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From Dominion to Kingdom Living

From Dominion to Kingdom Living

Words of Faith 10-2-19

Dr. Jeffrey D. Hoy © 2019

Jeff.Hoy@faithfellowshipweb.com

Faith Fellowship Church - Melbourne, FL

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Colossians 1

  [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. 

 

      What is the difference between our old life and our new life?  It is as bold a contrast as light is to darkness, but it is even more.  It is also the dramatic contrast between dominion and kingdom.

      It was critical to Paul that the Colossians did not forget who they were in Christ and where they had come from.  They had been rescued from a dominion and brought into a kingdom.  The words chosen are so very powerful.

      Before Christ, we are not just in a different group.  We are not just members of another way.  We are in the dominion of darkness. The word exousia means a jurisdiction or authority in which there is a dominant power.  It is not a place of freedom at all.  We are under the domination of darkness. 

      Jesus used this same phrase in Luke's Gospel at the time of His arrest in the Garden of Gethsemane-- "Every day I was with you in the temple courts, and you did not lay a hand on me. But this is your hour--when darkness reigns"-- under the dominion of darkness (Luke 22:53). 

      But Jesus delivers us out of the domination of darkness and brings us and leads us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, our redeemer.  This kingdom is quite different from the dominion.  The word for kingdom is basilia.  It means the reign of royalty that includes inheritance.

       The kingdom of the Son speaks of freedom.  Paul says Christ ushers us into a Kingdom where we become co-heirs with Christ.  We do not move from domination by darkness to domination by light.  We actually are ushered completely out of any domination into an inheritance of freedom with God.

       The word used here is a strong one.  To be "brought" is an expression in Greek which was used in reference to removing persons from one country and settling them as colonists and citizens in another country. It might be rendered "reestablished.”  The tense of the verb points to the time of conversion. This is not an end-time gift.  This is a present reality.

        The work of Jesus removes us from the domination of darkness and relocates us in a whole new country-- the Kingdom of the dearly loved Son of God.

 

        Lord, You have freed me from the darkness.  Give me grace to walk in the light.  Give me Your Spirit that I may walk in the Kingdom of the dearly loved Son.  In Jesus' Name.

 

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The Words of Faith devotion is published five days a week by E-mail, and our website, and our church app, excluding Federal holidays. Please feel free to forward this devotion to a friend who might be blessed by this devotion. Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture is quoted from the New International Version (R) of The Holy Bible. Copyright (c) 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved. Words of Faith (c) 1997, 2010 Jeffrey D. Hoy. All rights reserved. Permission is granted to forward this copyrighted material or use portions of it with appropriate notation of the source for non-profit purposes.  

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