“Who has qualified you to share in the
inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light. For he has rescued us from the dominion of
darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have
redemption, the forgiveness of sins.”
Colossians 1:12b-14
“For he has
rescued us from darkness…. and brought us into the kingdom of the Son that he
loves, …..in whom we have redemption and …..the forgiveness of sins”.
This is me
memorizing. Did you see what I did
there? If not, stop a moment and
compare. I left out a word. Did you notice? What was it?
I love this
verse. This has been a verse that I have
had memorized for many years. It
radiates truth and it is my life’s testimony.
I came to Christ much later in life well past the age where it would
have been incredibly useful for me to know the difference between
fellowshipping in darkness and fellowshipping in the light. One doesn’t know they are living in darkness
until the light is turned on. Darkness
was my normal until Christ rescued me.
Here’s a surprise, I didn’t know I even needed rescuing. But God did.
Amazing grace.
While I was/am
rescued from darkness, I confess I still find myself there. While I am not one to go the places I use to
go or do the things I use to do, I do more often than I care to admit, think
the way I used to think. Darkness. Darkness can cloud my mind and my judgment. I can often view things through the lens of
an old dark mindset rather than through the colorful perspective of the life
God has brought me into.
Why? Because of the very word I left out in my
memorization of Colossians 1:13. Did you
catch it? Dominion. I don’t know why I
have memorized this verse and left out that word for all these years. Perhaps it speaks to a much deeper
issue.
Merriam
Webster’s Dictionary defines dominion
as:
“The power to rule: control of a country,
region, etc.”
If I am in
Christ than darkness has no power to rule nor control me. I am the only one who gives it that
authority. Before Christ, I was
powerless to the rule of darkness but now that I am in Him that power is
rendered impotent. If I am walking in
darkness, it is because I have chosen to.
So how
practically do I still allow darkness to have dominion? I thought of three different
ways and they all have to do with my memory flaws. We have already talked about this so go easy
on me.
1)
I
forget that I have been rescued from the control of darkness. It
has no control over me. While darkness
abounds in this world, as a child of God I no longer am under its control.
2)
I
forget to turn to the light. The problem with darkness is that it is so
stinking familiar. Sometimes I can
confuse what feels familiar with walking in the light. “This is always the way I have responded in
the past so it must be right.” Forget
that the response in itself was wrong to begin with. For instance, unforgiveness (might) have been
the way I punished others in the past so when an opportunity arises that I
might need to forgive someone, the familiar takes over and I pay back by not
forgiving.
However, walking in the light commands me to forgive. That is the right option. The light now rules my life. 1 John 1:7 says
“But if we walk in the light, as he is in
the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his
Son, purifies us from all sin.” This is not an option. Our purity demands us to live in the light. If we want to see God in great and wonderful
ways, purity is the goal. Turning to the
light is a must.
3)
I
forget the slavery of darkness. Several of the commentaries I have read made mention
that in these verses (Colossians 1:12-14) Paul is referring to the Exodus
experience where God delivered His people out of Egypt and from the dominion of
Pharaoh. If you recall your Old
Testament, you might remember that on more than one occurrence the Israelites
longed to return to Egypt. Why? They remembered the good stuff. (Numbers
11:5, 14:4, 21:5; Exodus 16:2-3) They
forgot about the bondage and slavery that marked their lives for 400
years. We can have selective memory
about our past associations with darkness.
We forget how dark, dark can be.
When things get rough, and they do, we long to return to our old
ways. We handle things with our old
resources rather than with the strength of our new life in the spirit.
Dominion. Such an important word to remember and one
that absolutely can not be left out. We
can know doctrine until the cows come home but it means nothing unless it is
applied. While we know it is imperative
for us to realize that we have been rescued from the dominion of darkness
positionally it is way more important that we know it practically. God’s word is
indeed practical. I confess I don’t
always live as someone who has been practically rescued. Positionally definitely, practically not so
much.
How about
you? Are you living as someone who is practically
rescued?
“But you are a chosen people, a royal
priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the
praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.”
1
Peter 2:9
Yes... LIVE like I've been rescued from the dominion of darkness...ACT, THINK,SPEAK like I've been set free... making me worthy to share in his inheritance. Overwhelming thought!
ReplyDeleteThanks Arlene for reminding me that I'm redeemed! Praise God! Thank you LORD!