God’s Conveyor Belt

God's Conveyor BeltYesterday during his sermon, our Minister of Students Andrew Bosak preached on experiencing the kingdom of God. He told us that we all become a citizen of one of two kingdoms: either the kingdom of this world, or the kingdom of God. If we become a citizen of the kingdom of God, then something supernatural happens.

    “He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.” (Colossians 1:13-14)

The Greek word for “conveyed” found in verse 13 is methistemi and it means “to move, remove; bring, lead astray.” It can have either a positive or negative meaning, and in this case the Apostle Paul is writing to the Colossian church in a positive way. When we become Christians, God brings us out “from the dominion of darkness” and brings us “into the kingdom of the Son he loves.”

The Lord Jesus Christ paid the price for our sins and we are redeemed by His blood when by faith we accept His gift of salvation. We must repent of our old lives and surrender them to Jesus. This is redemption and our deliverance from the hands of Satan, the prince of this world, into the kingdom of God is possible through His conveyance of our redeemed life.

It is a supernatural transfer.

We move on God’s conveyor belt from our old lives into a new and holy life. Why does God do this for us? First, it is because He loves His son Jesus Christ. Second, it is an act of grace through the blood of Jesus Christ:

    “Who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works.” (Titus 2:14)

Christ bought us back from the dominion of darkness so that we can live holy and pure lives. When we turn back to our old lives as a dog returns to its vomit, we stain our redeemed lives with sin and are again in need of cleansing. We need to have our sins forgiven and that is why when I do sin, I cannot carry that IOU for very long. The longer I wait to confess and turn from my sins, the greater the risk of my becoming a prodigal. The devil likes us to believe that sinning as a Christian means we’ve lost our salvation, but that is a lie.

    “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9)

As long as we stay on God’s conveyor belt, our lives are changed through the work of His word and the Holy Spirit. On God’s conveyor belt, we do not need anything to become like Jesus other than Jesus. Too often Christians believe they have to add to God’s word and come up with the latest and greatest methods, when Jesus has already given us all we need.

    “But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God—and righteousness and sanctification and redemption.” (1 Corinthians 1:30)

Go back and read that verse again and let it sink in. Through our Lord Jesus Christ we are made redeemed, sanctified, and righteous. This process is not from the wisdom of man, it is from the wisdom of God through Christ Jesus. Why would anyone get off of God’s conveyor belt and hop on anything else? There are too many reasons to list, however it usually comes down to pride and wanting to have our own way.

I am beyond tired of the cycle of getting off of God’s conveyor belt so I can do what I want, and then having to come back and confess my sins and get back on so the sanctification process can start again. I want to stay in the hands of my Heavenly Father and let Him have His way with me.

Let it be so Lord Jesus, right here and right now.

In Christ
Dave
Ps. 37:4

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    Copyright © 2014 David Jeffers

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