Okay, we say Shalom once again. Today, we are going to continue our study in the book of Colossians, in the Brit HaChadasha. So please turn with me to Colossians, El HaKolossiim, as we say it in Hebrew, chapter 1. Colossians, chapter 1, and we are going to begin to read actually today from verse 9. Colossians, chapter 1, and verse 9. And I am reading. "For this cause, we also since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will, in all wisdom and spiritual understanding. that ye might walk worthy of the Lord, unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God, strengthen with all might, according to his glorious power, and to all patience, and long-suffering with joyfulness, giving thanks unto the Father.

And unto the Father, which has made us meet, or fit, or suitable, to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light. Who has delivered us from the power of darkness, who has delivered us from the power of darkness, and has translated us into the kingdom of the Son of his love. And unto the kingdom of the Son of his love, in whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins. Who is the image of the invisible God, who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature. For by him were all things created that are in heaven, and that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers.

All things were created by him, and for him. And he is before all things. And by him all things consist. And he is the head of the body, or the body, the church, or the assembly, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things he might have the preeminence. For it pleased the Father, that in him should all fullness dwell. And I stop here in verse 19. When I think of the book of Colossians, which oftentimes we neglect to study, because we like to study passages that has to do with the future kingdom, perhaps, when the Messiah of Israel will restore the nation of Israel, and will bring them about one day to himself, and where there will be a great messianic age.

We like to study those passages, which are very precious. And the promises of God are there for the future nation of Israel, as well as even for the heavenly company, the church, their blessing, and for the whole world. But when we study the book of Colossians, we learn certain things, beloved brothers and sisters, that belong to us today as believers in Jesus the Messiah, in the Lord Yeshua, in the Lord Jesus the Messiah. Now, listen, we have covered so far the first eight verses. And by way of introduction, we have already established the fact that this man, by the name of Paul, Shaul, this man, this apostle, have never seen this group of believers at Colossae.

In fact, when he's writing this letter to them, he was in jail in Rome. And here there was established an assembly, a congregation, a local church in the place called Colossae. And these young believers, they became believers in Yeshua the Messiah, and Paul heard about them. In fact, there was a man by the name of Apaphras, you notice in verse 7, as he also learned of Apaphras, our dear fellow servant, who is for you a faithful minister of the Messiah. Apaphras apparently came all the way to Rome to share with Paul the things that existed in Colossae among the people of God. Maybe Apaphras, some suggested he was one of the spiritual leaders there.

Maybe some suggest that Apaphras was a servant that had heard the message of the gospel through Paul, have moved back to his own home area, and there he was used by the Lord to present the gospel. So many came to faith in the Lord Jesus the Messiah, and a local assembly, a local church, a local congregation have been established. But he had concern for them. And so what does he do? He comes to Paul, all the way to Rome, and he began to share with Paul about the things that existed in the local congregation. There was danger. There were influences creeping in of all kinds of things, philosophy, vain deceit, human opinion, all kinds of things that had been creeping in to the assembly there, to the congregation there.

And Apaphras was concerned, so he's coming to the apostle Paul, and he's sharing with him what was going on in this local assembly. And Paul is writing and sending that letter. This letter of Colossians goes very well with the letter to Philemon as well, which perhaps also was in the same location. He also hosted the local assembly in his own home, this man by the name of Philemon. So here we are in this introduction, the salutation of Paul in verses 1 and 2, Paul giving thanks to God for the Colossians in verses 3 to 8. And here we are in verse 9. We move on into this first chapter. Now, you see, beloved, something that you and I often neglect to understand.

You see, we became Christian, Meshachiyim, Messiah followers, and we think that that's where it is. We are saved, hallelujah, praise the Lord. We are going to go to be in heaven one day, but we don't get a grasp of the place in which we have been brought into. Why? Simply because we are not enough in the Word. We are not enough, perhaps, focusing on the person of the Messiah. We are busy with all kinds of things that keep us away from the place that we have been brought into as believers in Yeshua the Messiah. And so here Paul, Shaul, writing from jail to these believers, and look what he's telling them.

From verses 9 to 11, Paul is praying, first of all, for those Colossians believers in Yeshua. He's praying for them. And notice what we read, first of all, in verse 9, he's praying for spiritual intelligence. Now, I'm not talking about human intellect here. He's praying, notice in verse 9, for spiritual intelligence. It says in verse 9, for this cause, we also since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you and to desire, and notice now, that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding. Now, I think it's so nice, we have had it, by the way, in our Bible class, in the book of Romans, we have studied Romans chapter 1.

Everywhere Paul is writing to believers, he's telling them, first of all, he's praying for them. You go and you find out in the many letters that he wrote, every time when our apostle Paul is writing a letter to the believers, he's somehow connecting them with the fact that he's praying for them. And he's saying to the Colossians, he's saying, we do not cease to pray for you. You will say, Paul, if there's anybody need to pray for anybody, we, the Colossians, who are free, who are living out in freedom in the Roman Empire, we could, we should have been praying for you, who is in jail, bound in Rome.

But he's telling the believers there at Colossians, you know what, we do not stop to pray for you. How wonderful it is. How wonderful to know when somebody doesn't stop to pray for us. Not stopping to pray for our needs, to pray for our families, to pray for our ministry, to pray for our health, to pray for the job situation, to pray. Here is Paul praying for them. But here in verse 9, specifically, he's praying, do not cease to pray that the believers at Colossae will have spiritual intelligence, spiritual understanding. Oh, how important it is. How sad for Christians, for Messiah followers, for people who follow after the Lord Jesus, who believe in him, and doesn't grow with their spiritual understanding.

And so what is he saying to them? He said, notice, that he might be filled with the knowledge of his will, in all wisdom, and spiritual understanding. You know what he wanted them to know? He wanted the believers at Colossae to be filled with the knowledge, not only mental knowledge or intellectual, the mind that will be very bright, but with the knowledge of the will of the Lord Jesus, the Messiah, in their lives. His will. His will. He wanted it just for us as well. If you think about this letter, that we will receive it from the Apostle Paul. And Paul will tell him to this little group of believers that gather together once a week or a few times a week for Bible classes and Shabbat, Saturday meeting, that we will be filled with the knowledge, not of my will, but of God's will, of the Messiah's will.

Ah! And he says here, in all wisdom and spiritual understanding. That means that we will be aware and taught by the Lord in the power of the Spirit of God. What is his will for us? You remember what he said elsewhere? Paul said to the Romans believers. Believers. You remember in Romans 12, verse 1, he says, I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world, but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

He said it to the Romans already in Romans chapter 12, that he wanted that they will be filled and they will know the good and acceptable and perfect will of God for them. Don't you think we need to know what is the will of God for us? And here, he is telling them that he wanted, he was praying that they might be filled with the knowledge of the will, of his will, the Lord's will. It is amazing. You know, sometimes we get quickly influenced by what somebody's will is for us in our life. Somebody's opinion and what we need to do and how we need, but you know what?

God has a will not only for each and every one of us individually. He has the will for the collective group of the people of God, a company, and also to have the mind and the will of God to know it with, as it says here, in all wisdom and all spiritual understanding. You know, spiritual understanding, we get by divine revelation. God revealed to us, give us to understand his mind, his will, as we read his word, as we are occupied with him. And that's what he's saying. And it's wonderful that he's praying for the believers at Colossae in such a way. And you know, brothers and sisters, I think for us too, we need to discern what is the will of the Lord in our lives.

When we hear somebody talk about the things of the Lord Jesus, opening the scripture, when we hear the radio and television and internet today and all kind of newspaper reports and all kind of magazines and so on, we need to discern, is it the will of the Lord? Is it from the Lord or is it from men? That's what he's telling them. He's praying that they will not be wishy-washy, that they will not be like tree that is moving in every direction because the wind is blowing to and fro, that we will be established, that we will be knowing his will in all wisdom and understanding.

Wisdom is knowledge applied. He's praying for a spiritual intelligence. You can see when a person have spiritual intelligence by the way in which he or she communicate the word of God with the other, because they are spiritually have been receiving help from the Lord to understand the word of God. So he's praying in verse nine. This is something for the knowledge, something to understand. And of course, to put it in our own hearts, but it's to know that the spiritual understanding understanding with all wisdom and spiritual understanding. Now in verse 10, it's the second thing he's praying for them. Not only that they will have something that will be in their mind, but he also want them to practically walk in that.

And notice he's saying in verse 10 now, that ye, it's a continuation. It's like you take verse one. For this cause also, since the day we heard it, we do not cease to pray for you. Now verse 10, that ye, here's the second request, that ye might walk worthy of the Lord. And to all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God. Notice the second thing. It's not only something for the mind, for the intellect, for the understanding intellectually, spiritual understanding, but he also wanted to bring it down to a practical walk. And that's why he's telling them that he might walk, notice, worthy of the Lord.

This expression, walk, is very interesting. You know, you walk, where do you walk? You walk on earth. You walk on your feet. You use your feet to walk. And the walking is the direction that we go, the things we do. We walk because we are influenced by what our mind tells us. That's where we go. That's what we do. Well, if we have the spiritual intelligence, it will help us to walk practically with a rubber meet the road. As he said that ye might walk worthy of the Lord. Worthy of the Lord. Yeah. You notice he said that ye might. He suggests here that, you know, there's always a need for help from the Lord, because we don't always walk worthy of the Lord.

We don't always do the things that is pleasing to the Lord. I think of sometimes when we want to testify to somebody about Jesus, about Yeshua. But even by our manner of behavior, the guys say, you call yourself a Christian? You say that you are a believer in Jesus. Look at the manner of your walk. Are you walking worthy of the Lord? Are we walking worthy of the Lord Jesus, the Messiah? Ah, yeah. We not always do so. In fact, many times we don't do so. But here, Paul is saying, that's the reason why I'm writing this letter to you. The reason I'm writing this letter to you, that you will not allow those influences coming in, philosophy, human opinion, vain deceit, all kind of things that later on he will show this to the believers.

You know, vain deceit, the rudiments of this world, he says, I am writing to you this letter in order to give you these guidelines to help you not to be influenced by all kind of things. That you will grow with spiritual intelligence, but also with practical obedience. You know the song that we sometimes sing, trust and obey. For there is no other way to be happy in Jesus, in Yeshua, but to trust and obey. Yeah, trust and obey. Two things. The trust suggests to believe. To obey means to obey. There is no other way to be happy in the Messiah, in Christ, in Yeshua, except we trust and obey.

There is no other way. There is no other way. And here, Paul is saying to the believers that Colossae said that ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing. You know what? When we walk in obedience to the Lord, what a pleasure it gives to God. You know why God gives him pleasure? Because everywhere he looks around in this world, he doesn't see that which he desires to see. You know how sin came into this world? It came into this world because of disobedience. And every time we obey, we somehow show the moral features of the Lord, Yeshua, the Messiah, and we give pleasure to God the Father.

But then again, it's the hardest thing for us to do, is to obey what God has told us. And in that, we fail again and again and again. Earlier also, we said about Romans 7, that Paul said, "The things that I want to do, that's I don't do. And the things that I don't want to do, that's I do." He says, "Oh, wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me?" No law will deliver you. No regulation will deliver you. No even turning up the page will deliver you. The only deliverance we have from disobedience is occupation with the Lord, Jesus, the Messiah. The only one who can deliver us.

Paul said in Romans, he thanked God through our Lord, Yeshua, the Messiah. And here Paul, praying for knowledge, spiritual understanding, spiritual intelligence in verse 9. "Praying for practical obedience, that ye might walk worthy of the Lord." In Ephesians chapter 4 and verse 1, he says, "Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord Jesus, I beseech you, that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called." Here is another way. He said, "Walk worthy of what?" Here in Colossians, "Worthy of the Lord." Ephesians 4:1, "Worthy of the vocation wherewith we are called." What are you called for? What am I called for? We are called to follow the Lord. And because we are called to follow the Lord, we are also called to walk worthy of the vocation with which we have been called worthy of the Lord.

In 1 Thessalonians, he also mentioned to walk worthy as well. In 1 Thessalonians as well, he is mentioning that request. 1 Thessalonians 2:12 Oh, beloved, just to impress you with these thoughts that Paul had in mind. Now notice in verse 11 now. We are in Colossians 1, now 11. The third thing he is praying for. He prayed for spiritual intelligence, verse 9. He prayed for practical obedience, verse 10. And now he is praying for godly character. In verse 11. "Strengthen with all might, according to the glorious power and to all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness." I am telling you when I think of this, you know, how can you ask them to do that, Paul?

What he is praying? He is praying for strength, for power, to be able to have godly character in the life of the Colossians. He is saying to them in this verse, "Strengthen with all might, according to his glorious power and to all patience, longsuffering with joyfulness." You know what he is praying for? He said, you know, often times we hear somebody talking about power. "I am in a power in the name of Jesus, the power of Jesus, and this one is going to happen to this and this one." But Paul does not pray for all kind of miracles. He is praying here that simply they will be able to have the power to walk in longsuffering and in patience with joyfulness.

You know, sometimes when you need patience with somebody you say, "Oh, I can't take it anymore." Yes, we have no patience whatsoever. You know what character, godly character, how do you think godly character is going to be produced in the life of the believer? How do we get a character of the Lord Jesus, the Messiah? How do we get through trials and sufferings and problems that produce godly character in the believer? And so the real power is not to see the mountain move from here to there. But to see a believer having patience, having long sufferings, and being joyful through it. That's the power. We like to see some have power or get power to what?

To have your problems over? To have your sicknesses gone away from you? Well, it's nice. God is able. He is able to give the blind to see. He is able to make the dead to rise. He is able to get the lane to walk. And he did it. But you know what Paul is saying here? He is praying that the believer will have the power of God to continue the life of the believer with patience, long sufferings, and being joyful about it. As it says here, with joyfulness. That is spiritual power. Spiritual power and godly character developed in the believer is when the believer going through trials and still learning and waiting and trusting the Lord and continue on and having the joy of the Lord in his or her heart.

That's spiritual power. And so that's what Paul is praying for the believers there at Colossae. Those verses, verses 9, 10, and 11. Brothers and sisters, this is what we need also in our life today. You and I need that. We need spiritual intelligence. We need practical obedience. We need Godly characters to be formed in our life. And Paul prayed for the Colossians. And we need to pray this for each other because that is where the reality is when we learn those things in our day-by-day life as believers. And we know that problems don't disappear. We still get sick. We still go through trial. We still have problems with families and children and parents and wives and husbands and friends and problems and jobs, financial problems.

Problems do not disappear. Problems do not disappear. I have yet to see a believer that has said all my problems are over. Spiritual power, godly character is being formed as we go through those trials with patience, with long sufferings, and being joyful in the process. Easy to talk, hard to walk. Now let's continue from verse 12 all the way to verse 20. Paul directs the Colossians to the preeminence of the Lord Jesus the Messiah. He is telling the Colossians, listen, really, the most important to understand the preeminence that the Lord Jesus ought to have in everything. He should be number one. And so he's giving them certain things to learn this fact.

And first of all, in verse 12, he is giving thanks to the Father for what the Father has done for the believer, for the Colossians. And notice he says in verse 12, giving thanks unto the Father, which has made us meet to be partakers in the inheritance of the saints in light. Giving thanks to the Father, to God the Father, which have made us meet or suitable. Well, how did he make us suitable? He made us, as Colossians, us in here in this present day, he made you and I, he made the believer meet, or in other words, suitable, fit. Fit to, as it says in verse 12, he made us fit to partake of the inheritance of the saints in light.

In purity, in holiness. To be partakers of inheritance? To be partakers of inheritance? Oh, yes. You know that you and I, as sons and daughters of the Father, we have an inheritance that we are about to receive. A large inheritance. And we are about to receive part is something that is coming our way that belongs to the believer. And God made us suitable to receive this inheritance, as it says, with all the saints in light, in purity, in holiness. Yes, sinners such as us. He made us fit. You ask yourself, how did he make me fit? This morning when I was reading these passages, I was thinking to myself, I fit for nothing.

Or myself, I don't fit, I don't deserve anything. If God, who knows my heart, how could God make me fit for what he has for me? What he has for us? Ah, yes, he made it fit. And nobody could unfit me and unfit you if you are a child of God. There is an inheritance that belonged to the believer in Yeshua, the Messiah. It doesn't say here that the believer made himself fit, but the Father made us fit to receive this inheritance that belonged to the saints in light. You know what that means? That means that if there is an inheritance that God is going to give to mankind, he has to do it in light, in holiness, in purity.

Which means, beloved brothers and sisters, that there is a price that needed to be paid in order to make the Colossians, in order to make us, the believers in this world, to make us fit for that which he has for us. And so in the next verses, he tells us what was the price and how he made it possible for us to be able to be fit, to meet, to be suitable, to be partakers of this inheritance with all the saints in light. How? How? How? Verses 13 and 14, he takes us the price that Yeshua, Jesus, the Messiah, the Lord Yeshua, the Messiah had to pay.

And so in verse 13 and 14, the Messiah here, he tells us of the Messiah being our Savior. So notice what he does. How is it possible for us to be meet, to be fit, to be suitable? Well, notice. So notice. First of all, he tells us in verse 13, A, that the Messiah have delivered us. It says here, who has delivered us from the power of darkness. Do you know what, beloved? You and I, by nature, are under the power of the darkness. The God of this world, namely Satan himself, and those that follow him, what we know as the demons, the fallen angels. We, or the whole world, was under the influence of the devil and his angels, the power of darkness.

We have been delivered, as it says in verse 13, from the power of darkness. Yes, the power of darkness. Why is it that people do not come to faith in the Lord Jesus, the Messiah, do you think? Because they are under the power of darkness. The God of this world, 2 Corinthians 4, have blinded the mind of them that believe not. That's why. We were there too. I was there. You were there once, before you became a believer in Jesus, the Messiah. We were in the power of darkness. Men love darkness rather than light. The Gospel of John teaches us. That's where we were. Can you imagine? The power of darkness and the satanic influence.

We needed to be delivered from there. We needed to be pulled out from there. We needed to be brought out because we were in darkness. And God has delivered us from that. He delivered us from the power of darkness. Darkness, beloved brothers and sisters. Just think. One day is going to come when we are going to be with the Lord Jesus in heaven. And we were going to look back. And we will see what he have done in order to deliver us from the power of darkness. How he brought us to himself. We who were just like the others. We have been delivered. You know, deliverance is what Israel had needed when they came out of Egypt.

They couldn't bring themselves out. God says, I will deliver them. I will bring them out. They couldn't come out of themselves. That's what God have done for us. For me. For you. That's what he have done. For you and I as believers in Yeshua the Messiah. He delivered us from the power of darkness. The power of Satan. You remember when we read in the book of Luke, chapter 16. When the rich man and Lazarus. And when Lazarus died, he went to Abraham's bosom. And when the rich man died, he went unto Hades. And in Hades, he was there in tormentation. And he was crying to Father Abraham.

To send Lazarus to his family. Because he did not want them to come to the same place that he found himself. And you know, that's exactly what happened. Had the Lord not delivered us from this power of darkness. That's exactly where we were. And where we are heading into. To eternal separation from God. And that's where the whole world is today. Who are unbelievers. Who are not accepting the Lord Jesus. Who have no redemption. They are exactly under the satanic power. In the place that he is calling here. He delivered us from the power of darkness. They are under the influence of the darkness. Of satanic possessions.

But you notice what he does. The second thing. Not only he delivered us in verses 13a. But in verses 13b. He have transported us. Or translated us. Into the kingdom of his dear son. Notice that? Who has delivered us from the power of darkness. Number one. But also. He has translated us. Into another kingdom. The kingdom of his dear son. Or you can call it differently. The kingdom of the son. Of his love. Oh yes. That's what happened beloved. The thought to be translated. Into the kingdom of his dear son. It's a positional truth. I know we are here in this world. That is in darkness.

Spiritual darkness. Satanic influence. Human opinion. And all these things. I know we are here. But you know. Every believer. Every believer. Have been already delivered. Positionally. And have already been translated. Or in other words for the. And transported. Once we were here. Once we were here. We have been transported. Into another kingdom. And that kingdom. Is the kingdom. Of the son. Of his love. You know. God. Love. His son. He loved his son. His son. You remember. In the baptism. Have been. And. In a. When he was baptized. Or dipped. Under. By. Matthew chapter 3. The heavens open. And God says. This. Is my beloved son.

In whom. I found. All my delight. You remember. In the mount. Of transfiguration. In Matthew chapter 17. Where God also. Opened the heaven. And he says. This. Is my beloved son. We beloved. Have been. Transported. From the kingdom. Of this world. To the kingdom. Of the son. Of his love. It's a different. Realm. All together. That same thing. That we often. Say. In Christ. In Messiah. We. Those that are. In Christ. In Messiah. A new creation. All things. Have passed away. All became new. And in 2nd Corinthians 5. And he's saying this. To the Colossians. Because you see. They were in danger. Because other people come. And they begin to teach.

Human philosophy. They begin to teach. Human opinion. They begin to teach. All kind of things. That were not to be. In the realm. Of the people of God. This is not what the Lord. Teaching us. In his word. And Paul. Is telling them. That. Listen. He says. We. You give thanks. To the father. For making us suitable. In verse 12. To meet us. To make us meet. To be partakers. Of the inheritance. Of the saints. In light. On the basis. Of the work. Of the Lord. Yeshua. The Messiah. He delivered us. From the power. Of darkness. And he transported us. Into another kingdom. He had transported us.

To the kingdom. Of his dear son. Thirdly now. We are still here. In this place here. In Colossians. Chapter 1. Verses 13 and 14. Notice now. In verse 14. Not only that he delivered us. In verse 13. Not only that he translated us. Or transported us. Into another kingdom. But you notice what he says. He also have redeemed us. Verse 14. 14. In whom. We have. We have. Redemption. Through. His. Blood. Now. How can. Anybody. Think. That they can. Receive redemption. Unless. It is. On the basis. Of the bloodshed. Of Yeshua. The Messiah. There is no possibility. To receive redemption. Unless. It is on the basis. Of the bloodshed. Of the bloodshed.

Of Yeshua. The Messiah. That is the only way. To receive redemption. And so. He is saying. In whom. We have redemption. Through. His. Blood. You know. Once upon a time. The Messiah. Of Israel. The Savior. Of this world. Came here. And he shed. His precious blood. That was the price. That he had to pay. He had. To shed. His precious. Blood. On the tree. And that. Is the price. That he had to pay. And it is only. Through his blood. You know. We cannot. Assume. That there is a way. To get redemption. To be delivered. From darkness. To be translated. To the kingdom. Of the son.

Of his love. Unless it is on the basis. Of the bloodshed. Of Yeshua. The Messiah. What shall wash away. My sins. Nothing. But the blood. Of Jesus. And this is actually. The fourth thing. That he says here. In this particular verse. In verse 14. In whom. We have redemption. Through his blood. And here it is. At the end. Of this verse. The forgiveness. Of sins. You know. Beloved brothers and sisters. Every sin. That you and I. Have committed. Have been forgiven. To us. Every sin. That we have committed. Yesterday. Every sin. That we commit. Now. And every sin. We commit. Tomorrow. On a basis. Of the blood.

Of Yeshua. The Messiah. Of us. Are forgiven. It doesn't give us. Of course. Justification. To its sin. And to continue in sin. No. But what it said to us. That we have received. Redemption. And we received. The forgiveness. Of sins. We don't only hope. That one day. We may receive. Forgiveness of sins. We have already. Received forgiveness. Of sins. It is through the blood. Of the Lord Jesus. And that's why. The Spirit of God. Will speak to us. And we say. Now. Because your sins. Are forgiven. Don't live. In sin. Don't continue. On. Regularly. Continuously. Living in sin. Seek to live. A life. That is pleasing.

To the Lord. And so. Here. In verses 13. And 14. He telling us. About. You see. He's talking about. The preeminence. Of the Messiah. He is preeminent. First of all. Because. He is the Savior. He is the Redeemer. He is the one. That translated us. From the power. Of darkness. He is the one. That brought us. Into the kingdom. The kingdom. Of God. The kingdom. Of his son. As we have. In verses 13. And 14. He delivered us. He translated us. He redeemed us. He forgave us. Those two verses. And let's bear this. In mind. Let's not allow. Anybody. To come. And tell us. You know what. Are you sure.

That your sins. Are forgiven. Let's not allow. All kind of human. Opinion. To come. To creep in. To shake us. From this fact. That this is exactly. What happened. To the believer. The moment. The believer. Accept Yeshua. As their Lord. And Savior. And Messiah. That is exactly. What happened. Deliverance. Translation. Redemption. And forgiveness. And forgiveness. Now. Move on. In verses 15. To 17. He tells us. Another thing. About the preeminence. Of the Messiah. He is not only. A savior. But he is also. A creator. Every time. I hear. Some groups. That come. To your door. Perhaps. Knock on your door. To you. That Jesus. Was a creature.

He was. Maybe. Angel. Gabriel. Or maybe. He was. One. That God. Have created. You know. And here. Paul. Now. Telling. To these. Colossians. Listen. Don't. Listen. To human. Lord Jesus. The Messiah. He is. Not only. A savior. But he is. Also. A creator. And notice. What he says. First of all. In verse 15. He says this. Who is. The image. Of the. Invisible. God. The first. Born. Of every. Creature. Now. Here. Is a. Very. Important. Point. To. Belabor. A little bit. You see. They say. You see. It says here. That he is. The image. Of the invisible. God. But it says. That he is. The firstborn.

He is the firstborn. Of every creature. So. In other words. If he is the firstborn. Of every creature. He was born. At one time. But the Greek. Here. Does not. Give us. This. Fact. You see. There is. One thing. Is to be. Firstborn. Another thing. Is to be. Born. For example. We are in Genesis. In our studies. In our evening meeting. The one that was born. First. To Isaac. Was. Esa. Jacob was. The secondborn. Even though. They are both. They are twins. But the firstborn. Who was born. First. Was. Esa. But Jacob. Was. After him. But the blessings. And the rights. And the title. And the position.

Was given. To Jacob. As the one. That. Received. As if. He. Was. Born. First. First. Born. Here. The point. Is. It's not. Firstborn. In. Natural. Birth. Only. Two. Thousand. Years. A. Cain. And Abel. Were. Born. Before him. But what. He's. Saying. Here. That. He's. First. In. Position. He's. First. In. Title. He's. Before. All. Creation. Because. Of. Who. He. Is. Can. Turn. There. Once. Again. Psalm. 89. I'll. Show. You. This. Hebrew. Expression. That. Speaks. About. A. Title. A. Position. Is. Firstborn. Not. In. In. Status. Psalm. 89. Speaking. About. David. We read. Today. In. This. Psalm. And. God. Was. Speaking. About. David. You. Notice. In. Verse. 20. He said. I have.

Found. David. My. Servant. With. My. Holy. Oil. Have. I. Anointed. Him. Established. Mine. Arm. Also. Shall. Strengthen. Him. Nor. The. Son. Of. His. Foes. Before. His. Face. And. Plague. Them. That. Hate. My. Faithfulness. And. My. Mercy. Name. Shall. His. Horn. Be. Exalted. I. Will. Set. His. Hand. In. The. Rivers. And. Notice. Now. Verse. And. Look. What. God. Saying. About. David. Also. I. Will. Make. Him. My. First. Born. Hither. Than. The. Kings. Of. The. Earth. Notice. God. Said. I. Will. Make. Him. But. My. First. Born. David. There. Were. So. Many. Individuals. That. Have. Been. Born. Before. David. But. God. Is. Speaking. That. He. Had. Given. In.

says not in time but in place and in status and so when the messiah entered into this world god gave him the status of first born of all creation even though he was not born first he was first born in title and in status and in rank it's like the queen of england if the queen of england is going to come to canada what's going to happen they're going to roll the red carpet they're going to give her a place of preeminence they will give her a high place in canada well when the son of god entered into this world as we read here he become entitled in status in rank he become the first

born of every creature he is the supreme the highest because of who he is that's the lesson that we learn here and when those that will come to your door will come and tell you about this verse you see the bible say that he is the first born well really if the bible if you mean that he was first born in physically enter into this world well he was only born became a man only two thousand years ago in bethlehem he could not be the first born in a physical sense there were others who were born before him but he became first born in rank first in rank first in title first in status that's

the place that god had given him when he entered into this world and you know what that's what the place that he was the place that he wants the colossians to give him he was to be the first born of every creature to have the preeminence you notice also in the same verse verse 15 it says that he is the image of the invisible god you want to see god you can't see the invisible god you want to see god it's like god put his print into this world it's like you know when you play in a sand and you have sand and you would put your hand into the sand and you will take

your hand out there is the print of your own hand but it's not it's like the exact image of your hand is mentioned there and so you want to see the invisible god you got to see him through the lord jesus the messiah you remember what the lord had to tell philip in the upper room he that has seen me have seen the father you want to see god you got to see him through the lord jesus the messiah and now notice quickly about creation because we are talking about he has been the creator you notice it says in verse 16 that everything he created if he was the born first well how could he

create everything look it says here in verse 16 and for by him were all things created that are in heaven and that are on earth visible and invisible whether they be thrones or dominion of principalities of power all things were created by him you see beloved brothers and sisters i mean this is mind-boggling this jesus the messiah yeshua ha-mashiach that were laying in a manger he was the same one that created heaven and earth i mean it is mind-boggling it's that's what the bible say that by him everything had been created the sun and the moon and the stars the mountains everything that everything that the whole creation were created by him it says things

that are in heaven things that are in earth and invisible things whether it be thrones or dominion do you know they said the principalities do you know that all the angelic beings have been created by him you know that satan who is lucifer who became who fell he was created by god created by here the lord jesus the messiah is the son of god he created everything the whole creation has been created by him three chapters in a new covenant attribute creation to the sun in genesis chapter 1 and verse 1 we have in the beginning god the plural created the heavens and the earth but you read john 1 you read hebrews 1 and

you read colossian 1 creation was attributed always to the sun always the sun in scripture is the one that is given to us as the creator let me show you this quickly and i'm going to close with this john 1 verse 1 we read in the beginning was the word and the word was with god and the word was god the same was in the beginning with god notice verse 3 all things were made by him and without him was not anything made which was made everything in creation was created by him beloved brothers and sisters that's why we can trust and be assured of the person of the lord yeshua the messiah because he

is the creator of god hebrews chapter 1 verse 1 god with sundry time and in diverse manner spake in time passed unto the fathers by the prophets as in these last days spoken unto us by his son and then it says whom he has appointed heir of all things and notice by whom also he made the worlds hebrews 1 and verse 2 everything that had been created had been created by the son and that's why he says here in verse 16 of colossian by him all things were created things that are in heaven things that are in earth visible and invisible whether they be thrones dominions principalities or power all things were created by him

praise god for that and you see in these verses when he's speaking about everything that had been created by him i just want to finish these two verses and then i'm done verse 16b says it's not only was created by him but it's also had exist for him do you know that everything is for him you see it says here in verse 16 it created by him but also for him do you know that you and i have been created for him you know that you will never be happy you'll never fit you'll never be satisfied unless you understand and that we have been created for his pleasure god wants us to enjoy him and

he enjoys us the whole creation had been made for the pleasure of the son of the messiah of the lord jesus it's for his pleasure everything that was created in this world is for his pleasure and you know what sooner or later the world will have to learn that the world will have to see that everything had been created for the pleasure of god for the pleasure of the lord jesus the messiah and it's never going to work without him without he having the pleasure and the enjoyment of having a human race and the world that he created for the human race together enjoying him and he enjoyed them it is created by him and

it is also for him and finally verse 17 he is holding all things together it says in verse 17 and he is before all things and by him all things consists how do you think that we call it in hebrew kadura it's the universe is being held how can things hold together how come we are walking on the ground on the floor and we are not gravity does not keep us down how come things are consist together how come the sun always rise on time and always set down on time how come the stars coming how is the galaxy working i don't understand all these things but you know everything is held together by him

he holds everything together one day he is going to take out gravity and all the redeemed are going to be raptured it is by his word he holds everything together everything is fixed together that's the person of the lord jesus the messiah that's what he's trying to tell the colossians as he's sharing with them concerning the person of the sun i know there's a lot yet to be said and i know that the time is quickly passing by but verses 13 14 he is the savior verses 15 to 17 he is the creator and we continue next from verse 18 on and we'll see why it is important to see that in everything he the

lord yeshua the messiah the lord jesus christ has to have the preeminence that's what he's fixing deeply in the heart of the believers at colossi