Building the Kingdom of God; Transferred In

April 17

Read: John 3:3, Col. 1:13, 1 Peter 2:9

Building the Kingdom of God;

Transferred In

“He has 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.”  (Col. 1:13)

“But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.” (1 Peter 2:9)

“Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” (John 3:3)

The Kingdom of God is something that we have been “transferred into”. It is a place that we cannot see unless we have been “born again”. These are the words of the scriptures and the very words of Jesus Christ himself. It is the Lord who “delivers us from the domain of darkness”. We see this again in 1 Peter 2:9; it is what we proclaim: “the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light”

You no longer belong to the “domain of darkness” You have been rescued by Jesus… extracted… brought out. You are FORGIVEN and LOVED. You have been “born into” a new family… the ROYAL family. You are now a “royal priest” in the family of God. You have been given eyes to SEE the Kingdom of God and discover that it is ALL AROUND YOU.

The work of building the Kingdom of God begins with these truths. It is what we talk about (“proclaim the excellencies of”) and what we must recognize. It is clearly not something that we started on our own… that we cooked up. You have very little say in “being born”. We were in desperate need of being rescued from the domain of darkness… “delivered”. This is what it means when Jesus says that he “sets the captives free”. (cf. Luke 4:18)  You were once held captive in the “domain of darkness” …under the Prince of Darkness… until Jesus - the King of Kings and Lord of Spirits- delivered you and rescued you.

Dwell on that this morning and throughout the day. You no longer belong to the Domain if Darkness. Jesus came and ransomed you… brought you out. In doing so, you are “born again” into a new family and become heirs of a new destiny… the Kingdom of God. This is the “good news”! It was no work of your own, but the divine work of God. (cf. Eph. 2:8,9). We cannot begin to build the Kingdom without first recognizing how we got there! Love you guys. - JDP