Being Delivered from our Culture, the Authority of Darkness, as a Substitute for Christ

Praise the Lord, He has delivered us out of the authority of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of the Son of God’s love!

The kingdom of darkness refers especially to the good aspects of our culture and of our natural being; anything that is a substitute for Christ is the authority of darkness keeping us away from God and His purpose.

In the book of Colossians, we see that Christ was being replaced by culture in the church in Colosse; culture has invaded and flooded the church in this locality, so Paul wrote to them concerning this and showed them an all-inclusive, extensive Christ versus their culture.

We all know that the self, the flesh, the natural man, the world, sin, and many other negative things try to replace Christ, and we may be on guard for all these; however, the ultimate replacement for Christ is our culture.

Our culture is very necessary for us to be a proper human being and a useful member of society; however, when we bring our culture into the church life, Christ is replaced, and we cannot really enjoy Christ with the saints, for our culture separates us from Christ.

The Lord must shine on us and expose us to see that the highest aspects of our culture can be used by the adversary of God to replace Christ in our life, even in our very being.

We may have certain virtues, certain natural and national characteristics, and certain habits that we picked up simply by living in the society where we are, and all these have no place in the church as the one new man.

Anything that replaces Christ is in the principle of antichrist; the Antichrist will be manifested at the consummation of the age, but before he is manifested, there are many antichrists, for the principle of antichrist is operating both in society and in the church life.

May we see how the enemy of God uses culture to replace Christ, using even the good aspects of our culture to replace Christ, for they are a substitute for Christ in us and in the fellowship in the church life.

May we allow the cross to operate in our being and cross out anything of our natural man, anything of our culture, and anything of the good and ethical aspects of our being that are devoid of Christ so that Christ would be preeminent, He would be all in all, and He would be the One seen and manifested through us.

Especially these days there is an urgent need for our culture to be replaced by the all-inclusive, extensive Christ.

And by culture we don’t mean merely the high, most elite, elements of our culture, such as going to opera, wearing a tuxedo, listening to symphonic music in our spare time, etc; culture is the common way of living, our views, our goals, our social arrangements, that prevail in the country or the part of the country where we live.

And these differ from other cultures. May the Lord shine on all these and expose them in our being, and may we allow Christ to replace our culture with Himself for the church as the one new man!

Realizing that the Good Aspects of our Culture and our natural Being are the Authority of Darkness, and being Delivered by God

In Col. 1:12-13, we have two wonderful verses which show us a contrast of Christ vs culture; the Father has qualified us to enjoy an allotted portion of the saints in the light, and He has delivered us out of the authority of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of the Son of His love.

This happened once for all when we were regenerated and baptized, for at that time we were delivered out of the authority of darkness, and we were transferred into the kingdom of the Son of God’s love. Hallelujah!

However, this transfer is not just once for all; it has to continually take place, for there are so many aspects of our life and living, even our being, that are still under the authority of darkness.

We may think that the authority of darkness relates to sin and the world, and it does, but in the book of Colossians, it mainly refers to our virtues, religion, philosophy, observances, ordinances, principles, and ethical standards.

The authority of darkness in Col. 1:13 refers especially to the good aspects of our culture and of our natural being; it refers to our culture, our philosophy, our ethics, our methods of self-improvement, and the good aspects of our culture, character, disposition, and natural being.

All these are replacements for Christ, for they substitute Christ in our being and thus become something that hinders us from enjoying Christ as our portion.

We all are learning every day to enjoy the Lord and live a proper Christian life, and under the Lord’s shining, we realize that, even though we were initially transferred out of the authority of darkness and into the kingdom of the Son of God’s love, we still need to be delivered day by day.

We are either living in the kingdom of the Son of God’s love – a realm full of love, life, and light, with nothing negative and nothing of the old creation – or we are under the authority of darkness, in our natural life, disposition, and culture.

We need to deal with and apply the cross to not only the bad and evil aspects of our flesh, our natural man, our self, and our natural being but also the good things in our soul life and our natural being.

The more we tell the Lord Jesus that we love Him, the more He shines on us and exposes what replaces Him in our being, the more we put these things aside.

The result is that we are freed from anything that replaces Christ and is a substitute for Christ, and at the same time we are restricted and ruled by Him in the kingdom of the Son of God’s love.

May we love the Lord, take Him as our life and person, and allow Him to expose and remove in us anything of our culture and our natural man that replaces Him.

The saints in Colossae came under the authority of darkness by allowing the highest aspects of culture to invade the church (Col. 2:8).

To allow is to remain passive as something is taking place, having no discernment of what is really going on; the result is that culture pervades the church life.

May we take the lead in allowing Christ to replace culture in our being, and may we enjoy Christ, focus on Christ, and put aside anything that isn’t of Christ.

The result of such a process is that we outwardly may look like a person from the area or country where we live, but inwardly and in expression we are not that kind of a person – we are becoming Christ, we express Christ, and we live in the church as the one new man!

We may eat a certain kind of food as the ones in our country often did, we may dress in a certain way, but we do not live under the authority of darkness but rather, we allow Christ to replace our culture with Himself so that He may be our all in all for the one new man!

Thank You Father for delivering us out of the authority of darkness and transferring us into the kingdom of the Son of God’s love! Hallelujah, we are all qualified for a share of the allotted portion of the saints in the light – we can enjoy an allotted portion of the all-inclusive Christ together with all the saints! Amen! Lord, continue to expose anything that replaces Christ in our life; expose in us what is a substitute for Christ, and may Christ replace all these things! Lord Jesus, we love You! Free us from any replacements of Yourself and bring us fully into Your kingdom, the realm of love, life, and light, where we can enjoy You with the saints!

Being Delivered from Anything that is a Substitute for Christ to Enjoy Him with the Saints in the Church as the One New Man

Anything that is a substitute for Christ becomes the authority of darkness to control us. Any part of our being and of our daily life that is without Christ is still in darkness.

When a husband exchanges words with his wife, accusing and criticizing one another, they are in darkness; when we are in darkness, we blame others and accuse one another.

Whenever we live, walk, and behave in the self, we are in darkness; we may not commit gross sins, but simply living according to the self puts us in darkness, for it causes us to be separated from Christ.

When we live apart from Christ, not one with Him, we are in darkness.

When we live in the natural man, not taking Christ as our life and person, and not living by Christ, we are in darkness.

There are so many aspects of our being and our daily living that are still in darkness.

There are so many rooms in our being that we still do not open to the Lord, and His light does not dispel the darkness in those aspects and areas of our being.

Just as our home has many rooms, and not all of them have light shining in them, so our being has many rooms and the Lord’s light may not shine in all of them.

In some aspects and at certain times, our life and walk may be bright and full of light, for Christ occupies the first place and He is allowed to live and be expressed through us.

However, at other times and in other aspects of our living, we may be fully closed to the Lord and, even though we may not commit gross sins, we are still under the authority of darkness.

May we allow the Lord to shine in us and expose any darkness. May we allow Him to expose all the areas and aspects of our being that are still in darkness.

It is only when Christ occupies every part of us and every aspect of our daily walk that we can be wholly in the light, and we can be altogether delivered from the control of the authority of darkness.

Furthermore, we may not live in sin or arguments, but we may allow something other than Christ to occupy our being and our living; we may have some high products of our culture that unconsciously replace Christ, and by living these out, we think we live Christ – but we actually live in darkness.

Anything that is a substitute for Christ – things such as our philosophy, our religion, our character, our virtues, our concepts, and our opinions, including our culture – becomes the authority of darkness to control us.

Our culture may seem good to us, but it is a replacement for Christ; when our culture is a substitute for Christ, we are under the authority of darkness.

When we live according to our culture, even the highest products of our culture, we cause Christ to be set aside, and darkness becomes prevailing.

May the Lord have mercy on us and deliver us fully from any aspect of the authority of darkness, and may He transfer us into the kingdom of the Son of His love.

May we refuse to be under the authority of darkness in any of its subtle aspects, and may we choose to live in the kingdom of the Son of God’s love, allowing the Lord to shine and expose anything of darkness in our being and transfer us fully into His kingdom!

Our desire is that our life would contribute to the building up of the Body and the living out of the one new man, even to the preparation of the Body of Christ!

When we see how culture replaces Christ, becoming a substitute for Christ in our being and in our living, our spirit rises up in a proper way to say,

Lord Jesus, we refuse to be controlled by the authority of darkness in all of its aspects. We are in the kingdom of the Son of God’s love, and we choose to be under the authority of the throne, in the kingdom of God, being ruled by light, life, and love in the context of the Body! Amen, Lord, show us what aspects of our being and living are still in darkness. Expose any areas of darkness in our being and in the developed parts of our character. We want everything to be replaced by You, Lord. We don’t try to change ourselves: we just open to You. We don’t try to imitate others: we just allow Your light to shine! We want You, Lord, and we aspire that we would contribute to the preparation of the bride, the building up of the church, and the one new man being lived out on earth! Amen, Lord, we want to live in the reality of the one new man together with the brothers and the sisters for You to have a corporate expression and representation on earth!

References and Hymns on this Topic

• Sources of inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, the message by Ron Kangas for this week, and portions from, Life-study of Colossians, pp. 35-41 (by Witness Lee), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, The All-Inclusive, Extensive Christ Replacing Culture for the One New Man (2020 Thanksgiving Conference), week 1, The Urgent Need for Our Culture to Be Replaced by the All-inclusive, Extensive Christ.
• Hymns on this topic:
  – I hardly know myself; / Deceived so much by pride, / I often think I’m right / And am self-satisfied. / I know Thee even less; / In doctrine, shallowly; / True revelation lack / Of Thy reality. / Oh, may Thy living light, Lord, / Scatter all my night, Lord, / And everything make bright, Lord, / For this I pray to Thee. (Hymns #426)
  – What mercy that my eyes have seen the true God, / Happily transferred from darkness into light! / What grace that I can freely have salvation, / No need to work, endeavor with my might! (Hymns #1351)
  – Lord, open my eyes, / And turn me from darkness to light, / And from the authority of Satan to God, / That I may receive forgiveness of sins, / And all that God has, all that God has done / And all God will do! (Song on, To Open Their Eyes)