Sunday 03:16:14

Colossians 2:9-15 The fullness of Christ given to us is His victory. The fullness of Christ is his victory over all. Jesus' sacrifice - his death on the cross and his resurrection - defeated the enemies of God. 1. Our old, sinful nature was put off 2. We were made alive with Christ 3. Our sins were forgiven 4. The charge of our was canceled 5. God's enemies were disarmed v. 11 Our sinful nature was put off Paul compares this spiritual truth to the physical act of circumcision. Circumcision was a physical mark on he bodies of Jewish males that they were the people of God's covenant. It should that they were God's set people, set apart from the rest of humanity. Spiritually circumcised in Christ. Christ separates our sins from us. Our old, sinful self is removed by Jesus' death. In our struggle against sin, we are to remember this, that our old sinful nature that used to have complete power over us is dead. Romans 6:5-11 When we are tempted, we are to remember, the grip of our sinful nature has been broken and we are no longer slaves to sin. The stranglehold of sin over our lives was broken by Jesus' death. When Christ died, our sinful nature died. v. 12-13a We were made alive with Christ We were dead in our sins and sinful nature. Baptism is a picture of Jesus' death and resurrection. He died and was raised to life again. Baptism is also a picture of what Jesus has done in our lives. We were dead in our sins, but in Jesus, our sinful nature died and we were raised to a new life. This is true in our lives because of our faith in the powerful working of God. By our faith in Jesus Christ, we share in his death and resurrection. His physical death and resurrection is shared with us in a spiritual sense. When Christ died, our sinful nature died. When Christ was raised, we were raised to new life. We are new people because of Jesus' death and resurrection. v. 13b Our sins were forgiven The word used for sin is "trespass" is "paraptoma", literally to fall aside, misstep or blunder. It means that we failed God's path for us. But our constant failure to follow God has been forgiven by God. Everything that had separated us from God has been forgiven. v. 14 The charge of our sin was canceled The code, lit., "handwriting". It was an indictment of our guilt. Paul was probably referring to the Roman practice of writing the offense committed by the accused on a board and nailing it above their heads on their crosses. "With its regulations" - the legal demands of the OT - the holy Law of god - we could never meet its requirements, so it was against us and was opposed to us. Christ took on himself our offenses and his punishment freed us from our accountability under the law. "Canceled" literally, wiped out. He took it away, nailing it to the cross. When you feel like a sinner instead of a saint, When you feel like a failure instead of a conqueror, Remember that Jesus' work on he cross has canceled your sin and failure. v. 15 God's enemies were disarmed "Powers and authorities" are all the spiritual forces of this world that are in rebellion against God. He disarmed them and made a public spectacle of them. He triumphed over them by the cross. Through his death and resurrection, Jesus was victorious over our sin, over death, over the charges against us, and over God's enemies.