Sunday, May 1, 2016 - The Three T’s To Eternity
Pastor Roger Marcos
May 1, 2016
Translated - Transformed - Transported
1. Translated:
The apostle Paul is addressing the Colossian believers to think life before and after. In a sense that life is all about God, the eternity. Imagine, what life without knowledge on God.
So the Bible tells us in Colossians 1:13 He has delivered (RESCUED) us from the power of darkness and conveyed {translated} us into the kingdom of the Son of His love.
Having given thanks for the inheritance for which the Father qualified believers, Paul now moves his thanks toward the believer’s rescue from the satanic realm.
“He has delivered us from the power of darkness”
The words “delivered” and “conveyed” relate to the themes of the Old Testament. We were delivered from Satan’s kingdom, a kingdom of darkness (Eph 6:12) by placing our faith in the cross. God calls Satan’s kingdom utter darkness (Mt. 25:30). We are called out of darkness (I Pet. 2:9). “Darkness” is more than the absence of light; it is the opposite of light. Darkness is not only without God; it is against God. We have been delivered from rebellion against God
The word “delivered” means we were delivered at a point in the past - our conversion. This deliverance is absolutely finished. There is no progress in this rescue. It is an event. This is a spiritual rescue greater than the deliverance of Israel from Egypt. The word “power” is authoritative power. God rescues us from the authority of Satan. We are no longer under his evil rule. Darkness has no more authority over us. Satan’s authority has been broken. We do not have to obey him any longer. The world is becoming more vicious and cruel every day. “Power” here probably means jurisdiction. We are no longer under the jurisdiction of Satan. We are out from under the tyranny of Satan.
Principle:
The believer is rescued from the kingdom of Satan and placed into “the kingdom of the Son of His love” permanently.
Application:
We need to be reminded that we cannot become dislodged from the kingdom of Christ. We can also forget that we belong to another kingdom than this world system. All the power of Satan cannot remove us from that kingdom. We irrevocably belong to God’s kingdom. We have been permanently transferred from Satan’s kingdom to Christ’s kingdom. We are under a brand new authority. The only thing left for Satan is to try to fool us that we belong to his kingdom. It is easy to get our eyes off what God has done for us in Christ. We subjectively get our eyes on people or other things and not on the objectivity of truth.
2 Cor. 4:3-43 If the Good News we preach is hidden behind a veil, it is hidden only from people who are perishing. 4 Satan, who is the god of this world, has blinded the minds of those who don’t believe. They are unable to see the glorious light of the Good News. They don’t understand this message about the glory of Christ, who is the exact likeness of God
Rom. 1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile.
1 Pet. 1:22 Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for each other, love one another deeply, from the heart.
TRANSLATED: Baptized Into Chris!-Enter In the kingdom
- Belief- A change of Mind.
- Repentance- a change of lifestyle
- Confession- a change of Allegiance
- Baptism- a change of Relationship
He has delivered us from the power of darkness and Conveyed (TRANSLATED ) us into the kingdom of the Son of His love. Col. 1:13
Acts 2:38, 47
Have you been translated, or are you yet following the course of bondage, death, and eternal misery?
2. Transformed.
Romans 12:1-2; Ephesians 4:22-24; Luke 8:13;1 Corinthians 3:1-3; Hebrews 12:14
The apostle Paul addressing the Roman and Ephesian brethren told Them,
Romans 12:1-2 : 1 Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God-this is your true and proper worship. 2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is-his good, pleasing and perfect will.
True service and devotion to God involves replacing our wills with His. This is the "living sacrifice" of this verse.
Ephesians 4:22-24- 22 You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; 23 to be made new in the attitude of your minds; 24 and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.
When one is translated into the kingdom of God, there should come a transformation of one’s character and conduct.
Some are translated who are never perfectly transformed.
Luke 8:13-14; 1 Corinthians 3:1-3
In a sense, one could say that translation is easier than Transformation!
Apart from transformation, however, there can be no salvation.
Hebrews 12:14 Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord.
3. Transported
Notice what Jesus says in Luke and Matthew:
Luke 16:22-23 So it was that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels to Abraham's bosom. The rich man also died and was buried. And being in torments in Hades, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.
Luke 16:22-23; Matthew 13:41-42, 47-50; 1 Thessalonians 4:16; Hebrews 10:31
Matthew 13:41-42, 47-50
41 The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will weed out of his kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil. 42 They will throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
It is a fact that you may not be translated into the kingdom of God’s Son, or you may not be transformed in heart and life, but we will be transported when we die!
All that are in the graves shall hear the voice of the Son of God and all shall come forth. You may turn a deaf ear to the call to be translated. You may reject the appeal to be transformed, but all of us will be given eternal transportation.
1 Thessalonians 4:16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.
We shall be transported to meet him in the clouds or cast away from the glory of his power forever and ever!
It is the ultimate end of our transportation that makes our present translation and transformation so vitally important.
Imagine being carried by the angels to meet the Lord in comfort or to be cast away unto tribulation and anguish, indignation, and wrath!
These awesome reflections should cause each one of us to contemplate the current state of our souls.
Hebrews 10:31 It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
Conclusion:
Two eternity- Hell and Heaven.
You have a choice and chance- but it’s your choice.
36 Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on them. JN. 3:36