Moved into the Kingdom of the Jesus Christ
For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, Colossians 1:13
so that you would walk in a manner worthy of the God who calls you into His own kingdom and glory. 1 Thessalonians 2:12
for in this way the entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be abundantly supplied to you. 2 Peter 1:11
Making the Transfer
It is one of the themes of the human story that when things get difficult in a certain place many will leave that place and look for greener pastures. Some groups of people live in a continual cycle of camping and moving from place to place. There are countless stories and movies about people during the Potato Famine in Ireland who left in order to try to find a new life somewhere else. People may want a new life for themselves, or a better life for their children, or want to escape the horrid circumstances of governmental or religious persecution. It is a common journey to have to make. In the last study we got to look at the land that we were born into. This week we get to look at the kingdom that we have been redeemed into.
The Authority of Darkness
Just as a brief review of what we have been redeemed from, the very word used of this world system are oppressive. When we think about the power that darkness has it becomes clear how thankful we should be to be redeemed out of it. Darkness keeps us from seeing things, when we walk in the darkness we bump into things, fall down, hurt ourselves and so forth. Someone who keeps another person in darkness is especially cruel because the person is unable even to see his surroundings and assess the situation clearly. There are evil powers that are trying to keep humanity under their veil of mist, confusion, fear, and chaos. But we have been redeemed out of this oppressive system.
What sort of “transfer” is this?
The word that is here translated as “transferred” (“translated” in the KJV) is an interesting word. It has the idea of a large number of people relocated totally out of one location to another. It was used throughout the Bible in this permanent, corporate sense. Thus the “transfer that is being made is akin to a major national exodus. It was used in the Greek translation of the Old Testament for all of Israel being moved back to Israel from captivity. It is a large scale, permanent transfer.
What are we redeemed to?
Out of the power of darkness, yes, but what have we been redeemed into? That can be tough. The word “kingdom” gets used a number of different ways in scripture. The chart highlights some of these these. The largest sense is the universal Kingdom of God which maintains that God is the Sovereign over all things, all people, all times and all places. There is not one element of creation that is not ultimately responsible to God in this universal sense. There is the Mediatorial Kingdom of God that occurs in two phases. The first phase was the kingdom of Israel’s time of being sovereign under David, Solomon and the kings of the Old Testament. David was promised that one from His line would later rule the Earth forever (this is a messianic promise). The second phase of this Mediatorial Kingdom of God will be when Christ sits on the throne of David and rules for a thousand years as pictured in Revelation 20 which ends with the ushering in of the New Heavens and the New Earth.
This brings us to the ultimate point. The Church (that would be believers today) are never referred to as the Kingdom of God. The Church is not the Kingdom, neither are we “building the Kingdom” nor are we “bringing in the Kingdom.” Quite to the contrary the “Kingdom of God” (and it’s synonym the Kingdom of Heaven) are ever used in Scripture to mean the Church, but are constantly looking forward to the Future Millennial reign of Jesus.
So if we in the Church are not the Kingdom what does it mean that we are “transferred into the kingdom of His beloved Son”? There are at least two important features to consider here. Firstly, though the Church is not the Kingdom of God we will have a place and a role in the Kingdom of God. We are (as Revelation 19 illustrates) the bride of Christ and will be here on Earth with Him while he reigns. Though the Church is not the Kingdom, we will be present with Him and playing the role that for which He has saved us.
The Relationship Connection
Everything in Scripture in regards to our relationship with Christ and Christ’s relationship with the World during His millennial reign points to relationship. In our position we are already viewed as being in Him. We don’t have to wait for that future time to enjoy the personal relationship that we have been put into by Christ’s death on the cross. Though the time when Christ reigns and we are acting as His bride will be an intimate and beautiful time, we have access to Him RIGHT NOW, every day, by design. God wants us to be in constant close and real relationship to Him, and that starts now and will last on into eternity.
Conclusion
This is big stuff, and there are a number of applications that we could draw from this one single concept, but the primary thing to notice may well be the fact that God wants us to be in relationship with Him every single day. It is uncanny and astounding to think that God wants us each, individually to be in relationship with Him. He gave us this access through His Son hoping that we would use it, not simply as a “worst case scenario” type of measure. And that is a real encouragement.
Another key application is the realization that this World is not our home. We have been redeemed out of it. While we remain here physically we remain as soldiers on enemy grounds defying the authorities of darkness because they cannot touch us without the permission of the One who has claimed us. Though we may even lose our lives by the actions of this world that would be only gain for us! We need not worry when we don’t feel quite right here, or when we are so struck by how things are not/do not work out as we think they should. The best things really are ahead to us, and we get to enjoy the greatest aspect of those future things now: the relationship that we have with God because of the sacrifice of Jesus and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. That’s some exciting news.
Another application that we may see coming forth clearly in our lives is that this life that Christ breathes into the world through us is so powerful and yet deadly to those who are still part of the worldly system that we have been saved from. We can expect them to hate us, we can expect them to hate our message. As odd as it may seem as we bring a message of Grace, love, joy and peace. Even when the Gospel is shared correctly (and grace is most clearly conveyed) we will find people repulsed by the wonder of it. From the perspective of those controlled by the powers of darkness Christ’s message is one of death (2 Corinthians 2:16).
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