From JAP—Colossians 1:13-14.
“For He 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.”
Believers have indeed been rescued from the dominion of darkness, and that was accomplished when we accepted the freedom offered from the cross and ”received redemption, the forgiveness of sins.” No longer do we have to be deceived by the devil who is a ”liar and the father of lies” (John 8:44) because Jesus disarmed the powers and authorities of this dark world when He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross (Colossians 2:15).
So that leaves us with no obstacles, able to selflessly follow our Lord—right?
Well, not quite. Believers still face the handicap of our own will that must be defeated to receive ALL of God’s promises. Self-will is part of our nature which wants to make us the center of the world, replacing God on his throne with ourselves and our own selfish desires.
Think of a hungry infant displaying his demands to receive all that he cares about—food. That baby did not learn that he could receive what he wants by crying and demanding, by learning from experience. No, it was not taught, rather it is part of the baby’s nature. And so it is with us, that innate desire “you will be like God” spewed from Satan’s evil lips in the Garden (Genesis 3:4), and accepted by Eve, that gave Satan authority over a world where he could be a god and rule over clueless inhabitants who did not know that they could submit themselves to God. “Resist the devil and he will flee from you” (James 4:7).
But as God’s children delivered from the dominion of darkness and born again into His kingdom of light, we have an anointing from the Holy One and we know the truth. (1 John 2:20). On the Day of Pentecost the Holy Spirit came to fill believers with power and signs and wonders, as He created His body to live victoriously on earth—as the Church.
That anointing is to flow freely from the Church into every dark corner of Satan’s realm so that blind eyes may see and deaf ears may hear that God’s glorious kingdom is available to all who will come to the cross and surrender self-will into His welcoming arms.
So, when we surrendered to our Lord, that took care of everything—right?
No, we will still spend our lives battling our flesh, with its own selfish desires, instead of following the Spirit of Truth—who will guide us into all truth (John 16:13), because God’s love demands that we now live to “give” and no longer live to “take.” We are now warriors called to defeat greed and ego by allowing Holy Spirit to fill us with love and compassion, and through spiritual gifts (1 Corinthians 12:1-11) defeat the devil’s evil plans for our own lives, so that we may share (with power) the Gospel message of new life to the hopeless and lost, in a world ruled by sin and hatred.
We must never forget that through the power of Holy Spirit we have become a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17), filled with all that we need to overcome the flesh to live successful lives in the Spirit, and to share that good news that has been placed in our hearts in a way that it may overflow into the hearts of all with whom we share it!
AMEN!