"Alive Together With Him"

We have been made alive together with Him. Our sin has been utterly destroyed.

Colossians 2:13-14

Bible Passage

Colossians 2:11-14 (ESV - English Standard Version)

11In him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ,

12having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead.

13And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses,

14by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross.

1

HOOK (Grab Attention)

Illustration

Thanksgiving is coming.

What are the things you are thankful for?

"It's A Wonderful Life"

He wishes he wouldn't have a boring mundane life

He HATES the "building and loan"

He wants to see the WORLD

He is SO TIRED of the life he is "stuck" with

He gets SO FRUSTRATED

His goal in life is to DO MORE and SEE MORE and MAKE A MARK in this world.

All along, he doesn't realize the VALUE and WORTH of the LIFE God has already given him...

God gives him a chance to see what life would look like had he NOT been born...

He then sees everything in the right perspective, and how THAT LIFE has BLESSED EVERYONE around him.

Lord willing, TODAY, we will help you to see the worth of the LIFE you have been given, IN CHRIST.

2

BOOK

Bible Passage

Colossians 2:13-14 (ESV - English Standard Version)

13And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses,

14by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross.

Explanation

"And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh..."

What can a dead person do?

Does it move?

Does it eat?

Does it have cravings?

It has no cravings, but is eaten up in the essence of being DEAD.

YOU were dead in our trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh...

People LIKE TO SAY...

I'm so glad I made the decision to follow Jesus.

as if it were a good business deal or a wise INVESTMENT for their lives...

THIS is where believing and presenting the CORRECT Gospel is so VITALLY IMPORTANT

If people are coming to Christ as if it is some "good business proposition", then they will be TERRIBLY disappointed when their lives are not improved

Jesus has a "wonderful plan" for your life.

This is the message I have fought tooth and nail since I began preaching.

When we present, what we believe to be the gospel, as a wonderful plan

people hear "life improvement"

"I have decided to follow Jesus"

How does a dead person "decide" anything??

IN THE GARDEN

YAHWEH told Adam and Eve that in the day that you shall eat, you will SURELY die.

Die = thanatos

"in dying you shall die"

The very moment that Adam and Eve ate of the forbidden fruit, they DIED INSIDE.

They died spiritually

They died emotionally

They began to die physically, until they ultimately died and was buried.

The relationship as a Son or Daughter of God was broken off in their rebellious defection from the KING and His Kingdom.

Dead men and women can do nothing.

Especially in regard to rescuing ourselves from our own deadness.

Bible Passage

Ephesians 1:3-4 (ESV - English Standard Version)

3Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places,

4even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love

Bible Passage

Job 38:1-4 (ESV - English Standard Version)

1Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind and said:

2 "Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge?

3 Dress for action like a man;

 I will question you, and you make it known to me.

4 Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?

 Tell me, if you have understanding.

Explanation

"and you who...God made alive together with him"

made alive together with him

because of Jesus resurrection, those who God makes alive, has the very life of God.

TOGETHER with Him.

"...having forgiven us all our trespasses"

NOTICE:

you were DEAD in your TRESPASSES

having FORGIVEN us ALL OUR TRESPASSES

How??

"by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with it's legal demands..."

"canceling" = obliterate = destroy utterly

"nailing it to the cross"

Jesus killed your sin on the cross because He BECAME your sin on the cross.

You and I do NOT have a RECORD OF DEBT, full of TRESPASSES any longer because it has been UTTERLY DESTROYED.

There is NO RECORD of sin on the behalf of those who are genuinely BORN AGAIN.

To YAHWEH, there are no more TRESPASSES.

THEY ARE DESTROYED IN CHRIST

3

LOOK

Application

What does this mean for us??

What should this cause in us??

This should show you the DEPTH of the VALUE of our RESCUE...

This was NOT just some flippant business decision

The moment you were born again, you cried out to YAHWEH as a newborn baby...

The sound of that cry was in the voice of FAITH and REPENTANCE

and that "cry" should be growing in maturity while it's nature is to be as a child.

We are called to be mature children.

too many times we believe ourselves to be "grown"

YES, we are to grow up in the Kingdom, but to grow UP in the Kingdom, is to go down to His feet in humble worship and adoration.

4

TOOK

Challenge Application

When we look at our lives, we should:

be thankful we are alive

not think lightly of the rescue you have been afforded, in Christ...

You aren't "just saved"

If you consider yourself to be born again and are growing in believing God and repentance...

It. Is. A. Miracle.

You are alive physically for a purpose

You are alive together with the King for the Kingdom

In "It's A Wonderful Life", at the end...

because he had seen his life as if he had never lived:

all he wanted was to live..."I want to live again, I want to live again."

He was just glad that people knew his name.

He was satisfied with being known.

Jesus made us alive together WITH HIM, what more could we want??

Let's not EVER forget this wonderful truth of the gospel...

If you are repenting and believing, your sins have been UTTERLY DESTROYED in CHRIST

There is NO RECORD OF DEBT with God

You have been MADE ALIVE TOGETHER WITH HIM

Let's go out with the FIRE of the Gospel in LOVE and find our lost brothers and sisters...

Let's bring them in, as God raises them to new life with the good news

Let's baptize them on these front porches of ours!!