Light and Life

On April 21, 2025   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Colossians 1: 13 – 14

For He 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.

I wondered if we fully appreciate the truth behind this verse. This is an immense concept. Do we look over it lightly? Maybe it is too difficult to fully perceive.

The miracle that our Father wrought in Jesus’ life, death and resurrection is not only a great story, but it is the greatest news of the gospel. We have been translated into the kingdom of light from the kingdom of darkness. Jesus told us in John 8: 12 that he is “the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life.” We were legally under the authority of Satan, but Jesus broke that bondage. He went to hell and came out victorious and with the keys of death and hell (Revelation 1: 18). He broke us out of hell, and we became part of his victory, part of his inheritance. Because of Jesus’ victory over hell and the grave, we have become part of the kingdom of light.

Now this is interesting. Jesus then says that we are the light of the world (Matthew 5: 14). When we accept the gift of salvation and receive redemption, then we are translated out of the realm of darkness and into the kingdom of light. Then we actually become the light because we are in the light. Jesus is the light and we are in him, so we are the light in this dark world. This is pretty heavy but what this is really saying is that we are Jesus in this world. We are his body. That makes us his hands, his feet and his mouth. We have been saved from darkness and brought into the light so that light completely infuses us. We have become full of the very essence of Jesus if we are in him and he in us.

All of the power of hell and the grave has been broken off of us. We are completely regenerated in the life giving power of God. That new life in us has the power to break the bondages off of others as well. We have new life, a life of light and power in Christ Jesus. Darkness no longer has any power over you. That has got to be a reason to celebrate.

Back to Top

Land Lord

On April 9, 2015   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Psalm 115: 16

The heavens are the heavens of the Lord; but the earth He has given to the sons of men.

Luke 4: 5 – 6

And he led Him up and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. And the devil said to Him, “I will give You all this domain and its glory; for it has been handed over to me, and I give it to whomever I wish.”

Here is the chain of title of the earth. God created it and it belonged to Him. Then He gave it to the sons of men. When Jesus came along the devil offered all the kingdoms of the earth and their glory to him. Apparently title had shifted to the devil. Notice Jesus did not debate the devil’s assertion of ownership and control. So how did it go from belonging to people to being in Satan’s possession? The devil tells us in verse 6 that it was handed over to him. By whom then? Well, it wasn’t God because He gave it to humanity.

In the Garden of Eden God gave authority over the earth and everything in it to the people He created. He gave them the responsibility for the earth and its well-being. The earth was created for humanity. It was created to be a home for us but Satan deceived God’s children and they fell. They listened to the word of Satan instead of the Word of God. When they did, the earth became a place of conflict. Their capitulation to the devil gave him authority in the earth.

But then good news came. His name is Jesus. He crushed sin, broke the chains of slavery and destroyed the works of the devil. He went into the pit itself and conquered death, hell and the grave and when he came out he had the keys. In Revelation 1: 18 Jesus revealed that he had the keys of death and Hades but that wasn’t all he won. He redeemed us, restoring us back to our proper place in the Lord. He won back our kingdom and our domain. We are now joint heirs with him but there is a caveat. We must claim our inheritance and enforce our rights. There are squatters on the land thanks to the time that it spent in wrongful hands. In addition, the devil is a deceiver. If you don’t run him off he won’t go and if you listen to him he will trick you, deceive you into believing a pack of lies. When you do that, you forsake your ancestral heritage. You effectively surrender yourself again to the yoke of slavery where Satan is your master.

Your only defense is the Word of God. Only when you know your legal rights and stand on them will the enemy, the undeserving squatters, leave your property. Look, you are royalty if you want to know the whole truth but if you go about wearing rags and acting like a peasant then all you will have is a peasant’s life. Our birthright, our binding contract and our weapon of enforcement are all encompassed humbly but powerfully in the camouflage of a book. But it isn’t only what is between the bindings that is so significant. It is the word who is alive, He that went to hell, defeated Satan and handed you the keys of victory. He is the living word. He was, is and always will be. You find him between the covers of the Bible and then he leaps off of the page in power and glory when you believe what you read there and trust him to be your king and lord.

Back to Top