Culture of the Kingdom
Today’s Topic: Understanding Translation
Scripture: Colossians 1:13, Ephesians 2:5,6
Greetings Kingdom Citizens
So what happens when God reconciles us and translates us? What does it all mean? For most people it is all about going to Heaven and once again, Heaven is a natural end-result for anyone who is saved. But let’s look at this word “translated” in Colossians 1:13. First let’s look at the scripture. Colossians 1:13:
“Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son:”
So God delivered us from the Kingdom of Darkness and translated us into the Kingdom of His Son. Now the word translated in the Greek “Methistemi” it is two words together, meta meaning to denote change of place and histemi meaning to place or stand. So the word translated (Methistemi) means to denote change from one place to another. So why would God want to change us from the Kingdom of Darkness to the Kingdom of His Son? Once again, this is more than about being saved and going to Heaven. First we must understand the correlation between darkness and light. In Colossians 1:12 we see in the latter part that we are to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light. In Hebrew light is symbolic of knowledge and darkness is symbolic or ignorance. When you are in the Kingdom of Darkness, all of your decisions are made in darkness. However when we are translated into the Kingdom of Light then are decisions are made based on truth but it is where we are translated that is the source of our decision making process. So let’s look at this.
Ephesians 2:5,6: “Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved), And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus.” Do we see this! When we are translated God sits us together with Christ in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. Remember we talked about the difference between Jesus Christ and Christ Jesus. Christ Jesus is in reference to being in enveloped in the anointing and the full measure of the Christ. But when God does this He does not remove us from the Earth to do this. Because we are in Christ Jesus and we are in the Body of Christ then wherever Christ is so are we. Christ currently sits on the throne in Heaven hence denoting in the scripture that we sit with Christ in heavenly places in Christ. So when we make decisions our decisions should be now made from the throne in Heaven from Jesus Christ. We are able to actually see the end from the beginning because the one who we receive the information from knows the end from the beginning. So being translated means more than just going to Heaven it is about now being able to make decisions based on the truth we receive from the throne in Heaven. Now before I end this message I want to look back at Colossians 1:13 and clarify something.
When the scriptures speak of “the Kingdom of His dear Son” there is no contradiction or other kingdom. The Kingdom of His Dear Son is also called:
1. The Kingdom of the Son of God
2. The Kingdom of Light
3. The Kingdom of Heaven
4. The Kingdom of God
So we are still talking about the Kingdom of God. Now that we know that our decisions are made from the throne of God this means we now can make decisions that foster the Kingdom culture and environment in our lives as well as those around us so they can see the Kingdom that we are citizens in and the household we belong to. In the next message we will see the result and the purpose of being translated and making decisions from the throne of God.
At the Father’s Service,
Elder Calvin Calhoun Jr.
