Colossians 1:13-14 – “For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.”  NASU

We sing about being part of the REDEEMED and that we are SOJOURNERS just passing through and that is good.  However I want to highlight something for consideration regarding our status in this world and the one to come.

The work of Christ in His birth, life, death, resurrection and ascension affords something wonderful.  The King James Version says He “delivered” us from the devil’s power.  The Amplified refers to it as “delivered” from the devil’s control and the New American Standard identifies that we have been “rescued” from the Domain or Kingdom of Darkness.  All basically say the same thing but let’s take this idea or revelation and examine it briefly.

If we have been delivered or rescued from the devil’s kingdom (where we were citizens) and his power (where he manipulated us) and have been transferred into the Kingdom of God that is worthy of note.  In that single act of our LORD we have seen our status change from ‘refugee’ to ‘citizen’ of a different realm or kingdom.

In the natural, if our citizenship changes we are under the laws and governance of the new country of which we are citizens.  We have backing us the entire might of our new country and rather than holding refugee status we hold citizenship.  We may be sojourners in this present world but our citizenship is of that Eternal World of the Kingdom of God.  The title ‘god of this world’ the devil held has been rendered, null and void by the Finished Work of Jesus on the Cross and His Resurrection from the Dead.  We are here not as refugees fleeing the tyranny of the devil but as ambassadors of our new country or kingdom.

The authority through which Jesus operates is extended to us as citizens of that new kingdom and through His authority we have power and authority over all power and authority of the former ‘god of this world’.  Jesus redeemed or ‘bought back’ that which was lost and whether we accept His grace or reject it we no longer belong to the devil but to God.  Unless we accept His grace we will perish and by that act of rejection we ‘give place to the devil’ and in so doing place ourselves within his grasp.

Too many in the Body of Christ live as refugees in this present world trying to escape the devil and longing for the heavenly cavalry to arrive and rescue us.  That places us in a subordinate position rendering us powerless against the power of darkness for we fail to understand or appropriate the position afford us through Grace.  If we can understand that we have a LEGAL VICTORY in Jesus to exercise dominion and authority in this earth over all the power of the enemy we will find our lives transformed drastically.

We need to learn to enforce the Victory of Calvary and appropriate the Promises of God in this present world.  We are not refugees we are citizens of the Kingdom of God.  We are heirs of God and joint-heirs with Jesus.  We have been given power over all the power of the enemy and our weapons are mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds.  We are more than conquerors through Jesus so let’s live like citizens not refugees.

            God bless as you go through this day!