Translated
By Bro. Alan Morrison

Colossians 1:13
"Who hath delievered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son."

It is a wonderful joy to know that we have been translated!

C.S. Lewis said, “God became man to turn creatures into sons: not simply to produce better men of the old kind but to produce a new kind of man.”

Words are very important to our everyday lives. We speak thousands of words everyday without even thinking about it. Yet, it is not just words that are important, it is also language. Without understanding the language that I speak, you could never read this devotional. It would look like gibberish, and you would gain no understanding from it. You would be lost, confused, and frustrated by trying to read it. Unless, of course, the words were translated for you.

Paul told the church at Colossae, that we have been ‘translated’ by Jesus Christ. What did He mean by that? Have you been translated? Are you being translated?
According to the dictionary translated means: to change, to transfer, to interpret, to explain, to remove. That means a lot. It can apply to a lot more than just words.
Consider with me the first step in the process of translation.

1. ALIENATION

Imagine sitting in a church service where one half of the congregation spoke only French, the other half spoke only Russian, and the preacher only spoke Hillbilly! The congregation would be divided, they would be alienated. The first step in understanding our translation is understanding how we have been alienated. The Bible says in I Cor. 2:14, “But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.” Paul also says that to those that are unsaved the preaching of the Cross is ‘foolishness’. Why? Because the unsaved man doesn’t understand the things of God, there is alienation.

What is he alienated from? First, the Person of Jesus Christ. Ephesians 2 says that we were once aliens and enemies to God. We were strangers, speaking a foreign language of sin and wickedness, that was against God. We were simply, without Christ. Lost.

Secondly, he is alienated from the Preaching of Jesus Christ. Consider I Cor. 1:18 again, “For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.” Have you ever talked with someone about Christ, understanding the supreme importance and urgency of the gospel, only to watch them reject it? Why? It is a foreign language to them. The Holy Spirit must bring understanding to their lives.

The unsaved man is also alienated from the Promises of Jesus Christ. The passage in Eph. 2 mentions that those without Christ have “no hope”. Outside of Christ this world has absolutely no hope.

There is alienation in the life of an unsaved man, but there is also alienation in the life of the saved man. II Cor. 6:17 says very plainly, “Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord.” There is to be alienation from the world. Once we did not understand the things of God, now we must have the same ignorance of the world. “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world.” (I John 2:15)
Do you feel alienated today? If so, what do you feel alienated from? The eternal things of God, or the temporal things of the world? I pray that it is the latter.

Check back next week to read about the second step of the translation process: ADAPTATION.