Colossians 1:9-14 (NIV)
For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you. We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives, so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light. For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
CONSIDER THIS
The dictionary has two primary definitions of gravity:
1. The force that attracts a body toward the center of the earth, or toward any other physical body having mass.
2. Extreme or alarming importance; seriousness.
I would combine them in saying this: Gravity is an extremely serious matter.
Gravity is what holds us down.
We are born into the gravity of sin, death, and darkness. We know this because God has revealed it to us through his Word. We also know it through our experience. Sin, death, and darkness have a hold on the human race. It is inescapable.
But what if I told you there was another gravitational center—far larger and infinitely stronger than the gravity that presently holds us down? What if there was a gravity that would hold us up? That’s what today’s text reveals to us:
”For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the Kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.”
The first half of the gospel is the revelation that in Jesus Christ we are rescued from the gravity of sin, death, and darkness and delivered into the gravity of love, life, and light.
When a person enters into the first half of the gospel they are undergoing a massive shift in their center of gravity. It is like they are being transferred from one gravitational pull and into another one.
Look at how our text from yesterday captures this shift:
Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death. (Romans 8:1-2)
The center of gravity has shifted.
In other words, “the old has passed away. Behold, the new has come.”
The old gravity still has force, and sadly, all too many Christians allow themselves to remain stuck within it. There is only one way to escape it—not by trying harder or by will power but by giving one’self completely and wholeheartedly to Jesus Christ and becoming caught up in the gravity of his Kingdom. That’s what the second half of the gospel is all about.
THE PRAYER
Lord Jesus Christ, son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner. I will not ask you to deliver me from the gravity of sin—because you have already done it. I now belong to you and I will become caught up in the gravity of you and your Kingdom. Come Holy Spirit and teach me this new way and train me in the powerful way of walking in it. I pray in Jesus’ name, Amen.
THE QUESTION
What will it look like for you to be completely caught up in the gravity of Jesus and his Kingdom. Take some time and journal out your response.
For the Awakening,
J.D. Walt
2 Responses
Just as I am, without one plea,
But that Thy blood was shed for me,
And that Thou bidst me come to Thee,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come.
Just as I am, and waiting not
To rid my soul of one dark blot,
To Thee whose blood can cleanse each spot,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come.
Just as I am, though tossed about
With many a conflict, many a doubt,
Fightings and fears within, without,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come.
Just as I am, poor, wretched, blind;
Sight, riches, healing of the mind,
Yea, all I need in Thee to find,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come.
Just as I am, Thou wilt receive,
Wilt welcome, pardon, cleanse, relieve;
Because Thy promise I believe,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come.
Just as I am, Thy love unknown
Hath broken every barrier down;
Now, to be Thine, yea, Thine alone,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come.
Just as I am, of that free love
The breadth, length, depth, and height to prove,
Here for a season, then above,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come!
For me, the goal of the second half of the Gospel is this: “Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is Christ. From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.” (Ephesians 4:15-16)