God rescued us from the dark power of Satan and brought us into the kingdom of his dear Son, who forgives our sins and sets us free.

Did your family watch a few more movies than normal during the holiday season? Who gets to control the remote? Do they like action? Drama? Rom-coms? In all of these there is often the pinnacle scene where a rescue of some sort occurs. Maybe it’s Luke losing his fight against the Emperor until Darth Vader saves him. Or it could be Captain America on the brink of death when portals open around him and fellow Avengers emerge to fight against Thanos. What about when the Beast rescues Belle from the wolves in the forest but is later rescued from himself by Belle? The list of rescues goes on and on – and despite the genre, we tend to love them!

While I’ve never been attacked by wolves or threatened by a visible enemy with a weapon, the Bible says in 1 Peter 5:8 that Satan is our enemy and that he’s actively on the prowl – seeking prey. We all have a real enemy – we just don’t always recognize him or his actions in quite that way. John 10:10 tells us that our enemy, Satan, comes to steal, kill and destroy. The opposite is true of Jesus who has come to give us life – and life abundantly (John 10:10).

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In today’s verse from Colossians, Paul is writing a letter to the church in the city of Colosse (located in modern day Turkey) and reminding them and us that God has orchestrated the best rescue scene of all time. “God rescued us from the dark power of Satan” (Colossians 1:13a). God initiates the rescue – it's His work. It’s also interesting that he rescues us not only from Satan, our enemy, but from the “dark power” of Satan. The focus of the Christmas Eve service was LIGHT! Jesus is Light – in Him there is no darkness! The darkness in our world is a result of sin, separation from God, and deception by Satan. Thank God, He is our rescuer!

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But the Colossians verse doesn’t just end with the rescue from Satan, it continues. God not only wants to rescue us from something, but He also wants to rescue us for something. Paul goes on to write that God rescued us and “brought us into the kingdom of his dear Son, who forgives our sins and sets us free.” Now that’s a complete rescue scene. We are rescued from the Evil One and then brought into a relationship with Jesus who forgives us and sets us free from the power of darkness and sin. This is a complete and total rescue if we receive it!

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Our role in this scene is to accept the rescue and acknowledge that we are not capable of rescuing ourselves. We need to admit that we are sinners lost in darkness and in need of rescue. As Paul writes in Romans 3:23, “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” We then need to believe in the Rescuer.  John 3:16 tells us that God loves us so much that he gave His only Son that whoever believes in Him will not die but have everlasting life.  He sent a Rescuer; we need to believe and trust in Him.

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For all the great rescue scenes you may have watched and that come to mind when you think of rescues, none will ever compare with the life-changing, eternity-altering rescue that God orchestrated for you when He gave His Son to be your Rescuer so that you could walk in light and freedom. If you haven’t accepted your role in this redemption scene, what is holding you back? Reach out to someone who can walk with you in the questions and pray with you. God wants to rescue and redeem you!

God, I thank you that You are the best scriptwriter of all times. You are still writing the narrative of our lives, but You want each one of us to be rescued from darkness for forgiveness and freedom. Help us to not only believe this, but to walk in this freedom and share this amazing rescue story with those around us. You are our Rescuer!

Amen.