Jesus, King of the church

The LORD sits as King forever
Ps. 29:10

Redemption
Col. 1:12-14
Before we could serve the Lord we had to be made fit for His Kingdom, sin rendered us wholly unsuitable for the righteous and holy Kingdom of God. We could not make ourselves fit for God's kingdom by our own deeds or efforts. God in His mercy has provided the means of redemption on our behalf.

* "The Father has qualified us to be partakers of the inhertance of the saints in the light."

The entrance requirement for heaven is absolute and perfect righteousness, the slightest hint of sin disqualifies from heaven. The Father in a great act of love and mercy has met the requirement for us by sending His Son Jesus to pay the price for our sins on the cross. That price was the blood of Jesus which He shed on the cross. Redemption imagery comes from the picture of the slave market, once we were worthless slaves held in captivity by the lusts of our flesh, by the lure of the world and by the deceit of Satan, we had no way of paying the price for our freedom. Jesus paid the price for us and set us free from the power of darkness and took us into His glorious kingdom, He gave His life to pay the ransom and so set us free (Mk. 10:45).
Having been set free from the power of darkness we are now able to serve the Lord in righteousness and holiness, we are able to live our lives in a way that is pleasing to Him. Again we do not have the natural talents and abilities to do this, the Lord provides for us:

Serving the King
Col. 1:9-11
There is a huge difference between christianity and other religions in the way they treat salvation. Every other religion makes salvation something to be gained or won by our own efforts, in contrast to this the Bible tells us that none of us can do anything to merit salvation, we are wholly dependent on the mercy of God to save us. And then once saved we still cannot please God by our own efforts we remain dependent on Him to give us the power and ability to serve Him righteously. Anyone who tries to live the christian life from their own human resources ends up discouraged and disheartened, the standard is just too high - we need all the help that God has provided for us in the Lord Jesus and through the ministry of the Holy Spirit.

Paul's prayer for the saints is very instructional on this point:
He wants to see the new converts at Colosse "walking worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God" (1:10).
As members of the kingdom of God we should conduct ourselves accordingly, in a way that is worthy of the Lord, those attributes we need to serve Him are granted to us by the Lord Himself.
Look at the things the Lord supplies His people:

* The knowledge of His will - to serve Him we need to know what He wants from us, He will lead, direct and guide us when we sincerely seek Him and are ready to obey Him.
Many believers get themselves into quite a state over knowing God's will, there is no big secret to it! The Lord wants us to know His will so that we can do the things that please Him, all that is required from us is that we are listening to His voice and we are willing to do whatever He asks - and if we are honest this is where our problem lies, too often we are not spending time listening to His voice and when we do hear it we are not obedient.

* Wisdom and spiritual understanding - doing the will of the Lord requires these attributes, His will cannot be apprehended by normal human means, spiritual insight is necessary along with godly wisdom. God's ways and thoughts are so much higher than our own, to try and serve Him through human wisdom and understanding is to limit God to our own thoughts, we need to have our ears and hearts open to His voice and be ready to do what He asks of us.
The Holy Spirit gives us this wisdom that we need as Paul points out in 1Cor.1,2, note 1Cor.2:12 - "Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God."

* Strength - serving God takes a special type of strength, many of the things He asks of us are beyond our normal means. His strength is made perfect in our weaknesses (2Cor. 12:9). As we trust Him to give us the strength we need we will find we are able to do things we could never accomplish without Him. Remember - "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me" (Phil. 4:13)

* Power - there is a mighty power available to the people of God's kingdom, it is "His mighty power which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in heavenly places, far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come" (Eph. 1:18,21). This is the power of victory, victory over death, victory over all the powers of earth and hell. Jesus the King leads His people in a victorious procession, celebrating His triumph over death and hell (cf. 2Cor. 2:14; Rev. 1:18). The very existence of the people of God is a testimony to this great victory, that is why so many efforts have been made to destroy the church through persecution, Satan and his demons cannot bear to be reminded of their defeat.
Jesus gives His people this power, we have no power or strength of our own to live in this victory, we must "be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might," putting on the spiritual armour which He has supplied for us (Eph. 6:10ff). It is a victory that Jesus won for His people and in which we celebrate and in which we stand, rejoicing that the flesh, world and devil no longer have any power over us and because our names are written in heaven (Lk. 10:20).

* Patience and longsuffering - serving the Lord takes patience and it takes longsuffering, we were never promised an easy time of health and wealth (despite what some try to tell us). Of course there are times of great rejoicing, full of blessing and everything seems great, equally there are times of great trial, temptation, hardship, persecution, etc through which we are called to go. Many of our brethren around the world face intense trials of suffering, torture, imprisonment and death. It is only by the Spirit of glory and of God (1Pet. 4:14) that we can possibly endure and maintain faith and witness in such circumstances, that we are able to do so is a source of great testimony to the adversaries of God and the gospel. Without the Holy Spirits gift of patience and longsuffering there is no way that any of us could maintain our service to Jesus, thankfully we do not have to rely on our own resources, we are "kept by the power of God" (1Pet. 1:5)

* Joy - I am reminded of a chorus, "This joy that I have, the world didn't give it to me, the world didn't give it and the world can't take it away." Jesus gives His redeemed people a wonderful joy as they serve Him faithfully and with obedience, there is no joy to be found like it anywhere else. It is the joy of salvation, the joy of knowing His love, care and protection, it is the joy of knowing His peace in our hearts, it is a joy that the severest trials and circumstances cannot rob from us, it is a joy that makes everything we endure for the sake of Jesus and His kingdom worthwhile.
There are many references in the New Testament to the joy that we have as disciples of the Lord Jesus, just a couple for your edification:

These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full.
Jn. 15:11

Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Rom. 15:13

And you became followers of us and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction, with joy of the Holy Spirit.
1Thess. 1:6

There is great comfort to be found in the passage we have looked at in Colossians, we have seen how the Lord provides us with all we need to be good citizens of His kingdom. We do not need to worry about our inadequacies or that we cannot reach the grade, we can let Him take care of it, knowing the promise of His word and that the Holy Spirit is creating in our lives the fruits that enable us to walk worthy of our Lord. All the Lord looks for in us is a humble, contrite spirit and a willingness to let Him have His way in our lives.

Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness.
1Pet. 1:2,3

Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the LORD!
Peace in heaven and glory in the highest.
(Lk. 29:38; Ps. 118:26)