We have been not only delivered out of the authority of darkness, but also transferred into the kingdom of the Son of God’s love. The kingdom of the Son is the authority of Christ (Rev. 11:15; 12:10).
The Son of the Father is the expression of the Father as the source of life (John 1:18, 4; 1 John 1:2). The Father as the source of life is expressed in the Son.
The Son of the Father’s love is the object of the Father’s love to be the embodiment of life to us in the divine love with the authority in resurrection. The Son, as the embodiment of the divine life, is the object of the Father’s love. The divine life embodied in the Son is given to us in the divine love. Therefore, the object of the divine love becomes to us the embodiment of life in the divine love with the authority in resurrection. This is the kingdom of the Son of His love.
It is easier to give an illustration of the kingdom of the Son of His love than it is to give an adequate definition of it. Consider your experience. Coming to realize that the Lord Jesus is so loving and lovable, we began to love Him. As we love the Lord Jesus, we are conscious of a sweet sense of love. Not only does this sense of love include the Lord Jesus, but it also includes us. We realize that we also are the objects of the divine love. As objects of this divine love, we spontaneously come under a certain control or ruling. Before we began to love the Lord Jesus, we were free to do whatever we wanted. But the more we say, “Lord Jesus, I love You,” the less freedom we have. Before we began to love the Lord Jesus, we did not sense this ruling or restriction. We could mistreat people or engage in worldly entertainments without any sense of inward restriction. But as those who love the Lord Jesus, we have come under His rule. This rule is not harsh; on the contrary, it is sweet and pleasant. Oh, we are restricted and ruled in such a sweet way! Because of the pleasantness of the Lord’s rule in us, we do not care even to speak a vain word or to have a thought that is displeasing to Him. We are ruled and restricted to the uttermost in the sweetness of love. This is the kingdom of the Son of His love.
The more we are willing to be restricted and ruled by the Lord Jesus out of our love for Him, the more we shall grow in life, even in the abundance of life. This indicates that the kingdom of the Son of His love is for our enjoyment of Christ as life. Here we are freed from everything other than Christ, not only from evil things, but also from things such as philosophy, ordinances, observances, and asceticism. When we were holding to our philosophy, ethics, asceticism, and ordinances, we were under the authority of darkness. But God has delivered us out of this authority and has transferred us into a kingdom of love that is full of life and light. Here we have no observances, rituals, ordinances, practices, philosophies, mysticism, Gnosticism, or asceticism. We just have Christ, the Son of His love. Here we have love, light, and life. This is to live by Christ.
To live by Christ means that we do not live by anything other than Christ. If we see what it is to live by Christ, we shall realize that many of us are still under some form of control established by the self, a control set up and carried out by the self. This kind of control is the authority of darkness. If we are under this authority, we receive no light in reading the Bible, and we have no utterance in prayer. Although the Father has delivered us out of the authority of darkness, out of our natural thought, emotion, preference, and behavior, we may still remain in some aspect of our natural being. This causes us to be held under the authority of darkness. Because, in actuality, we are under the authority and control of darkness and are not in the kingdom of the Son of His love in a practical way, we have little enjoyment of Christ as the portion of the saints.
I can testify that by the Lord’s mercy I am not controlled by the darkness. Others may sometimes wonder why, in certain respects, I do not seem consistent. The reason is that I am not under the control of any aspect of darkness. Concerning matters that are not sinful, I am flexible and may give one answer at one time and a different answer at another time. Remember, the book of Colossians does not deal with sin, but with ordinances, practices, and philosophies. Suppose a brother asks me about eating a certain kind of thing. I may tell him that he has the liberty to eat whatever he desires. But to another brother asking the same question I may give a different answer, an answer appropriate to his situation. It may appear that I am not consistent. Actually, it is not a matter of consistency, but of refusing to be under the control of the authority of darkness through ordinances and observances.
To insist on a particular ordinance or practice is to be under the authority of darkness. Our Father has delivered us from the authority of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of the Son of His love. Here we are restricted by the divine love in the divine life. Instead of ordinances, observances, religion, or isms, we have Christ and Christ alone. If we see this, there will be no disputes or divisions in the church life.
If we have anything divisive among us, that is an indication that some element of the authority of darkness is still with us. The division and confusion among Christians today are the result of the influence of the authority of darkness. If we have seen what it is to live by Christ, we shall not have observances or ordinances. This does not mean that we do not honor the holy Word. We believe and honor the Bible, but we do not take the Bible as a book of observances and ordinances. Instead, we take it as the revelation of the living Christ.
To be transferred into the kingdom of the Son of the Father’s love is to be transferred into the Son who is life to us (1 John 5:12). The Son in resurrection (1 Pet. 1:3; Rom. 6:4-5) is now the life-giving Spirit (1 Cor. 15:45b). He rules us in His resurrection life with love. This is the kingdom of the Son of the Father’s love. When we live by the Son as our life in resurrection, we are living in His kingdom, enjoying Him in the Father’s love.
We have been transferred into a realm where we are ruled in love with life. Here, under the heavenly ruling and restriction, we have genuine freedom, the proper freedom in love, with life, and under light. This is what it means to be delivered out of the authority of darkness and transferred into the kingdom of the Son of His love. Here in this kingdom we enjoy Christ and have the church life. Here there is no opinion or division. Here we have one thing: the church life with Christ as everything to us. This is the revelation of the book of Colossians.
In Colossians the authority of darkness refers to the good aspects of culture and of our character, disposition, and natural being. The authority of darkness includes our virtues, religion, philosophy, observances, ordinances, principles, and ethical standards. God has delivered us out of all this and has transferred us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, where we live under a heavenly rule and restriction. In this kingdom we are not under a harsh rule, but under the loving rule of the Son. Here we do not sense that we are under righteousness, power, or authority, but under the loving and lovable Lord Jesus. The more we tell the Lord Jesus that we love Him, the more we are freed on the one hand, and the more we are restricted and ruled on the other hand. Because we love Him, we desire to take Him as our person and as our life. This is the proper Christian life for the church life.