God Rescued Us
God Rescued Us
In order to understand that God rescued us, we first
should know how we got in a position to need rescuing.
The roots of mankind’s dilemma stem back to the time
of Genesis 1:28 when God originally gave man rulership,
dominion and authority over this world. Man was
placed in this world as the ruler and caretaker. But when
sin entered the earthly realm, due to man’s disobedience
to God, man lost his authority, dominion, rulership. The
devil, who was handed the rulership in man’s fall, offered
to give it to Jesus Christ in the temptation as recorded
in Luke 4 .
The devil said to Jesus Christ in Luke 4:6, “. . .for
that [power and glory of the kingdoms of this world] is
delivered unto me.” Therefore, unto this very day the
world in which you and I live is Satan’s realm. We live
in the realm which is under Satan’s rulership. According
to Ephesians 2:1 all people are born in this world
“. . .dead in trespasses and sins” and (verse 12) “. . .having
no hope, and without God. . . .” Being in such a dire
state, we definitely needed rescuing.
Colossians 1:13:
Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness,
and hath translated us into the kingdom of [by] his
dear Son.
The word “delivered” is more emphatically translated
“rescued.” God in Christ “rescued us.” Notice that this
verb is in the past tense. Therefore, God no longer needs
to rescue us; He has already done so. The word “from”
is the Greek word ek meaning “out of ” or “out from the
center” (as of a circle). What did He rescue us out of or
out from among? “The power of darkness.”
This world, which is darkness and is under the dominion
of the devil, is that which God has rescued us
out from among. He rescued us out of this world even
while we are still dwelling here. That God could do this
is one of the greatest of miracles.
The word “power” in the above verse (“from the power
of darkness”) is the Greek word exousia from which
English derives the word “exercise.” He has delivered
us from the exercised power of darkness, the exercising
influence of this kingdom of darkness.
The word “translated” (“translated us into the kingdom
of his dear Son”) in Sanskrit is “citizenship.” He
rescued us out from among the exercised power of darkness
and gave us citizenship. This is a tremendous truth.
What does this citizenship in His kingdom entail? To
begin, let us look at the Greek word for “city,” polis.
The cities in Biblical times were surrounded by walls.
The wall policed the city. The walled city was the polis.
The people within the walls were called the people of
the polis. The walls guarded them from being attacked.
Walls were never built to keep people inside the city
but to keep the enemy out. The walls formed a protection,
not to keep the free people of a city or a state
enclosed, but to keep the enemy away from the free
people. A free citizen in a city is called a politēs, from
which we get the word “politics.” Biblically speaking,
we are citizens of a kingdom—we are politicians.
Abraham searched for a city, polis.
Hebrews 11:9, 10:
By faith he [Abraham] sojourned in the land of
promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles
with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of
the same promise:
For he [Abraham] looked [already] for a city [polis]
which hath foundations, whose builder and maker
is God.
Abraham in his day looked forward to a city, not here
upon earth, but a polis “. . .whose builder and maker is
God.” This city is protected with the hedge of God
wherein the people would be free citizens.
An example of politeia, a derivative of polis, is found
in Ephesians.
Ephesians 2:12:
That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens
from the commonwealth [community, politeia] of
Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise,
having no hope, and without God in the world.
At the time referred to in Ephesians 2, Israel had
forsaken God and so God was not able to bless them.
Because they had walked away from Him, they no longer
had freedom and protection where they dwelled. They
were in bondage.
Politeuma, from the root word polis, is used in Philippians
where it is strangely translated “conversation.”
Philippians 3:20:
For our conversation [politeuma, citizenship] is in
heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour,
the Lord Jesus Christ.
Our citizenship, our free life, is in heaven. Even while
we are yet on this earth, we have the promise of being
citizens in a free state.
Hebrews 13:14:
For here [on this earth] have we no continuing city
[polis], but we seek one to come.
If we have no continuing city here, we can never have
complete freedom; therefore, “. . .we seek one to come.”
That city which is to come must be uncorrupted inside
and protected all around to insure the citizens of total
freedom. This city could only be the city whose builder
and maker is God.
Now we look for the continuing city; but what about
our life before we were delivered from the power of
darkness? Ephesians tells us of our former citizenship.
Ephesians 2:3:
Among whom also we all had our conversation [life
of negative conduct) in times past in the lusts of
our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of
the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath,
even as others.
By the very event of being born into this world, we
were children of whose realm? Satan’s. This is the
meaning of the word “wrath” in “children of wrath.” We
were born children of Satan’s realm—not spiritually, but
physically. Physically I was born a child under Satan’s
rulership, dead in trespasses and sins without God and
without hope in this world. But God changed all this, as
recorded in Ephesians 2.
Ephesians 2:4-6:
But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love
wherewith he loved us,
Even when we were dead in [full of] sins, hath
quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are
saved;)
And hath raised [past tense] us up together [with
Christ], and made us sit together in heavenly places
[the text gives “in the heavenlies”] in Christ Jesus.
Who did the quickening; who raised us up; who made
us sit in the heavenlies? God.
Verses 7-9:
That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding
riches of his grace in his kindness toward
us through Christ Jesus.
For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that
not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
Not of works, lest any man should boast.
When we were born in this world, we were alive
physically yet dead spiritually, “without God and without
hope.” Something had to happen to us. God, who is
rich in mercy and grace, saved us.
Verse 10:
For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus
unto good works, which God hath before ordained
that we should walk in them.
If God saved us, then we are not our own workmanship;
we are sons, His workmanship. God’s workmanship
came to bear when we were spiritually dead; at that time
God made us alive.
Colossians 2:13:
And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision
of your flesh, hath he quickened [made alive]
together with him [Christ], having forgiven you all
trespasses.
God seated us in Christ Jesus and graciously pardoned
our sins. But before God could make us alive, He
had to have us as “raw material” to work on. Thus, the
question becomes: How does He create us in Christ
Jesus?
John 6:44:
No man can come to me, except the Father which
hath sent me draw him. . . .
We can be made alive, we can obtain this citizen
ship, only if the Father does the drawing. We cannot
raise ourselves by our own bootstraps; we cannot save
ourselves. No man, not one person, can come to Christ
and be saved except the Father draws him. To receive
eternal life a man must be drawn by God away from the
clutches and rulership of Satan. Jesus used the word
“draw” again in John.
John 12:32:
And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all
men unto me.
Jesus said in John 6:44 that only the Father can do
the drawing; yet here it says that Christ is going to do
the drawing. What is the answer? Into the world ruled
by Satan in which you and I live, there came a person
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of Mary.
This person came into the devil’s world having no darkness
in Him for He was the light of the world. He knew
no sin. He became sin so that you and I might become
the righteousness of God in Him. Furthermore, He was
in this world, but He was not of—He did not belong
to—this world. When Christ was in the world the Scripture
says that God was at work in Him.
II Corinthians 5:19:
. . .God was in Christ, reconciling the world [the people
in it] unto himself. . .
God actually draws through the death and resurrection
of Jesus Christ who, according to Isaiah 53:6, carried
“the iniquity of us all.” Because of Jesus Christ’s death,
God could then draw or rescue the believers from the
rulership of Satan and give them citizenship in His kingdom.
Before God rescued us, we were dead in sins. But
God sent His only-begotten Son who was the means by
which we could be rescued. We are God’s workman
ship created through the accomplishments of Christ Jesus.
God rescued us.
John 3:16:
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only
begotten Son. . . .
God sent His Son, who had no darkness and no sin,
and drew His Son unto Himself. Because of Jesus’ death
and resurrection God draws us. He made possible our
great hope of glory: “. . .Christ in you, the hope of glory.”
God rescued us out of this realm of Satan and gave us
citizenship in His kingdom.
Colossians 1:13:
Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness,
and hath translated us into the kingdom of [by] his
dear Son.
This kingdom cannot be the “kingdom of his dear Son”
for the Son has no kingdom of His own; the “kingdom”
is the kingdom of God. The word “of ” should be
“by.” It is the genitive of origin. God rescued us out of
the exercised power of the kingdom of darkness, the
rulership of Satan, and gave us citizenship in His kingdom
by what His Son Jesus Christ did for us here upon
earth.
Galatians 1:4:
Who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver
us [rescue us] from [out from among] this present
evil world, according to the will of God and our
Father.
Until we are born again, we are children of wrath;
we are in a physical world which belongs to the devil; it
is his kingdom. When we are born again, we become
“. . .blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without
rebuke [from God], in the midst of a crooked and perverse
nation [kingdom,]” according to Philippians 2:15.
God drew us and rescued us out from among the exercised
influences of Satan. There are people, however,
in Satan’s world who will never be saved for they refuse
to believe. But, for those of us who want to believe, God
by His foreknowledge has rescued us out from the power
of Satan. When God separated us and rescued us, He
brought us as citizens into His kingdom by the efforts of
His dear Son.
It was God who sent His only-begotten Son into the
world to seek and to save those who are lost, specifically
those of us who desire to be saved. God rescued
us even while we are still living in this world.
Already we have citizenship in God’s kingdom. He
has already “. . .made us sit together in heavenly places
in Christ Jesus,” as told in Ephesians 2:6. Legally speaking,
in Christ we were circumcised with His circumcision.
When Christ died, we died with Him. When He was
buried, we were buried in the baptism of His burial.
When He arose, we arose with Him. When He ascended,
we ascended with Him. When Christ conquered, we conquered
with Him. When He was seated, we were seated
with Him. When He lead “captivity captive” and “gave
gifts unto men,” we were given the power to live victoriously
even in the realm of Satan, having the ability
to manifest the power of God in the more abundant,
life. What a revelation to the soul of man! What glory,
what joy, what peace, what bliss! We are rescued now.