus, mighty, loving, and powerful name that we pray and we all say together amen.

[4:17] Amen. So we're gonna start off by verse 13 here. It's gonna be placed on your screen. The apostle Paul is discussing how he has delivered us, how he's delivered the Colossians from the domain of darkness into the kingdom of his son, Jesus Christ.

[4:38] That's what we find in this verse. And Paul, he reminds the church at Colossi that we were once in this domain of darkness, right? Slaves to sin and held captive by the power of the evil one.

[4:53] It is in believing in Jesus that we are saved by grace through faith and there is this transfer that happens from darkness into light.

[5:03] It is in Jesus Christ who is the way he is the truth and he is the life. We are even called by God. We are given an invitation to come into his marvelous light.

[5:15] Have you heard his call for your life? Have you heard God's call to come out of the darkness into the light? It should be noted that the Greek word for domain suggests that there is a choice to be made that is involved for each person.

[5:32] And this choice is to choose whether or not you're going to remain in this domain of darkness or to leave and go into the kingdom of Christ or the kingdom of light.

[5:45] All of this choice was made possible by Christ's sacrifice on the cross. And you have to think for yourself, are you in the domain of darkness?

[5:56] You can get out of this domain by believing in the Lord and being transferred into eternal salvation. And this leads us to the next verse, verse 14, in Christ, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sin.

[6:12] In Christ there is redemption and forgiveness, lots of reference verses here. Christ died on the cross and he reconciled us, which means he made the exchange for us.

[6:23] You see, none of us have the ability to choose to get out of this domain of darkness without the sacrifice that was done by Jesus Christ on the cross. This redemption allows for us to choose salvation and in turn be transferred to the kingdom of Christ.

[6:40] So this verse, verse 14 says that in Christ there is the great exchange that occurred. It speaks of the forgiveness of sins. And it is vital that we recognize that we are redeemed by the blood that was shed.

[6:57] And it is all because of the riches of God's grace. Because God loved us so much that he sent his only son, that whosoever believes shall not perish, but have eternal life.

[7:12] It is because of Christ's sacrifice that our sins are forgiven, one and done. This leads us to the next verse, verse 15, right? He Christ is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.

[7:26] In other words, Christ is divine here. It talks about how Jesus is the image, right? Of the invisible God. This image is a representation.

[7:37] It is the essence of who God is. And when you read on here, right? It says, okay, Jesus is the image of the invisible God. The firstborn of all creation comes up.

[7:49] And we read that. There can be a sense of confusion here. What do you mean Christ was the firstborn of all creation? Wasn't Adam the firstborn of all creation, right?

[7:59] You have the story of Adam and Eve. What is going on here? I want you all to realize, pay very close attention here. There is a difference between being the firstborn and being born first, okay?

[8:14] This language, it speaks about how Christ is in a position of authority, rather than, well, it's a position of authority over all creation. And the example that you can find in your notes is found in your notes.

[8:29] It's talking about Psalm 89, verse 27. There's a reference there where it's talking about how David was made the firstborn, even though he was born last, right?

[8:43] David was the youngest. That's interesting, right? So to be the firstborn is different again than being born first. And this then leads us into verse 16, where Christ is the creator of all things.

[8:58] You might notice the pattern that was done in a previous sermon series, where we talked about how Christ is the creator, the redeemer, and the sustainer.

[9:08] And you'll see in the bold, right? There it is, hidden amongst the text, hidden within the text. For by him all things were created in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities, all things were created through him and for him.

[9:29] The apostle Paul is talking about how Christ created all things. Because you gotta remember, Jesus Christ is part of the triune God, the Father, right? God the Father, Jesus Christ the Son, and the what?

[9:43] The Holy Ghost, the Holy Spirit, right? Part of the triune God. And this is part of the deeper things of God, knowing that Christ was there in the beginning, right?

[9:53] This verse goes on to explain what was created, the heavens and the earth, the visible and the invisible. It always amazes me when you hear about the scientific community where you hear this talk about antimatter or all these things in the universe that are unseen, right?

[10:10] There's many things that we can't see. I mean, you may have to use a microscope to see all of the living organisms, right? Or you may have to look in a telescope to see distant stars or planetary systems.

[10:23] But even at that, there's still many things that are unseen. And that's amazing to think that our God created that which is seen and that which is unseen. The verse then takes us into the idea about thrones, dominions, rulers, and authorities.

[10:40] That all of these things were created through Him and for Him. And I am convinced that Paul is listing these four powers, showing that they exist not only in the physical realm, but also in the spiritual realm because it's talking about what exists in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible.

[11:02] So all of these words, thrones, dominions, rulers, and authorities, it speaks to those who are in power. And that, here's the main point of that, that Christ is above all, right?

[11:15] Just how Jesus Christ is the name that is above all names. There is no power or authority that is above Christ.

[11:25] Right, if you think about the angels, the demons, right? You think about the rulers and authorities here on this earth. There's no president, there's no king, there's no emperor, there's no dictator.

[11:37] That is greater than the name of Jesus Christ. That is a truth that we must take to heart. And this leads us to verse 17. That Christ is before all things.

[11:49] He is the sustainer, right? And the verse says, he is before all things and in him all things hold together. Not only does Christ reign supreme over all powers and heaven and on earth, we can see that it is Christ who holds everything together.

[12:07] This sounds like a sermon that I gave not that long ago, right? Where when we are broken, like a broken bowl, right? For those of you who may know Kintsugi, right?

[12:18] It is taking that which is broken and piecing it together and it becomes more valuable than it originally was. That's like how our God is, right? We are like broken on the ground and God takes us and molds us and mends us back together.

[12:35] It's such a powerful imagery that we can think of God, of how Christ is being the sustainer of all things. And all of this is done by the word of his power just as mentioned in Hebrews chapter one, verse three.

[12:50] This is the retelling of how Christ existed before the foundation of the earth. And again, is the firstborn, right? Not born first, the firstborn.

[13:01] He has that power and authority. There is no power again that is above the power of Christ and there is nothing that is made or held together without him.

[13:13] This leads us then into verse 18, right? It says that Christ is the head of the church and the firstborn of the dead. When you read that here, I mean that's a logical conclusion that we can make.

[13:28] That Jesus Christ being preeminent, being the firstborn, being the authority over all creation, well, of course he would be the head of the church, right?

[13:39] He is the head of the church because it's saying here, look, Christ reigns supreme over all powers on heaven and on earth and is the one who is at the foundation of the earth and holds everything together.

[13:53] Therefore, Christ is the head of the church, right? This not only speaks of the local church, this speaks of the worldwide church.

[14:05] This means that it is Christ who is and should be the head of the entire body of Christ. This verse then speaks about how Christ is the beginning, right? So look at this real quick.

[14:17] He's the head of the body of the church. We just read a couple of verses ago that he is the firstborn of creation, right? That he was there at the foundation.

[14:28] But then it says here the firstborn from the dead. Now that's an interesting one, right? Speaking of being the firstborn of the dead, speaking of the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

[14:42] Now some of us may read that and we may think, well, wait a minute, wasn't Lazarus raised from the dead? Aren't there other stories of people who were raised from the dead?

[14:52] Well, here's the thing, let's use Lazarus as this example. He still had to die, right? Even though he was raised from the dead, the miraculous miracle that happened performed by Christ, he still had to die.

[15:05] And how unfortunate that must be to die twice, right? For Jesus Christ though, he, being the firstborn of the dead, it speaks of how Christ has power in the resurrection.

[15:20] He is the firstborn of the resurrection, right? It's speaking of the future resurrection, okay? It's talking of what the future will hold.

[15:31] And just as Jesus Christ said that he is the resurrection in John 11, 25, this is part of what we refer to as the first resurrection, which is found in Revelation chapter 20 verses five through six, right?

[15:47] That Christ, his coming, right? There will be those who are raised. So Jesus Christ is the firstborn of creation and the firstborn of the dead, the resurrection, the future resurrection that will happen.

[16:01] So then we go into verse 19, right? In Christ there is the fullness of God, for in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell.

[16:11] You see this statement that speaks of the fullness of God in Christ. It is the indwelling of the spiritual into the physical form of Jesus Christ.

[16:22] Paul is stating that all of these attributes are present in the physical form of Jesus Christ. And this also speaks of how there is unity between God the Father and Jesus Christ the Son, just like in John chapter 10 verse 30, verse 30, where Jesus says, I and my father are one.

[16:45] It is from this fullness, this completion, right? That's what the language says. There's this completion that exists. It is because of this. It is from this completion, this fullness of God that we receive God's grace.

[16:58] This then leads us into verse 20, where Christ is the reconciler and the redeemer and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.

[17:14] This speaks of how through Christ, he is the one who makes the exchange, right? He is the reconcile and it is done by his sacrifice on the cross.

[17:25] This is because, look, we can see Christ as our redeemer, right, he redeems us from captivity, but this reconciliation comes through the one time sacrifice on the cross and that we are saved through him.

[17:40] Just like how Jesus Christ said on the cross, it is finished. You find this in Hebrews 912 and Hebrews 1010. The peace that is made is the establishment of harmony, both with the things that are on earth and the things that are in heaven, right?

[17:58] Through him to make the exchange to reconcile to himself all things on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.

[18:09] The establishment of harmony, it is Christ who redeems us for our sins, but also reconciles us by making things new again. Do you realize that when you believe in the Lord, you become a new creation?

[18:25] Do you realize that it is God who restores what makes things new again? That is who our God is. To know Christ is to no longer fear death, but it is to embrace a new life that exists in him.

[18:41] It is to embrace a new identity in him and God will fulfill his promise by making peace again through the new heavens and the new earth, just as mentioned in Isaiah and Revelation.

[18:55] This takes us to verse 21, we're before Christ, we were separated and now reconciled, right? Says here, and you who were once what?

[19:07] Alienated and what? Friendly? Hostile, in mind, doing good things? No, doing evil deeds, right? And so this is Paul saying, look, this is how you used to be.

[19:20] You used to be alienated. You were once separated from Christ. You were enemies, so to speak. This is the former life. This is the life before knowing the Lord.

[19:31] Just like the Colossians, they were separated, right? They had that hostile mind. You know anyone who has a hostile mind to the Lord? Were you once hostile in mind to God?

[19:42] I know I was before I became a Christian, absolutely. Many of us live this way before Christ. And if you do not know the Lord, let this be a call to enter into a relationship.

[19:57] No longer to be alienated. No longer to be hostile in mind. Think about that. This takes us to verse 22. By Christ, we are presentable to God.

[20:11] He is now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him.

[20:22] Christ made the exchange for our sins by his death. And Christ made a way to present those who believe in him as holy, as blameless, and above reproach.

[20:34] And this speaks of how Christ sacrificed for us and in believing in him that we are made pure in the eyes of God, that we are made right blameless without blame or faultless in the eyes of God and above reproach being unaccused.

[20:51] And that is to say that we are presentable to God because of Christ's sacrifice. And this then leads us to verse 23.

[21:02] In Christ, we are to continue following the Lord. The verse says, if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the what?

[21:16] The hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven and of which I, Paul, became a minister.

[21:27] And this is our final verse here. Paul is talking about being presentable in the eyes of God and to continue in the faith. What God has done for you is to make you presentable.

[21:39] When you believe in the Lord, you are secure. How many of us look for security in this life? How many of us look for stability or safety? It is in Christ that we find these things.

[21:51] It is in Christ that we find security. We find safety and we find stability. You too, in believing in the Lord, are called to do the same.

[22:04] Paul is calling the Colossians. He is urging them for the Colossians to remain grounded and settled in their faith, much like how we are to remain grounded and settled in our faith.

[22:19] It is the idea of persevering in this faith until the end to fight the good fight, to not be derailed or distracted from focusing on Christ.

[22:29] Do you realize how easy it is to be distracted from the things of God? Just look at your cell phone. How many notifications do you get in a given day? I know I'll be very honest here.

[22:42] I get a lot more than I should. When I discover do not disturb mode or focus mode or airplane mode, I turn that off, right?

[22:53] We don't want to be bombarded. And quite honestly, when it comes with our relationship to the Lord, why in the world would we want to be derailed? Why in the world would we want to be distracted or disrupted in prayer?

[23:06] Or in a time where we are in community, where the body of Christ is coming together? I know that there are times we have emergencies. I get it. But for the most part, when you get that little ding, right?

[23:24] On Facebook, on Instagram, or on TikTok. Okay, it's 30 seconds. When you leave, you can go watch your TikTok, right? Whatever it is. We have to think.

[23:35] It is very easy to be derailed or distracted from focusing on Christ. And so often at times, I mentioned last Sunday when I went to the conference and we were talking about all these controversial topics that were dividing Christians.

[23:52] And I know there's many of us come from different theological backgrounds or different denominational backgrounds or how we were raised. What matters is that we focus on Christ.

[24:04] What matters is we focused on the tenets of the faith, the death, the burial, the resurrection of Jesus Christ. The ministry that Jesus Christ had performed.

[24:16] Turning water into wine at the wedding feast at Cana. Focusing on those things, not focusing on whether you're a pre-trib or you're post-trib, right?

[24:27] Or the things that divide us. Focus on Christ and the things that bring us together. The good that we do in the name of Christ is not in vain.

[24:38] We are to continue in the faith, right? Let us be stable, let us be steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel.

[24:48] And it is a reminder that we are saved by grace through faith so that we can do good in the name of Jesus Christ. We are to remain rooted and grounded in the gospel, the message of the Jesus Christ.

[25:01] Let us not shift from that hope. It is allowing for Christ to work in us, for the word of Christ to dwell richly in us, in our minds and in our hearts.

[25:13] Here, we should all focus on the hope of the gospel because there is hope that comes from the gospel. Do you realize?

[25:24] Have you turned on the news recently? When's the last time, you don't have to answer me, when's the last time you heard a hopeful story on the news? Social media, maybe, right?

[25:36] It's very telling, right? I mean, I can think maybe a couple of years ago, every so often, right? You get a positive story.

[25:49] But as culture, as the media is focusing more on darkness, we focus on the light of Christ. When the world is focusing on hatred and division, we focus on the love of Christ.

[26:05] And we focus on unity. And as the world is focusing on things that are, they're just dumb. We focus on the things of Christ.

[26:17] And as Christians, we are to prepare our minds and our hearts for action, for our hope is in the grace that is given by Christ. This is a call for us to stand on grace and truth and to rejoice and to give thanks for this amazing grace, right?

[26:35] Just like that song, amazing grace, how sweet the sound. And in reviewing this message, you might wonder, well, how can these verses be understood more easily?

[26:47] And I'd like you to turn to your notes for a moment. And I want you to think for a moment, as we've discussed, we've gone over Colossians chapter one, verses 13 through 23, you see this chart on here.

[27:01] And on the red, this is your life before Christ. When you come to church or when you read the Bible or when you hang out with Christians, you begin to learn about Christ, you begin to know Christ.

[27:19] And then there comes a point where you believe in Him. When you place your trust in Jesus Christ, when you have that faith in Him and you go from the red into the green, where you are transformed by Jesus Christ, there's this continual transformation that exists, transformed by Christ.

[27:44] And we live this life in Christ. And you'll notice when you're reading Colossians, you'll see many words and sayings that are saying, in Christ this, by Christ this, and then Christ is this.

[28:02] That's how this chart is created, right? Just like how in scripture we are to rightly divide the word of God, we can create patterns and find similarities and connections.

[28:15] And so that's what we find in this chart. It says in here, before we know Christ, we are lost. We come to know Christ to believe in Him. And by placing our faith and trust in Him, we are transformed by Christ, right?

[28:31] And because of this transformation, we are called to live in Christ, to live life in Christ. In living in Christ, we continue to know Him, right?

[28:42] It's not a one-time moment, all right? Your story ends here. Salvation is the beginning of your story. It is not the end. There is much that we are called to do.

[28:54] We are saved by grace through faith so that we can grow and so that we can do good in the name of Jesus Christ. Just as we are justified, we become more like Christ, right?

[29:12] We go on this path of living our lives in Christ. For some of you, you may have been going to the study, the book study where we have been going over the book, God at Center, and it speaks of having God at the center of your life.

[29:26] And what I love about preparing this sermon today is how it's tied into this study. That in Christ, right, there is the dwelling of God, right? The dwelling of the word of God, and that radiates out into your everyday life.

[29:42] Having God at the center of your life, where you work, where you play your family interactions, that's in having God in your life.

[29:54] In knowing Christ, being transformed by Christ and living it out, it is the radiation as a word. It is the exhibiting the love and truth of Christ.

[30:06] In Christ, there is the dwelling of God. We are reconciled in Christ. Our sins are forgiven. It is also in Christ that we live our lives for Him, not a life of sin and of the flesh, but a life that is living out God's divine plan for us.

[30:24] And just as God presents us as holy, blameless and above reproach, we too should present ourselves by living it out, right?

[30:34] Just as the verse says, offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, making yourself presentable. That's what it's saying here. And part of our faith is bearing fruit and living out the gospel of Christ in grace and in truth, right?

[30:49] In love and in truth. Sharing the love of God with others, but standing firm on the foundation of the word of God.

[30:59] In all of these things, we continue to learn to be transformed and to live our lives in Christ. I encourage you today, just as Paul encouraged the Colossians to be rooted in grace and truth and to share in the hope of the gospel, let us be encouraged as well.

[31:20] Let us be like that church at Colossi that was faithful to God and exhibited the love of Christ. May we be rooted in grace and truth. May we share in the hope of the gospel with others.

[31:32] And may we live a life that honors and glorifies our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. Let's pray together. And heavenly Father, we thank you for the truth about your son, Jesus Christ.

[31:46] As we have just gone deeper into the spiritual and the biblical truths from your word, we thank you for giving us this chance and this opportunity, allowing us to come here together.

[31:59] We pray that this message will help change minds. May our hearts be changed to love like you. And may we live lives that are glorifying to you.

[32:11] We thank you for your son, Jesus Christ, who brought us from the darkness into your marvelous light. And for those of us who are yet to believe, may you help them come to know you.

[32:25] May we have those discussions. May we be present with those who are yet to believe as well. And for those of us who believe, Father God encourage us to remain rooted in grace and truth.

[32:40] You are the firm foundation, the anchor for our souls. May we be encouraged by your word, the truth and the love from you today.

[32:53] As we are closing with our final song, may we lift up a shout of praise and sing together as the local body, the church in which your son, Jesus Christ is the head.

[33:07] We say all of this in Jesus's holy and mighty name, we pray together, amen. Amen. Thank you for tuning in to the Ontario Community Church sermon podcast.

[33:18] For more about our church and how you can get involved or support our mission, please visit ontariocommunitychurch.org. May God's blessings be with you.