We Have Been Transferred

“He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son.” Colossians 1:13

“Remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.”
Ephesians 2:12–13

What actually changed when we received Jesus?

It was not simply a spiritual transaction that secured us a place in heaven. Something happened in the here and now.

We were transferred.

Before Jesus, a whole set of things were true of us. We were separated from Christ, far from God, without hope and living under what Paul calls the “domain of darkness.”

But then came those wonderful words:

“But now in Christ Jesus”

Everything changed.

We were far away; now we have been brought near.

We were separated; now we belong.

We were without hope; now we have hope.

We were under the domain of darkness; now we belong to the kingdom of His beloved Son.

Our identity changed.
Our citizenship changed.
Our allegiance changed.
The authority under which we live changed.

But that doesn’t mean every old pattern disappears overnight.

Our struggles don’t make us any less a part of His kingdom.

We may still wrestle with ways of thinking that were formed over many years. We may still find ourselves responding from old wounds, habits and behaviours. God has made us new, but learning to live from that new identity is a process.

Some things that took years to become established in our lives may take time to unlearn.

That is why consistency matters.

Sometimes we begin walking with Jesus expecting everything to change immediately. Then after a few days, weeks or months, we look at ourselves and think, Nothing is happening. I’m still struggling with the same things.

So we become discouraged.

But don’t mistake slow transformation for no transformation.

A tree can be growing long before you see fruit hanging from its branches.

Keep praying.
Keep opening His Word.
Keep listening.
Keep obeying.
Keep allowing the Holy Spirit to challenge old ways of thinking.
Keep getting up when you stumble.

Don’t quit simply because transformation is taking longer than you expected.

Ecclesiastes 3:11 says:

“He has made everything beautiful in its time.”

His time, not ours.

Imagine someone who has lived their entire life under one government and then becomes a citizen of another country. Their citizenship changes immediately, but it may take time for them to learn the customs, language and ways of their new home.

Spiritually, something similar happens to us.

We don’t fight the old life in order to become citizens of God’s kingdom.

We learn to live differently because we already belong to His kingdom.

That is the difference.

You aren’t trying to earn your place.
You aren’t trying to convince God to accept you.
You aren’t struggling your way into His kingdom.

Christ has already brought you near.

Now, day by day, the Holy Spirit teaches you how to live like someone who belongs there.

So when the old voice says, “Nothing has changed. This is who you’ve always been,” remember:

That may be where I came from, but it is no longer where I live.

I have been delivered.
I have been brought near.
I have been made new.
I belong to Christ.

Salvation didn’t simply give me somewhere new to go when I die.

Jesus gave me a whole new Kingdom to live in today.