Two Kingdoms

Colossians 1:13-14 “For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves,  in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.”

Our Small Group Home Bible Study decided to keep meeting during the summer, just every other week now due to the church’s “Family Summer Nights” every Wednesday night bible study from June to September, so we continued on our topical study on “Spiritual Warfare” and “Overcoming the Enemy”. This last lesson focused on the reality that there is an ongoing spiritual battle. Two kingdoms are at war, and that we belong to one of them. The question is, whose side are we on?

Acts 26:17-18 Jesus said: “I am sending you to them to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.”

Believers in Jesus as Savior and Lord have been rescued by God from the kingdom of darkness and have been transferred into the kingdom of His beloved Son. Because of original sin, all were once ruled by the evil one who has sinned from the beginning. But now the children of God are ruled by the One who offers forgiveness of sin.

1 John 3:7-10 “Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray. The one who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous. The one who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work. No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God’s seed remains in them; they cannot go on sinning, because they have been born of God. This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not God’s child.”

Unbelievers live in the kingdom of darkness and are ruled by the devil. Therefore, sin is their practice, their way of life – Ephesians 2:1-3. But believers are no longer in bondage as slaves to sin and Satan. We have forgiveness of sin through the redemptive blood of Jesus Christ, which means the devil’s grip on us has been broken – Ephesians 2:4-10. In freedom, we now serve a new king and the habit of our lives will be to walk in righteousness. Be light-givers and cultural transformers.

1 John 5:11-12 & 19 “This is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life. We know that we are children of God, and that the whole world is under the control of the evil one.

Do not be deceived! It is obvious by one’s life which kingdom one belongs to. We need to examine ourselves to be sure of which King we are serving. There are two kingdoms. Which one do you and I belong to?

In Christ, Brian