“You were dead because of your sins and because your sinful nature was not yet cut away. Then God made you alive with Christ, for He forgave all our sins. He canceled the record of the charges against us and took it away by nailing it to the cross. In this way, He disarmed the spiritual rulers and authorities. He shamed them publicly by His victory over them on the cross.” Colossians 2:13-15 (NLT)
The work of the cross is amazing! Consider in this brief passage some deep treasures that Paul reveals. Let’s dig into it.
‘The record’ refers to an official certificate of indebtedness. Because of our sin, we had charges against us. ‘Erased’, literally means wiped clean by removing it from us. Those charges have been separated from us and securely fastened to the cross.
On the cross Christ ‘disarmed’ or stripped away, the weapons of demonic powers. Because of the cross, these powers no longer have anything on the believer who stands righteous and holy in Jesus Christ (Romans 8:1 & 31-34). The certificate of indebtedness has been canceled, that is, it has been made void, annulled, and neutralized. It has no power over us anymore!
The wicked tyrants who once ruled over us are now made into a ‘public example’ or spectacle for all to see. This is a picture of a military general leading his prisoners through the streets of his kingdom to display before everyone his victory over the conquered army. We are no longer slaves to demonic powers, for everything Satan and his legions could ever condemn us for was destroyed in the same act that destroyed them – the amazing cross of Jesus. I often refer to this passage when I am in intense prayer!
Ask God to grant you, your church and the churches across our city, a full understanding of all the cross has accomplished and how we can appropriate it in our lives, our city and nation!
