September 7
Bible Reading: Colossians 1
Colossians 1:13, “He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son.”
In August 2010, a large cave-in in a mine in Chile entombed 33 miners 2300 feet underground. The world anxiously waited for 17 days until it was determined that the miners were still alive. Extensive rescue efforts began. Meanwhile, the miners tried on their own to escape their plight. But the authorities had not installed the mandated escape ladders. The duty shift supervisor gathered the men into a secure room and organized them and their meager resources to ensure their long-term survival. The room was only 540 square feet in size and had but two benches. Because of the high heat and humidity, the men were always sweating. Having limited food supplies, the men lost an average of 18 lbs. They would venture into the tunnels to find ventilation. Sanitation was a problem. The workers suffered from health problems like silicosis, pneumonia, and eye and teeth issues as time went on. Chilean government agencies, NASA, and many international corporations helped with the rescue efforts. They drilled a large hole that was big enough to winch down a rescue capsule. A rescue worker was sent down in the capsule to the workers. Soon afterwards, the first miner made his way to the surface. After 69 days underground, before a TV audience estimated at over 1 billion viewers, the 33 miners were brought safely to the surface. After winching the last trapped miner to the surface, the rescue workers, all still underground, help up a sign for the TV cameras. The sign read “Mission Accomplished Chile.” On the surface, people cried, hugged, and cheered. But compared to the divine deliverance of a believer in Christ, the remarkable rescue pales in importance and size. Our verse speaks to both to the depths from which the believer has been delivered, and the height to which he has been brought.
The term translated “domain,” speaks of “the power of one whose commands must be submitted to.” The unbeliever is a person bound in sin, in a dark domain, in which Satan terrorizes his captives (Ephesians 2:2; 1 John 5:19; 2 Corinthians 4:4; Acts 26:18; Ephesians 5:11, 6:12). He is glad for the miserable and harsh enslavement of the lost, anticipating their damnation in “the outer darkness” (Matthew 8:12). He hides the sole means of escape and directs lost souls in a broad way leading to a disastrous end (Matthew 6:13). There is, from the “domain of darkness,” no human means of escape.
The term translated “delivered” means “to rescue from.” Jesus, “the Deliverer” (Romans 11:26), represents the sole means of rescue for sin-captives. He has done all that is necessary to accomplish this, as Hebrews 2:14-15 explains, “Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery.” Through his death on the cross Jesus has accomplished the greatest of all rescue operations. Those rescuers of the Chilean miners were caring enough, wise enough, and resourceful enough to get the job done. Likewise, God determined to intercede according to His love, power and wisdom (John 3:16; 1 Corinthians 1:24). God not only intervened—that would be reason enough to praise and thank Him—but He did so at great cost to Himself and though we, as sin rebels, were in no way deserving (Romans 5:8).
The believer is one who has been delivered from a domain to be transferred to a kingdom. The Chilean miners were transferred from a dark and foreboding place to the light of the sun and the warm embrace of family members and friends. The believer has been brought into a “kingdom,” “a sphere of God’s rule,” which is characterized by love (Colossians 1:13). The “domain” was according to the nature and character of the devil. He is the father of lies, the adversary, the destroyer—that is the character of his domain. Christ is all loving, all wise, and all powerful—He reigns according to His benevolent nature. His subjects are glad to love and serve Him (2 Corinthians 5:15).
If you have not trusted in Jesus Christ, you need to be rescued! Your sin demands punishment. Left unresolved, the darkness, which is your present experience, will be nothing compared to the eternal darkness which awaits when you pass from this life (2 Thessalonians 1:9). You are like the miners, in the depths of an inescapable tomb, from which Christ alone can save you (Acts 16:31; Romans 10:9). The Chilean miners were thankful and rejoicing when they were finally brought to the surface. The believer in Christ has sufficient reason in his rescue from sin to forevermore abound in thanksgiving to God (Colossians 1:12, 2:7). Give thanks to Him even now for the miracle of your deliverance!
“He drew me up from the pit of destruction, out of the miry bog, and set my feet upon a rock, making my steps secure. He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God.” – Psalm 40:2-3a
Saved by His pow’r, by His pow’r divine,
Saved to new life, to new life sublime!
Life now is sweet and my joy is complete,
For I’m saved, saved, saved.
LookingtoJesus 