Scripture Kickoff And Four Key Words

Chris Grainger 1:43

Welcome to the Lion Within Us, a podcast serving Christian men who are hungry to be the leaders God intends you to be. I'm your host, Chris Granger. Let's jump in. All right, fellas, spiritual kickoff time. Let's get into it. Okay. So the scripture of the week this week is in the book of Colossians, first chapter, two verses though, 13 and 14. So Colossians 1, 13 and 14. It says, For he rescued us from the domain of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of his beloved son. In whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. Beautiful scripture right there, guys. Now we're just going to see how we can simplify and apply it to our life. First of all, we do this every day, Monday through Friday at the Lion Within Us. So if you haven't started your daily spiritual kickoff experience, what are you waiting on, bro? Like it's free. It's just our way to just to serve you. It also gives you access to our prayer request space where we have a weekly prayer call. We invite guys into that every week. Just how can we pray for you and let us be intentional about that? And also, guys, it comes with a free gift. Like we started giving free gifts away just for guys for taking a chance to look at us and to start their daily spiritual kickoff account. So look, head on over to thelionwithin.us. Get started today. All right. Now, first of all, before we dig into this scripture, we say stuff like Colossians. Some of you guys are like, exactly. I know exactly what he's talking about. And some of you guys are like, Kalahu. And I get this. Okay, bro. So Colossians, we need to know where it's at in the Bible. Okay. So the first thing, and this, that's it. It's the New Testament, so know that. So go on past your your your when you open up your New Testament, you've got Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. So go on past that stuff and keep flipping. Okay. And if you get to Philippians, you're getting really close. Okay. If you got to 1 Thessalonians, you went a little bit too far. Just back up. So it's nestled in between there. It's not a very long book. It's only four chapters. So it can be easy to flip by it, but that's where you're going to find it, okay? And I wanted to focus on the four words in these two verses when I was reflecting and praying and putting this together that change everything. Okay. And again, the verse says, For he rescued us from the domain of darkness, transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, to whom we have redemption and forgiveness of sins. In those two sentences, Paul gives the gospel clearly, powerfully, unmistakably, right? And but Ford words do some pretty heavy lifting. Rescued, transferred, redemption, and forgiveness. Okay. And if you miss those words, you miss everything about what Paul is trying to show us right here, okay? And yet, as guys, how easy is it for us to assume that we don't need help, right? Because I mean, one of the most effective tools, you've guys heard me say this a lot, that the enemy is whispering to us is that we got this, or I don't need this, or I can handle this on our own. Right? It sounds strong, like to be independent, to be responsible, but that's a self-fulfilling prophecy that quietly leads us straight into trouble. Right? We need to first understand that we need rescuing. Whether we admit it or not, we need that rescuing. Paul doesn't that doesn't say that that God gave us a boost or a strategy or or a hand. He says, No, God rescued us, right? Rescue assumes one thing: danger. It assumes danger. It also assumes inability. It assumes that we know that we're trapped. Like we live in a dark world, a whole lot darker than most people want to admit. And darkness starts to show everywhere. We're seeing this more and more, right? It starts to show up in how cells manufacture in our bodies. Why do you think cancer is so stinking pervasive, right? It shows up in broken relationships. Why do you think marriage is under attack everywhere we look? It starts to show up in how we normalize and accept things just the way they are, right? Versus saying, no, that's not true. And Paul's like, look, bro, this is a domain of darkness. A domain. And that word matters because that domain is vast, it's widespread, it's just it's systemic. It isn't like a small little pocket of bad darkness. And I just got if I just avoid this little pocket, I'll be okay. No, it's across the board. And here's the truth we were going to never get out of that darkness on our own. God saw the size of the problem, and he saw that there was no amount of effort, discipline, or moral improvement that we could manufacture on our own to be enough. So he did for us what we couldn't do for ourselves. And through Jesus, he stepped into the darkness and pulled us out. You see how that works? It's amazing how it works. And the world, what the world's going to offer us is fake rescues. And think about that for a second, guys. Uh imagine being shipwrecked and you're tired, you're drowning, you're just convinced that you're about to die, right? And then suddenly a boat appears and that thing pulls you out of the water. And it and it that relief just comes across you, right? And you realize you feel so good. But then you look up and you realize, wait a minute, this boat belongs to pirates. Right? That's a uh that changes everything, right? Because your your life is technically safe, right, in that moment. But your situation didn't get any better. It just didn't. In fact, it may be worse. And that's how the world operates. It offers temporary rescues, pleasures, success, distraction, or even like ways to numb ourselves. But that only leads us into deeper bondage and depravity. Right? The promise is relief, but the result is bondage, chains. And Jesus is different because in the same verse, we see we're transferred as sons, not prisoners. So God doesn't just rescue us from something, He transfers us to something and not just anywhere, and to the kingdom of his beloved son. And it's now you should just think about that for a second. Just do a purposeful pause. Because transfer means completely change the authority, the identity, and the allegiance of. So you got a new citizenship, you got a new ruler, you got a new future. And then Paul like drops the bombshell. I love how the Apostle Paul writes though, bro, like for real. He says, his beloved son, right? And that's not like some poetic language, dude. No, that's identity. We're aren't just survivors, we aren't just forgiving criminals, right? We're brought in as sons, as heirs, as children of the king of kings, right? I mean, think about how I just know how I treat my son. I know how my dad treated me as his son. Like it was a big deal. It was a big deal to for for for us as sons. We were loved unconditionally, right? And this is what God is offering us from a dark pit into a royal inheritance, right? And that should like seriously get you thinking and make you stop. And then he says something in in the verse about this word redemption, okay? Because Paul says in Christ we have redemption. And we got to be careful because we don't want to just walk around with a bunch of churchy language, right? Like that ain't gonna do anybody anything. And redemption is pretty simple when we start thinking about it. Redemption is the price that's been that has been paid to set us free. Okay. Someone, something or someone was owned, was trapped, or enslaved, a cost was required. Jesus paid it all, though. He paid it all. He didn't do it through an installment plan or no fine print, no, and there's no outstanding balance. We didn't earn redemption. We get to receive it. And the best way I can think about that is like with a coupon, right? If I have a coupon for a free bag of peanut MMs, praise God to the glory. If I got a coupon for a free bag of MMs, right, by the way, if you want to hook your bro your boy up, Chris, that's how you that's how you get on my good side. It's peanut MMs. Very easy. I can very easily be bought over. But anyway, so let's say I got a coupon that says a free bag of MMs, a super size bag, and I go to Walmart to get those MMs, okay? And I go to the to the register and I scan that coupon, right? The the cost to me is zero. I still get the MMs to God's glory, or I get those. But that coupon has been redeemed at that moment. And who paid the brunt of that coupon? Well, the manufacturer. So the manufacturer of the peanut MMs paid for that. They didn't lose, like the cost didn't go away, right? There still had to be peanuts harvested, chocolate, the manufacturing process, you know, packaging, shipping, everything to get that bag of peanut MMs to the point where I could get them myself, right? Yet all that cost, the manufacturer eats. Because that that's the coupon says they paid it all. And I'm the redemption. I'm the recipient, the recipient of that grace. And that's what he offers us, right? Now, now that we understand redemption, hopefully a little bit better. Maybe I've got you guys thinking about Eminem. Sorry about that. If you if you work on your health plan, I didn't mean to think, throw you off there. Now let's think about the next word: forgiveness. Right? And this is forgiveness that nothing else can offer. And that's the full cancellation of our debt before God. Okay, this is not denial, this is not minimizing our debt. This is not try harder next time, boys. This is complete forgiveness. Complete forgiveness. So there's no, and please hear me. There's not a bottle, there's not a pill, uh, a substance, there's not a woman out there on the on the planet, or no amount of money that can offer what's packaged in these in these little verses right here. But so often we live like this news is mild instead of explosive. Like that forgiveness is such a big deal. It shouldn't hold us down into these chains of bondage anymore. So my hope with just unpacking these simple little verses right here is that we hold our heads up high and we tell the story. Because this Colossians, what Paul is showing us, should light a fire in us, bro. We're rescued, we're transferred, we're redeemed, and we're forgiven. And that's not a small story. That's the story. That's the story of all stories. So we got to stop walking around like we're defeated, like the gospel is old news, or it's someone else's job to share, right? The truth should move us to gratitude, to obedience, to action. And you don't have to start with the ends of the earth, bro. Start with your friends, start with your immediate circle of influence, your family, like right there. That's the people that God has given you for influence. Use that and then watch what God, where God takes you next. Because when you truly understand what he's done, like, how can you keep it to yourself, bro? We can't keep it to ourselves. This is why, like every spiritual kickoff episode during a week, we we we want to make sure people understand the good news of the gospel. It's a very simple one that that God so loved the world. He had this perfect design, right? And we were made in his image. And what you see in the mirror, what reflects back in the mirror to you, you may see as jacked up and flawed and got all these issues. God sees it as perfect design, the way He knitted you together in your mother's womb. And that's how what he sees you as. He doesn't see you as like an alcoholic or a sexaholic or a workaholic or you just adaholic on there, whatever it is, right? Whatever you identify as, he doesn't see that. No, he sees you as a son of the king. Now the problem is sin entered the world and it fractured that relationship that we have with God. So, so for so, and Adam and Eve, they ran from God. This is where most guys are, well, not most lots of guys are. They're just, we run from God. We try to do it on our own. We try to do life without him. This is where we have to be so careful. Because if we're running from God, you're missing the greatest opportunity that's available to you, and that's his grace. So, and then this is where we try to start. You know, I kind of talked about it with this verses here. Like, we start trying to do stuff on our own. We start trying to, oh, I just gotta be a good person, right? Like, I just gotta kind of like if I just do enough good, somehow that's gonna overwrite the bad in my life. And the problem is, guys, we have the wrong standard. We talk about standards a lot at the lion, but we have the wrong standard. Our standard is not your neighbor. Your standard is not guys that are in prison. No, compared to them, you may start feeling pretty good about yourself, okay? Like we live close to a federal prison. Compared to them, I'm doing okay. Not sitting in federal prison right now, recording this podcast. But compared to a holy and righteous God, guess what, buddy? We all fall short. Every single one of us. Like none of us can stack up to that, and that's okay. It's good to know that. So we fall short of glory to God. So if we fall short, what does that mean next? Well, that means that we need someone to do for us what we can't do for ourselves. Quite simply, we need a savior, bro. We need a savior. This is where Jesus entered the scene. This is why we spend so much time talking about Jesus on the lion. It's because he is the Redeemer, He is the rescuer who came on that mission for us. Born of a virgin, fulfilled all the prophecies, did all the miracles, did all the teachings, showed us the way, showed us that he is the way, the truth, and the life, that no other name under heaven has been given among men by which we must be see be saved. It's Jesus. He and he alone. And then he, this is the crazy part when you really start thinking about it. He willingly went to the cross for us. I don't know about you. Like, I try to avoid pain as much as I can. The older you get, the harder that that that can be to avoid it, right? You know what I'm saying? But Jesus left heaven knowing he was headed to the cross. And I don't know about you, but like that's just mind-blowing to me. Like, I why would you do that? Why would you put yourself through that? And the only answer I can give you guys guys is love. And the only reason I got that answer is because it's in God's word. He is love. He loves us so much that he was willing to pay the penalty for our sin. And he nailed it to the cross. And he is pierced for our transgressions. And he died. He didn't just faint or f or go to sleep. He died on the cross. And brother, if the story ends right there, like he was just a cool guy who did some pretty neat stuff, but it doesn't end right there. So they laid him in a tomb, okay? And back then they would roll a stone in front of the tomb. The problem was he only needed that thing for the weekend. It was like an Airbnb for Jesus. Because he came out three days later. He rose, he lived. So we don't worship some dead guy. No, it would make no sense. Like we'd be going to church every Sunday like we're going to a funeral. No, we worship a living Savior. And that's the difference between Jesus and everything else. Everything else, the founders are still in the dirt. They're worm food, bro. Jesus is in heaven. And we know he is the way, he is the truth, he is the life. No one gets to the Father except through him. He is it. Okay? So it means at some point you gotta make a personal decision. Are you going to surrender your life to him? Or are you going to keep trying to do it your way? Are you going to keep just trying to be good enough? Are you going to keep just trying to earn a right favor and standing with God? I'm just going to be the one who who's the bearer of bad news. There's nothing you can do. Nothing you can do to earn a right standing with God. It's a free gift that He offers us when we surrender to Him. I don't know much how much clearly clearer I can say that for you. And if you've never confessed Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior, you're missing out. You're not going to have the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit that's going to convict you, that's going to guide you, that's going to direct you. The scales are still on your eyes right now. You're walking in the darkness. We just talked about this verse for 15 minutes. You're walking in the darkness right now. And you're not going to be able to recognize the newness of life because you're in the darkness. You're in the trap. The only way to get out of the darkness is to step into the light. And Jesus is the light. He's the light of the world. That means you have to take, you have to take a step. Your wife can't do it for you. Your kids can't do it for you. Your mom, your grandma, your dad, your grandpa, whoever, your best buddy. Just think whoever's the closest people in your life. They can't do this for you. The question is, are you going to take the step that you know God is nudging you? Because I'm going to straight up, if you're listening to the lion and you've gotten this far into this episode and you're not a Christian, you are here. Like God is working on you, buddy. I don't know what's going on, but I know one thing. The message we put out each and every week is very clear. And if you're taking the time, investing the time, and you're listening to my voice right now, and you don't have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, he is talking to you. Like he couldn't be hitting you across the head any harder than he is right now. And the question that you got to answer, and he's waiting for you to answer, is when are you going to surrender to him? When are you going to give your life to him? When are you going to confess him as Lord and Savior of your life? It is my prayer that is right now, this moment. I don't care if you're on a treadmill, driving out a car, at work on a forklift, it doesn't matter. Wherever you are, now's the time. The Holy Spirit is asking, He's begging you to surrender to him and to invite him in. And that is my prayer for you. Is that right now you confess him as Lord of your life. And I want to pray with you. So, Lord, that listener, I don't know where they're at or what they're doing, but you do. And you know you're going to have them right here at this moment listening to me, share the gospel. And for some reason, the way that I've shared it, it's making sense. Maybe they've heard it a hundred times. I don't know. Maybe I've maybe I'm the thousandth time they heard it. I don't know. I know one thing. If they're hearing it and it's clearly resonating now, I pray that they take the step and confess you as Lord of your life. I also know when they do that, they're going to come under attack. The evil one's not going to like it. So I'm going to pray for a hedge protection around them. I'm going to pray for men to come into their life. It's going to help guide and direct them. I'm going to pray you put some pause in their life, like we had the Apostle Paul here in Colossians. That's going to help them walk as they begin their discipleship journey. And Lord, if a Delion can help with that in any way, show us. We want to be just a support system in that discipleship path that you have them all. So we love you, Lord Jesus. We praise you, and hopefully you are glorified in this conversation today. It's in your name we pray. Amen. Alright, so look, if you just accept that Christ as your Lord and Savior, like, let's go, bro. Send me an email. I want to get I want to hear from you. Let me know which a couple things. Let me know what podcast you listen to. Okay. And then uh love to just uh know a little bit about your testimony. That's it. And you can email me at Chris, and that's C-H-R-I-S at the lion within. It says three words put together, thhelionwithin.us. Okay. So shoot me an email. I'd love to hear from you about that. We got some free resources too. I just want to hook you up with. We got like 10 scriptures to fight like a lion. We got like nine ways to simplify and apply to God's word. We got 30-day plans that you can just pop on and just get a daily uh like little encouragement in your just in your walk. So we got lots of things we can help you out with, okay? So just hit me up, send me a note, love to kick just to hear from me on that. Other than that, guys, look, share this stuff out with others. Like, seriously, bro. If you're enjoying the lion, if you get any value out of what we do at the Lion Within Us, share it out with other people. And then if you're in, if you are enjoying the Lion either here or on the Bible app, wherever you connect with us, like join the Lions Den. I'm like, I'm being more just just bold with that this year. Like, join the Lions Den. What are you waiting on? It's a small, small investment every month. Like most 99.9% of our guys don't even recognize it every month. Like it is zero impact, but it's massive impact for us. This is how we're doing the work that he's called us to do. 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I think this Wednesday episode, you're gonna have a lot of fun. We're gonna be talking a lot about the Gospel of John, just kind of give you a little bit of a sneak peek to what's what's ahead, and hopefully you'll be encouraged by it. So, guys, have a great day. Give us a rating and review if you don't mind. Thanks for hanging out with us today. We'll see you next time and keep and oh, and remember, keep unleashing the lion within. If there's one habit that can change your home, it's this when a husband prays with his wife, not because it's a magic formula, but because it recenters your marriage under God's authority and care. And let's be honest, a lot of guys want to do it, but most don't know how to start without it feeling awkward. Maybe you tried it before and it felt forced, or maybe you've never tried it because you don't even know what to say. Or maybe you're thinking, man, I'm not a pastor, I'm just a guy. And that's why we created this guide. It's our how to pray with your wife. Simple guide. It's biblical, it's practical, and it's designed to help you start praying with your wife in a way that actually feels natural. So it's a five-section guide and it gives you a simple framework to get started. Okay, it makes sure everything is grounded in scripture, and it also has a powerful PDF that you can pull up whenever you need, especially when things get off, because they're gonna get off. That's normal. So this is all about reclaiming your marriage and reclaiming the spiritual leadership reigns of your home. Because praying with your wife is one of the strongest ways to fight for unity, to build trust, and to write the ship when life starts to pull you off a course. So if you're ready, get access today at thelionwithin.us slash guides. That's thelionwithin.us slash guides, and start unleashing the lion within at home by leading your marriage through prayer.