“God, our Father has delivered us from the power of darkness and has translated us into the Kingdom of His dear Son” (Colossians 1:13).

Darkness (Def.): (Gr.): Skotos from Skia: Shade, Shadow, Obscurity

From the time of Adam’s expulsion from Eden there has been an obscure shadow cast over all the world and all who live under its shade. The Apostle expressed it so:

“Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for all have sinned” (Romans 5:12).

Job expressed the power of darkness as:

“If only I had never come into being, or had been carried straight from the womb to the grave! Are not my few days almost over? Turn away from me so I can have a moment’s joy before I go to the place of no return, to the land of gloom and deep shadow, to the land of deepest night, of deep shadow and disorder, where even light is like darkness” (Job 10:19-22).

The Power of Darkness ensnares, holds captive, binds, enslaves and torments those held under its reign. As a strongman over his house, darkness enforces its will upon all those held under the power of its evil force.

Jesus said:

“When a strong man armed keeps his palace, his goods are in peace. But when a stronger than he shall come upon him, and overcome him, he takes from him all his armor wherein he trusted, and divides his spoils” (Luke 11:21-22).

Now, the stronger one has come into the darkness and has overcome the power of darkness and “translated us into the Kingdom of” the Son. Oh, what a glorious deliverance it is for the believer. What a glorious triumph for the saints. As the Psalmist declared:

“Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for You are with me, Your rod and staff comfort me” (Psalm 23:4).

The Power of Darkness has been defeated and we have been translated into the Kingdom of the Son.

Translated (Def.): (Gr.): Methistemi from Meta and Histemi: To transfer, Carry away, To stand in another place

Brethren, we are now standing in another place, a new dimension, a new realm, under a new reign, a new authority. No longer under the dominion of darkness, we are now under the dominion of Light, the dominion of the Son.

The Prophet Isaiah spoke well of it:

“The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light; they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them has the light shined” (Isaiah 9:2).

God has commanded this from the beginning.

“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. And God said, ‘Let there be Light’! and there was Light.” (Genesis 1:1-3a).

The separation, the deliverance, the rescue, the salvation of God is ever proceeding, ever working in the world and in us. The Apostle used the Creation to illustrate the working of God in us delivering us from evil:

“For God who commanded the light to shine out of darkness has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ” (II Corinthians 4:6).

The Power of Darkness is real. The forces of evil work continually, though their time is short, for God has promised a permanent end to all such darkness in the Day the Son shines brightly, and the Lord reigns in His Kingdom with all His saints forever and ever. Amen.

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