Turn with me, if you would, to Colossians chapter 1. Colossians chapter 1. Let me start reading in verse one and through verse 14 of the epistle of Paul, the apostle to the Colossians, to the church at Colossae. Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God to Timotheus, our brother, To the saints and faithful brethren in Christ, which are at Colossae, grace be unto you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

We give thanks to God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you, since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love which you have to all the saints. For the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, where have you heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel, which has come unto you as it is all the world and brings forth fruit as it does also in you since the day you heard of it and knew the grace of God in truth. As you also learned of Epaphras, our dear fellow servant, who is for you a faithful minister of Christ, who also declared unto us your love in the Spirit. For this cause, we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you and to desire that you might be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding, that you might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God, strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power, unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness, giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light, who hath delivered us from the power of darkness and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear son, in whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins.

The forgiveness of sins, the amplify, we're gonna look at verses 13 and 14. Let me read to you what the amplified version says. Verse 13, for he hath rescued us and has drawn us unto himself from the dominion of darkness, and has transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son. rescued us from the dominion of darkness, transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved son. And then he goes on to say, who hath delivered us, I'm sorry, in whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins.

What a glorious declaration of the sovereign grace of God. These verses are a triumphant summary of the believers' salvation, rescued, transferred, redeemed, and forgiven. Each word pulses with divine power, reminding us that salvation is not merely a byword, but a rescue, that is, a dramatic and decisive act performed by God alone. By God alone. I would like us to look at these four, these words, rescued, transferred, redeemed, and forgiven. Let's look further at just these four remarkable God-inspired words, which depict his reigning grace. It's all of him. It's all of grace.

Paul first says, he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness. The word rescued, which we heard this morning, It implies that we were helpless, enslaved, and hopelessly bound, rescued. If you're not in danger, you don't need to be rescued, not whatsoever. He has rescued us from the dominion, the dominion, the power is what it says in the King James, the dominion of darkness.

And I will say this, as we heard again this morning out of Second Samuel, we were not innocent. It's like, you know, we didn't fall over a boat. And then, oh, somebody help me. No, we were not innocent. were thrown overboard, or we threw ourselves overboard. We were not innocent in this rescue attempt, and I even hate to say the word attempt, this successful rescue by our Lord Jesus Christ. We were not innocents, no. John chapter three in verse 19, we won't look there, but it says, we love darkness more than light.

That's what we do by nature, by birth. Why are things the way they are? Why are governments so skewed the way they are? Why is our neighbors? Why are we, most importantly, why are we skewed? Why are we so selfish? Because of depravity. because of sin, our sin nature.

The scripture says that we were born, turn to Ephesians chapter two, back a few chapter, a few books, Ephesians chapter two, we were born in, let's look at it, let me read it. Ephesians chapter two in verse one, two and three. And you hath he quickened incidentally who were dead in trespasses and sins. Now, what can a dead person do For God, what can a dead person do?

Period. Nothing. Nothing. wherein in time past you walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, that's Satan, the spirit that now works in the children of disobedience, among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lust of the flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others. by nature.

We could not rise above our nature. People say water, when it settles, it settles according to its components. We cannot rise above our nature. This must be done, our salvation, being translated into the kingdom of our dear son, must be done by God in Christ Jesus only, not we ourselves. This can't be done. Why?

Why does God have it this way? Well, Ephesians chapter one, if you're still in Ephesians, just look across the page, Ephesians chapter one and verse five, it says, God in Christ having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of His will. That's why salvation must be all of grace, because it's according to the good pleasure of His will. Now, man's will versus God's will? God's will is going to be done. God's will is going to be done.

I ask myself, I ask us, do we know what it is like to be rescued by God in Christ only? Are we still foolishly trying to save ourselves? There's only one or the other. It's only heaven and hell. It's only grace and works. It's only law or love. I mean, the scriptures, it breaks things down simply so we can understand them. And if you're trying to do anything in and of yourselves or somebody other than Christ doing something for you, he calls it foolish. It is not the way of grace, and we know that God saves by grace, and I didn't have this, but in our text in Ephesians 2, for by grace are you saved through faith, that not of yourselves, it's a gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. Not of works. That's a key component. That's a key component. Okay, secondly, back to our text in Colossians. Secondly, Paul, He says, he transferred us into the kingdom of the son he loves. Now I should have started with this, who hath delivered us from the power of darkness and hath translated or transferred us unto the kingdom of his dear son.

Who's the who? Who's the he? Well, you go back up in context and you look at verse 12, giving thanks unto the father. It's the Father's selection of us, the Son's death for us, the Holy Spirit's quickening of us, that this is all possible. Again, who? The Father. Oh, wonderful, supreme, and all-powerful grace of the Father.

Once we were children of wrath, now citizens of the kingdom. Once we were alienated from God and the covenant of promise, now we are accepted in the Beloved. It's a total reversal of our status before Jehovah God. How was this done? It was wrought entirely by the Father's initiative and affection in choosing a people, the Son bleeding and dying for these people, and the Holy Spirit quickening these same sheep into new life through the belief of the truth or the gospel. You're gonna have to hear the gospel. You're going to have to hear the gospel to believe this.

So if you're going somewhere, the gospel is not being preached. Nothing. Nothing. A lot of times the Bible is not even brought, or the Bible is not even read out of. So I'm not saying if somebody reads the Bible, you could be saved, but the teaching is going to be congruent, it's going to be parallel with what the Bible says. And most of the time it's not, unless they have a little book called Responsive Readings or something. It's not the scripture. It's not inspired. This book is inspired by God.

So it's going to be through the preaching, the preaching of his word. This is how he's transferred us into the kingdom of the dear son, the father, the son, the spirit, through the declaration of the truth. I didn't have this in my notes, but if you go back to Ephesians chapter 1, And we'll start in verse 11, Paul says to the Ephesians, in whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worked with all things after the counsel of his own will, that we should be to the praise of his glory who first trusted in Christ. How did that happen? In whom you also trusted after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. I didn't say that, God says that.

So it behooves anyone who's up here in this place, in this church, that we preach the gospel, that we declare what God says about man, about himself, about his son, and about salvation. So it's a total reversal. We're transferred. I like that. I like translated, but we don't use that word transferred. I think we understand what that means. I like that word.

It is wrought entirely by the Trinity. And this kingdom, it all centers around the son whom he loves. The power of darkness, he has transferred or translated us into the kingdom of his dear son. Everything in this kingdom, God's kingdom, centers around. Matter of fact, in the revelations, it says he's the light. He's the light of glory, the light of heaven. The father delights in the son, and so do his people. You don't hate him anymore.

You don't, ah, I could go or I could not go. You know, if somebody talks about somebody that you love and you adore, I'll put it this way. Us grandparents, if you talk about our grandchildren, we're listening. We're glued in, and that's the way it should be. The father delights in his son, and so does his people. It just makes sense. We're married to another.

It doesn't mean you ignore the things of this world, but the things of this world, like Spurgeon and all these people said, we hold on to it with a very loose hand. If it happens, fine. If it doesn't, it really doesn't matter. It may be an inconvenience, But it doesn't matter, because Christ is the believer's all in all. Now, thirdly, Paul anchors this whole transfer of our salvation. He anchors everything with us regarding God, the gospel, in the person of Christ.

Look at verse 13. I'm sorry, verse 14. In whom? Who's this? He's into the kingdom of his dear son. That's who he's talking about, his dear son. In whom, this dear son, this Lord Jesus Christ, we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins. So he anchors everything in the son. In whom we have redemption and the forgiveness of sins. First, redemption. That means a ransom paid or a price given to secure Salvation. This was given by the blessed son's blood.

This redemption, the price to redeem us to God because in Adam all die. We fell short in Adam. We could not honor and glorify his law, could not honor and glorify. As soon as we walk out that door, our thoughts are, you know, the pollution in our mind and our thoughts. So this redemption, this ransom price, this price given to secure salvation was given by the blessed son's blood.

First, turn to first Peter chapter 18. First Peter chapter 18. First Peter chapter one, verse 18. 1 Peter 1 verses 18 and 19. Peter reminds the brethren, for as much as you know that you were not redeemed, that's what we're talking about, redemption, you were not redeemed, you were not bought back, you were not the your price of your redemption. You were not redeemed with corruptible things like silver and gold from your vain conversation received by tradition from your father. But you were redeemed with the precious blood of Christ as a lamb without blemish. and without spot.

He's precious to us because his person is precious, his blood is precious, everything about Christ is precious. This was accomplished by none other than the perfect sacrificial lamb. It's called in other places, Emmanuel, God with us. The perfect, pure, holy and spotless lamb upon Calvary's tree. Not a mere man, He was the God-man. Turn to Genesis chapter 22. He was the God-man. It must be so for only God could accept himself for a sacrifice. Genesis chapter 22. You remember the story?

Abraham is going up to the mountain. He takes his son Isaac. In verse seven, Genesis 22, verse seven, Isaac, as they're going up to the mountain, Isaac says to his daddy, to Abraham, his father, and his father said, here am I, my son. And Isaac said, behold, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering? He understood what it meant to worship God. Where's the lamb? Look at verse eight.

And Abraham said, my son, God will provide himself a lamb for burnt offering. And it also could be rendered God will provide himself as a lamb because Christ in the whole Bible is depicted as a lamb slain before the foundation of the world. So only God can satisfy God. So yes, is Jesus God? Yes, he's all man, he's all God. I'll explain it, I can't and I won't, you just believe it. It has to be so.

Our sins are so bad, so vile, so corrupt, that's why we can't save ourselves. But there's too many places in the scriptures, the grace you save, that's not of yourself, it's not of works, God has delivered us from the dominion of darkness and hath transferred us into the kingdom of His dear Son. How did that happen?

In Christ, verse 14, back in our text, we have redemption through His blood. He has that precious blood of the Lamb. Secondly, not only do we have redemption, we have forgiveness of sins. Now that word, forgiveness, is real powerful. Very powerful, especially if you understand it by faith. It's something that when you've offended somebody and they just flat out forgive you.

You say, you know, I'm really sorry I messed up. It's my fault. And then for them to say, I don't hold it to your charge. You know, a lot of us would say, well, now you owe me this, this, this, and that. But that's conditional salvation. Not so. Not so with God the Father.

By the merits and the worth and work of the Lord Jesus Christ, we're forgiven. We're forgiven. By the obedience of the Savior, we stand pure, justified, accepted, and cleansed. Not in part, but all of us, past, present, and future sins are gone or cast out into the sea, not to be brought up Again, we sing this song and rightly so. It is well with my soul and I like particularly verse three, my sin. Oh, the bliss of this glorious thought. My sin, not in part, but the whole is nailed to the cross. And I bear it no more. I bear it no more.

Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul. Why can we say, why can the believers say, in cloudy days, sunny days, in the morning and the evening of our lives, it is well with our soul? Because God in Christ is satisfied on my behalf, and I've done nothing. I've done nothing to secure, to earn, to merit my salvation.

But now, after he saves me, I'm going to speak of him. I'm going to work for him. I'm going to honor him. I'm going to glorify him. I'm going to think of him. Before I think of all these other things I want to do, the believer trusts his Lord. Trusts his Lord. Now, in closing, these truths Firstly, should humble us. Why? Because we did not rescue ourselves. Why? Because we did not transfer ourselves. Why? Because we did not redeem ourselves.

From start to finish, salvation is the work of the triune God. Secondly, understanding these truths should stir us up to worship. to worship wherever we're at. If we're in the middle of our job and the Lord brings something to our mind, you can still do this stuff and just say, Lord, I thank you. You know, we can be a thankful people, a worshipful, you know, people who worship and honor him.

Why? Because darkness is behind us. His kingdom is before us. And we are forgiven forever. Praise him, adore him, bow before him. ever giving thanks and being of a grateful heart. For surely the believer, we know above all people, we did not deserve the least of his bountiful mercies, rather damnation and hell. That's what we deserve. Because we were created, we were created to worship him, to serve him, adore him, love him, and we don't do that.

We did self. Self. Me, myself, and I. We know that. So let us Worship Him. Let us be grateful and be thankful. And if we have not come to Him, I pray that we would come to Him confessing our sins, repenting of our sins, and simply believing that Christ is our all in all, that God be the glory. Nathan, would you close us, please?