For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves (Col 1:13), …

If you are in Christ, you belong to him. And you have been rescued “from the dominion of darkness” and brought into “the kingdom of the Son he (the Father) loves”—the kingdom of love in which Christ rules, as this scripture says.

In a figurative sense, it can be said that Christ is a shepherd and those who belong to him are his sheep. As the role of a king is often compared with that of a shepherd in the Bible, Christ is our king and shepherd, and we belong to his kingdom and sheep pen. This king-shepherd has laid down his life for us (John 10:15), and feeds and tends us spiritually as well as physically (Ezek 34). Jesus said in his parable of the shepherd and his flock:

When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice (John 10:4).

According to this parable, it is by the gate that the shepherd enters the sheep pen. This gate is the entrance or exit from God’s world to this world, and vice versa. It was by this gate that Christ came into this world as “the King of glory” (Ps 24:7ff.), and through his death and resurrection, he rescued us from the world of death, and brought us into the world of life (Ezek 34:13, 37:12-14). Jesus said:

I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. He will come in and go out, and find pasture (v. 9).

So, Christ not only came to us through this gate, but also became the gate itself for us, and it is by this gate—in Christ—that we enter his sheep pen—his kingdom. This gate is expressed as “the gate of heaven” in the story of Jacob’s dream at Bethel (Gen 28:17). Jacob saw “a stairway resting on the earth, with its top (lit. head) reaching to heaven, and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it (v. 12).” Interestingly, Jesus said the similar thing concerning himself as follows:

I tell you the truth, you shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man (John 1:51).

These words were spoken to Nathanael whom Jesus had seen being under the fig tree. Trees, like the stairway in Jacob’s dream, gave people easy access to the spiritual realm—heaven. In other words, Jesus meant to say, “Nathanael, here am I, the true tree. Follow me.” The same truth is said by Jesus in the following way:

I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me (John 14:6).

It is through Christ, and in Christ, that we have now access to our God, whom we call “Abba, Father.” Also in the same gospel are found the following words spoken to the Samaritan woman:

You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth (John 4:22-24).

Here, Jesus, whose name means “salvation,” explains that he, together with the Holy Spirit, serves as a true means of worshipping the Father. It should be remembered that “the truth” is Jesus himself. True worshippers worship the Father in Christ and in the Holy Spirit, and they are all part of the family of the Trinity. This is such a great privilege for those who are in Christ—whose heart Christ lives in. So, Paul prays:

For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom his whole family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith (Eph 3:14-17).