Translated!

Translated!

Colossians 1:13-14 KJV

[13] who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son: [14] in whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins:

As always, the audience defines the message. The letter of both Paul and Timothy to the church in Colosse clearly identified the audience for the message as the 'saints and faithful brethren in Christ'. That class remains important and relevant to the rest of the letter so that it places the burden of delivery on those who claim to know Christ. This is the time when it is impossible to fake a thriving relationship with God. You either have Him, with all that He is and has, or you have none of Him. There is also no fence to sit on, where one can get away with being non-committal to anything. Like these people in Colosse, they had chosen to believe in Jesus, even going against the norms and values of the Gentiles at the time. They had made a choice, and as it was then, so is it now. 

Those of us who are alive today also have to make a choice. You get to choose between two alternatives. Both are eternal options, not temporal. Both are also kingdoms, with authorities in place to oversee command and recruitment. Both have power and agendas, and even though one is superior to the other, we know that both can define the eternal legacy of man. Both have eternally pernanent consequences. The one thing that is now quite clear is that we do not really have forever in this side of eternity to make up our minds. Jesus has played his part, and has offered the best sacrifice for sin. There is no other sacrifice of blood that is requested from or demanded of us. Darkness reigned and ruled over us, as we were subject to the power and influence of sin. 

As we know, the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life, which is made freely available in and through Jesus Christ. He alone could deliver man from certain death and also offer life in full, the kind that cannot end or be tampered with by the devil. He is the only One who can change the terms and conditions of engagement for man and give him a brand new start. He is the One who can translate a man from certain death to certain life. In this context, translation means 'the process of moving something from one place to another'.  Only Jesus could do such a thing: by His blood, He has opened a door that was closed due to sin, and given us access to riches beyond our imagination. If I then fail to take advantage of this benefit, I cannot turn around and blame God for the consequences of my decision. As long as I have life, He waits for my decision. What would it be? God's time of favour is here.