We Serve The Same Savior - Who Is Jesus? (Pt 1) Series

Sermon Details:

Series Title: We Serve the SAME God

Sermon Title: We Serve the SAME Savior! (Pt.1)

Sermon Text: Colossians 1:13-20 [ESV]

Introduction:

Last week we looked at how we as the church are ALL called by God to serve! We are on the same team and we are expected to serve. I remember my high school football days… and NO Ben we did NOT wear leather helmets!

Speak about how the coach wanted EVERYONE involved in the gameplan!

Jesus said in Acts 1:8, “You shall be my witnesses…” he was speaking to US as the church! He was saying YOU SHALL GET IN THE GAME! Jesus led 12 men for 3½ years and discipled them to carry on when He was gone… he told them its time YOU get in the game! When we come to know Him as Savior, he tells us the same thing… it’s time to get in the game!

We are all on the same team…we may not play the same position, but we are on the same team. Your role in church is not the same as my role, but we all have a role! Jesus calls us to be his witnesses… but who is this Jesus? Why does He get to have say in the church?

Well this morning we are going to look at where in his letter to the church at Colossae, Paul gives possibly the most beautiful written description of who Jesus really is …Our passage this morning is Col 1:13-20 and you just heard Mrs Peggy do a wonderful job in reading it to us!

This Scripture reveals 3 reality of WHO Jesus is… this morning I want us to look at those 3 distinctive descriptions of who Jesus is and this morning I want us to explore what biblical truths we can gather from this passage and how to apply those truths into our lives!

The first distinctive is that Paul tells us that Jesus is our:

Deliverer (v13-14)

13He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, 14in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

You may ask the question:

What does being delivered mean?

The short phrase, “…delivered us…” in the Greek means to draw to oneself, to rescue, or to deliver. If we use it toward us it means we are drawn TO something by someone.

What Paul is saying here is that Jesus draws us TO himself… He does this because he desires to deliver us – it IS intentional! But, still what does it ‘mean’ to be delivered?

The first aspect of understanding the phrase ‘being delivered’ is realizing someone is seeking to deliver you… Jesus is seeking to deliver us… it has ALWAYS been God’s plan!

Jesus came so that we could be delivered. Jesus willingly set aside his glory and position in Heaven, so that he bring the redemptive plan of God for sinful humanity. Jesus is the one seeking to deliver us… He is the one who has set out to draw us to Him! Jesus came to rescue us who are held captive!

When we think about ‘rescue’ it could mean that someone stumbles across someone else in need of rescue and helps them. However, in this context we find Paul saying that Jesus was drawn TO us… he did not stumble across sinful man, but He knew sinful man from the beginning and was willing to come alongside of us and seek to rescue us from the sin that entraps us!

Illustration – Hosea: Hosea was called by God to marry a woman with a bad reputation in her community. He married this woman and her name was Gomer.

She was a prostitute, but God called Hosea to GO after her! God sent Hosea out to rescue/deliver her as his wife!

That is EXACTLY what Jesus did when he came to this world! He came to DELIVER us… Jesus said Himself in John 3:17 when he said, “17For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.” His mission was and still IS our deliverance!

Paul is painting a picture that reveals this Jesus who leads the search to find US and draw us TO Himself! He is intentional in His desire to deliver us!

However, there is another question to ask in regard to “who is Jesus”:

If we are being delivered, what are we being delivered FROM?

Paul says that Jesus delivers us FROM the “domain of darkness” – the Greek for ‘domain’ is ex-oo-see-us which refers to one in this world who has authority for a short season and that is Satan. His domain is this world and while we are here, we battle against the darkness in this world! Paul uses this phrase a descriptor for the enemy with authority… he rules over the ‘domain of darkness’.