(God) has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.
Colossians 1:13-14
In light of recent events, I’m brought to realize that though we are delivered from the power of darkness, darkness will still try to drag us back in.
The good news is that darkness will never succeed, even if it seems like it. For the truth of the matter is that we are no longer under the dominion of sin, nor are we under darkness or its power or influence. The Truth is that our Father has conveyed (transferred, carried) us into the kingdom of the Son of His love… Or, in other translations, into the kingdom of His dear Son (‘dear’ in this case literally translates from agape, the fully benevolent and affectionate love I believe only God could truly give).
I’m clinging to the absolute truth – the redemption we have through the blood of Christ, and the complete forgiveness of our sins. It’s no accident that I just talked about how remembering our forgiveness is in the beginning of the faith Christ authored into us.
By our remembering how we are forgiven, we not only remember our identities as beloved sons and daughters of the most high – here, we remember how we are no longer under the power of darkness, no longer under the dominion of sin; We have been transferred, moved, carried and conveyed into the kingdom of Christ – the Son of God’s agape love.
To Him be all glory, praise and honor forever and ever. Amen.
He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.
For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers.
All things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist.
And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence.
Colossians 1:15-18
This here sounds like something that we need to keep in mind when we come up with a church Organizational Chart. Christ has preeminence in all things.
‘Pre-‘: He is the First and Foremost before all things
‘eminence‘: He is in all things, as all things consist and are set or held together.
Christ over all, and in all. So He’s not just on the top, but in all departments, in all entities recognized within the body. It is HIS Body, after all.
To supplement verse 16 where it states that by Christ all thrones or dominions or principalities or powers were created, we also read in Romans 13:1 that there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God.
Christ, who is the firstborn FROM the dead (that is, the first One resurrected, the first New Creation) IS the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. By His blood we have been redeemed; He became sin that we become His righteousness.
And that’s not all. Shifting lanes here, we also give God the glory and thank God for Jesus, for by His finished work, including His ascension, we have received the Holy Spirit…
…and not only is the Holy Spirit the guarantee of our salvation while we toil in this sin-fractured reality; He also, simply, prays for us.
26 Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. 27 And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.Romans 8:26-27 I had this in mind earlier this morning, while I was stirring in bed, when I didn’t want to do anything else, not even to speak, or even think – it’s during these moments when I thought, maybe in this ‘weak’ inactive state, even here the Spirit prays for me; He intercedes for me, and He does so according to the will of God.
I mean, I’ve had a lot on my plate, or at the very least there was a lot on my mind that I wanted to do, that I needed to face… and you’d think I’d be more enthusiastic in praying, but for some reason I ran to this portion of Scripture instead. I relied on the Spirit to groan too deep for words, while I was half-man, and half bed.
It’s nice, to think that not only are we made new, but we are also moved to a new location.
We’ve been made new creations; The old has passed away, and all things have been made new.
We’ve also been moved; From the power of darkness, to the Kingdom of God’s Son, Jesus Christ.
We’ve been moved from the dominion of sin, to life in the Spirit.
And, considering this part of Scripture, it’s not just that we’ve been moved, but the Spirit has moved in and made its home in our beings.
We are now literally able to pray without ceasing (as it was told to the Thessalonians in 2 Thessalonians 5:16-18), because when we aren’t praying, it’s the Spirit who prays and intercedes on our behalf… and what’s even better is that while we’re limited with our language and choice of words, it’s the Spirit who intercedes with groanings far deeper than words could ever express.
I’ve been having that sort of revelation lately, where we realize that there’s less and less that we need to do, because our God has done so much, and is doing so much.
In this case, the Spirit intercedes for us. And as we discussed yesterday, it’s God who does the moving and the pruning for us, because He’s the Vinedresser, not us.
It’s more or less been proven, and is continually being proven, particularly in this case that my household has been brought into, regarding theft that has happened against our house.
In all this, we have and are trusting in the Lord, in God our Father, who has promptly moved us into places we’ve never dreamed of going prior, to bear the fruits of the Holy Spirit, for others to see, and for us to partake of – all for the glory of His name, and for the Gospel to reach out to more people.
Here, I have and am trusting in the Lord, in the Holy Spirit, to pray and intercede on my behalf, for even if I have an idea of the right prayer to speak and the right words to say in this situation, it’s the Holy Spirit who knows far more than I could ever realize about this and all my other circumstances… So let Him flow, let Him and I flow in prayer and intercession – all for the glory of His name, and for the Gospel to reach out to more people.
This, I believe, is the inheritance we have, bought by the blood of Christ, sealed with the Holy Spirit – our forever right-standing with God, that we call Him our Father, who is willing and able to help us (by moving and pruning us to bear more fruit, among many other things), and, by His Spirit, is always thinking about us (1 Peter 5:7), and apparently, praying with us, praying for us.
God – again, the God of Israel, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the Creator of the Universe and all things seen and unseen, the Maker of the heavens and the earth, the Maker of time and space, eternally wise and infinitely powerful; The ONLY God above all other gods, glorious and gracious, good and great, magnificent and wonderful – He is my Father. He is OUR Father.
This is our beloved Father, in whom we are awed and amazed.
Praise the Father, Praise the Son,
Praise the Spirit, Three-In-One.
God of glory (and) majesty,
Praise forever to the King of Kings.
May the Lord continue to bless us all. May He continue to minister to us in our circumstances, moving in our midst, speaking to hearts and minds, giving us favor with everyone we meet and encounter.
May the Holy Spirit, poured into our beings by the finished work of Christ, shine in our lives and in all that concerns us, AND in all we’re concerned about, that more would see Your goodness, and that this goodness would lead many more to repentance unto salvation.
May we behold the great power and everlasting love of our Father, as He demonstrates before our eyes, how He makes all things work together for our good.
We are not shaken, we are not moved. The Lord is our Foundation, and He upholds us with His righteous right hand.
To God be the glory, forever and ever. Amen.
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