Alive, Forgiven, Triumphant

Intro

Good morning

Turn to col 2

Text is 13-15

Our context here is

Paul has given the first of 3 warnings in his initial instruction to the church starting in chapter 2 vs 6

Kidnap

Some kidnap on vain and empty philosophies that are not according to Christ. and then he says in vs 10 that we have been filled in Christ, who is head of all rule & authority

Then in verses 11-15 he is going to expound on this fullness in christ and last week we looked at the first part of that and this week we’ll finish out this chunk of text on what it means for us to be filled in him.

READ

PRAY

3 elements of the Gospel

Alive in Christ

Forgiven in Christ

Triumphant in Christ

Alive in Christ

Pauls first element of the gospel is that God has made us alive in Christ

He begins by reminding us of our former state.

Our former state

You

Filled in him

Died and raised

saints

Spiritual death

Dead in trespasses & uncircumcision of your flesh

Trespasses

Sin

Easy to recognize we have sinned

1 John 1:8 “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.”

Believer & unbeliever

We have done wrong

“Unbeliever “Yea nobody is perfect” or “Yea I make mistakes, I’m human”

Easy to diminish our sin

You were dead in this

Diminish holiness of god

“Sin is not a trivial thing. It is an infinite evil, because it is against an infinitely holy God.” - Johnathan Edwards

Uncircumcision of your flesh

Two meanings

Gentiles & therefore not God’s people

Sin nature

Circumcision last week was the spiritual circumcision, The heart removal, the cutting away of the old man

I believe Paul is echoing what he has already said in that we were sinners by nature

Similar to Eph 2:1-3

Ephesians 2:1–8 “And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God,”

Romans 5:12 “Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned—”

Romans 5:18–19 “Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men. For as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous.”

Romans 8:7–8 “For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.”

So what Paul is saying then is . You, who were by your very nature a sinner, and who is guilty of innumerable sins against a holy God was laying there on the floor, spiritually lifeless. No pulse, no breathing, no signs of life, dead.

You weren’t spiritually sick

you weren't spiritually weak

You weren't spiritually asleep

YOU WERE DEAD

God made alive together with him

Notice who did it… GOD

Why?

The only thing dead people can do is stink

Drowning life preserver illus

God has made you alive, Christian

Do you know why you believe the gospel?

Yes you made a choice, but ultimately God made you alive. God gave you a new heart

Did you know you have no room to boast for someone saving your life?

This ought to be such a profound encouragement to you

Why??

Because it’s all up to God

You can pray for the salvation of your lost family member, or friend, or coworker and know that prayer has power

You can preach the gospel boldly knowing that it’s not ultimately up to you to do the saving

You can have hope knowing that God can bring to life even the “most dead” hearts

Paul

Forgiven in Christ

The next element - forgiveness

Some translations “and forgave us”

How has he forgiven us?

by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands

1 There is a record of debt

2 This debt carries with it legal demands against us

3 This debt has been canceled

The idea behind the record of debt was a legal term for a bond or promissory note

It’s as though mankind has signed an IOU to God for complete allegiance

Our sin is evidence we have failed to uphold our end of the agreement

In doing so we have racked up an insurmountable debt to God

Debt that we can not pay

Your good works can’t cover the interest payment on your debt to God

It’s worth noting that if you have racked up a debt you are unable to pay, then you are in desperate need of forgiveness.

If you are an unbeliever, you need forgiveness.

Law written on the hearts

Romans 2:14–15 “For when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law. They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them”

If you are an unbeliever, my prayer is that you would feel an overbearing weight of guilt and shame and condemnation for your sin and that it would drive you to the cross

Romans 8:1–2 “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death.”

There was before

The world today “forgive yourself”

You can’t!

The debt you owe is to someone else!

Telling the bank you forgive yourself of your mortgage

The good news is there is forgiveness found in Jesus Christ alone

Heres the issue

God is just, yet he has cancelled out our sins

Genesis 18:25 “Far be it from you to do such a thing, to put the righteous to death with the wicked, so that the righteous fare as the wicked! Far be that from you! Shall not the Judge of all the earth do what is just?””

God must punish sin or else he would be unjust

Criminal in court

How can God be just, yet merciful

How can God be loving, yet wrathful against sin

At the cross

At the cross we see Gods immense love

God so loved the world

Yet his wrath against sin

Let this cup pass

At the cross we see Gods immense mercy and his perfect justice

Nailing it to the cross

Your sin, put onto Jesus and pinned to a tree on Golgotha

2 Corinthians 5:21 “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”

Jesus never accumulated any debt in his life. He only ever and always fulfilled his IOU to God. Perfect obedience

Do you know why there is no other name under heaven by which man can be saved?

Do you know why Christianity is exclusive and it is Christ alone that saves

One of the reasons is because it is only in Jesus do you find the one who can pay the penalty

“ALL” our sins

Past

present

future

Breadth & Depth

Breadth = amount of sin

Depth = severity of the sin

Horatio Spafford

Loses everything in Chicago fire of 1871 son dies in 1973

Wife and four daughters die in Atlantic

It is well

My sin oh the bliss of this glorious thought my sin not in part but the whole was nailed to the cross and I bear it no more, praise the lord praise the lord oh my soul

There is no sin to far or to deep to escape the grace of the gospel

Colossian false teachers pushing additional spiritual regiments.

Are you thinking you need to do additional things to earn Gods forgiveness?

“you dont understand my sin”

You dont understand the things I’ve said

“Marcus you dont understand what Ive done”

“No you dont understand what he’s done”

Psalm 103:12 “as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us.”

Isaiah 43:25 ““I, I am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins.”

Micah 7:19 “He will again have compassion on us; he will tread our iniquities underfoot. You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea.”

Isaiah 1:18 ““Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool.”

All our debt, set aside

All our sins, forgiven

Story of Luther dream with satan

Satan accused him of his sins

Luther told him to write them all down

Now at the bottom, write this; “The blood of Jesus cleanseth us from all sin”

Triumphant in Christ

he disarmed and put to open shame the rulers and authorities BY triumphing over them

rulers & authorities = demonic realm

Colossians 2:10 “and you have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority.”

Paul begins this section by telling the Colossians that Christ is head of all rule and authority and is now closing the section by reminding them of his status over the demonic realm

Colossians 1:15–16 “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him.”

Satan and his demons

Disarmed

Publicly shamed them

Disarmed

He has stripped them of the power that they had

Defanged them. They no longer are a threat

Put them to open shame

Ida of making a public spectacle

Matthew 1:19 “And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly.”

Paul gives us a picture of what this looks like

By triumphing

Triumphal procession

Easter

2 Corinthians 2:14 “But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere.”

Roman Celebratory parade for the commanding general in a great victory

Not just any victory

Offensive attack

Significant casualties

Complete domination

Not just any parade

Extremely lavish event

Days on end

Games music feasts and parties

Carry through the wealth of the enemy that was captured

Displays of the enemy city and land they had captured

Victorious General

Who the entire event was about

Stand on his chariot with a crown on his head as the people cheered

The captured enemies

They would walk through the city, heads down, in chains. no longer a military threat but now put to open shame in front of all.

At the end of the parade, those captured enemies would be put to death

And Paul says, that what Christ did to satan and his demons

That is what Christ did to the demonic realm

We don’t see everything in subjection to him now but it is and we will.

Christs resurrection has crushed the head of the serpent but he still thrashes for the time being

Sometimes is can be appealing to look elsewhere to other philosophies because if were being honest, it doesn’t always feel like were winning here.

The cross

What seemed like great defeat

What was the most evil act to ever happen

What ought to cause the greatest sorrow

god used for the greatest good. He rose three days later to never die again and we too will rise. We too will never die again. We will have every tear wiped away. Every knee will bow and every tongue confess