Sunday, March 5, 2017

COLOSSIANS 2:13-17 - CHARGES OF SIN CRUSHED COMPLETELY!

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:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jNa89MDFWYE

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