Tag Archives: he has rescued us

HOW CAN WE BE SO SURE?

Apologetics, ,

Colossians 1:13 NLT
[13] “For he has rescued us from the kingdom of darkness and transferred us into the Kingdom of his dear Son, [14] who purchased our freedom and forgave our sins.”

It’s all very well to pray a grand prayer like the one we examined yesterday, but how can we be so sure that God will answer us? After all, He only does what is in line with His will.

God’s answers to many of our our prayers depend on what He has done to intervene on our behalf. What has He done to ensure that what we pray is according to His will?

Does He really want us to know Him, to experience His power, and to rejoice in His goodness? Of course He does! He made it all possible by rescuing us from Satan’s power and bringing us supernaturally under His own benevolent rule. We did nothing to contribute to what He has done.

How do we know that we have been forgiven and freed from our guilt and the fear of punishment?

Something powerful has happened inside; something has changed in our conscience and in our emotions. We no longer have that sense of impending doom. We have inner lightness and freedom from guilt that is different from the heaviness we once felt. We have a deep assurance that we are okay with God. We feel loved and secure. All these changes are real even if we cannot explain what has happened.

These new experiences can only point to one thing. God has done something to make these changes supernaturally possible.

How did He rescue us from Satan’s power? I didn’t really understand this truth until I took a long, hard look at what Jesus did at the cross. Let me jump the gun and explain what Paul has to say in the next chapter.

Colossians 2:14-15 NLT
[14] “He canceled the record of the charges against us and took it away by nailing it to the cross. [15] In this way, he disarmed the spiritual rulers and authorities. He shamed them publicly by his victory over them on the cross.”

Satan held us captive in the following ways.

  1. He claims to be Lord over us because he has captured us by our sin. He has us in his power and under his influence. No matter what we do, we cannot get free of his control.
  2. He holds us captive by reminiding us of our fate. We are stuck with him and doomed with him to eternal judgment.
  3. He uses these lies to deceive us into thinking that we are still forced to serve him.
  4. He holds up our disobedience to God’s laws as proof that we are doomed.

But God did something unthinkable…

  1. He took all our guilt, placed it on Jesus, and had Him killed in our place. He took every law we broke, every sin we committed, every rebellious thought and act, and nailed it to the cross, writing over all the charges, PAID IN FULL.
  2. He showed the devil up to be a liar because we are no longer guilty of any sin. Satan tries to deceive us into believing that we are still guilty and in his clutches. We are not! We are free and under God’s rule and protection.
  3. He did all this before time. This means that He took care of our sin and guilt before they happened. Satan’s accusations are all false because our sin no longer exists. People who still follow and worship Satan have been caught in his lies.

Revelation 13:8 NLT
[8] “And all the people who belong to this world worshiped the beast. They are the ones whose names were not written in the Book of Life that belongs to the Lamb who was slaughtered before the world was made.”

The devil has been unmasked. He is NOT LORD, after all. JESUS IS LORD.

So, we have objective proof that we are safely in God’s hands and under His care and protection. God had Jesus killed for us! Satan’s most powerful weapon is useless. His lies have been exposed. Now we have God’s truth as the covering under which we can live in peace and freedom.

THE ORCHID MY TEACHER

Christian Life, ,

THE ORCHID MY TEACHER

The natural world has many lessons to teach us about God and His ways. A new hobby, reviving dying orchids, is a powerful illustration of God’s dealings with us.

I call my orchids “resurrection” plants because, given the correct treatment, they can live again, no matter how dead they may look. In my ignorance, I allowed numerous orchids to die, not realising what potential they had to recover, had I just taken the time to consult the experts.

After losing more than one beautiful plant, exasperation drove me to seek help from video clips on orchid care which I found on YouTube. To my amazement, even the deadest plants, with no roots and poor-quality leaves (or even no leaves at all), came back to life after cleaning, soaking and feeding them with natural fertilisers made from common vegetables and fruit found in any kitchen.

My first attempt at rescue was a beautiful, soft lilac Phalaenopsis (aka “moth”) orchid with dying, rotting roots, and leathery, withered leaves. I had not repotted it in time to set it on course for a healthy life. I didn’t want to lose it so, after trimming off all the roots, I was left with a sad looking, rootless plant with an intact growth “hub”, I call it, underneath the leaves.

I did what the video clip demonstrated and, after a few weeks, I was rewarded with two small fresh roots peeping out from the base of the leaves. Soon afterwards, new leaves appeared and, eventually, to my delight, a flower stem pushed its way upwards, bearing some fourteen glorious lilac blooms which lasted for five months.

I was so elated with my success that I classified myself as orchid ICU! Friends brought tired orchids to me which recovered and went home after a few months.

A visit to a friend in a frail care facility yielded another victim of its owner’s ignorance. I pleaded to take the orchid home for some ICU treatment. No one took ownership, so I claimed the poor, derelict plant and began its recovery programme. Its roots were bone dry; two leaves were on their way out and the third leaf was a yellow goner.

My first task was to trim and soak the roots in a weak solution of milk and rainwater – always, only rainwater. I planted what was left of the roots in a container with pine bark and granite chips and surrounded the leaf base with moss.

For several weeks, I lovingly sprayed the moss to keep it damp and lo! new roots began to appear. Then I tried a daring experiment. I took the plant out of its growing medium, washed off the roots and suspended them in a cut-off 2lt Coke bottle in plain water.

Well, does my rescue orchid love that!   It’s making its second new leaf and the new roots have almost reached the water. After that successful trial, I now have three orchid plants growing in water, and plan to put my lilac one into water as soon as its blooms have faded.

What have I learned from this miracle of resurrection? God is the God of life, not death. Death is a part of this fallen world that Jesus overcame by His own death and resurrection. Just as the orchid, the queen of beautiful flowers, has stubborn life built into it, so every human being has the potential to live again.

All people have been born spiritually dead in sin.

Psalms 51:5 NLT
[5] “For I was born a sinner— yes, from the moment my mother conceived me.”

Ephesians 2:1 NLT
[1] “Once you were dead because of your disobedience and your many sins.”

How can we recover from our dead condition? Just as I, the “orchid doctor”, remove the plant from its grave, trim and wash the dead roots, and replace it in a growing medium that provides the environment in which it can flourish, so God rescues dead people from their grave of sin and death.

Ephesians 2:4-6 NLT
[4]”But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so much, [5] that even though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s grace that you have been saved!) [6] For he raised us from the dead along with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ Jesus.”

He trimmed off the roots sunk deep into sin, washed us clean in the blood of Jesus, and transferred us from the dominion of darkness to the kingdom of light.

Colossians 1:13-14 NLT
[13]”For he has rescued us from the kingdom of darkness and transferred us into the Kingdom of his dear Son, [14] who purchased our freedom and forgave our sins.”

Every human being is destined to live again after the death. It all depends on whether we have been rescued from the garbage dump of eternal separation from God and brought back to life by His grace or whether we go to the grave withered and rootless, to live in utter darkness for all eternity.

Every “dead” orchid can live again. It will respond to its own inbuilt power to revive if it is given the opportunity. Every spiritually dead person can live again. The potential to live again, forever, is in every one of us.

God will never force His life into us. Like the orchid which responds to its life-giving, new environment, we choose to respond to that amazing gift of life by surrendering our lives to Jesus.

Orchids thrive on light, moisture, and nutrients by sending out new roots. The root system is essential for a healthy, blooming plant. So, too, we must grow a healthy root system by responding to the light and nutrients found in God’s Word.

Psalms 119:105 NLT
[105] “Your word is a lamp to guide my feet and a light for my path.”

John 8:12 NLT
[12] Jesus spoke to the people once more and said, “I am the light of the world. If you follow me, you won’t have to walk in darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life.”

John 6:35 NLT
[35]”Jesus replied, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry again. Whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.”

When we feed on Jesus by soaking ourselves in His life, His Word, and what He has done for us, we grow strong roots that keep us secure and steadfast in our faith in Him.

Colossians 2:7 NLT
[7]”Let your roots grow down into him, and let your lives be built on him. Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught, and you will overflow with thankfulness.”

If you want to be a part of God’s, eternal kingdom, be an “orchid” in His garden. He has put the potential in you to experience eternal life through our Lord Jesus Christ. By faith in Him, you can be joined forever to that life that He gives to everyone who believes in Him.

John 3:16 NLT
[16]  “For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.”

Romans 10:9 NLT
[9]”If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”


JESUS DID NOT SAY THAT WE MUST ACCEPT HIM AS OUR PERSONAL SAVIOUR

Apologetics, ,

JESUS DID NOT SAY THAT WE MUST ACCEPT HIM AS OUR PERSONAL SAVIOUR

I suppose that the most common expression that is used today of someone becoming a Christian (and even that idea is not Biblical), is that he has “accepted Jesus as his personal Saviour”. I’m sure you’ve heard that one as well! However, I have yet to find any place where it is used in Scripture.

Is it wrong, and if so, why? I understand that people use it to describe what happened to them and what changes it made in their lives, but it does not fit the reality of what the Bible has to say about this experience. What did Jesus say we must do?

Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.” John 6:29

The Bible presents life as a journey, symbolised by Israel’s migration from Egypt to the Promised Land. Their’s was an unknown way through the wilderness where there were dangers all around them and where it was easy to get lost and perish in the desert if they did not stay on the path and follow the landmarks. There are many references in Scripture to a path or way which would take them to their appointed destination. For the Israelites, it was the Promised Land, symbolised by the city of God – Jerusalem, which was often called “Zion” – the highest point in the city and the place where God had established His name.

God gave them His torah, His directions for the journey, i.e. His “law” which was summarised in the Ten Commandments. If they followed His way, it would light their path and show them the way to their destination. The “landmarks” they were to follow were the opportunities to treat their fellow Israelites and the strangers among them with kindness and generosity, prescribed in God’s Torah or teachings. If they followed His way, they would become like Him, i.e., they would move towards “Zion” where He had placed His name – His character.

Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light for my path. (Psa. 119: 105)

Sin, or going their own way, caused them to leave God’s way and take a way that would lead them to destruction. There was no food or protection for the journey away from God’s path. Those who went their own way were lost and in danger of perishing. He continually called them, through the prophets, to repent, shuv and return to God’s way.

Jesus came to restore the wayward hearts of His people that were bent on going their own way despite God’s warnings and the judgment that fell on them because of their disobedience. Through His death and resurrection, He dealt with and removed the barrier of sin which animal sacrifices could not do. He calls His wayward sons and daughters to shuv, to return to the path we were on before Adam chose to go his own way and took humanity with Him.

John the Baptist’s message to Israel was “Repent (shuv) – return to God’s way, for the kingdom of God is near.” Jesus echoed John’s words with the invitation, “Repent (shuv), for the kingdom of God is here.” He came to restore God’s rule of torah, teaching His way of doing life by being merciful, compassionate, and generous to all people, in the hearts of those who would follow Him. It was never His intention to do away with the “law” – His directions for following His “landmarks”, but to show us how to fulfil what God required, not by observing rules, but by loving God and people from the heart according to the greatest commandment.

If our lives are expressed by the idea that we have “accepted Jesus as our personal Saviour”, we have completely missed the point since, Jesus calls us, not to accept Him but submit to His rule in their hearts. The Holy Spirit responds to repentance and faith in Jesus by the supernatural work of raising our dead spirits to live, transferring us into the kingdom of God and beginning the process of transforming us into the image of God’s Son.   

For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. Colossians 1:13-14

So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, 7 rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness. Colossians 2:6-7

Being a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ is not about “accepting Him as our personal Saviour”. It’s about obeying the gospel by repenting (returning to God’s way) and submitting to Jesus as Lord – our supreme authority.

Through him we received grace …. to call all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith for his name’s sake. Romans 1:5