Sermon or Lesson:  Colossians 1:14 (NIV based)
[Lesson Questions included]

TITLE:  This Redemption Buys The Forgiveness Of Sins
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READ:  Colossians 1:14, with vv.12-13,21-22 for context

BACKGROUND:
- - God has worked in the past and continues to work in the present at blessing us who believe, qualifying us, including us, giving us an inheritance, and sanctifying us.  (v.12)
- - God conducts the activity of delivering true believers out of "the dominion of darkness" and "into the kingdom of the Son".  (v.13)
- - God's activity of deliverance produces results that radically change life for those persons He rescues.  (vv.12-13)
- - Life is radically changed in the present and through into the eternal future for those persons whom God rescues out of "the dominion of darkness" and brings "into the kingdom of the Son".  (vv.12-13)
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v.14 - READ

[Lesson Question:  Discuss, analyze, and describe what this "redemption" is, and how it relates to the forgiveness of sins.]

SECTION POINT:  Through His suffering and death on the cross, Jesus endured the punishment for sins, effectively buying the forgiveness of sins for those persons who believe in Him for this redemption.

"in whom we have redemption,"
- - Within the activities of the Father that provide the means by which sinful humans can be "qualified" (v.12) and thereby "brought" or transferred out of "the dominion of darkness" and "into the kingdom of the Son" (v.13), there is the providing of "redemption" (v.14).
- - "The Son", "Jesus Christ", provided "redemption", which is to pay the "ransom in full", carrying the connotation like that which "buys a slave in the market, removes him from further sale, and purchases his freedom".  (vv.13,3; v.14, Strong's #0629; Scofield p.1179)
- - "Being in very nature God", Jesus came from heaven, took upon himself humanity (a human nature), suffered and died on the cross to pay the punishment price to redeem those persons who believe in Him.  (Philippians 2:6-7; John 8:42; Matthew 1:18; Romans 1:3-4; Hebrews 13:12; 1 Peter 2:21-24)
- - There is no cost to those who are being redeemed; the cost - the enduring of incomprehensible cumulative suffering - was bore in totality by the One doing the redeeming - the Son.  (Ephesians 1:3-8)
- - This redemption buys "qualification... into the kingdom of light".  (v.12)

"the forgiveness of sins."
- - Jesus was perfect, never having committed any sin.  (Hebrews 4:15)
- - Motivated by love for us humans, the Father "sent His Son as an atoning sacrifice for  our sins".  (1 John 4:10)
- - Because Jesus is fully deity, He was able to completely receive and endure all of the suffering that each of us would endure for eternity for every sin that we have committed in our life.
- - And because Jesus is fully human and thereby an authentic member of the human race, He was able to appropriately represent the human race and completely be a perfect substitute for each of us humans that He redeems.
- - And as deity, Jesus transcends time, which enables His redemptive work on the cross to effectively cover all redeemed humans that ever live, throughout all of time.

- - The redemptive work provided by Jesus was entirely successful, as evidenced by His resurrection from the dead on the third day.  (Romans 1:4; Ephesians 1:19b-21)
- - But even though the redemption provided by Jesus is available to everyone and sufficient to cover all sins, the redemption ONLY APPLIES to those persons who believe in Him for that redemption.  (John 3:16-18)
- - Therefore, only those persons who have genuine "faith in Christ Jesus", like the "brothers in Christ at Colosse" in Colossians 1:4,2, are recipients of this "redemption" - the "we" being referred to in verse 14.
- - Only those persons who are redeemed in this manner receive "the forgiveness of sins" - a complete, full, and eternal forgiveness of all sins that they commit throughout their entire lifetime.  (Romans 8:1-4)
- - This redemption buys " the forgiveness of sins".  (Colossians 1:14)

- - From a technical perspective, only God can provide genuine, comprehensive, and permanent redemption, the forgiveness of sins - eternally; yet this verse 14 clearly states we have redemption in the Son - Jesus Christ.
- - The Father "sent" the Son to accomplish this redemption, through which the Father "qualifies" us into His "kingdom of light" and "rescues" us "into the kingdom of the Son".  (1 John 4:10; Colossians 1:12,13)
- - So, this action of redemption or purchasing humans to become members of God's kingdom is a collaboration involving the Father and the Son - carried out mutually by the will of the Father in perfect harmony with the action of the Son.  (Philippians 2:5-8)
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[Lesson Question:  Why is there mention and description of the Son as "the Son he loves" (verse 13)?]

SECTION POINT:  The Father fully collaborated with and fully approved of the redemptive work of the Son, as indicated by His repeated statements of His love for the Son.

from v.13 - "the Son he loves,"
- - It is interesting and intriguing to note that within these qualifying, rescuing, bringing, redeeming, and forgiving activities, the Son is referred to as "the Son he loves".  (vv.12-14; v.13)
- - The Father also referred to the Son in this manner at the baptism of Jesus and at the transfiguration of Jesus, ""This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.""  (Matthew 3:17; 17:5)
- - This phrase "the Son he loves" appears to be citing, characterizing, and proclaiming a quality of the relationship between them - love.
- - This love furthermore appears to be more than merely a warm positive feeling - it is an unbreakable bond, on a divine and supernatural level.
- - Considering that this love of the Father for the Son is specifically mentioned pre-crucifixion by the Father at the baptism of Jesus and at the transfiguration of Jesus, followed by its mention post-crucifixion here in Colossians 1:13, then these references to this love certainly must be declaring the full acceptance and full approval by the Father of the Son before, during, and after His redemption activities on the cross.  (Matthew 3:17 (baptism); 17:5 (transfiguration); John 6:27)
- - There is unity between them in these redemptive activities of the Son to provide the means to qualify believers to become members of their kingdom - a divine, supernatural, and perfect unity - unity of purpose, unity of approach, unity of technique, unity of completion, unity of resulting outcome.
- - This divine perfect unity between the Father and the Son is further supported by the phrase used here, "the kingdom of light" of the Father in verse 12, which is subsequently, equally, and interchangeably referred to as "the kingdom of the Son he loves" in verse 13.
- - So, this divine perfect unity between the Father and the Son also indicates that between them there was and is perfect agreement, collaboration, approval, satisfaction, authorization, and joint ownership of what the Son did and accomplished in providing "redemption, the forgiveness of sins" that would qualify and bring sinful humans into their kingdom.

from v.13 - "the kingdom of the Son he loves,"
QUESTIONS:  But, how can the Son rightly have a kingdom that is equated as "the kingdom of light" of the Father?  In other words, what is the nature of the Son, that He is able to collaborate in perfect unity with the Father, who is deity God, and that the Son can effectively accomplish "redemption, the forgiveness of sins" - a task that only God can accomplish?
- - The Son cannot be merely or only human.  (Numbers 23:19)
- - The Son cannot be an angel.  (Colossians 2:18)
- - Instead, the Son has to be fully deity, in order to be worshipped as deity king in God's spiritual kingdom and to have a legitimate kingdom that the Father endorses and jointly owns with the Son.  (vv.2:9; 1:19-22)
- - But the Son also has to be fully human, in order to encompass the human race and represent humans in His redemptive work on the cross.  (v.1:14)
- - Consequently, to believe that the Son is not fully deity is a naive failure to correctly understand the nature of what it takes to accomplish this redemptive work.  (John 12:44-45; Philippians 2:5-8; c.f. Matthew 10:40, Luke 10:16)
- - Furthermore, to intentionally reject the fully deity of the Son is a gross and fatal failure to establish genuine faith, as required in the Scriptures, because it is essentially calling God, the Scriptures, and Jesus a liar.  (vv.11,10 in 1 John 5:9-13; v.58 in John 8:56-59; 10:30; v.70 in Luke 22:66-70)
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BIG IDEA:  With the full collaboration and approval of the Father, Jesus the Son suffered and died on the cross to redeem or buy the forgiveness of sins for those persons who believe in Him for this redemption.

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IMPLICATIONS AND APPLICATIONS:

- - For those of you whom God has not actually, technically, and legally "rescued [you] from the dominion of darkness and brought [you] into [His] kingdom" (v.13), are you now ready to place "your faith in Christ Jesus" (v.4), the Son, and the redemptive work He accomplished on the cross to pay the punishment for sins, so that now your sins can be forgiven?
- - If you are ready, you can commit yourself to this faith in Christ Jesus by sincerely expressing this to God in this prayer:  (PAUSE between each phrase and sentence to allow the responders to pray and process this prayer)
     Dear Father God, I acknowledge that I need the redemption that your perfect Son Jesus accomplished on the cross.  I want His redemption to buy forgiveness for my sins.  So, right now I place my faith in Jesus, His redemptive work on the cross, and His resurrection from the dead on the third day.  And through this redemption, I ask that you rescue me and bring me eternally into the kingdom of the Son you love.  Thank you.  Amen.

- - For all of us who have sincerely placed our faith in Jesus and His redemptive work for you, God wants that your response to what Jesus has done for you is to now and henceforth be striving to "live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God," and etc.  (v.10)
- - So, how well have you been responding in this manner?
- - Do you possess and consistently maintain a deep appreciation for the redemption that the Son has provided free for you?  Or instead, has your appreciation faded or disappeared?
- - Does appreciation for this redemption compel and propel you to be and do all that the Lord has for you?  Or instead, has your gumption (initiative) run out of gas - dead along the side of the road, and rotted into apathy?
- - One day when you stand before the throne of God and you face Jesus, who looks like He just came down from the cross (Revelation 5:6), what are you going to say to Him about your response to the redemption He did for you?  "In appreciation, I lived my life for you, Jesus."  Or instead, "In reality, I had very little or no appreciation for you, Jesus, so I lived my life for myself."
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Works Cited:
Bible. New Scofield Study Bible. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 1967.

Bible. “The Holy Bible: New International Version.” The Bible Library CD-ROM. Oklahoma City, OK: Ellis Enterprises, 1988.

“Strong's Greek Dictionary.” The Bible Library CD-ROM. Oklahoma City, OK: Ellis Enterprises, 1988.
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