“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.” (Col. 1:13 NIV)

You have been rescued from the dominion of darkness and brought into Jesus’ kingdom where you have redemption, the forgiveness of sins!

To be “rescued” means to be saved from a dangerous or distressing situation, to be retrieved from being lost, to be recovered, salvaged, gotten back.

Mephibosheth - a rescue story

Saul’s son Jonathan had a son named Mephibosheth.  He was five years old when the report came from Jezreel that King Saul and Jonathan had been killed in the battle of Mount Gilboa. When the child’s nurse heard the news, she picked him up and fled. But as she hurried away, she dropped him, and he became crippled. (Sam. 4:4). For a number of years thereafter, Mephibosheth lived in abject poverty in the house of Machir, a former servant in Saul’s house.

Mephibosheth was brought before David

After King David had subdued all the adversaries of Israel, Mephibosheth was brought before David, and when the king explained that it was his desire to exercise lovingkindness toward Mephibosheth by returning to him “all the fields of Saul” and by having him “eat bread at my table constantly,” Mephibosheth responded to the King with: “What is your servant, that you have turned your face to the dead dog such as I am?”

What a negative statement to make about himself! 

Even though Mephibosheth was the grandson of a King, was being shown lovingkindness by King David, having the great wealth of “all the fields of Saul” returned to him, and will now “eat bread at King David’s table constantly,” he still referred to himself as a “dead dog.” Imagine that! He had so much to rejoice about yet resorted to negative self-talk.

We sometimes do the same!

Just like Mephibosheth we sometimes say negative things about ourselves. It shouldn’t be so! No matter what happens to us our confession should remain positive because of what God has done for us! And say, “We are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.” (Rom. 8:37 NIV)

We have good reasons to be positive!

• God has rescued us and brought us into His family!

“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.” (Col. 1:13 NIV)

• He has bestowed extraordinary kindness and grace to us!

“See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!” (1 John 3:1a NIV)

• We are “new” and should think of ourselves that way!

“Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.” (2 Cor. 5:17 NASB)

“May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Thes.5:23 NIV)

According to the Bible, you are made up of three distinct parts: Spirit, soul, and body!

Understanding what this truth means to you personally, and as a follower of Jesus Christ, has great potential to help you tremendously!

Defining your three parts

1) Spirit

The part of you that you cannot see because it is invisible.

 Your spirit is like a radio or TV signal in that you cannot see them either, yet they exist and are very real. The Bible says that what you see (the physical world) is only “temporary” and what you cannot see (the spiritual world) is “permanent.” (2 Cor. 4:18)

This spiritual-world concept is a little hard for some to comprehend because they cannot physically see the spiritual world. But, it is true! The Bible tells us that God, Himself, is “spirit” and that we must “worship Him in Spirit and in truth” (John 4:24).

Inside each one of us is our own spirit which is the part of us that gets transformed when we become “born again”. Jesus explained this truth to Nicodemus in John 3:1-12.

Made brand new and perfect!

You become a new creature by Jesus, (2 Cor. 5:17), your spirit becomes instantly brand new and perfect, (1 John 4:17, 1 Cor. 6:17, Eph. 4:24)

And after that your spirit is sealed, protected, and kept by the Holy Spirit.

“After that you believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.” (Eph. 1:13 KJV)

2) Soul (your mind)

The part of you that thinks and reasons, which is your human mind.

 Your mind is not transformed instantly as your spirit is, when you receive Christ. You must continually work daily to bring your thinking into alignment with God’s Word, which is a lifelong process (Phil 1:6). This continual process “renews your mind” and enables you to “prove (demonstrate) what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” 

“And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” (Rom. 12:2 NKJV)

This process, or lack of it, explains why some born again Christians continue to struggle with fear, sin, and addictions, even though they are actually redeemed. The better you get at “transforming your mind” and bringing it into agreement with God’s Word, the more victorious you will be in life and as a Christian.

3) Body

The physical part of you.

Your body, the third part of you is the easiest part to understand because you can see and feel your human body. If I ask you how you feel you can easily know and tell me. If I ask you if you are cold or warm, you can easily answer.

This part of you, (your body) is not transformed when you become a Christian. If you are fat, skinny, tall, young, or old, when you are born again, you will be that way afterwards. The Bible calls your body “the temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 6:19), and also only temporary as in “jars of clay” (2 Cor. 4:7). We are told to take care of our bodies and someday they will die and our spirits will leave them (2 Cor. 5:6).

There will eventually come a day at the appearing of Jesus that our bodies, too, will be transformed and we will then have brand new transformed ones, (2 Cor. 5:3).

To recap

The Bible says, “as long as we are in this earthly tent” (your body), you must work to do everything you can do to serve God faithfully until He returns, (Heb. 3:14-18).

You must study your Bible to discover God’s truths (2 Tim. 2:15) and apply them to your thinking to transform your mind (Rom. 12:2).

You must pray for and about things (spirit), (1 Thes. 5:16-18).

God will do it!

And, finally, the next verse following today’s promise about your spirit, soul, and body says that God Himself, will make it happen for you “He will do it”, because He is “faithful!”

“The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do it.” (1 Thes. 5:24 NIV)

And, that too, is an amazing and wonderful promise!

“To be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.” (Eph. 4:23-24 NIV)

To be made new in the “attitude of your minds” is interesting when you consider the definition of the word “attitude”. The definition is typically one that is reflected in a person’s behavior. So, this could mean to be made new in the “behavior” of your mind. Some synonyms for attitude are: viewpoint, outlook, perspective, stance, standpoint, position, and inclination.

It is a doable choice!

This verse also says to “put on the new self”. This means you can choose to put it on! You can choose how you think and respond to things. You can choose to have a good attitude (a good viewpoint, outlook, perspective, stance, standpoint, position or inclination) in any circumstance if you decide to and just put your mind to it! You can choose to “put on” a good attitude.

The Bible puts it this way

 “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” (Rom. 12:2 NIV). Then, as our promise at the top says, you will be able to be “like God in true righteousness and holiness.”

“His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.” (2 Peter 1:3 NIV)

Wow! The Apostle Peter says in this passage that God “has given us everything”. That is a straight forward promise! It’s a done deal! But, I believe we don’t always remember that wonderful fact. At least in the lyrics of some of our church worship songs anyway!

Worship music words that are “anti-promise” bother me!

I “usually” love to sing the worship songs at church. There are so many great ones. Accept, occasionally, when the words are unbiblical or inappropriate for New Testament believers.

For instance

I travel a lot, and visit many churches, so I get to hear lots of worship songs. A song that seems to be popular right now has words that say, “God come down!” (And, it’s repeated over and over many times). It has a great tune and is easy to sing.

My problem with it? God has already come down!

He did it in the form of Jesus, who is “God with us”. (Matt. 1:23) And, He has clearly promised, “I will never leave or forsake you” (Heb. 13:5). And, when we receive Him, he comes to live inside of us (John 1:12, Gal. 2:20, Rom. 8:11).

We do not have to ask God to do what He has already clearly said He has done in His Word! And, when we ask Him to give us that which He has already clearly supplied, it demonstrates a lack of faith! It doesn’t build faith, it does just the opposite!

When songs with these kinds of words are sung at churches I attend, I just think about what the Word of God actually says instead of singing along (I do this discreetly of course). I understand, too, that God understands the intentions of the heart, and that is good news.

So, why are we asking Him (in some of our worship songs) to do what He has already done? I’ve pondered this question many times.

One possible answer

Perhaps we are just forgetful and need reminders about what the Bible says about these things! Our promise for today says, “His Divine power has given us all that we need,” which is certainly true! But, further down in the same passage, Peter says the following.

“So I will always remind you of these things, even though you know them … .” And, “I think it is right to refresh your memory…” (2 Peter 1:12-13)

He says the same thing twice! Perhaps it’s because we often forget basic truths we shouldn’t forget.

It’s through knowledge

The last part of this promise says that God has supplied our needs “through our knowledge of him.” And, that is a reminder that we must study the Bible so that we are knowledgeable about what He has already done!

“I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my loving eye on you.” (Psalm 32:8 NIV)

A few years ago Susan and I took a short vacation with our daughter and her two, five-year-old, twin girls. As we walked along together at the busy airport, the girls stayed between their mother and us, and they continually looked up to make sure we had our eyes on them. And, of course we did, because we love them! We made sure they knew where to go at all times, and that they we’re always safe.

In the same way, God has “His loving eye” constantly on you. He will “instruct you in the way you should go!” And, that’s a powerful and comforting promise that you can take with you wherever you go!

“Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled.” (John 14:27 KJV)

A wonderful tool!

God gives you peace and it is a wonderful tool to help you in your decision making. It has saved me many times from making wrong decisions. 

Check your heart for peace!

When I have to make a big decision, I check my heart to make sure I have God’s peace about it. Sometimes, everything looks perfectly fine on the surface; I can’t see anything wrong, yet I don’t have peace about the decision. When this happens, I stop and wait. Often, the answer becomes clear later and I am then very glad that I didn’t move forward without peace.

Let the peace of God rule!

“Let the peace of God rule in your hearts.” (Col. 3:15 KJV) This is good counsel to follow! 

It could even save your life!

I have a friend who was scheduled to fly to Africa for a speaking engagement. He was very excited about going and everything was arranged and looked good. But, just before he was to leave, he felt a sudden heaviness in his heart about going and no peace about it. So, even though he had already purchased his ticket, he decided not to go.

Soon after, he was very glad he had decided to “let the peace of God rule in his heart,” and not go on the trip to Africa, because the airplane he was scheduled to be on crashed and all passengers perished!

“If God be for us, who can be against us?” (Rom. 8:31 KJV)

The answer to the question in the above passage, of course, is “No one!” Because God is God and no one, or anything else, is greater than Him! He paid a lot to redeem you (John 3:16), and He will not allow anyone to take what is His (which is you!) That is made very clear in the very next few verses.

“He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifieth. Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.” (Rom. 8:32-34 KJV)

In other words

He has your back, and that’s a huge promise!

“For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight.” (Eph. 1:4 NIV)

Did you know that God chose you to be adopted into His family? It’s true, and that was His plan all along!

And wait, there’s more! 

And, on top of that, He has made you “holy and blameless in his sight!” When he looks at you, He looks right past any kind of blemish and only sees you as His perfect child, made that way through the cleansing blood of His Son, Jesus Christ!

And why did He do this?

Because he loves you! (John 3:16). You are chosen and loved by God! And he backs it up, not simply with words, but with His power, with His Holy Spirit, and with His deep conviction!

“For we know, brothers and sisters loved by God, that he has chosen you, because our gospel came to you not simply with words but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and deep conviction.” (1 Thess 1:4-5 NIV)

So, hold your head up high with complete confidence! After all, look who your adoptive father is!

“If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.” (James 1:5 NIV)

The Bible says that God WILL “generously give you wisdom” if you simply ASK Him for it without wavering (James 1:5-6).

That is a very important promise for you to take advantage of!

Just look at all of its benefits listed in Proverbs 3:13-19

“Blessed are those who find wisdom, those who gain understanding, for she is more profitable than silver and yields better returns than gold. She is more precious than rubies; nothing you desire can compare with her. Long life is in her right hand; in her left hand are riches and honor. Her ways are pleasant ways, and all her paths are peace. She is a tree of life to those who take hold of her; those who hold her fast will be blessed. By wisdom the Lord laid the earth’s foundations, by understanding he set the heavens in place.” (Proverbs 3:13–19 NIV)

 To recap:

1) Better returns than silver and gold!

2) More precious than rubies!

3) Nothing you desire compares with it!

4) Long life!

5) Riches!

6) Honor!

7) Pleasant ways!

8) Paths of peace!

9) A “tree of life”

10) You’re blessed!

Wow! Wow! Wow! That’s why the next verse says …

“Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding.” (Proverbs 4:7 KJV)

Therefore

Make getting wisdom your principle thing! It’s just that important! ASK God for it, and then you will get to enjoy the many wonderful promises that come along with it!