Darkness Rescued

For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. ~ Col 1:13–14

The believer in Christ has been rescued, delivered by Another.  It is not our own hand that reaches up as if drowning in a sea and grabbing a life preserver.  No, that is not the case at all.  We are mere floating corpses bobbing in the sea until a Redeemer comes and draws us out and rescues us.

We must clearly see that it says He rescues us.  There is no room for "I helped Him by reaching up." The tense of the original language clearly conveys the fact that the subject (He) of the verb (rescued) is acting for his own benefit.  Go ahead, dig deeper than our weak English language and see for yourself that the Greek is in the middle voice. 

And what did He rescue us from?  The domain of darkness.  Not only that, He (again keep focus here), He transferred us into His kingdom.  A domain is where something or someone rules, like a lion or a king.  Who rules the darkness?  What a thought that the one who has placed his faith in the work of Christ has been removed from that power and transferred to a kingdom where he now has power to not sin.  Where he can posses a power to be a slave of righteousness.
Beloved, we can rest assured that we have this redemption.  The fact is that He saved us not on the basis of deeds we have done in righteousness but according to His mercy. (Titus 3:5)

Submitting to and resting upon such grand truths properly exalts our Savior and gives us peace, knowing that He not only has the power to rescue but to keep!