Practically Rescued

“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