In Colossians 1:12-18, the Apostle Paul gives the saints in Colossae (and us) many reasons to provide the Father with thanks. The powerful descriptions of Jesus (He is…) and His creative works are all food for the soul. Also, retake notice in the passage of all that He is and all that He has done. It is truly awe-inspiring!
Now see in the passage just what He has done for you—qualified, delivered, and translated.
“Giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son” (Colossians 1:12-13 ESV, emphasis mine).
Thayer’s definition of qualified is to equip one with adequate power to perform duties of one, to render fit. How are we rendered fit?
“But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name” (John 1:12 KJV).
Yes, regarding the power that qualified us to be the sons of God, He has delivered us from the power of darkness and translated us into His kingdom!
Moving between kingdoms, Barnes writes,
“The word rendered here ‘translated’ is often used in the sense of removing a people from one country to another. It means, here, that they who are Christians have been transferred from one kingdom to another, as if a people were thus removed. They become subjects of a new kingdom, are under different laws, and belong to a different community. This change is made in regeneration, by which we pass from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of light; from the empire of sin, ignorance, and misery, to one of holiness, knowledge, and happiness.”
Vital to understanding the power that qualified, delivered, transferred, and, thus, empowered us to be sons of God is seen in the Greek word exousia, which is translated as “power” in John 1:12.
Vincent tells us six Greek words used for power in the New Testament. In John 1:12, with the use of exousia, the Scripture is saying, “Here, therefore, ἐξουσία [exousia] is not merely possibility or ability, but legitimate right derived from a competent source.”[1]
We have the right to be qualified, delivered, and transferred because of the “competent source,” Christ Jesus!
How is He the competent source?
“For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross” (Colossians 1:16-20 ESV).
Praise God!
