(8 of 8 in a series)
The Apostle Paul wrote, “Giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. For He delivered us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son.” (Col 1:12-13). When we embrace the gospel message of Jesus Christ by faith, we enter into the kingdom of God; right here, right now.
“[He] qualified us.” We have a right to be here. We have our papers, if you will. We have the qualifications, in Christ, to be here in the new kingdom. “He delivered us.” He rescued us. He saved us from the penalty and ongoing power of sin. “[He] transferred us.” We have been transferred to a new kingdom. We have left the kingdom of darkness, the kingdom of Satan, and arrived at our new home in the kingdom of “His beloved Son.” We have not had a new wing added to our old house. We have been plucked from our old habitation and dropped into an entirely new castle of our king. We have been “dragged and dropped” into our new home.
Our new home. Does that sound familiar? If you have been following these posts for some time you will recall seeing the word new in about half the titles. Okay, maybe not that many. But we have had plenty to talk about regarding our new beginning, our new identity, our new heart, our new Spirit, our new nature, our new disposition, our new power, our new arrangement with God, our new relationship with sin, and on and on. This focus on new is not by accident. Jesus Himself said of His ministry, “No one puts new wine into old wineskins; otherwise the wine will burst the skins, and the wine is lost, and the skins as well; but one puts new wine into fresh wineskins.” (Mk 2:22). Jesus did not just add something to our Old Testament understanding; our Old Covenant arrangement. He ushered in something brand new.
So what does it look like here in our new home? The parables and teaching of Jesus go on to describe what the kingdom of God looks like as well as how the citizens of that kingdom behave. We will start through the specifics of what Christ said about life in the kingdom of God next post.