July 24, 2024
Praying Friends,
On August 5, 2010, 33 Chilean miners were trapped 2,300 feet below the surface of the ground when the main mine shaft collapsed. They were not only in pitch black darkness, but from their perspective, their situation was absolutely hopeless.
They spent 69 days in the darkness of the Atacama gold and copper mine in northern Chile. On October 13, 2010, a special rescue capsule miraculously lifted them to safety. Words cannot describe what a rescue like this meant to both those delivered and those family members waiting on the top side.
Without exaggeration, it was one of the most amazing rescue feats in history — but not the most amazing.
Listen to the words of Paul as he speaks to the Colossian believers, “For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves” (Colossians 1:13 NIV).
The “He” in this text is none other than God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. The eternal Father is the originator of humanity's grand rescue mission.
This plan to deliver humanity from the extremity of sin goes back into the ages of ages prior to the creation of our world. As Paul wrote to the Ephesian believers, he said, “For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight” (Ephesians 1:4). So we were miraculously in the mind of God the Father long before our lives came into existence.
This is a glorious truth that God knew us, saw us, loved us, accepted us, and chose us in Christ before we even committed a single sin. It is truth that should fill our hearts with worship. The choosing was not a random selection trillions of years ago. No, God chose everyone who was willing to choose His Son!
Peter considers another angle when he says, “He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake” (1 Peter 1:20). Not only were we chosen in Christ, but Christ, Himself, was chosen to be the one who would bring about our rescue. God knew what He was doing!
This one word “rescued” carries so much significance and meaning. Hidden within this word is all that needed to happen for the rescue to occur.
For sinners to be saved, the Son would need to leave the Father for a time. It was John who said, “And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world” (1 John 4:14).
To leave heaven, the holy of holies, and the Father’s side was a momentous move that changed the course of time, eternity, and all existing beings forever. This is the greatest separation ever known in the existence of God.
For sinners to be saved, the Son needed to become one of us. In the words of Scripture it says, “Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness” (Philippians 2:6-7).
Jesus became what He never was before: a human being. This experience of the incarnation of Jesus reveals the depth of love that is in His heart for us. He subjected Himself to poverty, to hardship, to shame, to rejection, to hatred, to tragedy, to hostility, and to trials and temptations.
While He was perfectly sinless, He experienced the full orb of human existence, because He was a real human. He was not a superman, or some sort of different kind of human. He was a real baby, a real boy, a real man.
For sinners to be saved, the Son would need to suffer and die. Sin brings death (Romans 6:23), thus making death a requirement to put sin away. He had to die. God chose the most difficult and cruelest of deaths. The death of crucifixion, with the Son hanging between heaven and earth, was how our Savior died.
Again Paul said, “And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death — even death on a cross!” (Philippians 2:8).
For sinners to be saved, the Son would need to be victorious. There was no doubt that Jesus would be triumphant over His enemies, but the experience of doing so would not be easy.
He suffered for sin. He entered into death. He fought with the devil. He endured hell and came through it all as a mighty conqueror over it all. We are thankful that the Son is seated with His father in glory (Hebrews 1:3).
The last thing Paul emphasizes is the reality of two mighty domains, and our transfer from one to the other. Most of us never thought of this the day we trusted Christ as our Savior, but the Father in His might, transferred us from Satan’s dominion to the kingdom of His own loved Son.
We are no longer under the authority of the evil one. Our allegiance is to our Lord Jesus Christ. He is our Savior and our King.
Thank you for praying today for our prodigals and for revival among us.
Love in Christ,
Bryan and Rachel
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