Colossians 1:13 - Exposition

Who ( sc. the Father ) rescued us from the dominion of the darkness, and translated us into the kingdom of the Son of his love ( Ephesians 5:8 ; Ephesians 6:12 ; Ro 7:14-8:4; 1 Corinthians 15:56 , 1 Corinthians 15:57 ; 1 Thessalonians 1:9 , 1 Thessalonians 1:10 ; 1 Peter 2:9 ; 1 John 1:5-7 ; 1 John 2:7-11 ). To "rescue" ( ῥύομαι : 1 Thessalonians 1:10 ; Romans 7:24 ; 2 Corinthians 1:10 ; 2 Timothy 4:17 , 2 Timothy 4:18 ,—to be carefully distinguished from other Greek verbs rendered "deliver") implies the evil state of the rescued, the superior power of the rescuer, and a conflict issuing in deliverance. St. Paul repeatedly associates the figure of darkness with the language of warfare. "Dominion of darkness"—same as "dominion of Satan" ( Acts 26:18 ). εξουσία , as distinguished from δύναμις ("power," Colossians 1:11 , Colossians 1:29 ), is "right," "authority": the power of Satan is not mere external force, but takes the form of established and (as it were) legalized dominion ( 1 Corinthians 15:56 ; Luke 4:6 ; John 12:31 ). "The darkness" is precisely opposed to "the light" ( Colossians 1:12 ), being the region of falsehood and hatred, whether in this world or outside of it, where Satan rules ( Ephesians 6:12 ; Ephesians 5:8 , Ephesians 5:11 ; 2 Corinthians 4:4 ; 1 John 2:8-11 ; Matthew 8:12 ; Luke 22:53 ; John 3:19 , John 3:20 ; John 12:35 ). To "translate" ( μεθίστημι ) is to remove from one place, office, etc., to another; Josephus ('Ant.,' 9:11, 1) uses it of the deportation of the Israelites by the Assyrian king. The Father, rescuing his captive children, brings them "into the kingdom of the Son of his love." Here we touch the central and governing idea of this Epistle, that of the supreme lordship of Christ ( Colossians 1:15-20 ; Colossians 2:6 , Colossians 2:10 , Colossians 2:19 , etc.); and this passage affords a clue which will, we trust, guide us through some of the greatest difficulties which follow. (On "the kingdom of the Son," comp. Ephesians 1:20-23 ; Philippians 2:6-11 ; Romans 14:9 ; 1 Corinthians 8:6 ; 1 Corinthians 15:24 - 28; Hebrews 1:1-4 ; Hebrews 2:5-10 ; Revelation 1:5-7 , Revelation 1:18 ; Revelation 5:1-14 ., etc.; John 5:22-27 ; John 17:2 ; John 18:36 ; Matthew 25:31-46 ; Matthew 28:18-20 .) Only here and in Ephesians 5:5 ; 2 Timothy 4:1 , 2 Timothy 4:18 ; 1 Corinthians 15:24 , 1 Corinthians 15:25 , does the apostle speak of the kingdom as Christ's; otherwise as God's (and future). The "Son of his love" is not simply the "beloved Son" ( Ephesians 1:6 ; Matthew 3:17 , etc.), but the representative and depositary of his love: "Who is his love made manifest", being at once our "Redeemer King "( 1 Corinthians 15:13 , 1 Corinthians 15:14 ) and the" Image of the invisible God" ( 1 Corinthians 15:15 ).