Colossians 1:13
13 Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son.
Our salvation is a demonstration of God’s matchless, triumphant power. We are now “delivered” from the tyrannical power of Satan and sin by God the Omnipotent. The Greek word for “delivered” (rhúomai) means “rescued from danger or great peril”. If God had not rescued us, we would have remained subjugated forever by satanic tyranny.
We were under “the power of darkness”. The word “power” denotes authority or jurisdiction. “Darkness” denotes moral and spiritual ignorance and evil that pervade Satan’s domain. The hosts of demons reign in this world as “the rulers of the darkness of this world” (Ephesians 6:12). Satan keeps people in the spiritual darkness of ignorance (2 Corinthians 4:4; Ephesians 4:18), vile passions and deeds (John 3:19-20; Ephesians 5:11- 13), as well as misery, fear and death (Luke 1:79). We were once locked up in Satan’s corrupt and vile domain, having no power to break free.
But God sent His Son to deliver us. In 1 John 3:8, we read, “For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.” Jesus illustrated His power to cast out the demons and free a soul from their sway in Matthew 12:29 – “how can one enter into a strong man’s house, and spoil his goods, except he first bind the strong man?” Christ, the mighty Conqueror, has snatched us from the clutches of Satan and brought us out of his control and dark influences.
God not only delivered us from the power of darkness, but He also “translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son”. The word “translated” in Greek (methíst?mi) has the idea of removing people from a place to another. Christians have been transferred from the kingdom of Satan to the kingdom of Christ, God’s dear Son. Our salvation removes us from spiritual and moral darkness, and places us in the pure and glorious light of Jesus Christ. Zechariah prophetically announced concerning Christ before His birth, that He would appear “to give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace” (Luke 1:79). Jesus Himself said, “I am come a light into the world, that whosoever believeth on me should not abide in darkness” (John 12:46).
What a glorious freedom we have been granted in Christ! No more to be under darkness, but evermore with Christ in His glorious kingdom of light!