Colossians 1:13-14 *
Dear Friends in Christ,
We’ve already done it once, but later on in this service we will do something we do every time we come together for worship. We will pray. We will pray for various things; for brothers and sisters in need, for mission work… and then we will conclude by joining together in the Lord’s Prayer.
At the end of the Lord’s Prayer we will state matter-of-factly the reason we believe our Heavenly Father will hear and answer all our prayers is because “the kingdom, the power and the glory” are His now and forever. Or, as those of us who grew up with the “traditional” wording remember saying it: “for thine is the kingdom…”
What we are stating with that final phrase is this comforting truth: God rules, has all power and deserves all glory. Even more comforting: This is the God that we, by His grace, are privileged to know.
On this last Sunday of the Church Year – designated as
“Christ the King Sunday” – we have the opportunity to reflect upon the
No, we approach this whole subject as insiders. We know this King. We know who He is and what He’s accomplished for us. And because Christ is our King, we can slightly modify that final phrase of the Lord’s Prayer and say with certainty and gratitude:
OURS IS THE KINGDOM
In our text for today the Apostle Paul uses a number of marvelously descriptive words and phrases as he addresses what it means to be part of God’s Kingdom. Taken all together, they impress upon us
1. What we have been rescued from
2. What we have been delivered to
3. How this all came about
Let’s begin by setting the background for this portion of God’s Word…
Colosse was a city in present day
Judging from a remark he makes later in his letter, it’s quite likely Paul himself had never been there, but that the message of salvation had been carried there by someone who had come to faith through Paul’s preaching in another town. Nevertheless, Paul was well aware of the young Christians in this area and was concerned about their spiritual lives, especially in light of some false teachers who were troubling them. So he wrote a letter of instruction and encouragement which we simply refer to as “Colossians.”
In the verses just before our text, Paul expressed gratefulness for the faith of these new Christians. He tells them they are constantly in his prayers, and that he specifically prays for the ongoing formation of their Christian character. He prays that God would use them to bear fruit in His service and provide them with spiritual strength. Then he prays that the Lord would create within them a spirit of thanksgiving to God who “qualified you [through Christ] to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light.”
Our text picks up immediately after this sentence. Paul expands upon what God has done for them, for him, and for us in Jesus Christ. And what is that? 13 For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. This is one of those complete, concise, and powerful proclamations of good news that Paul makes throughout his letters. It all revolves around Christ the King. Let’s take a closer look by dismantling this beautiful pronouncement word for word and phrase by phrase…
First piece of good news:
Through the work of Jesus Christ, God has “rescued us from the dominion of darkness.”
What do you think of when you hear the word “rescue”? What image comes to mind? Maybe a fireman bringing someone out of a burning building. Maybe a coast guard boat coming to the aid of someone flailing in the water. Maybe the cavalry coming in the nick of time to save a troop pinned down and outnumbered by the enemy.
Whatever mental image comes to mind, all have this in common: people who are rescued cannot extricate themselves from the situation they are in by their own efforts. They need the help of another party. Without the aid and assistance of that other party, they would be doomed.
And that, of course, is a good description of where we begin spiritually. In His Word God tells His creatures what He expects of them in response to His will and commands. Perfection. Not just our best efforts, but a sin-free life from the moment we are born. Do this, God says, and you may enter glory with Me…
But we can’t. We’re born sinful. And we don’t. We sin. We disobey. Which means we fall short of the expectations God has placed on us. This is not a revelation to mankind. Even the vainest person in the world will admit to not being perfect.
But that’s the standard that has been set by the Creator of the Universe. And like a father who has every right to punish a willfully defiant child, so God has every right to banish us to “the dominion of darkness” for our failure to follow His rules.
What’s that? The dominion of darkness is just the opposite of “the kingdom of light” that Paul referred to earlier. The “kingdom of light” is heaven. The “dominion of darkness” is hell: eternal separation from God.
This is serious business. Hell is not a scare tactic. It is not a humanly invented device to manipulate and threaten people into good behavior. Hell is real. Moreover, that’s where we were headed. Sin disqualifies us from heaven, which leaves “the dominion of darkness” as the only alternative. And there is absolutely nothing we – or anyone else – can do on our own to stop it from happening. We don’t need to try harder. We don’t need to plead more. We don’t need to perform better.
What we need is to be “rescued.” And
that is exactly what Christ the King has done for us. He rescued us from that “dominion of darkness.” How? By
providing us with “redemption” and “the forgiveness of sins.”
“Redemption” carries with it the idea of being bought back. We’ve been bought back from the “dominion of darkness” and the claim that Satan, “the prince of darkness” had on us because of our sin. “Redemption” means our sin isn’t a disqualifying problem anymore because it’s been paid for. We have “the forgiveness of sins.”
And we know how it all came about. It’s the old, old story we love to tell and need to hear again and again because it is so otherworldly. This is the Gospel: God became one of us in the person of His Son, Jesus Christ. Jesus lived perfectly, in our place. Jesus suffered our punishment, our death, our hell; in our place. Jesus rose from the dead as proof that His mission of redemption had been successfully completed. God transfers the perfect life, death and resurrection of Jesus to all who trust Him as their Savior...
The result is that we now talk about “the dominion of darkness” in totally different terms. Once it was a destination point, but no more. Now it something we have been “rescued from,” and what we have been “brought into” is “the kingdom of the son he [God] loves.” In other words, OURS IS THE KINGDOM. We live in a world and a universe and an eternity where Christ the King rules. And there is no better place to be.
What has Paul told us in our text? He’s painted the Gospel message for us in a very descriptive way. He talks about us being rescued from something very bad and delivered to something very good. For us hell is out and heaven is in. And it all comes about through Christ the Savior, Christ the Conqueror, Christ the King.
Certainly the greatest application of these words is to our eternal life. But Christ’s rule in our lives is not just a future hope. It is also a present reality. And in these words of Paul I believe we can also find some wonderful everyday comfort. Perhaps we can use some of Paul’s imagery to suggest additional blessings of the Gospel.
For instance, let’s revisit the idea of Christ rescuing us from darkness. Is not that what Christ the King does for us each and every day?
Sometimes we talk about going through dark times. Even as believers. In the church of the middle ages, some of the theologians and religious philosophers would talk about going through a “dark night of the soul.” What they meant was a time of testing; a time of spiritual difficulty or dryness or doubt.
Ever gone through one of those?
Maybe we are struggling with certain temptations or pet sins and maybe, frankly, Satan is winning. And when we realize he’s gotten the upper hand and we’ve followed him too far, we come to our senses, but are filled with deep regret and remorse. And a certain darkness comes over us…
Then we must remember what Christ our King has done for us, look to him in repentance knowing that He has provided us with “redemption” and the “forgiveness of sins,” and remember that OURS IS THE KINGDOM. We come to the Supper He has prepared for us “weary, worn and sad,” but leave uplifted and comforted in the knowledge that we are redeemed, restored, forgiven. We go forward in the confidence that, in the words of Paul to the Philippians, we can do all things through Christ our King who strengthens us… And the darkness begins to lift.
Maybe our dark times come in some other form. Despite the knowledge that we are saved eternally, maybe our personal relationships or personal circumstances are just not going well. Maybe we’re sad or distressed – or even perhaps a little disappointed that God isn’t taking a more active role in our lives even after we commit the same things to Him in prayer over and over again. And a certain darkness descends upon us...
Then we must remember what Christ our King has done for us, and remember that OURS IS THE KINGDOM. While on this earth, our King has told us that we will have troubles, but to take heart, because He has overcome the world. We take heart in His many promises to give us strength for the journey. We remember what Paul tells us in Romans, that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us… And the darkness begins to lift.
Christ our King once said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in
darkness, but will have the light of life.” In other words, whatever our dark times may
be, we will find them dissipate as we draw near and stay close to Him. Because light and darkness cannot
coexist. And we are members of the
How can we make such a blessed claim? These beautiful words of Paul bear repeating
one final time. In His grace God “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.”
On this final Sunday of the church year let us rejoice, because
Christ is King and OURS IS THE KINGDOM – now and forever. Amen.