I’ve Been Changed

Colossians 1:12-14

I’VE BEEN CHANGED

September 11, 2022

Intro: We all have a hard time with change. Whether we are speaking of good change like the birth of a grandchild or bad change like the loss of a job. In our text, Paul is talking about change. Paul mentions some changes that are priceless in their benefit and in their contribution to our lives. These changes take place in the life of every child of God when they are born again. I want you to understand that when the Lord saved your soul, He changed you and He changed some things in you, and He changed some things for you. These changes are priceless, precious and profound. These changes should be studied, secured, and celebrated. They should also serve as a catalyst for praise in our lives. Our text begins with “Giving thanks to the Father,” because He has Qualified Us, He has Delivered Us and He has Transferred Us!

I. v. 12 GOD HAS QUALIFIED US

We are told in the King James that the Father “hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light.” The phrase in “made us meet” simply means that we “have been qualified” by God to participate in His inheritance with those saints who have already been promoted to glory. When we came into this world, we were anything but qualified to participate in anything related to our God.

1. Ephesians 2:1 says without Jesus, We were Dead in our Sins!

2. 2 Thessalonians 1:9 says without Jesus, We were Doomed to Hell!

But, thanks be to God for verse 12; WITH JESUS, everything that was wrong with us was made right by the Lord!

1. In John 10:28 Jesus says that with Him we have Life and Life Eternal!

2. In Romans 5:10 Paul says that Jesus Reconciled Us to God by His death!

3. In John 17:24 Jesus says that we will see Him in Heaven in all His Glory!

The Bible mentions an “inheritance.” Because we are now in the family of God, Romans 8:17 says that we are heirs of God and joint heirs with Jesus Christ.

1. We Are Heirs Of Eternal Life – Titus 3:7, “That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.”

2. We Are Heirs Of Salvation - Hebrews 1:14, “Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation?”

3. We Are Heirs Of The Promise - Galatians 3:29, “And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.”

II. v. 13a GOD HAS DELIVERED US

In man’s lost condition, he is under “the power of darkness.” BUT GOD HAS DELIVERD US! You see, lost people do what they do because they are what they are! They are LOST; they are trapped in their sins and they carry out the will of their master the devil. There was a time when we were also trapped in a desperate and lost condition, 1 Corinthians 6:11. But we have been changed! We are delivered! When God saved us by His grace, He broke the chains that held us and forever set us free! He reached into our lost situation and drew us to Himself. He rescued us by His power, and He delivered us from our darkness, our bondage, our sentence, and our sin. He set us free!

1. We Were Instantly Delivered – What Jesus did for us was not a gradual thing. One moment, we were hell bound sinners, the next; we are children of God! Salvation is not a process, it is an instantaneous event! Ills: The thief on the cross – Luke 23:43, “Today you shall be with me…”

2. We Were Eternally Delivered – What Jesus does for His people is not a temporary fix; it is an eternal solution. The Bible is clear about this matter. When Jesus Christ saves a soul, He does it for good, 1 Peter 1:5 says, “we are kept by the power of God… to be revealed in the last day.”

III. v. 13b-14 GOD HAS TRANSFERRED US

Jesus did not just bring us out of the devil’s kingdom, He brought us into His Own kingdom! The Bible says that we have been “Conveyed or Translated.” This world means “to transfer; to move from one place to another.” When Jesus saved us, He transferred us from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of light.

ILLS: We have a mulch bed in the front of our house and from time to time we tried to plant some flowers with no success. We thought that if we could just plant a bush or something sturdier it would survive. But each season whatever we planted would surely die in this area. We thought it needed better irrigation, so we put some sprinklers on a timer and made sure there was no standing water. We thought it needed more sunlight, so we trimmed the nearby tree to expose that area to the sun. Sooner or later realized that the soil was poisoned or dead. We tried fertilizer and that did not work either. I then we understood that the only way we are going to get our flowers to grow was to transfer them to a new area that had no association with the old. So we fixed up some planter box on each windowsill and put in some new potting soil and a fresh source of water. And suddenly, what had once been set for death now had new life and everything began to bloom! That’s what God did to us! He transferred us from this dead soil and planted us in His Kingdom of New Life! We are always praying for the Lord to deliver us from sin’s power, or from the power of the devil. Family, He already has! Romans 6:14 says SIN HAS NO POWER over the believer! Thank God we are CHANGED! Hallelujah!