THE SON OF GOD’S LOVE
Photo by Robert Linder on Unsplash
In our 10:30 am small group class on Sunday
mornings, we have been studying the book of Colossians. Last October, when I
began preparing Colossians, the first thing that caught my attention was a
phrase in Colossians 1:13 – “the Son of His love.”.
The NKJV renders verse thirteen as “He has delivered us from the power of
darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love.”
Other Bible versions translate the phrase
differently, saying, “his dear Son; beloved Son; or the Son he loves.” And
truly, the Father does love the Son, for He said many times, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”[1]
Nevertheless, the wording of NKJV intrigued me—stopped me in my tracks, so to
speak—and my mind flooded with questions. “What exactly does “the Son of His
love” mean? Is it only that God the Father loves God the Son? Or does it go
much deeper?”
I was positive there was more to this seemingly
simple phrase, and at that very moment, the Holy Spirit spoke, filling my heart
and confirming my thought. He said, “But God demonstrates His own love
toward us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”[2]
You may not think this Scripture answers my
questions, but I was blown away. Here’s what the Holy Spirit taught: The Son was
the Father’s love. God Almighty, the Living, Three-In-One God who is Spirit,
showed—demonstrated—His Love BY the Son coming into our physical
realm and taking the punishment for sin that we deserved. You see, while we
were still in spiritual darkness—still in our sin and not even knowing it,
Father God sent Jesus in a magnificent display of His GREAT LOVE. The Son WAS
and IS the Father’s Love toward us.
So, Immanuel—God with us—paid our sin PENALTY
with His BLOOD and, in so doing, BROKE the power of darkness—setting
captives free—should they choose
to BELIEVE.
However, one of the most profound things I
learned was about our captivity. When I thought about what Jesus said in
Matthew 20:28: “…the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and
to give His life a RANSOM for many,”
I didn’t consider to whom this ransom was paid.
Since Scripture says Satan holds us captive to
do his will,[3]
I guess I thought the ransom would be paid to him. But the LORD quickly
corrected my thinking. He showed me Satan did not make the RANSOM
demand. Satan, the evil fallen angel he is, never wanted us released. He
desired to hold our souls captive forever to serve and worship him as God.
But if Satan didn’t demand the ransom, who did?
Almighty God did—when He set the DEATH penalty
for disobedience or sin.[4]
Either the sinner paid the price for his own
sin, OR there had to be an innocent substitute because—DEATH—the
shedding of BLOOD—was the only way God’s Law could be satisfied. Well…I knew
Adam’s sin infected every descendant, and there were no
innocent—sinless—humans, so who could pay our sin penalty?
God Himself came and died in our place.
As I picked up my chin from the floor, the LORD
reminded me of Isaiah 53:10: “Yet it pleased
the LORD to bruise Him…” and Peter’s sermon in Acts
2:14-39, especially verse 23. Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said, “Him
[Jesus], being delivered BY
the determined purpose and foreknowledge of
God, you have taken by lawless
hands, have crucified, and put to death.”
Jesus—Yeshua—came to earth in a human body He created, shed His BLOOD, DIED as our Innocent Substitute, AND paid His own RANSOM demand.
The Son of God’s Love—nailed
our sin-debt to the cross, disarmed the principalities that held us
captive, delivered us from the power of darkness,
AND transferred believers into His kingdom.[5] Wow!
Have a Blessed Memorial Day,
Anita
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