Day 78: We Have Been Delivered and Transferred
Colossians 1:13-14
He (Father-God) delivered us from the Dominion of darkness and transferred us to the Kingdom of His Beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
Through the self-sacrificial work of Jesus, Father-God has delivered from the Dominion of Darkness where we were spiritually dead and transferred us to the Kingdom of His Beloved Son where we are now spiritually alive. Although we were held captive both by nature and by choice, Father-God has set us free in Christ from His wrath so that we may now serve Him through the power of His Spirit. In Christ, we have truly been set free. Father-God desires that we use our freedom to love one another and others in the fellowship the Spirit brings.
This week, we will focus on the ways in which Father God working in Christ through the Holy Spirit has delivered us from death.
WORDwork:
Colossians 1:9-14
…from the day we heard about you, (we) have not ceased praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, 10 so that you may live worthily of the Lord and please him in all respects bearing fruit in every good deed, growing in the knowledge of God, 11 being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might for the display of all patience and steadfastness, joyfully 12 giving thanks to the Father who has qualified you to share in the saints’ inheritance in the light. 13 He delivered us from the power (dominion) of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of His Beloved Son, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
With what does Paul pray for the Colossian church to be filled?
What should be the result of this filling? (vv10-12, 5 things)
What has the Father done for us? (verse 13)
We Have Been Delivered From the Dominion of Darkness.
In Christ, we have been delivered. We have been delivered out of the kingdom of darkness and transferred to the kingdom of God’s beloved Son Jesus. We have also been delivered from God’s wrath through the sacrifice of Jesus. Now that we are delivered, there is now no condemnation for all of us who are “in Christ.”
First of all, notice what Paul says at the end of this passage from Colossians: He delivered us from the power of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
We have been delivered by God to the Kingdom of His Beloved Son!!! Notice, he again touches on what we have considered earlier: in Christ we have redemption, the forgiveness of our sins. Because we are now in a New Kingdom, we have a new position before God, a new relationship to Him and that means that we have a new way of life. We will consider the first part of this passage in a future session. For now, we are going to explore the last part of this passage.
We were all once citizens of Satan’s Dark Dominion.
Most of us are not used to thinking in terms of “kingdoms” and “dominions.” In fact, it may be a surprise to discover that God’s universe is not a democracy. God is Sovereign King over all His creation. He does not submit to the popular vote of His subjects. Instead, He rules by His own perfect knowledge, wisdom and power expressed in His grace and righteousness.
On this present Earth, there is a Dark Dominion (a ruling power and authority) that stands opposed to the truth, goodness and glory of God. This dominion has as its “king” Satan (the Adversary, the Devil)—the enemy of all who would love and worship the One True God. This World has temporarily been usurped by Him. Paul tells us that Satan now blinds non-believers to light of Gospel:
2 Corinthians 4:3-4
… even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled only to those who are perishing, among whom the god of this age has blinded the minds of those who do not believe so they would not see the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God.
Satan is not God’s equal, but he is still very powerful nonetheless. The bad news for each of us is that we were born by natural birth into Satan’s Dominion of Darkness. This is the destiny our first parents chose for our human family. Each of us was born dead in sin, blind to God’s truth and incapacitated by our own pride and desire for total self-sufficiency. We were born enemies of God, “children of wrath,” “disobedient sons” (see Ephesians 2:3, 5:6).
God has Delivered Us!
But then God intervened:
2 Corinthians 4:6
For God, who said “Let light shine out of darkness,” is the one who shined in our hearts to give us the light of the glorious knowledge of God in the face of Christ!
God shined in our hearts, He illuminated us with the light that comes by way of the life and glory of the Lord Jesus. He called us to Himself by His love and grace and He opened our eyes to see the truth of the Gospel of Christ. When we received God’s gift of salvation through faith, we were transferred out of the Dominion of Darkness and transferred to The Kingdom of God’s Beloved Son Jesus.
You, just like every other Child of God, have been turned from the Darkness to the Light by the power of God’s Gospel, the “good news,” the “royal proclamation” of Jesus the King. By His grace, through faith, God has transferred us from the Darkness to the Light. Whereas Satan was once our King, now Christ is our Great King.
Those who remain enslaved to the Enemy in his dark dominion will finally enter into their eternal destiny, the Outer Darkness (see Matthew 22:13). To reject the One True God is to be cut off from all that is good, true and glorious. Yet all of us who have been transferred to the kingdom of Christ by His grace made real in the power of the Gospel will one day enter our eternal destiny: Reigning together with Christ in His Kingdom:
Revelation 5:9-10
(The Elders in Heaven) were singing a new song: “You (Christ) are worthy… and at the cost of your own blood you have purchased for God persons from every tribe, language, people, and nation. 5:10 You have appointed them as a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign on the earth.”
One last, important we need to make here: it was Jesus Himself who destroyed the Devil at the Cross to set us free from the power of death and even from our fear of death:
Hebrews 2:14-15
Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, he likewise shared in their humanity, so that through death he could destroy the one who holds the power of death (that is, the devil), 15 and set free those who were held in slavery all their lives by their fear of death.
We will have more to say about this in our next unit. For now, take note that Jesus has “shared in our flesh and blood” – He became human as we are – so that going through Death He might gain mastery over it!!! Now, in Christ, death has no power or hold over us. We have truly passed out of death into everlasting life.
What can you take from today’s discussion to pray and gives thanks to Father-God for? Take a few minutes to pray, give thanks and pray for a couple of people you may know who need to know these truths.
*You can find a complete list of all the MilktoMeat readings here.
