Our faith is built on Christ’s resurrection that brings new life; this is our spiritual hope. It is Christ who gives our spiritually dry and lifeless ‘bones’ [life without hope and help] the vitality of Almighty God. God uses the life of the Spirit to transform us and make us a brand new creation. Christ transforms us so we can move in synchronicity with the Spirit as we serve our new Master in powerful ways.
In our passage today, the Apostle Paul reminds the church at Colossus, as well as all believers, that Christ disarmed the devil at the cross of Christ. Yet, what does that really mean? Jesus himself said Satan seeks to steal, kill, and destroy, so he does have the power to attack (John 10:10). We know Satan looks for every opportunity to remove believers from God’s mission by hindering Kingdom work; because Christ’s followers are a threat to Satan’s purposes. Therefore, we must resist the work of Satan, pray for deliverance, and put on the armor of God to shield ourselves from the fiery darts of Satan (Eph 6:10-20).
Christ’s power is much greater than Satan’s power, so we do not need to live afraid. We do need to allow the Spirit to separate us from the world’s ways (imagery of circumcision), because Satan leads people toward destruction by causing them to self-slaughter one choice at a time. Satan really doesn’t have power unless we give him our power; so, pay attention to your choices carefully. Every decision and choice is either righteous [honoring to God and his principles] or unrighteous [dishonoring to God and permeated with the aroma of evil]. There is no middle ground; we are at a crossroad. Praise God, one day we will not have to deal with Satan at all; Christ will defeat him once and for all.
Colossians 2:6-15 NLT Freedom from Rules and New Life in Christ
6 And now, just as you accepted Christ Jesus as your Lord, you must continue to follow him. 7 Let your roots grow down into him, and let your lives be built on him. Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught, and you will overflow with thankfulness.
8 Don’t let anyone capture you with empty philosophies and high-sounding nonsense that come from human thinking and from the spiritual powers of this world, rather than from Christ. 9 For in Christ lives all the fullness of God in a human body. 10 So you also are complete through your union with Christ, who is the head over every ruler and authority.
11 When you came to Christ, you were “circumcised,” but not by a physical procedure. Christ performed a spiritual circumcision—the cutting away of your sinful nature.[c] 12 For you were buried with Christ when you were baptized. And with him you were raised to new life because you trusted the mighty power of God, who raised Christ from the dead.
13 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. 14 He canceled the record of the charges against us and took it away by nailing it to the cross. 15 In this way, he disarmed [stripped off] the spiritual rulers and authorities. He shamed them publicly by his victory over them on the cross.
Prayer: Lord, thank you for giving us your sinless nature in exchange for our sinful one. Holy Spirit, we need your help to strip the world off from us, so we can live for your honor and glory. In Jesus’ name. Amen.