We Have Redemption and Forgiveness of Sins!

We Have Redemption and Forgiveness of Sins!Colossians 1:13-14 “ He has rescued us from the power of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.”Original sin came about when Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit.  This means sin entered into our hearts. The power of darkness had more of a hold on us, and our hearts were more attuned to sin.  However, when Jesus came and died for us, He rescued us from the power of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of God.  Jesus redeemed us.  He died for our sins, even when we didn’t deserve it.  That is the part that gets me.  It is not as if we deserved that mercy.  It is not as if we were all loving God and treating Him the way He deserves to be treated. God loved us even after all the years of rebellion.  If you look back at the Old Testament, you will see the people of God turning away from Him time and time again.  Yet, He still went through with His plan to save them.The people of the Old Testament did not have a Baptism of repentance. They had the Lord looking out for them. However, they didn’t have the Holy Spirit living inside of them, and they didn’t have Jesus yet. Jesus hadn’t yet died on the cross, so they weren’t saved from the original sin.  Sin had more influence over them because they didn’t have the Spirit of God living inside of them, helping them make the right choice.  They didn’t have the power and authority that we have from Jesus.  This is not to excuse their behavior, but it does explain it a bit.  It does help us to have a bit of empathy for them.  Look how much we mess up even with the Spirit of the Lord living inside of us. Now, imagine we didn’t have it.  Imagine what life would be like if we couldn’t go to confession when we mess up. Imagine we didn’t have the gift and grace of forgiveness of sins.  Imagine if every time we did something wrong, we needed to bring an animal to the temple and sacrifice it. When we look back at the Old Testament, we, or at least I, struggle to understand how and why God’s people were always turning away. It seems like if I saw a miracle, like the parting of the Red Sea, I would never want to turn away from the Lord.  I would know without a doubt He was the one true God and would want to do whatever I could to please Him. I wouldn’t complain about what I was eating because what I was eating was a miracle from God each and every day. I love to think I would do things differently if I lived back in the Old Testament times.However, would I really? I have seen God do extraordinary miracles right here in my lifetime, and yet I don’t always put Him first. I can eat whatever I want to eat, and yet sometimes I still complain. I have the Holy Spirit, the one who raised Jesus from the dead, living inside of me, and yet I still sin, I still doubt at times, I still complain. Why is that? Why is it that I know how amazing our God is? I have the power of the Spirit living inside of me, and yet I still mess up? Imagine if we didn’t? Imagine if we didn’t have the opportunity to go to mass daily.  Imagine if we didn’t have the Eucharist to be providing us strength and fortitude each day or each week. We are very lucky that Jesus came and died for us. We are lucky we receive His Spirit when we are Baptized and again when we make our Confirmation.The verse above says, “ He has rescued us from the power of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.” There is a caveat to this redemption and forgiveness.  The caveat is that we accept it.  It says in the Bible that Jesus gave His apostles the power and authority to forgive sins in His name. It says in John 20:23, “ If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.” Your sins can be forgiven, but you have to accept that forgiveness, and