This morning, I awoke to a beautiful spring day.
The sun was high and bright and, under its warmth, nature was busy living.
Melon-colored poppies were stretching open their petals, bees were dipping into their morning nectar and in the trees above, birds were trading riffs and scats like a well-tuned jazz ensemble.
“What a gift,” I thought. “A couple of hours ago, the sky was dark and the world was somber, but now look at the joy around me.”
And as I walked through the rest of my day, I couldn’t escape the persistent thought:
“I am so grateful I get to live in the light.”
This, in essence, is the message of Colossians 1:12-14. It encourages us, as Believers, to live…
“giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. For He rescued 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.” (NASB)
This passage reveals 2 gratitude-sparking truths about us, as Believers: 1) We are free from darkness and 2) we are heirs of light.
We are Free from Darkness
Paul says that before Christ, we were in “the domain of darkness.” In other words, darkness was more than just the environment we lived in, it was the authority we lived under.
We were entirely subject to sin’s shadowy control.
Do we realize this? Though sinning may sometimes have felt liberating, ultimately, we had no freedom. Because when sin said “jump,” we had to jump. When sin said, “give in,” we had to give in.
And as a result, every area of our lives became unalterably tinged with brokenness and bitterness.
- Work and rest,
- Thoughts and actions,
- Relationship to self, and God, and others….
All of it was made heavy with sin’s shame. We lived in—and under—the dark.
But the good news is, God refused to leave us there.
Verse 13 says, “He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son…”
Because Jesus redeemed us (bought us back from sin’s domain with His blood), we have been transferred to an altogether different domain: the Kingdom of Christ.
Now, there is much we could say about this Kingdom, but in these verses, one truth stands out to me:
This is a Kingdom under the authority of King Jesus.
All kingdoms have kings. So when God brought us into the kingdom of “His beloved Son,” He was placing us under Christ’s authority.
No longer do we have to obey sin. Now we get to obey Jesus.
But let’s be real. Sometimes we struggle with this, don’t we? We don’t want to be under anyone’s authority but our own. We want to be free.
And yet living under Christ’s authority actually brings true freedom. And that’s because of what we read in verse 12.
We are Heirs of Light
Paul says the Father “has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in light.”
- When we live in Christ’s Kingdom—under His authority—we become heirs, not earners.
And this brings freedom from striving.
Jesus has done all the work necessary to open up heaven and abundant life to us.
We don’t have to earn it.
We don’t have to find it.
We simply get to inherit it—because the Father has qualified us for a share.
- But also, when we live under Christ’s authority, we get to be who we were created to be. And that’s true freedom, isn’t it?
The Westminster shorter catechism says we were created “to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever.”[1]
And the inheritance described here enables us to live into that purpose.
Paul says we are “qualified…to share in the inheritance of the saints in light.” (emphasis mine)
And 1 John 1:5 says that “God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.” (WEB)
Our inheritance is God Himself!
Because we belong to God, God gives us Himself to enjoy forever. So today and in eternity, our lives will be lit by the light of who our God is.
No matter how dark the world around us may get, we will not be controlled or defeated by the darkness.
Because now, it’s God’s bright attributes that have the influence over every area of our lives! His love, peace, joy and faithfulness both fulfill and free us.
And as a result, we flourish like creation on a spring day.
We find ourselves stretching open our lives to welcome others, we dip in to taste God’s love every morning, and we grow to new heights…
We might even find ourselves trading praise and gratitude with the birds in the trees.
Our free and abundant life is found in glorifying God and enjoying Him day after day–forever.
This devotion is based on one of the Scriptures from my reading plan: “Identity in Christ” To receive a copy of the reading plan (and future reading plans), sign up for the email list below. Hope you’ll follow along!
[1] Hall, E. (1859) The shorter catechism of the Westminster assembly, with analysis and scripture proofs. Philadelphia Presbyterian Publication Committee. [Pdf] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/unk83002289/.
©2024 Paige K. Burhans
Scripture quotations taken from the NASB. Copyright by The Lockman Foundation. www.lockman.org
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