Please take the Word of Christ and turn to Colossians chapter 1, and you'll notice we are here outside at church. There is the cross behind me. It's a beautiful day, and we have a beautiful Savior who made all of this. And we have a lot to be thankful for in His creation. We have a lot to be thankful for out here and also in God's Word. We'd originally planned to have an Easter sunrise service out here in this area a while back. Our plans obviously didn't happen, but He is risen. He is risen, indeed. And a few hours ago, this place was in darkness, but the light has come here on this morning. I'm recording this ahead of time, but that imagery of light coming That language comes right out of Colossians chapter 1 and resurrection, which we celebrate every Lord's Day. That's why we are still continuing to gather on the Lord's Day. It's the day that the Lord rose from the dead. And I'm also reminded as we're out here that the New Testament church began outdoors. with the preaching of the cross on this month. It was just weeks after Easter. And we're praying that our church can begin to gather here soon. I'm hopeful. Right now, this parking lot is empty, but I'm hopeful it won't be empty long. But even now, there's full blessings for us to be thankful for all around us in creation. and in our great salvation. Gospel gratitude is what our next text in Colossians is about. Our world has been largely shut down in a way that's new in some ways to our lifetimes, but what is always open to sinners is the old, old story of Jesus and his love and the old rugged cross. gives us hope as it visually points from earth to heaven as the way of redemption and forgiveness. And the Lord's open arms stretched out on it are a visual of His love that is open to all who will come to Him and through Him. And even being out here in the sunlight is also a visual of the text we're going to look at today, out from darkness. We're to thank God that we are in the light. Colossians chapter 1 and verse 12 says this, giving thanks to the Father who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of his beloved Son in whom we have redemption. the forgiveness of sins. That's our text today. How did King Jesus do that? How did he bring us into his kingdom? Look with me at Colossians 2 and verse 14. It says, By canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands, this he set aside, nailing it to the cross. He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame by triumphing over them. And so the cross broke the power of sin and Satan. It defeated the domain of darkness that Colossians 1 talks about. And I love how Fernando Ortega sings in My Redeemer, his triumphant power I'll tell, how the victory he gives over sin and death and hell. I will sing of My Redeemer and his wondrous love to me on the cruel cross he suffered. From the curse to set me free, sing, oh, sing of my Redeemer. With His blood He purchased me, on the cross He sealed my pardon, paid the debt and made me free. That's what Colossians 1 verse 14 is saying. In Christ we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, the payment and the pardon. for our sins. And so the cross behind me reminds us that the gates of Hades cannot prevail against the church that Christ builds, that He promised to build, and that He is building. No rulers or authorities can stop the power of the cross and His gospel from going forth. And it's been doing that, and it continues to. This is my Father's world. and believers are in the kingdom of His beloved Son, our King. He is risen. He is risen and He is reigning. And Colossians is about the preeminence of Christ overall. Chapter 1, verses 15 through 19 are really going to bring that home in our next section in everything that Christ would have the supremacy. And before Paul talks about his supremacy and his sovereignty over creation, that'll be in the next text, verses 12 through 14 start with his sovereignty or his supremacy over salvation. You ask, didn't I have a part in my salvation? Yes, the answer is your part was sin that you need forgiveness from. Our part was needing rescue. We were all in darkness. We were all in slavery needing to be redeemed and delivered and transferred. Our response should be thanks. And in this passage, there's four glorious truths of salvation to be thankful for. The big idea is thanking God for Christ's kingdom blessings, or you could say the glories of salvation. Be thankful for Christ's inheritance, in verse 12. The second part of our study will be thank God for Christ's deliverance, in verse 13. Thank God thirdly for Christ's kingdom, also in verse 13, and then thank God for Christ's redemption, in verse 14. But first, thank God for Christ's inheritance. Look at verse 12, and actually notice verse 11 ends with all patience with joy, giving thanks. And so there's this connection in context with joy and thankfulness. If it's hard for you to be patient with joy, are you giving thanks? One flows into the other. When you're giving thanks, it connects with joy. Joy is connected with giving thanks. The path to joy is through thanksgiving. Giving thanks. You may not feel thankful, but give thanks. Give thanks. Pray for others, as Paul has been showing us in this passage, and then follow Paul's pattern, starting with thanks. Look at verse three, chapter one, verse three. We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you. So that's not just a comment on Paul's prayer life, that's a command for ours. And if you look at Colossians 4, verse 2, God's word tells you and me, continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving. That's a present active participle. What that means is that should be the continual present tense active pattern and habit of your life. Thanksgiving, keep on giving thanks. Not just when you thank God for your food, but continue throughout the day, giving thanks to God. Go to Colossians 3, verse 15. Just look at the end of Colossians 3, verse 15. And be thankful, it says. And then verse 16 tells us, with songs and scriptures, how that can help. And then the end of verse 16 says, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus. Giving thanks to God. the Father, so giving thanks in all we do, all the time, being thankful and singing to stir thankfulness, like, thank you, oh my Father, for giving me your son. A heart of gratitude is the vein that runs through the body of Christ. A heart of gratitude is what then feeds the vein that runs through our lifeblood, the body of Christ, our life together. A heart of gratitude is what that vein comes through. And God's Word keeps repeating this because God's Word wants us to get this. I've needed this. I've been convicted in having to preach this to myself first and trying to practice it. Thanking my father. As a father of sons and daughters, as a husband, I see painfully seeing how I've taken for granted and I needed to take time this week For gratitude to God and to them, I had to step back, slow down. For me, putting my phone down and really pausing and thanking God and seeking to even reorient. things in my life to what's most important that I need to be thankful for my family and my schooling. I can't put on the back burner. I can't let myself get burnt out by different fires here and there. So that's my number one prayer request to balance home and ministry. And as I've been sharing with people that I would be all in with my family when I'm with my family, that I would not miss this time. That's a gift. I suspect I'm not the only one who needs to have those things in balance, even in working more from home and trying to balance some of those things, the blessings, but the temptations or the struggles that can come with it. Our lives are in an important time. All my loved ones are in their lives such an important time and so are you and your loved ones. I am thankful I have a patient wife and incredible kids and I've been blessed in so many ways in recent days and weeks to have more talks and long walks and rides and games, even to sleep recently with my boys in a tent, that was mostly a blessing. But Paul in Colossians 1 verse 12 thanks his father, not just for family interaction, but for the family inheritance. He has. God's only son is the rightful heir to that inheritance, but God, in verse 12, is qualifying saints, that's just a term for believers, those who are set apart, to share. We get to share in the inheritance. As sinners, we're naturally unqualified, we're unworthy, but God has qualified us in His worthy beloved Son. That word share in verse 12 meant having a part, taking part, or a participation in the benefits. So think of a rich man's will and deed that's being read, and as it's being read, you find out, you hear that you've got a share in the inheritance like His Son. That's the biblical picture here. Ephesians 1 says this, praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who's blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ. And it goes on that he chose us and he adopted us. And verse 13 of Ephesians 1 says, and you also were included in Christ when you heard. the gospel of your salvation, having believed you were sealed with the Holy Spirit, who it says is the guarantee of our inheritance. And then Paul prays there in Ephesians 1 that our eyes of our heart would be enlightened so that we would know, so we would see this. What is the riches of the glorious inheritance that we have in the saints? We need to pray that God would help us to see that and to praise Him for that. Milton Vincent's book, The Gospel Primer, has a poem to preach this truth to yourself. A child of the Father, he made me to be and gave me the spirit as his guarantee that being God's child, I'll one day obtain a heavenly treasure that never will wane. So this is my story, ongoing it is. How shall I thank God for this gospel of his, a gift that keeps giving each time I rehearse, he says, the bounty of heaven each time I Rehearse the gospel confers. He says deserve it I don't on my holiest day, but this is the gospel and herein I'll stay So the application of this first point is let your light shine if you're in the light let your light shine and Live like an heir Live like an heir of the inheritance, Ephesians 5, 8. For at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light. And he says the light consists in all what is good and right and true. And so when Paul talks about our inheritance or our heritage of light, it's what's good, it's what's right, it's what's true. It's not just a heavenly inheritance for the future. We're to live in light of it here on earth. even now. So Philippians 2.14 gives a great image of how to do that as lights. He says, do everything without complaining or arguing. Let me read that again. Do everything without complaining or arguing so that you may, he says, shine like stars in the universe. What shines isn't our complaints, it's our thanks to God, our glorious God. So that's number one, thank God. for Christ's inheritance in the light and live in light of it. Number two, thank God for Christ's deliverance from the darkness. This is the flip side of the light. His deliverance from the darkness. Look at Colossians 1.13. He has transferred us from the domain of darkness. Someone wrote me, my favorite book has always been the same as your favorite, Colossians. What a coincidence, he said. So that made me very excited to hear of your preaching through our favorite book. I hope you do the real slow version, he says. This is his writing here. You know the version where you only get through a verse or two each week, smiley face. He says his life verse is Colossians 1.13. He's transferred me from the domain of darkness, or delivered me from the domain of darkness and transferred me into the kingdom of his beloved son. And he says this, it's not that complicated as this verse describes. God made it so. And actually, I think I will get through three verses this week. But the reality is we could do weeks in just this verse and not exhaust it. And by the way, if you have a favorite verse in Colossians, let me know. And if not a life verse, there's verses here as we go that can change your life, and they need to. And they need to change mine as we go. But this is a place to slow down. Not just verse by verse, but as we come to this verse, even going word by word, it starts with He. First word, that's God the Father. This is His doing. He's the subject, the actor. Not us. God alone is the one who does what's in this verse. He has, it says. And that's in the past tense. This happened at a point in time is the idea of the grammar. This is our, just like our delivery, like a baby being delivered, coming by a physician. We were born again at a point in time. We were delivered by God. And it says he was, when it says delivered, the New American Standard has the word rescued there. Think of a search and rescue operation from the most desperate and dark situation, and it says, from the domain. Or your Bible might say dominion or the power of darkness. Scholars say it's the rule of a despot who has usurped power. It means realm, jurisdiction, it even means tyranny. It's parallel to the idea of kingdom in verse 13, and it indicates darkness is not just a mere state, it actually has authority, and it's active, it's a power over people, it's bondage to the evil. And then the word darkness is a word used in conjunction in Scripture with Satan and sin and falsehood and ignorance. John 3 says men love the darkness because their deeds are evil. 1 John 5.19 says, the whole world lies under the power of the evil one. That's an unbelieving world, but 1 John 1.7 tells believers to walk in the light. Walk in the light. That's the contrast between Colossians 1.13, Colossians 1.12. The saints in the light, not in the darkness. He's delivered us from that darkness. So whether we're faraway pagans or moral Americans, deliverance. is what we needed. Here's 2 Corinthians 4, 6, God who said, let light shine out of darkness. He has shown in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. Any believer, that's your testimony. It's just like God created light where there was no light in the beginning. He cried out. He called forth. God said, let there be light. And there was light. That's what he did in our hearts. It was his doing. He enlightened us. That is sovereign grace. Grace that creates what it calls for. Creating light in darkness. So the application of this point. if you've experienced that deliverance. Proclaim the glories of your deliverer. 2 Peter, 2 Peter 2, or 1 Peter 2, verse 9 says this, proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Proclaim his excellencies. He's called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. And it goes on to say, keep your behavior excellent among the Gentiles, so that in the thing in which they slander you as evildoers, they may, because of your good deeds as they observe them, glorify God." How do you do that? It goes on, "...submit for the Lord's sake to every human institution, whether to a king or to governors." Submit to governors is part of how you are living in a way to bring glory to God, keeping our behavior excellent among the Gentiles, those are the unsaved, those who are watching in the world, and proclaiming the excellencies of Him who called us in the hope of our calling. Our governor and godless people all around us are watching how Christians are responding. They're watching and reading what Christians are reposting on social media, and we're called in Scripture not to slander Gentiles, and certainly not to live in such a way where they would have cause to slander us. Let's not act like the darkness. Let's behave excellently, and let's proclaim the excellencies of Him who called us out of darkness, amen? Paul's own conversion story. Remember, he was in spiritual darkness as he persecuted the church. until light shone on the Damascus Road. He was outside on a day like this, but all of a sudden, the light that was brighter than the sun shone, and he was blinded. Do you remember? There was darkness, blindness for three days. This was his own experience. And really, he went through what he was then gonna, was gonna be his mission, to call people out of darkness so that as the scales fell off his eyes, that the scales would fall off their eyes and they would see the light of new life in Christ. Listen to Paul's testimony of his conversion and his commission. This is from Acts 26. At midday, I saw a light from heaven brighter than the sun. And when we had fallen to the ground, I heard a voice, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? And the voice went on, I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. But he says, I will, listen to the language, I will deliver you. I now send you to open their eyes in order to turn them from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God that they may receive forgiveness of sins. and an inheritance." Those are the very words and concepts he's writing about, Paul is writing about in Colossians 1. That they should repent, he says, turn to God and do works befitting repentance. That's the message, that's the mission, that's what we need to be proclaiming to the world. If you turn from sin and if you trust in this Jesus, There is grace, there is salvation if you will bow your life to Him, recognize your sin, recognize He is your only hope, what He did for you on the cross, and that alone is your only hope if you will trust Him. Come to Him. His arms are open wide, and He says, whoever comes to Me, I will not cast out. Come to Christ. His grace is offered to you, even this very day, even this very hour, if you will trust Him and Him alone. And for those who have turned from their sins and trusted Him, let's pray for our nation. Let's pray for the nations out there that are still in darkness, that the gospel will shine. We have a story to tell to the nations that shall turn their hearts to the right, a story of truth and mercy, a story of peace and light. For the darkness will turn to dawning and the dawning to noonday bright for Christ's great kingdom shall come to earth, the kingdom of love and light. And that takes us to our third point. in part, thank God for Christ's kingdom. Thank God for Christ's kingdom. Middle of verse 13 says, and he has, he's delivered us and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved son. Transferred, some translations have to bring safe. Think of prisoners. being transported safely to a place of freedom. Think of POWs who have been languishing for a long time, but now they've been delivered and they're being transferred back to their homes. Think of hostages. Think of Think of refugees who have been rescued and they're being brought from a place of an oppressive dictatorship and they're being brought to the land of the free. In ancient times, this word was used of kings who took people from one country and then transplanted them in another country. I shared with you last year the testimony of a Jewish concentration camp survivor in World War II. and how he was delivered and then eventually he was transported, transferred on a boat coming to New York Harbor and he looked and he saw the Statue of Liberty there and he saw these big buildings and blessings and freedoms that he'd never seen or known in his life and he was so thankful for the blessings that were his as he was brought into this land. We know our nation is not perfect, but there is so much for us to be thankful for here. As believers, we've got a higher citizenship. We've got even higher and greater blessings that we have. I think of Marsha Burnham, shared her testimony in our building here at our church of her rescue from Islamic terrorists. in the Philippine jungles there with her husband Martin and she was rescued from them and then she was transported back to the United States. She was delivered from those dark jungles and those dark times. and she was transferred, she was transported back to this country, this kingdom, if you will. William Hendrickson sums it up this way, he brought us out of the dark and dismal realm of false ideas into the sun-bathed land of clear knowledge, out of the bewildering sphere of perverted cravings and selfish desires into the blissful realm of holy yearnings and self-denials, out of the miserable dungeon of bonds and heart-rending cries into the magnificent palace of liberty and joyful song." 2 Corinthians 5, 17. So salvation is a new creation where all things become new. Our family just not long ago watched Chronicles of Narnia, a documentary about those Pevensie children. You remember the story, hiding in that dark wardrobe, but it was actually through that dark wardrobe that they were transported and transferred into the kingdom of Aslan. The lion, the son of the great emperor beyond the sea, was a whole new domain from old England. And there was still evil in that realm, even when they were in that kingdom now. But Aslan was their king. Aslan would win in the end. And they trusted he would. They were already, though, in his kingdom. They were in his kingdom, but not everyone in that kingdom recognized it yet. They didn't recognize Aslan as their rightful king yet, even though he was. You remember Lucy, little Lucy, she had been nervous earlier. She'd been nervous earlier, but when she saw the lion rise from the dead and she heard his voice roar, she had security and confidence in him and on him. And as he went into the battle against the evil Jadis, remember, she clung tight to Aslan's mane. She held on and held fast to him. And in a greater way, King Jesus is the lion of the tribe of Judah who has conquered. He has conquered and as we cling to Him in faith, He carries us on His shoulders all the way to victory. It's His prophecy and it's His power that brings us into His kingdom. Sons of Adam, Daughters of Eve. brought out of hiding in the darkness in our old life, transferred into this new, whole new realm. It's impossible, but he brings to life us who were as dead as a stone statue. He comes in the image of scripture as he breathes life into us. Colossians 2 is gonna say, when we were dead, he made us alive. in Christ. We're now in His kingdom and one day all will recognize Christ's kingship, that He is King. Every knee will bow in the end. As we bow in faith, we enter His kingdom. We enter His kingdom. This is the whole kingdom now and not yet tension of scripture. We've got this present reality and this future finality, and in some sense His kingdom is inaugurated now, but it will be consummated after His Second coming, Jesus, when he was here at his first coming, said, the kingdom is within you. And Paul is speaking here in the past tense. You've been transferred in to this kingdom at the moment of saving faith spiritually until that final kingdom to come eternally. We are citizens of heaven now. The world can't see it till his kingdom comes on earth as it is in heaven. But to put it simply, you're in Christ's kingdom if he is your king. There's a kid's song that says... It talks about the flag in the castle of my heart to show that the king is in residence there. So let it fly in the sky, let the whole world know that's what we're to do, live in such a way that it's evident where our allegiance is, who our king is to the world. Colossians 1 says, set your affections, your heart and your mind above where Jesus is enthroned. We sing at Christmas, the king of kings, salvation brings, let loving hearts enthrone him. This, this is Christ the King, and this is his message. As he comes at the beginning of Mark's gospel, he says, the kingdom is at hand. Repent and believe in the gospel. Matthew 24, at the end of his ministry, he says, the gospel of the kingdom would be proclaimed in his name to all the world as a testimony to all nations. And then to the end of the book of Acts, Paul's ministry is, he's in a Roman prison. It says he was testifying of the kingdom of God and trying to convince them about Jesus. He was, it says, proclaiming the kingdom of God and trying, or teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ with all boldness. and without hindrance. So that's the context. That's actually the context when Paul writes Colossians. He was on lockdown, but the gospel of the kingdom was freely and widely going out more than ever. It was unchained. It was unrestrained. Some of the translations say it went out with freedom, with openness, without restriction. We're hearing a lot about restrictions. But the gospel has been going forth since the first century without restrictions. And it sometimes even uniquely goes out in times like this. We've seen that. So thank the Lord for His unstoppable gospel that goes out even if you can't. And then fourthly and finally, thank God for Christ's redemption. Thank God for Christ's redemption, verse 14, in Him, that's in Christ, from verse 13, we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. Forgiveness is the freeing or releasing of a debt owed. Jesus taught us to pray the Lord's Prayer, forgive us our, what? Our debts. The wages of sin is death. That's what's owed. That's the debt owed for sinners. Physical and eternal death is what we have earned, and that's what we deserve for our crimes against God. We had a debt that we could not pay, but we have this Redeemer in this verse who paid a debt that He didn't owe. He paid in full for the sins of all those who would believe in Him. He did it on the cross. So what's the application for us who have forgiveness of sins in the Beloved? Look at Colossians 3.12 where that title of Christ is actually used of us. We're called Beloved just like God's Son. Verse 12, Colossians 3.12, put on then as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts. kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another. We need that in these times, in our families, in our church family. We need this to be putting on these things, like we get dressed for church. Even now when we're not coming to church, we need to be putting these on even more kindness, humility, meekness, patience, bearing with one another, then listen to this. This ties in with forgiveness. If one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other as the Lord has forgiven you, so also you must forgive. The forgiven must be forgiving. If we've been forgiven, we must be forgiving people. Even as we pray daily, forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. We who have been forgiven need to be forgiving others. Colossians 1.14 says we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. So connected with this forgiveness is redemption, the paying of a price to buy back from the slave market of sin. It's an emancipation. It's a new relation. In the Greek Roman world, some redeemed and adopted as a son ones they wanted to make their heir, to give them the inheritance. Several emperors, actually, and kings would adopt a son that they would make their heir. Julius Caesar, Augustus, that family line had a number like that. Ben-Hur is a story of that. A slave adopted and made a son. Colossians 1, 13-14 is redemption from a dungeon of darkness to the Son's kingdom. And those who believe receive the right to be called children of God. John chapter one says, Ephesians one says, the father predestined us to adoption as sons to the praise of the glory of his grace, whereby he has made us accepted, listen, in the beloved, that's the same language here, in Christ, in the beloved son, in him, it says we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins. I once was an outcast stranger on earth, a sinner by choice, and an alien by birth, but I've been adopted. My name's written down. I'm an heir of salvation, the kingdom and crown. I'm a child of the king." See, we're not just transferred into a community, we're transferred into a family. John 8, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin, but that's where Jesus said, The truth will set you, what? Free. And then he says, if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed, truly free. It's the gospel truth that truly redeems and sets free slaves of sin. The beloved Son sets believers free so that we are free and that we have the freedom of sons. This is God's beloved Son in whom He is well pleased. He said that from heaven. This is my beloved Son in whom I'm well pleased. We're now in Him. We are in the Beloved. Galatians 4.4, God sent His Son. to redeem those who were under the law so that we might receive adoption as sons. And he says, so you're no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir. That's the inheritance of Colossians 1, verse 12. So we sing, redeemed, redeemed through his infinite mercy, his child and forever I am. If you've been redeemed, say amen. What a Savior we have. And in Romans 8, God takes these slaves that He's chosen and predetermined to adopt, as Ephesians says, and He turns them from fear to fatherly intimacy, from slaves to sons, from hellbound to heavenly heirs. Even the sinners who once cried out, crucify Him, crucify Him on that cross, He forgave and He gave the Spirit so that they can now cry out, Abba. that they can join Him in crying out, Abba. So how should we respond? We should say, thank you, oh my Father, for giving me your Son and your Spirit. until this work on earth is done. God so loved the world that He gave His beloved Son. For an orphan, lost and poor as I, He redeemed me and welcomed me to His family on high. I've been adopted by the King of all kings. I'm an heir to His heavenly throne, once a slave of sin, now a child of God, adopted, and I'm one of His own. So thank God. for so great a salvation that we have in Christ. Let's be thankful, people, this day, as we think of what our Savior has done for us, as we think of the cross, and as we are thankful, as we're also prayerful for the day that we can gather again. Let's pray. Thank you, O Father, for the inheritance that we have in Christ, Thank you, Father, that you have delivered us from the domain of darkness and that you have transferred us into the kingdom of your beloved son. We thank you for the redemption that we have in Christ, the forgiveness of sins. We thank you for your spirit who has sealed us for the day of redemption. I pray that you would help us to live in light of the light that you've called us to. That we would live and speak in an excellent way, behaving excellently, and that we would be proclaiming the excellencies of Him who called us out of darkness into His marvelous light. We pray these things in the matchless and merciful name of our Redeemer. Amen.