June 1, 2025 Rooted Wk. 6 Rescued, Redeemed, and Reigning: Your Identity in Christ (Col. 1:3-2:7)

Sure, here is the podcast transcript:

**[00:00:00]** We thank you for dying for us. We thank you for giving your life for us that we may live in and through you. Jesus, I pray now as we open your word, please cause our minds to focus. I pray for my mind to focus and to land the planes and not be swirling all around Jesus, that we would be true to your Word and your Holy Spirit would take your word and make it come alive. In Jesus name I ask this. [cite_start]Amen. [cite: 2, 3, 4, 5, 6]

**[00:00:30]** We've been looking at rooted so that we equip ourselves now that we can fight like Jesus later. [cite_start]And we specifically been looking at fighting against our strongholds, our strongholds in our lives. [cite: 7, 8] And strongholds are these things that Paul talked about to the church at Corinth, which is really interesting that Dusty went to that passage today because the church at Corinth had this issue where they were looking at and falling prey to wrong thinking. They were falling prey to those people who are trying to insert themselves into the church. And Paul had to set things right. And so he dealt with, he said, you're not going against these things of flesh, but you're actually fighting against these powers of darkness, the evil one. [cite_start]And he challenged them to demolish and get rid of these strongholds. [cite: 8, 9, 10, 11]

**[00:01:21]** And so today we want to look... Normally, I'm not very good at this, but it actually just presented itself today. [cite_start]But we're going to look at how we are rescued, redeemed, how Christ reigns, we are reconciled, and rooted. [cite: 13] And we looked at these, the idea of strongholds. And strongholds are these fortresses. Right? These are the engines that create the lies. These are the engines. These are the sources that are creating these lies that the evil one uses and gets into our thinking. [cite_start]And so Paul says, look, you need to deal with these things. [cite: 14, 15, 16, 17]

[cite_start]**[00:02:00]** And so some strongholds that I think are prevalent, I know in my life, and we want to go and we want to annihilate those strongholds so that Christ can live in us more richly. [cite: 18, 19] So the stronghold one, you may say, you find your world, you say, I am so overwhelmed. And knowing many, many folks in this room, that is the case. You came into this service today. You came in and plopped yourself down, weighted down, overwhelmed. I think of Nancy Huff and her family, what she's going through right now. [cite_start]We walk around weighted down and we feel absolutely overwhelmed by the pressures from the entire world, from the evil one loves to bring on these pressures. [cite: 20, 21, 22, 23, 24]

**[00:02:44]** Another one, comparing is my one weakness that no one else has to deal with. I'm being sarcastic in that, right? That how many of you, you don't have to raise your hand, struggle with comparing? Anybody else struggle with comparing? That's dishonest. Right? You know, we, we, we struggle with comparing others. [cite_start]Um, if God really cared about me, he would… [cite: 25, 26, 27, 28] dot dot dot dot dot. And that's that's that's the thinking. That's the stronghold of like, okay, if, if, if God were really loving, if he really loved me, then I would be like this, I would be like that, or I would have this, I wouldn't have that. And we, we quickly compare and it's not necessarily stuff. [cite_start]It could be many things. [cite: 28, 29, 30]

**[00:03:30]** When you think about it, that comparing is the chief killer of contentment. Comparing is a chief killer of contentment. Christ wants us to be confident and content in who he is, but as soon as we start comparing, we look at somebody else's warts. We look at somebody else's issues. Their issues aren't as bad as mine. That's not how we're supposed to look. It's not saying that your issues aren't big. It's not saying that those things that you have going on in your life are not difficult. But God doesn't want us looking to the right or to the left. He wants us to be looking heavenward. [cite_start]He wants us looking at who he is and his nature and what he has done for us. [cite: 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36]

**[00:04:13]** The last one, I'm just so unlovable. If if God really knew me, if he knew, if, if you knew the person sitting next to me, sitting down the road from me, if they really, truly knew me, they would not want to sit next to me. If they only knew what I've done in my life. If they only knew the things I'd done, the places I've been, all these things, I would not. [cite_start]And you, you fill in that gap and you have those things going on in your mind. [cite: 37, 38, 39, 40]

**[00:04:40]** And so as we look at this passage today, we're going to be in Colossians. And Paul is writing to this church here. And it's an amazing, it's an amazing letter. It's an encouraging letter, especially because Paul's never been there. Paul never saw these folks. And he writes this letter encouraging them, explaining to them in more detail when they put their faith and trust in Christ, when they made Jesus Lord, this is now what empowers them. This is now what grows them. [cite_start]This is now what works in through them. [cite: 41, 42, 43, 44, 45]

**[00:05:14]** So we're in Colossians chapter one, we'll start in verse 13. He rescued us from the domain of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of the son he loves. In him we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. Christ is laid out here. God has laid out through Paul. [cite_start]Paul is telling the church at Corinth, or excuse me, at Colossae, he's like, look, I don't think you quite understand exactly how big this is, but you have actually been rescued from the darkness. [cite: 46, 47, 48, 49, 50]

**[00:05:49]** Last week we looked at what it means to be reconciled. And I want to expand that a little bit further. And later on we're going to look at how he reconciled us here. But we at Creation, right? Creation, we are perfect. God created us perfect. We had no sin. Mankind chose to corrupt himself. Mankind chose to corrupt herself, right? Each one of us, if we were there, we place ourselves, we would have chosen that, right? So now we're self-corrupted. [cite_start]And with that, corruption now puts us at enmity with God. [cite: 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57]

**[00:06:23]** And this, this picture here that's used later on, the idea of us being actually part of a different kingdom, the kingdom of darkness, because the evil one wasn't happy. Satan was not happy just to be by himself. [cite_start]He wanted other people to be rejecting God as well. [cite: 58, 59] And so when, when you were born, when I was born, I was, we were born corrupted. Remember? We, we looked at like, you don't have to teach your kid how to lie. You don't have to teach your kid how to be angry. You don't have to teach your kid how to sin, right? You do that. They do that naturally. [cite_start]That's your, um, cruise mode, right? [cite: 60, 61, 62, 63, 64] When you when you rely on yourself, you start thinking selfishly. Lucy probably never had to teach Dominic how to be a naughty kid. [cite_start]He just did it naturally, right? [cite: 64, 65] I know my kids. I pick on them all the time. Like Bryson, who's talking right now. Uh, he didn't, he didn't have to. Like, I didn't have to teach him his, his one line. And he won't look at me right now, but his one line that he used to say as a kid all the time, like from wee wee wee little, that's one of the first sentences he learned is I can do myself. I can do it myself. In his own little version of that. And he would, he was so independent. I'd go in there to get him out of his crib and he would literally crawl back in. He would go on the, on the changing table thing, crawl back and jump back in, and then he himself would crawl out. [cite_start]Right. [cite: 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72]

**[00:07:35]** We, that's something that's within us. We, we are totally self-dependent, right? When, when we are born, no one had to teach us that. No one had to teach us that we, we are by, um, by rote, we, we think and we focus on ourselves and we depend on ourselves. [cite_start]And then we also get discouraged and dis, and, uh, and frustrated with ourselves. [cite: 72, 73, 74, 75, 76]

[cite_start]**[00:08:00]** And so when Paul says here, that he has rescued us from the domain of darkness, and then, then we have this powerful word here, He transferred us into the Kingdom of the Son. [cite: 76, 77, 78] Okay. So this this is this is salvation. This is where it gets good. This is who you are in Christ. So when the evil one wants to get in your face, get in your head and and get all these things at you, this is this is where you take your knowledge back to what God has said. And this is the word we have here, that God has transferred us into his kingdom. And this word here, it depends nothing on you and on me. There's no power in us whatsoever to do that. And the word is done. It literally means it's done by God. It's done once and it's permanent. Permanent. Never ending, never changing. He did all the work. You can't do any of it. You and I are just beneficiaries, right? We get the benefits of it. But he did all the work. He transferred us. He took us from this darkness, literally. It's this one time and it's an immediate thing. Boom. At conversion, he takes us from the grips of the evil one and now transfers us into his kingdom. And we have the promise of eternity with God forever. [cite_start]Because you and I are joint heirs with Christ. [cite: 78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89]

**[00:09:20]** So that's what, when, when you make Christ Lord of your life and you begin this relationship with him, not religion. Religion is this list of doing things, coming, coming to church, doing the right things, you know, just being a good person, quote, unquote. You can't do any of that. Religion will not get you anywhere but on the waiting list to hell. Religion does nothing for you and me. But guess what? My relationship does. [cite_start]Because my relationship with God tells me is that he didn't just rescue me, but he literally transferred me into his kingdom of the son, which he loves. [cite: 90, 91, 92, 93, 94]

**[00:10:00]** And Christ has redeemed us. So we have this rescue that takes place. We have this redemption now that takes place as well, that he has redeemed us. He has given us this forgiveness of sins. He has taken what we could not deal with this debt of sin. And he has put his blood toward that, and he has given us the forgiveness of sins. Again, nothing to do with you. Nothing to do with me. It's all on him. [cite_start]It's all based on his power. [cite: 95, 96, 97, 98, 99]

**[00:10:30]** So how does that translate into everyday life of a teenager, of a mom, of a retiree who's trying to figure out their purpose in life? They used to be so busy with work, they feel like they had a purpose. But now what is it? I'm on the boat. I'm on this. I got grandkids, I don't know what to do. It's not all about golf. It's not all about this. And it's getting back to the understanding of, look, you know what? You and I have been redeemed. When you put your faith and trust in Christ, he took your sins. He took your sins, which amounted to a bunch. And my sins that he wiped those all away. [cite_start]And he has redeemed us, and he has wiped away our sins and made us clean. [cite: 100, 101, 102, 103, 104, 105, 106, 107]

**[00:11:15]** So when the evil one throws at us, well, you know what? You know what? Leah, back in the day, you did dot dot dot. Frank. You know what? Back in the day, you know, how could God really love you? Because you did this, this and this. Ethan, you know what? God, you know, does God really love me? Because, you know, back in the day, I did X, Y, and Z. That's what the evil one does, right? He gets inside of our heads and we all have them. And what we have to realize is that, no, yeah, it has nothing to do with me. If I feel inadequate, it's because I am in my own power. I am inadequate, but through Christ, I am more than adequate. [cite_start]You and I, through Christ are more than adequate. [cite: 108, 109, 110, 111, 112, 113, 114, 115]

**[00:11:58]** So when the evil one tries to throw this rubbish in your face and in your mind and try to surround you, you take the truth back to him. What God says, no, no, no. I've been. I've been redeemed. [cite_start]I've been rescued. [cite: 116, 117] In this area. Right here. Oh, boy. My hope is that you go home today. And this week you dig into this passage because there's so much here. [cite_start]We don't have the time because it would take hours and hours and hours and days to get into everything that's in this area. [cite: 118, 119, 120]

**[00:12:28]** And speaking of that, I know last week I felt rushed and a good brother of mine, we were talking afterwards, Zach, I'm sure, won't mind to be telling on him. But God's been doing some pretty cool stuff in Zach's family. It's it's incredible. And Zach's been growing and he's been listening some messages all the time back and forth to work. And he's been growing. And and Zach confronted me in a nice, gentle Zach way. He said it seemed, it seemed like you were, you felt rushed. I'm like, yeah, I thought I was losing folks. So I kind of closed it off. And he's like, well, but was that you and your flesh, or you in the spirit that decided to close things? And I thought, oh, and God rebuked me right there, right there through Zach. Zach didn't even know what he was doing that he was, it was that God was, the Holy Spirit was using that in my heart and mind. And that that truth was, yeah. [cite_start]What was I operating in the flesh or was I operating in the spirit? [cite: 121, 122, 123, 124, 125, 126, 127, 128, 129, 130, 131]

**[00:13:30]** Because you know what? God is starting to do this work. And if Zach and Clarissa were to tell you their whole life story, none of this change makes any sense apart from God, right? God changes things. God redeemed us. God makes the way. [cite_start]And so as we go through this, I'm not going to rush through it because it's too important. [cite: 132, 133, 134]

**[00:13:51]** This is almost written like a song. We're talking about Christ now. He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For everything was created by him. In heaven and earth, visible and in. And the invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities, all things have been created through him and for him. He is the beginning. Excuse me. [cite_start]He is before all things, and by him all things hold together. [cite: 135, 136, 137, 138]

**[00:14:26]** So as we take this apart here, this is easier for my eyes to adjust. So he is the image of the invisible God. He is not just a replica. That's kind of when when you think of an image or like an avatar or something like that, the kids would think that, like they know what an avatar is. Um, like the likeness. But back in the day, back where these folks would know because they're in Colossae, they had all kinds of statues for different people. And these statues were in the exact likeness of these different people. [cite_start]And so this, this is what this word here is used is that he is the image or this, um, this in the form of the invisible God. [cite: 139, 140, 141, 142, 143, 144]

**[00:15:10]** So we have the God of creation, who back in the Old Testament. Remember what happened to Moses when just the backside of God passed by him? What happened? Remember? He came down. He came down after being with God, and God had passed by him. This has been all over the news. It has been all over social media, all over TikTok, all over Instagram, Facebook. What was he like? Anyone remember? It was so much that they had to put a veil over him. What's that? He was radiant. It was so much the brightness was coming off of him that they actually had to put a veil over his face, because it was so bright. [cite_start]And people, the children of Israel, were freaking out. [cite: 145, 146, 147, 148, 149, 150, 151]

**[00:15:58]** So it's hard for our our little minuscule minds to wrap ourselves around the idea of who God is and how great he is. We're so consumed with the earth and our world and everything that's right in front of us. And I get it. It's so easy when everything is so busy. Everything is so overwhelming. All of this. It's right there. It's overwhelming. But step back for a second, if you would. In your imagination. [cite_start]And you understand a little bit more about who God is. [cite: 151, 152, 153, 154, 155]

**[00:16:30]** Because what do we know about God? We know that in the end, when we get to spend eternity with him, there will be no need for what light. There will be no need for light. There will be no there will be day and night, because the entire eternity in heaven is spent with the glorious light of who God is. So you have this fullness of who God is now brought down. And this is this is Jesus now coming to earth. He is as full embodiment of God. [cite_start]And he is the image of the invisible God. [cite: 155, 156, 157, 158, 159, 160]

**[00:17:10]** And then we get to this other word. That can be really confusing, I'll have to admit, because it gives the idea that Jesus was or was created because we have it. It says that he was the firstborn over all creation. And you look at that word and like, okay, was Jesus born? Was he created? And that's not what this, this word actually means in the original. It's more of the idea of he's the sovereign or the king's son. Right? Jesus was God's and God's Son. So he wasn't created, but because in other word, I think in the in the King James, we used to memorize it. He is the preeminent. He is overall everything. And that's what Paul is about to explain. [cite_start]Paul is about to explain how he is overall. [cite: 161, 162, 163, 164, 165, 166, 167]

**[00:18:00]** He was the firstborn over all creation, for everything was created by him. Ah! Here we go again. It's going to blow your mind. So when we think of Jesus, we think of how he is born on earth, right? And that he lived and he died. He performed miracles. And we think about that, but we don't necessarily think about him at creation. And he wasn't just there as a bystander. That's what this word is saying here. These words here for everything was created by him in heaven and earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities. All things have been created through him, through him. He was not a bystander. He was the agent in which everything happened. He was the agent. He was the one where everything was created. You and I were created. Our minds were created. Our ability to actually formulate words were created by God. Time was created by Jesus. Everything was created by Jesus. It was all through him. [cite_start]He was not a bystander, but he was the agent in which all of these things came into be. [cite: 168, 169, 170, 171, 172, 173, 174, 175, 176, 177, 178, 179]

**[00:19:10]** And not just that. Look at verse 17. He is before all things. So before anything happened, he was. And by him all things literally hold together. Dan's head is not exploding right now because Jesus is holding it together. Think about that. Your liver right now is functioning. Because Jesus is holding it together. Your eyes are functioning because Jesus holds it together. Do I need to know how to explain how he does it? No, because he's God. How could the mind of of the Jesus who created my mind try to articulate the the author of that, the creator of that? It's impossible. Mankind tries to. [cite_start]But we can't really do it because he holds all things together. [cite: 180, 181, 182, 183, 184, 185]

**[00:20:00]** So when you think about the evil one and his minions, right, the Satan and his demons that are trying to reign on this temporary world, he created them too. So he's over all of them. [cite_start]He is before all things, and by him all things hold together. [cite: 186, 187] He is the head of the body, right? He is the church. The. The head of the body. The church. He is the beginning, the firstborn again. We have that that word there, the firstborn from the dead, so that he. Whoops. What happened there? He is the firstborn. He is the beginning. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he might come to have first place in everything. And this is where we get the word. I believe it's the preeminence word in the used to be in the or in the King James Version, that he gets the first place in everything. So when you think about your life, when you think about everything that that we do. [cite_start]Jesus is to have first place in all of it. [cite: 188, 189, 190, 191, 192, 193]

**[00:21:00]** For God was pleased to have him. To have all his fullness Dwell in him and through him to reconcile everything to himself, whether things on earth or things in heaven, making peace through his blood shed on the cross. Think about that. For God was pleased. It pleased God to show his fullness of who he was through Jesus. To dwell in him richly through. And then we have this idea again of his reconciling. He reconciles us. [cite_start]He doesn't just reign, but he reconciles us whether things are on earth or things in heaven, making peace through his blood that he shed on the cross. [cite: 194, 195, 196, 197, 198]

**[00:21:50]** Because we were enemies, we were once enemies. Now he has made us friends. Verse 21, you were once alienated and hostile in your minds as expressed by your evil actions. Read that again out loud. Let's read that out loud to make sure everyone's awake. Here we go. [cite_start]Once you are alienated and hostile in your minds as expressed in your evil actions. [cite: 199, 200, 201, 202]

**[00:22:15]** That wasn't just true for the church at Colossae. That's true for us as well, right? If you are a follower of Christ, that means you have come to the point where you realize that you are a sinner. You are an alien you were against. [cite_start]You are hostile toward God, and it showed itself through your actions and through your the mind that brought those actions. [cite: 203, 204, 205] But then here's the great part. But now. So. So that that verse 21 is where our lie comes in right there. Lie is like, oh, I, there's no way that God could possibly love me because I am just way too jacked up. I have way too many things. And maybe it's okay. Maybe he he's going to let me into heaven, but he's not going to really reign and be show fullness in my life. He's not going to make it so that that his Word and that his life will flow richly through my life. No, that's a lie from the evil one. It's not just about your conversion. [cite_start]It's not just about you being reconciled so you don't go to hell, but it's also your whole life afterwards. [cite: 206, 207, 208, 209, 210, 211, 212]

**[00:23:25]** The conversion is just the beginning. If Zach says to Clarissa at his wedding, or Ethan, who just got married right back in in December, he says to to Madison, as husbands, you say this thing like, oh, you know, at at the wedding. Yep. Now I'm married. I say I love you. I commit myself in front of everybody else, and then I go on living the same stinking way I lived before. Selfishly self-centered, not getting to know your bride. You'd say, well, they're destined. For what? That ain't going to last long, is it? The relationship with Jesus is not like that at all. The conversion is just the beginning. [cite_start]The growth is what takes place afterwards. [cite: 213, 214, 215, 216, 217, 218]

**[00:24:12]** And as the evil one will throw at you. Oh, you know what? You are so unlovable. You have to think about all these things. The evil one throws stuff in Joel's life. Joel's back there, he's thinking, oh, but what about all these things I've done? What about all these thoughts? What about all these things where I wasn't putting my trust in you? What about all these things? And. And the evil one wants to get inside of our head and we go, no, we. We take God's truth back to him. Yeah. We were once alienated. We once operated that way. But now Christ has reconciled us. That means he takes his blood, applies it permanently, where you didn't have to have the Holy of Holies anymore. That veil was rent from top to bottom, and we now may enter in freely to God's presence through Christ's blood. Because he reconciled us in his physical body through his death, to present us now before God. [cite_start]Holy, faultless, blameless before him. [cite: 219, 220, 221, 222, 223, 224, 225, 226, 227, 228]

**[00:25:20]** Either. You come here. For a second. So think about this. So Ethan will represent us. And he comes in to God's throne room. The holy God who created all things. Whereas if anyone on earth would see him, Moses couldn't even see the backside of him without being impacted. And if the priest happened to go into the Holy of Holies with sin, guess what happens to them? Boom! They're dead. And they'd have to pull him out. So now. So this enemy now we were once enemies. Now he is able to come directly to God. How? What does it say? Right there? But now he reconciled you, Ethan, me, by his physical body through his death. So that blood that was shed to present. Now, he now presents Ethan holy, faultless, blameless. So when God sees Ethan, he doesn't see all the crap that Ethan has done in his life. He doesn't see all the crap that you've done in your life. Think about that. Think about all the junk that you've done in your life. And if we struggle with being pious puke heads, we're like, oh, we don't really have anything wrong with our life. Oh, come on now. Yeah. You do. So God no longer sees Ethan for who Ethan is, but he sees Jesus instead. He sees the blood applied to Ethan. Thank you sir. He sees Christ. Where now? [cite_start]Ethan can come holy, faultless and blameless before him. [cite: 228, 229, 230, 231, 232, 233, 234, 235, 236, 237, 238, 239, 240, 241, 242]

**[00:27:00]** So when you are feeling overwhelmed, when you feel like you just cannot take another breath and you feel like a giant, fat old elephant is sitting on your chest and you just want to give up. And you feel so overwhelmed. You go back to the truth that you know what? I have been reconciled. It's not about me. It's not about anything I can do. It's all about Jesus and what he has done for me. And it's. My life is not dependent on me. [cite_start]It's all on him. [cite: 242, 243, 244, 245]

**[00:27:32]** And so our last word here is rooted. He tells the church at Colossae. So then, just as you have received Christ Jesus. Is um, as Lord continue to walk in him being rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, and overflowing with gratitude. That word there rooted and then will be done. Same tense that was used in transferred. God rooted you through Christ. He put those roots down. It had nothing to do with you. The roots were placed. Now it's time to walk in him. [cite_start]It's time for you and me to walk in him and to understand who we are in Christ. [cite: 246, 247, 248, 249, 250, 251]

**[00:28:18]** Jesus, I pray today. That we would understand fully what it means to be in you. It's so powerful. It's so huge. Because you rescued us. You redeemed us. You are reigning over everything and you have reconciled us. And you have also rooted us. It doesn't depend on us. We are to have God dependence. Jesus, we thank you for who you are and thank you for placing those roots in. Thank you for reconciling us who did not deserve your love. We were right there with those stinking soldiers and the stinking priest cursing at you. But you loved us instead. [cite_start]And Jesus, we are so grateful. [cite: 252, 253, 254, 255, 256, 257]

**[00:29:00]** I pray for my brothers and sisters today. If they walked in overwhelmed, they're going to leave. Overwhelmed because life can be overwhelming. But I pray that your truth would help them. In the overwhelming. That you reign over all. We can't explain it, but you're. You are overall and you are continuing to reign. And you loved us enough to put us where we are on this day, June 1st, 2025. 25. And then it happened by chance. You ordained it. You knew what was going to happen before we ever was able to put our eyes on anything. And Jesus, for that we say, wow. And we're amazed. Please get all the honor and glory. [cite_start]God, I pray your Holy Spirit will work in us. [cite: 258, 259, 260, 261, 262, 263, 264]