The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him and what came to my mind and heart in Colossians 1:13-14,
"He [the Father] 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."
Paul observes that God has rescued us from "the dominion of darkness". Merriam-Webster defines dominion as "domain", "a supreme authority", "sovereignty". Paul identifies the believer's rescue is from the domain of darkness or the authority of darkness. What is meant by that? What is this darkness?
When Isaiah prophesied about the coming Savior, the Savior was said to come for people in a certain condition: "The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned." Isaiah 9:2. It is a reference to the condition of the people of Israel, and, of course all humanity. All humanity lives in a darkness. It is a spiritual darkness, a blindness from which God and his kingdom are shrouded, unseen. This spiritual darkness leaves mankind wandering in a lost condition and subject to the authority of this dark condition.
Jesus spoke of this darkness in his sermon on the mount, "The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!" Matthew 6:22-23. In speaking of the Pharisees, Jesus said, "Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be pulled up by the roots. Leave them; they are blind guides. If the blind lead the blind, both will fall into a pit." Matthew 15:13-14. This blindness he spoke of is that blindness this darkness creates. In Matthew 23:16-24 he calls them blind fools, blind men, blind guides. When Jesus told Nicodemus that people need to be born again, he said some will not take the opportunity, "This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed." John 3:19-20. Some prefer to remain in darkness, in spiritual blindness. In John 8:12, Jesus said, "I am the light of the world.Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life." In speaking of his coming departure from earth, he told a crowd, "You are going to have the light just a little while longer. Walk while you have the light, before darkness overtakes you. Whoever walks in the dark does not know where they are going. Believe in the light while you have the light, so that you may become children of light." John 12:35. And, in John 12:46, Jesus said, "I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness."
In speaking of the first coming of Jesus Christ, John says, "The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it." John 1:5. This darkness is spiritual blindness. It is from this collective spiritual blindness or darkness that God has rescued us, bringing us into spiritual light where things that were previously unseen by us now begin to be seen or perceived. We were once in a condition described by John in 1 John 2:11 as, "Anyone who hates a brother or sister is in the darkness and walks around in the darkness. They do not know where they are going, because the darkness has blinded them." Now we have been rescued from that condition, rescued from the power of darkness over our lives, rescued from the rulers and authorities of the darkness.
Quite a rescue from a desperate condition, isn't it?
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you abouthim from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!
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