COLOSSIANS 2:13-17
CHARGES OF SIN:
CRUSHED COMPLETELY!
Colossians 2:13 And you, being dead in your sins and the
uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having
forgiven you all trespasses;
We were spiritually dead, unable to bring
ourselves to life because of sin. God placed faith in us and drew us into
relationship with Jesus that we might be made alive. It is only in Jesus, that we can do anything. Had Jesus remained
in the grave, we would have been forever dead and separated from God for all
eternity. But since God raised Jesus from the tomb, we
can be raised to a new life in Him and look forward to being with Him forever
in the place He is preparing for each of us who believe.
John 14:1-4 (NIV) “Do not let your hearts be
troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. 2 My Father’s house has many
rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to
prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come
back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. 4 You know the
way to the place where I am going.”
As we have noted before, Jesus IS the way
(John 14:6).
Colossians 2:14 Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances
that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way,
nailing it to his cross;
When a criminal was nailed to the cross, the
charges against him were posted on the cross as well. Jesus symbolically nailed
all our sins, all the charges against us, to His cross since He was crucified
in OUR place. There was a placard placed on the cross with
Jesus:
John 19:19 (NIV) Pilate had a notice prepared
and fastened to the cross. It read: Jesus of Nazareth, the king of the Jews.
However, the price He paid was the debt of
sin that we owed to God.
Romans 6:23 (NIV) For the wages of sin is
death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
God, the Lord Jesus, knew that He was the
only one capable of paying this debt of sin because He was the only sinless
man. Therefore, on our behalf, He willingly sacrificed Himself. He completely satisfied our debt and handed us the proof of
acquittal as a free gift. Our only responsibility is to receive the gift by
trusting in Jesus.
Colossians 1:15 And having spoiled principalities and
powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it.
The picture in verse 15 is that of a
victorious general leading his captives behind him to be humiliated in front of
the crowds. Jesus’ victory on the cross defeated forever
Satan, sin, death, and Satan’s demons. He sentenced them to eternal torment. According to 1 Peter 3:18-19, Jesus’ spirit even went and
announced His victory over them while His earth-suit was in the tomb for three
days.
Colossians 2:16 Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or
in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath
days: 17 Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ.
Paul warned the
Colossians not to succumb to legalism. Under the new covenant, the Old
Testament dietary restrictions are removed. There is no need to celebrate the
Passover since Jesus IS our Passover Lamb. There is no longer a need to make
sacrifices with each new moon or special festival because Jesus was the final
sacrifice, the only sacrifice that could make us right with God. Jesus IS our
Sabbath rest.
Romans 8:1-2
(NIV) Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ
Jesus, 2 because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has
set you free from the law of sin and death.
Ponder This:
Imagine you were a convicted criminal, headed to prison or even death row, and
an innocent person stepped up and said, “I’ll take that punishment for the
guilty one.” Wouldn’t you be eternally
grateful to that person? This really is the case. We were all guilty of sin and
under a death penalty, but Jesus took our punishment by dying on the cross in
our place. All we have to do is accept His gift, and we are moved from death
row to life row – anticipating eternal life in paradise with Jesus. Shouldn’t
we live our lives in gratitude and praise? DEFINITELY! Tell someone about His
marvelous gift of grace today!
Never forget how
it feels to be free! Listen to a great song by Phillips, Craig & Dean here:
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