Jesus Came to Deliver Us
(Col 1:11-20)
Jesus came to overcome darkness. He had victory over evil and death. Jesus came to overcome blindness. He was the truth and he told the truth about God. By illuminating the darkness of the world we are now able to see the truth when we believe in Jesus as the promised Messiah.
Please open your bibles to the first chapter of Colossians. As we come to Colossians chapter 1 verses 9 and 10 tell us that Paul was praying that we would have spiritual wisdom and understanding of the truth so that we could please God, produce good fruit, and know him better. In verse 11 he tells us that we are going to need patience and endurance as well, and he wants us to have joy and to be in constant thanksgiving, because we have been given an inheritance and have been delivered or rescued from the domain of darkness and transferred into the Kingdom of his Son Jesus who purchased our freedom and forgave our sins.
Did you know that? As a believer in Christ you have been delivered into His Kingdom already and have been given the same inheritance as Jesus.
Then Paul launches into a recap of what we’ve been looking at the last couple weeks where Jesus is the image of the invisible God, He existed before creation and everything was created through him, even things like kingdoms, rulers and authorities. It was all created through him and for him.
Not only did he create it all, but he also keeps it going. He is head of the church which is now his body, and he was the first one to rise permanently from the dead so that he is preeminent over everything. All the fullness of God was pleased to dwell in Him and God has reconciled all things in heaven and on earth to himself by the blood of Christ.
What that last part literally means is that he has already brought everything back to its former perfect state of harmony, the way he created it. Now as we look around, we don’t see that because it’s not fully implemented yet. That will occur at his second advent. But all the work has been done. Essentially we are simply waiting with nature for the unveiling of the New Heaven and Earth. But in the realm of God it has all happened already.
One of the great metaphors Jesus uses to describe this deliverance is the good shepherd. Turn with me to John chapter 10. Let’s read the first 10 verses…
This is clearly another kind of description of this clash between Satan and God. There is a thief and a robber who comes only to steal, kill and destroy. He climbs in through a different way and doesn’t come through the door or gate. But the shepherd comes through the door.
Here Jesus brings the sheep out of the sheep pen which is the world, where everyone is following each other like sheep. The shepherd however delivers the sheep from the pen, not by force, but because the sheep know his voice and simply follow him out. But they will flee from the stranger.
Now his disciples didn’t get this metaphor, and frankly it’s a lot deeper than it appears.
First he’s making it clear that this pen we’re in is not our home. Jesus the shepherd leads the sheep out of the pen, because the thief has snuck in and is destroying the sheep. That is Satan, who we previously heard was the ruler or god of this world.
The other significant thing here is that the sheep know his voice who are his own. This brings up an interesting point that Jesus knows already who will respond to his voice. And as he goes before them, they will follow him.
So to help them and us understand, Jesus explains what he just said by first saying that he is the door or the gate. He says that all who came before him were thieves and robbers, because they didn’t come through him, they were empowered by Satan, and were false prophets and false messiahs, and those who knew Him didn’t follow them.
If anyone enters by Jesus they will go in and out and find pasture and will be saved. Here he is claiming that he is the only way to have life and have it abundantly.
But then as we continue through the next 10 verses we see Jesus claim that not only is he the gate, he is also the shepherd. In fact, often the shepherds would build these round pens out of rocks and bushes and sticks with a small opening that they would actually sleep in, so that they were literally the door.
One of Jesus great “I am” statements is in verse 11, “I am the good Shepherd” who lays his life down for the sheep. It continues that if a shepherd is just a hired hand, when things get tough he gets going, but if he is the owner of the sheep he will do anything to deliver them from danger even if it risks his own life. One thinks of young David here who we know was a shepherd and fought off wild animals with his hands and a slingshot to protect his family’s sheep. He is kind of the symbolic precursor of Christ in this regard.
In verse 14 Jesus talks about the incredible union between himself and the Father, and that his sheep share a relationship with him that is the same as his with the Father. Then he goes on to refer to the fact that his sheep are not only Jews but also Gentiles. So there will be one flock and one shepherd.
Finally he makes it clear that he laid his life down. No one including the Father, made him do it, it was completely voluntary, and it is why the Father loves him so much.
Of course all of this talk made him either crazy or demon possessed, or who he said he was. The point being there was division about who he was, and there always will be. But remember from last week, anyone who confesses that Jesus is the son of God has life. That is the primary truth that mankind must agree with to be saved.
At Christmas we talk of Emmanuel, God with us. That in itself is a confession of this fact that the baby Jesus was God in the flesh. If you don’t believe Christmas, you won’t believe any of the other things about Jesus, and likely won’t be saved until you do.
There was a primary difference between these people and the people of our age, and that is the belief that we need a deliverer. Most Christians don’t know the Old Testament and books of the prophet’s very well if at all today, certainly not many unbeliever know it. These people at Jesus time even the uneducated, knew them very well. And for thousands of years they knew that they needed a deliverer from sin.
Isaiah 40:11 He will feed his flock like a shepherd. He will carry the lambs in his arms holding them close to his heart. He will gently lead the mother sheep with her young.
In Ezekiel 34, the first six verses talk about these bad shepherds or the religious leaders of Israel. The prophet says “No longer shall the shepherds feed themselves with the sheep. I (God) will rescue my sheep from their mouths…
Then further in Ezekiel 34 verses 11-16, 22-24…,
Now that would be about David if it wasn’t long after David was gone. Obviously he is talking about the descendant of David who would have the throne forever, Jesus Christ.
What strikes me about this whole rescue mission that started at the beginning of time and continues today, is that he is rescuing us from ourselves. We rebelled against him, we put ourselves in the enemy’s mouth, yet in his amazing love he comes to rescue us. To deliver us from the darkness we plunged ourselves into. That is such a great description of his nature, because I would think most of us would say, you don’t want me, then go fend for yourselves, you dug your own hole.
The point is that these people knew they were sinners, they knew the penalty of sin was death, and so they knew they needed God to deliver them. They didn’t really know how he would do it, but they knew he promised to do it.
The world is so different now. The bad shepherds in the world and some in the church, have essentially told us that there’s nothing wrong, we have nothing to fear. We now have the technology and resources to live long lives, and to have abundant lives. We don’t need anything but ourselves. And by our nature as sheep we tend to follow the loudest most popular voice, rather than the most truthful voice.
We are not OK. If we were OK we wouldn’t be celebrating Christmas, there would be no need for it. Christ wouldn’t have had to come. “If you say you have not sinned, you are a liar and the truth is not in you, and you do not have eternal life”. The Bible says.
But that’s the other thing that denying the existence of sin does. Most people either don’t care about eternal life, don’t believe there is anything after this life, or believe that all good people get to have it in heaven. But the truth is in Romans 3. “No one is righteous, no one is good, no one understands, no one seeks for God (because they don’t think they need to). All are under the curse of sin, all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.” Not some, not just the bad people, but all people.
And God is an equal opportunity saviour. There is no distinction, and all are justified by grace as a gift through Jesus; if you accept the gift through faith. But as the stubborn world denies sin, they are also denying salvation.
But all anyone has to do a few chapters later in Romans, is confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, and you will be saved… Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. It’s all inclusive again.
But do you see how implied in all of that confessing and believing is the fact that we are in need of salvation. They took that for granted, but our world today doesn’t. So why would they even care if Jesus is Lord or rose from the dead, what does that have to do with me?
Many think those churchgoers are weak and need this myth of Jesus as a crutch to get by in life. They don’t understand the salvation part. Of course they may say this while they are sipping their gin and tonic after a hard day at work - everybody has their crutches. Most don’t understand that the most loving thing that has ever happened, was done for them, but we love ourselves too much to realize how much we need the love of God, not just to make our lives better but more importantly, to save us.
How are we going to help our world realize their need for Jesus? If only it was just as easy as broadcasting the Bible over the airways. Those people may have needed Saviour back then, but we don’t. Or the Bible is just a book on religion like any other book, why should I take it seriously? You really believe there is a God?
Sometimes don’t you just feel like giving up trying to convince anyone that this stuff is true? Do you sometimes doubt it yourself? “I’m going to say I believe it because I’m afraid not to, I want to be saved just in case. But when I really think about it, I’m not sure about all this stuff in the Bible either, so I’m just going to stay quiet about it”.
Is there really an afterlife? Is there really a heaven and a hell? Would a loving God really allow someone to experience eternal torment? Is the Bible just a bunch of stories put together by man? How can I really know that this is the Word of God, isn’t that just a belief too? I’ve got enough to deal with, I don’t have the time and energy to figure all this stuff out, I guess I’ll find out the truth when I die.
The only answers I can give are that we need to pray. Specifically we need to pray that the Holy Spirit convicts people and shows them the truth. All we can do is reflect the sacrificial love that comes from Jesus and tell people the truth in a compassionate and heartfelt manner. The rest is not up to us.
Somehow there are still people coming to Christ for salvation. Somehow God is convincing some people of their need for a Saviour. But honestly, many people today who are coming to Christ, have little idea why they are coming because the real gospel has not been shared with them. They want to be a part of a church because they don’t fit in anywhere else or it’s a nice refuge from the nasty world. They want Jesus to make their lives better in this life. But they don’t really know the gospel. That we are dead sinners in need of a Saviour who has already come.
Did you know that the gospel has already been proclaimed to every creature in the whole world and under heaven? Back in our passage in Colossians 1 Paul says this twice. Some want to say that he’s only talking about the Roman Empire. Some say that he is just using hyperbole; he’s exaggerating.
In Acts 2 it is also mentioned that Jews from every nation under heaven were hearing the disciples speak the gospel in their own languages. Again is that hyperbole? I would lean toward that being symbolic if the other word for world in the New Testament, which often means the land, were used. But in these instances the words mean under the heavens and the cosmos.
Apparently Jesus went to Hades, the resting place of the unsaved dead and proclaimed something to the spirits there. It seems as if the Bible is saying that at a certain point in the history of the world, the gospel was proclaimed to all creatures under the heavens in every nation.
So why doesn’t everyone know it today? Well, first of all not everyone believed it. And then very likely those people didn’t pass it on to the next generation. Even if they did, not everyone again would believe it. So over the generations more and more people do not know the gospel anymore. We have seen that in our culture in some of our lifetimes. Remember one of the great commands in the Old Testament mentioned that we should be talking about the works of God all the time to our children, when we walk by the way, when we sit in our house, when we lie down and rise up.
All through the Old Testament the story got lost through the generations and God always had to remind them generation after generation. Nothing has changed and the church exists to keep the story alive, and in every successive generation, to make sure that the gospel is known throughout all the earth.
This Christmas tell someone not just about the reason for the season, but the reason for the reason. Most people don’t know why Jesus came even if they believe he did. And many people don’t know that this same Jesus the baby was also the guy on the cross; we don’t talk about that at Christmas. But we can’t know the extent of the love of God, unless we know the why of what he did in sending Jesus to earth, and who Jesus really was. That story has been lost. Let’s help our world find it again.
