DELIVERED FROM...

"Who has delivered us from the power of darkness, and has translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son" (Colossians 1:13)

"Delivered from" is a power feat, like Chick Norris single-handedly freeing POWs in the Missing in Action flicks. "Translated into" is the flipside of that same work. "Delivered from" rescues out of the captor's hand. "Translated into" pictures the triumphal homecoming of the prisoner of war. "From" is an about-face turn. "Into" crosses the threshold of a new life. And what have we been delivered from? First, DARKNESS, from a world without light, no guidance, a place where nothing grows. Lightless means lifeless. It's cold in the cave, lonely in solitary confinement. Someone said the darkroom is the place where our negatives are developed. It is so.

Next we're delivered from DEADNESS. "She that lives in pleasure is dead while she lives" (1 Timothy 5:6). The father of the prodigal said his son was dead but is now alive again. Deliverance is spiritual resuscitation. A person can be dead while still breathing. We see that in cases of mechanical life support. You can tell if something is dead by giving it a sharp prick. If the leg doesn't jerk it's dead. Without Christ we are "past feeling" (Ephesians 4:19). Spiritual sensitivity is dead. Paul called it "the power of darkness". There is a hypnotism that can't be broken except by the miracle of redemption.

And we have been delivered from DULLNESS. Sin makes the conscience lethargic. Like an addict slowed by an opiate the warden binds his prisoners under deception and ignorance. You've been puzzled by people who simply don't get it? Paul spoke of "dullness of hearing" (Hebrews 5:11). I marvel how some cannot, or is it will not, comprehend the gospel, but then I remember how blinded I was back in the day. "Delivered from" means a huge light has been turned on. The prodigal son "came to himself". It is a moment of discovery, illumination. If the Holy Spirit doesn't open the eyes they won't be opened.

Finally, we are delivered from DEAFNESS. How frustrating it must be to watch lips move but the audio is muted. Double bad if you can't read lips at all. A corpse can't hear. We were "dead in trespasses and sins" (Ephesians 2:1). No discernment. No way to distinguish between the voice of the Good Shepherd and the voice of an imposter. "Translated" means more than adjustment or improvement. It is total transformation, a new birth. Hearing is maximized in the newborn. And with the new birth comes a new belonging, "the kingdom of his dear Son". That's home. Surrounded by love. Fully alive.

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