Colossians 1:13-14 - Transfer Between Domains

INTRODUCTION

Open your Bibles with me this morning to the first chapter of the Epistle to the Colossians.

We will be looking at verses 13 and 14 this morning, but I will read verses 9-14 to remind us all of the context of the verses.

[READ COLOSSIANS 1:9-14]

If someone asked you what it means to be a Christian, what would you tell them?

We speak often about being a Christian or becoming a Christian,

But what, really, is the difference between someone who is a Christian and someone who is not?

Is there a difference?

We certainly hope there is, yes?

We might point to our eventual destination - Christians to eternity with Christ and unbelievers to eternal fire kindled with God’s wrath.

That is a real and a sobering difference, but the question I want you to consider this morning is whether there is a difference between Christians and unbelievers here and now.

Some may shrug their shoulders and speak of the similarity of wheat and tares until the harvest.

Indeed, wheat and tares may LOOK the same before the fruit begins to form,

But they are fundamentally different plants, fundamentally different creations.

Likewise, although we might not be able to tell by sight whether someone is a believer or not,

It doesn’t mean there is not some fundamental truth that distinguishes one from the other.

Some difference in nature that guarantees that each matures according to its type:

The wheat into wheat stalks;

The tares into weeds.

I spoke this week with a particularly abrasive individual who was convinced being a Christian means nothing more than interpreting the Bible the way he sees it right now.

(No one around here, nor even anyone you might know.)

Is that what fundamentally distinguishes a Christian from a pagan - the doctrines they hold dear?

Doctrine is important;

Fruit is important;

Faith is vital.

But in answering the question of what it means to be a Christian,

It would be hard to do better than the verses we are looking at this morning.

Colossians 1:13–14 “He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.”

We saw in verse 12 that God has qualified us to share in the inheritance,

That it is God’s work to set apart His people for Himself,

And our verses today define what that glorious inheritance is.

The difference between a Christian and an unbeliever is not a theoretical or potential distinction;

It’s not undefinable;

A Christian is in the kingdom of Jesus Christ - an unbeliever remains in the domain of darkness.

Now, you might be saying, “That sounds nice and spiritual, but it still sounds theoretical.

“It sounds like an attitude or a mindset.

“It certainly doesn’t sound as solid as being a citizen of Alabama, or of the United States.”

But in the time we have together this morning, let’s look to see if this is just a figure of speech,

Or if it is something much more real that possibly you have given it credit for.

You, Christian, who were once a captive of the domain of darkness, have been transferred to the kingdom of Jesus Christ.

The first thing we need to see is that this transfer IS ALREADY DONE.

He HAS delivered us...

Not “He will deliver us...” or “He might deliver us...”

Not even “He made possible our escape...”

He, God through Jesus Christ, HAS ALREADY delivered us.

He has already TRANSFERRED us...

This is another past tense word - it is done, complete, finished.

If you are a Christian today, you will not be MORE of a Christian in a week, a month, or in heaven in all eternity.

You won’t be LESS either.

You have been saved, converted, transferred once for all -

And that transaction is not reversible.

Then we get to the only present-tense verb in this sentence:

in whom we HAVE redemption...

The continuing effect of the miraculous movement of a sinner from darkness to a saint in God’s light is that the effect of redemption is constantly applied.

That’s a lot of words, so allow me to simplify:

If you are a Christian, you were moved ONCE, in the past, from the sin that held you;

And because we still are subject in this world to sin, we are constantly redeemed, constantly cleansed, in Jesus Christ.

The picture is one of a prison that forces hard labor.

That’s where you were.

Have you noticed how many of the saints of the scriptures were in prison at one time or another?

Joseph - in Pharaoh’s prison

Israel - in Pharaoh’s captivity

Daniel - in Nebuchadnezzar’s prison

Jeremiah - in the cistern

John the Baptist - in Herod’s prison

Peter and John and Paul and and and -

Believer - you were in prison to your sin as well.

Kept away from any hope of life or freedom.

Is there a crueler jailer than addiction?

A more merciless master than lust?

But into that prison, your Rescuer came:

Freeing you from the requirement to sin.

Bringing you out of the darkness that was engulfing your life.

On that day, in that moment, you were freed from that prison of darkness never to be locked in it again.

And after that, each day your great Redeemer continually cleanses you of any guilt you may have had that caused you to deserve to be locked up by God.

It’s DONE - your freedom is accomplished.

But notice where we WERE and where we ARE:

Colossians 1:13 “He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son,”

At the beginning of this point, I want to confess an error on my part.

In your bulletin, and perhaps in the title online, I made a mistake in the title.

I called this sermon “Transfer Between Kingdoms”.

But if you look at our verse, there’s only one kingdom mentioned - the kingdom of Jesus Christ.

We weren’t delivered from the “kingdom” of darkness;

We are delivered from the DOMAIN of darkness.

And that’s important.

A “kingdom” is where the ruler is entirely sovereign, having absolute and final authority.

A “domain” is where the ruler has the ability or authority to rule, but it is not absolute.

In fact, the domain is often a delegated authority.

We see that in Jesus’s examination by Pilate in John 19:10–11:

The same word, domain, is here translated “authority”, but it’s the same idea:

“So Pilate said to him, “You will not speak to me? Do you not know that I have authority to release you and authority to crucify you?” Jesus answered him, “You would have no authority over me at all unless it had been given you from above.””

The argument Pilate was making was about his POWER;

The AUTHORITY he had.

But even in his bragging, he knew his power is delegated, whether he admitted it or not;

Under Caesar’s delegation would be most obvious to him;

But the statement of our Lord to him was that the power he had in this moment to order the crucifixion was delegated by God Himself.

“...given you from above.”

All the greatest powers of this world are nothing but those who have received the right to exercise their authority for a time and place.

So when we read our verse today, we can see we are delivered, rescued, from the POWER of darkness.

As the early pastor John Chrysostom said in the late 300’s:

“This power of darkness is true tyranny.”

That power held us for a time - until we were freed by the beloved Son of God.

We were held by it for a time - but no more!

Not any longer.

That’s not who we are, not where we live any more.

We have been RESCUED from the power of darkness and TRANSFERRED to the absolute kingdom of Jesus Christ.

In that kingdom, our Lord has true power and authority:

He does not have delegated power - He is the sovereign Lord.

Paul speaks of this same kingdom in Ephesians 5, calling it the kingdom of Christ and God:

Ephesians 5:3–10 “But sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints. Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving. For you may be sure of this, that everyone who is sexually immoral or impure, or who is covetous (that is, an idolater), has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. Therefore do not become partners with them; for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light (for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true), and try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord.”

If we have been freed from our sin and our sinful desires of darkness,

We live in a different realm,

Under a different ruler than we did before.

Our Lord cares for us, loves us;

The ruler of this present evil age seeks only to steal, kill, and destroy.

Hear the invitation of our gracious Lord:

Matthew 11:28–30 “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.””

You have been living in the domain of hard labor;

Watching everything you do turn to a vapor.

Knowing that all your striving will, without Christ, end in vanity.

But we see in verse 14 of our passage today:

Colossians 1:14 “in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.”

In Him, Jesus Christ, we have redemption.

We are PURCHASED, REDEEMED out of this fallen world into life.

You were born into this world, into the inheritance of Adam:

Born into the curse of pain and trial.

Born into the curse of vanity and striving after wind.

Born into the curse of death.

Born into the certainty of eternal judgment that is completely just.

You were born into guilt, into a debt of sin that can never be repaid in all eternity from what you have in you.

But IN HIM we have redemption.

In Jesus Christ, we are removed from the curse of Adam.

Many of you are familiar with Romans chapter 6.

Verse 3 says this:

Romans 6:3 “Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?”

I think it is unfortunate that we have the word translated here “baptize”.

It’s unfortunate because I think many of us when we hear this passage think automatically of someone entering the water of baptism.

You may know, the word “baptizo” in Greek means “to immerse”.

But by the time the Greek scriptures were being translated to Latin,

And then later to English,

There was a pervasive practice of “baptizing” infants by the Roman Catholic church.

Well, the translators couldn’t very well indicate that the candidate for “immersion” be dunked in the water if the infant might drown,

So they didn’t translate the word - they just created a new one - “baptize”.

They were very consistent, so that when the word was used of the actual practice of water immersion,

Like John the Baptist or the Ethiopian Eunuch,

The same word is used as it is here in Romans 6.

Except I don’t think Romans 6, in general, is talking about water immersion.

Certainly, water baptism portrays this truth,

But the truth is far greater than simply telling us how to practice baptism.

Romans 6:1–4 “What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized [immersed] into Christ Jesus were baptized [engulfed] into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism [complete envelopment] into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.”

Romans 6:5 “For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.”

To merely make this passage about water baptism, I think, reduces the importance of the teaching.

Water baptism, to be sure, demonstrates this very truth and is properly practiced by immersion.

But did the act of being dunked in the water free you from your sin, redeem you from the domain of darkness?

No - but being entirely engulfed in Christ,

“Clothed in Christ” as it were,

That is where redemption lives.

Being IN CHRIST is the heart of being transferred to His glorious kingdom.

2 Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.”

You WERE in Adam - engulfed in his guilt and enslaved to his sinful nature.

But if you are IN CHRIST, you are surrounded, saturated with His righteousness, grace, and mercy.

Later on in this very epistle, Paul and Timothy will declare:

Colossians 3:3 “For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.”

Brother or sister - I don’t care how entirely convinced you used to be of the goodness of this world;

I don’t care how sold out you were to your sins or addictions.

I don’t care how much the memories of those sins, that life, still call to you,

Accuse you,

Or haunt you.

You were DELIVERED from that tyrant of sin;

You were freed from that captivity of lust.

You were rescued from the death sentence you were enduring on this earth.

You are now IN CHRIST,

Transferred innocent into His kingdom;

Your sins washed clean and forgiven.

No accusation from the old world can be made to the Father about you.

You are in the kingdom of His beloved Son now.

What is the difference between the Christian and the unbeliever?

The Christian is wholly, completely found in Christ.

Your sin paid for by the precious blood of Jesus Christ.

And His righteousness infusing you completely.

By the work of God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.