In verses 13-23, Paul and Timothy describe God the Father and Jesus.
- God rescued us.
- This means that we needed rescuing.
- From what? "the dark power of Satan" (v. 13)
- To where? "the kingdom of his dear Son" (v. 13)
- This may imply that we were in hell, or at least on the pathway to hell, before we were rescued.
- God's Son "forgives our sins and sets us free" (v. 14)
- Sins need forgiving
- Sins hold us captive
- Without forgiveness, we're not free
- Christ=God
- God can't be seen
- Christ took on human form, so Christ is God-who-can-be-seen
- Can we say that we've "seen" Abraham Lincoln or Plato or other historical figures?
- If yes, then we can say we've "seen" God through Jesus Christ
- Creation was made by and for God's son
- God's son preexisted all creation
- Does this mean that God existed in the infinite past, or simply that God prexisted our universe?
- The orthodox answer is yes, but is there a logical difference between the two possibilities?
- v. 17: by him everything / is held together
- This sounds kind of like the theory of monads by Leibniz
- Jesus is head of his body
- Jesus' body is the church
- Jesus is the first to be raised from death
- This can't mean the first to come back to life from an earthly perspective. There were resurrections in the Old Testament.
- In the Apostles' Creed, it says Christ "descended into hell"
- This is a disturbing phrase, but describes Jesus' spiritual death for our sins.
- A physical death and resurrection would not have been sufficient to save us from our sins.
- Calvin discusses this phrase here
- This puts Jesus above all others
- The greater the sacrifice, the greater the position of honor
- God lived fully in Jesus
- God was pleased to do so
- Does this imply that God is less pleased to live in us?
- No, because when we ask Jesus into our hearts, God sees us as he sees his son.
- This is an amazing and humbling and exciting truth
- God was "pleased" to have Jesusshed his blood on the cross
- The word "pleased" in this context must have an element of willingness, rather than excitement. No parent is excited to see his or her child suffer and die.
- I have two questions about verse 20b: all beings in heaven / and on earth / would be brought back to God
- Does this mean that Jesus' death applies to everyone? "all" can't mean every human being, because "wide is the pathway to destruction" (Matthew 7:13)
- Does this mean that Jesus' death provided salvation to heavenly beings? Or is it a statement related to the phrase "angels long to look into such things" (1 Peter 1:12)
- I used to be far from God
- Until getting right with God, everyone is far from God
- Jesus is our GPS to get us to heaven
- My thoughts separated me from God
- Often I feel like my thoughts still separate me from God
- I did evil things
- Some of the things I do now I would label evil
- Since Jesus became human and died for me, I'm forgiven before a holy God, despite my continuing struggles with sin and rebellion.
- Through Jesus, God made peace with me
- I'm allowed to stand in his presence
- Nothing and no one unholy or guilty or imperfect is allowed to do this
- Now I'm treated by God as "holy and faultless and innocent" (v. 22), which is different than saying I am actually "holy and faultless and innocent"
- Stay deeply rooted in my faith (cf. the parable of the sower)
- The gospel brings hope
- It is possible to lose hope as we go through life
- This message was preached to everyone
- Really? Not yet. This can't be an absolute statement of number. Not everyone has heard the good news yet. That's why we have missionaries.
- Paul and / or Timothy are servants of this message
- It is possible to be a servant of an idea, not only a person
- But all ideas are linked to individuals, so the two can't be separated entirely
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