Series: Jesus Manifesto
Message: Getting Out of the Darkness
Preacher: Paddy McCoy
Reflection: Japhet De Oliveira
Live Wonder: Zan Long
Live Adventure: Zan Long
Live Beyond: J. Murdock
Live Purpose: Lydia Svoboda
Editor: Becky De Oliveira
Refresh: Begin with prayer. Ask for the Holy Spirit to open your heart to new understanding and for God’s character to be revealed.
Read: Colossians 1:11-14 in the English Standard Version (ESV). Note 1–3 insights or questions.
Reflect: Wake up and smell the roses. That is what we need to do every day. Remember there is more to life than struggle. We live and operate under a paradigm that demands qualifications for everything. Those qualifications are constantly increasing. It used to be (not so long ago) that high school graduation was considered an achievement. Families would share stories of how they were the first person in their family to graduate from high school. Today, even an undergraduate is often not enough; post-graduate education is not enough. Terminal degrees are not terminal but just the beginning.
That pressure to be qualified is in every sphere. Academics, business, and health. We expect more and we demand more. We generate more and produce more. The bar always has to be raised. Ten days ago a story in the New York Times reported that Elon Musk is experimenting with having neuralinks built from “sewing machine-like” robots so that our brains can be wired to the Internet! Extreme bar? What qualifications will you expect the “super employee” to have? Will there be a day when we need neuralinks to be employed in any capacity?
That same pressure to be qualified is easily translated in faith development and faith engagement. No wonder that we feel the pressure to be qualified. We long for a different experience and believe we need to earn it. We try so hard.
That pressure is not new. It existed in Paul’s day as well, and speaks into our lives two thousand years on. That is why Paul wrote, in Verse 12, ”Give thanks to God, as He is the one who qualifies you.” Not us. Not our skills. Not our experiences. Not our knowledge. Not our heritage. Not our determination. It is God to whom we give thanks. He can bring us into a space of light and goodness. Only He can and does transform us. Only God.
Recalibrate: Can we be over-qualified in our faith engagement and development? What qualifications are necessary to follow God?
Respond: Share a prayer of thanks.
Research: Read one of the recommended commentaries on this passage.
Remember: “The Son paid for our sins, and in Him we have forgiveness” (Colossians 1:14, ICB).
Japhet De Oliveira is administrative director for the Center for Mission and Culture at Adventist Health in Roseville, California.
Does your little one have a nightlight in their room? Our granddaughter Zoe likes it to be completely dark while she is asleep. As soon as she is awake she wants out of the dark and the lights turned on, so she calls out as loud as she can and someone comes. This is what redemption does. When we know we are in the dark and want out but have no way of doing it ourselves, Jesus comes and turns the light on in our lives now and for eternity. This is what redemption is. Cry out, call His name, and He will come, bringing the light.
Watch the Moses story again. The beginning of this story is about all the people who were descendants of Joseph and his brothers. Descendants is a really big word. It means all the people who are in your family. Imagine all the people in your family being stuck in the dark and you have a torch that can shine a light so they can find their way home. Jesus is the light and He wants to share His super powers with you so He can bring His family home.
Have you ever played one of those giveaway games they sometimes have for food or drinks? I used to get so excited about the McDonald’s Monopoly Giveaway that happened every year. By going to Mickey D’s and ordering certain things, you would get two game pieces on your box or cup that you peeled away to reveal which spaces on the Monopoly board you owned. And just like the board game, when you collected all the properties of a certain color you won a prize. It’s amazing to think that these tiny little pieces of paper held any value at all. And on their own, most of them didn’t. But when you got three of the same color, suddenly they were not just pieces of paper, they were free food, iPods, or video game consoles. I wanted so badly to redeem my pieces for something amazing.
In Verse 14, Paul uses the word “redemption” which is not quite the same idea as what I’ve discussed above. Redemption here means to be saved from something bad you’ve done in your past. We’ve all done bad things we aren’t proud of. And it seems like every time we think about that thing we did, it makes us feel sick and gross. What I wouldn’t give to suddenly not feel so yucky anymore. Paul says we aren’t meant to feel that way. And because of Jesus, we don’t have to feel bad anymore if we choose to walk with Him. If we are willing to accept Jesus as our Savior, and follow Him in His ways, then we are redeemed. And we can cash in our faith for freedom from sin (and those feelings of shame from our mess-ups).
He strengthens you, empowers you, qualifies you, delivers you, and redeems you. He does it all. His goodness is enough. You can do nothing of your own efforts—you can only look at Him, in and from whom everything you need comes. Therefore, there is never anything worthy of worry. He is faithful to be, and by being He is everything.
Zan Long is GRC director for faith development for ages 0-17. She lives in Sydney, Australia, and serves at her local church in nearby Kellyville.
J. Murdock is associate pastor at Boulder Adventist Church in Boulder, Colorado, where he focuses on youth and young adult ministry.
Lydia Svoboda is a junior theology major at Union College in Lincoln, Nebraska.