THE KINGDOM AND COLOSSIANS 1:13

Mike Johnson

“He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love....” (Col. 1:13)

The above passage reveals what God did for the Colossian Christians and those who are Christians today and contains some essential information about God’s people.

First, the verse tells us that Christians are delivered “out of the power of darkness,” which means deliverance out of the power, or kingdom, of Satan. They were no longer the servants of Satan, but, instead, they were God’s servants.

Next, the verse reveals that the Christians had been conveyed “into the kingdom of the Son of His love.”  This passage clearly shows that the Colossians had received conveyance into the kingdom of Christ. It would be impossible for them to be in something that did not exist. Many today are still looking for the kingdom’s establishment; yet, this passage tells us that at the time of the writing of Colossians, the kingdom was already in existence. Revelation 1:9 also points out that the kingdom’s establishment had already occurred as John speaks of being in it. Further, Hebrews 12:28 speaks of the kingdom being in existence as it says, “Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear.”

The New Testament has much to say about the kingdom. The message of John the Baptist (Mt. 3:2) was, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!” This message was the same for Jesus (Mt. 4:11) and His disciples (Mt. 10:7). The expression “at hand” means that the kingdom was close or soon to come. In Mark 9:1, Jesus told a group of people that some of them would not taste death until they had seen the kingdom come with power.

What is the kingdom spoken of in these passages? The kingdom in these verses refers to the church. One text which makes this very clear is in Matthew 16:18.  Here Jesus made a declaration that He would build His church. Then (v. 19), He used the term “kingdom” interchangeably with the word “church,” which he had just mentioned. Thus, from this passage and others, it is clear that the kingdom refers to the church.

We read of the church’s establishment in Acts 2. Before Acts 2, the kingdom, or church, is spoken of as in the future, and after that, as in existence. Therefore, we see how the Colossians were conveyed into the kingdom of His dear Son.