A Change For the Better Col
A Change For the Better Col. 1:12-14
EBC 8/02/09
Some people hate anything that deviates from the normal. Talk around granddaddy’s sore during the space program. Many are naturally resistant to change. Imagine no change- we would still have Black and white TV’s, tube radios.
In our text this morning Paul is talking about change- these are changes that take place in the life of every child of God. If there is no change we know nothing happened.
I. Our Position Has Changed (12)
A. We are prepared
1. Meet- to be sufficient, to authorize, to qualify. God has made us sufficient, authorized, qualified to share in the inheritance he has given us.
2. Before we were saved we were:
a. Eph. 2:1- dead in trespasses and sins
b. Isa. 59:2- separated from God
c. 2 Thess 1:8-9- doomed to Hell
3. As a result of salvation we are:
a. John 10:28- given eternal life
b. John 1:12- adopted into His family
At the moment of salvation we become a new creature. We receive a “fresh start”, everything changes. We are now Justified before Him.
B. We are privileged
1. Titus 3:7- heirs of eternal life
2. Heb. 9:15-heirs of eternal inheritance
II. Our Profession has Changes (13a)
A. The Reality of being lost
1. We’re under the control of the power of darkness. Lost men and women are not in control of their own destinies.
2. Their minds have been blinded. They are led about by every whim of Satan.
3. They are trapped in their sins and carry out the will of their master.
a. Gal. 5:19-21-
b. Eph. 4:17-19-
B. The Reality of being liberated
1. Delivered- to rescue from. God broke the bonds that held us to Satan. By this He delivered us from our sentence and sin.
a. Deliverance is instant- the deliverance isn’t a process it is immediate. One moment we are Hell bound the next we are Heaven bound.
b. Deliverance is eternal- this isn’t a temporary fix it’s a permanent fix.
1. 1 Peter 5:8-
2. Once as Dr. Harry Ironside preached in a certain place, he noticed a man in the crowd writing on a card, which he presently handed to the speaker. The man was Arthur Lewis, an agnostic lecturer, and he proposed a challenge to Dr. Ironside to debate the subject “Agnosticism versus Christianity,” and offered to pay all the expenses involved in the debate. Dr. Ironside read the card aloud to the audience and then said, “I accept your challenge on these conditions: “First, that you promise to bring with you on the platform one man who was once an outcast, a slave to sinful habits, but who heard you or some other infidel lecture on agnosticism and was helped by it and cast away his sins and became a new man and is today a respected member of society, all because of your unbelief. “Second, that you agree to bring with you one woman who was once lost to all purity and goodness, but who can now testify that agnosticism came to her while deep in sin and implanted in her poor heart a hatred of impurity and a love of holiness, causing her to become chaste and upright, all through a disbelief in the bible.“Now sir,” he continued, “if you will agree, I promise to be there with one hundred such men and woman, once just such lost souls, who heard the Gospel of the grace of God, believe it and have found new life and joy in Jesus Christ our Savior. Will you accept my terms?”
III. Our Prestige has Changed (13b-14)
A.We have a new ruler- when we were saved by Jesus we came into his Kingdom. We are now under his authority. He gives us salvation, hope, peace and joy. He loves us and will never leave us. Has Jesus made these changes in you?