Colossians 1:12 – 18

1:12  Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light:

1:13  Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son:

1:14  In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins:

1:15  Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:

1:16  For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:

1:17  And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.

1:18  And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.

12

God’s light comes from His righteousness. Darkness comes from sin. What has God done to make us “meet”, that is to make us worthy? This comes through the blood of His sacrifice in Jesus Christ.

1 John

1:5 This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. 1:6 If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth: 1:7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.

13

After John the Baptist was cast into prison, Jesus went to Capernaum, which is on the border of two Gentile lands. This was in fulfillment of prophecy, which Matthew quotes…

Matthew

4:15 The land of Zabulon, and the land of Nephthalim, by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles; 4:16 The people which sat in darkness saw great light; and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death light is sprung up. 4:17 From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

That is, Jesus came to bring light and life to both the Jews and the Gentiles.

14

In Christ, we have our salvation through the sacrifice of His blood. In the opening of Revelations, John describes Jesus this way..

Revelations

1:5 And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood,

15

God is a spirit and cannot be seen. Jesus is the visible face of God. As He tells His disciples…

John

14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. 14:7 If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him. 14:8 Philip saith unto him, Lord, shew us the Father, and it sufficeth us. 14:9 Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father? 14:10 Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me?  the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works.

16

One of my favorite Bible passages is found in the first chapter of John…

John

1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 1:2 The same was in the beginning with God. 1:3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. 1:4 In him was life; and the life was the light of men.

Jesus is the Word of God in person. When God speaks, things happen. His Word has power.

If He wanted to create everything in seven seconds, He could. He did it the way He did for His purposes. Genesis isn’t meant to be a full history of the creation of the Universe. It’s an outline to give us the important parts. He was there. He made it. We came along. We messed it up. He had to provide a Savior.

17

We saw how Jesus, as the Word, was in the beginning with God, and how all things were done by Him and through Him, according to the plan of God the Father. The New Testament is a revealing of more of the plan. The main part being how The Word became flesh and died to save sinful man. Hebrews starts out this way…

Hebrews

1:1 God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, 1:2 Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds; 1:3 Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high: 1:4 Being made so much better than the angels, as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they.

18

Just as Jesus is the image of The Father, so are we to become the image of Christ. When we’re saved, the Holy Spirit begins to work in us, to purge the old man and shape us,

Romans

8:29 For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. 8:30 Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.

God makes an honest appeal to sinners. All who believe can be saved. He already knows who they will be and has plans for how He intends to use us to build the body of Christ. God’s glory is to shine through us in such a way as to make the lost world thirsty for what we have. If they thirst, He will fill them with living water.