The Triumph of the Cross | Colossians 2:13-15

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  • During Freedom Summer in 1964, three workers for the Congress of Racial Equality helped a church in Mississippi with a voter registration drive. The church was burned down by the Ku Klux Klan. While investigating another church burning, these civil rights workers – Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner, who were white, and James Chaney, who was black – disappeared. A month later, on August 4, 1964, the young men were found shot to death in a shallow grave in a remote field. Nineteen Ku Klux Klan members were indicted for these events, including the local sheriff. Seven were found guilty.

    The funeral of James Chaney is remembered for the fiery and eloquent calls for justice. But the Reverend Edwin King spoke to the tragic events from a Christian perspective. “The cross is not a burned cross,” King said. “It is the one of Calvary that is stained with the blood of Jesus, God’s Son. God gave his Son for all of us and this is the cross that we follow – the cross that means victory.” 

    The cross is not a symbol of defeat. It is a banner of triumph. Edwin King powerfully made this point at James Chaney’s funeral. Paul makes this point even more powerfully in Colossians 2:13-15. In this section of Colossians, Paul refutes false teachers who claim Christ is not enough to make salvation complete. 

    Colossians 2:8 warns: “See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to the human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ.” Paul issues this warning because of the sufficiency of Christ. Colossians 2:9-10 reads: “For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, and you have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority.” This is the dominating theme of Colossians. If you have Jesus, you have enough.

     How can we know our salvation in Christ is complete? Paul gives two answers. 

    • Colossians 2:11-12 presents the resurrection of Jesus as proof of our salvation. 
    • Colossians 2:13-15 presents the crucifixion of Jesus as proof of our salvation. 

    John Piper said, “This is one of the greatest passages, I think, in the Bible about what really happened when Christ died.” What happened when Christ died? Christ’s death is our victory. What has the triumph of the cross accomplished for us? 

    We have new life in Christ. 

        There are three ways to view the condition of man. 

      • Optimists think man is good. 
      • Realists acknowledge man is sick. 
      • The Bible claims man is dead. 

      Verse 13 says, “And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh.”“Dead” means separation. God warned Adam he would die the day he ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. When Adam sinned, he did not drop dead physically. But his sin separated him from God. “Dead” also means inability. Good works, self-improvement, academic success, economic empowerment, and extreme makeovers are all useless for dead people. Dead people don’t need self-help; they need new life. 

      Without Christ, we were dead. But a divine transformation occurs when you trust Christ for salvation. Verse 13 says, “And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him.” R. Kent Hughes writes, “When Elijah stretched himself upon the dead boy, his heart beat against the stillness of the body’s chest until it kindled life. Even so, Christ must lay his full life on our deadness – and then life comes!”

      • New life in Christ is the result of God’s sovereign initiative. 
      • New life in Christ is also the result of God’s sovereign power.

      The God who made Christ alive made us alive together with him. Ephesians 2:4-6 says, “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.” 

      How does God give new life in Christ? Verse 13 answers: “Having forgiven us all our trespasses.” In Christ, God has placed our sins out of sight. Isaiah 38:17 says, “You have cast all my sins behind your back.”In Christ, God has placed our sins out of reach. Micah 7:19 says, “You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea.” In Christ, God places our sins out of mind. Jeremiah 31:34 says, “For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sins no more.” Colossians 2:13 declares that God puts our sins out of existence by the finished work of Christ: “having forgiven all our trespasses.” Note the extent of the divine forgiveness: “all.” For the sake of Christ, God forgives every trespass you have committed, the iniquity that rests in your heart right now, and all the sins you will commit for the rest of your life.

      In his comments on this passage, J. Vernon McGee said a man challenged him: “I’ll give you $100 if you can show me where the Sabbath day has been changed.” McGee answered, “I don’t think it has been changed. Saturday is Saturday. It is the seventh day of the week, and it is the Sabbath day.” He got a gleam in his eye and said, “Then why don’t you keep the Sabbath, if it hasn’t been changed?” McGee answered, “The day hasn’t changed. But I have been changed. I am a new creation. I celebrate the Lord’s Day because that is the day he rose from the dead. And God made me alive together with him.” 

      We have a clean record because of Christ. 

        Horace Bushnell said, “Forgiveness is man’s deepest need and God’s highest achievement.”

        • Verse 13 describes forgiveness as man’s deepest need. 
        • Verse 14 describes forgiveness as God’s highest achievement. 

        Verse 14 says God forgave all our trespasses “by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands.” A “record of debt” was a certificate of indebtedness in the debtor’s handwriting. It is an I.O.U. Paul uses this business term to describe our sin problem. Romans 3:23 says: “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” We had a record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. The holy justice of God demands payment. Romans 6:23 says, “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” By the work of Christ, God canceled our sin-debt and gave us eternal life. 

        Skeptics object to the gospel because they cannot accept the idea of God sending his Son to die on a cross. They call the atonement “cosmic child abuse.” Instead, they conjure up a way of salvation that accomplishes divine forgiveness without an atoning sacrifice. This fails to consider the holy nature of God and the offensive nature of sin. God’s perfect character demands transgression against his holy law be punished with death. What God demanded; God provided in Christ. Ephesians 2:14-15 says, “For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of commandments and ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace.”

        On Good Friday, three things were nailed to his cross. Jesus himself was nailed to the cross. Luke 23:33 says, “And when they came to the place that is called The Skull, there they crucified him, and the criminals, one on his right and one on his left.” 

        It was also customary to place the sentence of the condemned on the cross. John 19:19-22 reports: “Pilate also wrote an inscription and put it on the cross. It read, “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews. Many of the Jews read this inscription, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and it was written in Aramaic, in Latin, and in Greek. So the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, “Do not write, ‘The King of the Jews,’ but rather, ‘This man said, I am King of the Jews.’” Pilate answered, “What I have written I have written.” In God’s ironic providence, Pilate nailed to the cross for all to see the truth for which the Jewish religious leaders wanted Jesus crucified. Jesus is the King of the Jews!

        Something else was nailed to the cross. 

        • The Roman soldiers nailed Jesus to the cross. 
        • Pilate fastened the sentence to the cross. 
        • God nailed our sin-debt to the cross. 

        Colossians 2:13 says, “This he set aside, nailing it to the cross.” It was not visible to the naked eye. But the entire realm of spirit beings, fallen and holy, watched as God nailed your incalculable sin-debt to the cross of Jesus. Then he wiped away the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands by the blood of Jesus. John 19:30 reads: “When Jesus received the sour wine, he said, “It is finished,” and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.” We owed a debt we could not pay. On the cross, Jesus paid a debt he did not owe. The blood of Jesus paid it all! 2 Corinthians 5:21 says, “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”

        My sin - O the bliss of this glorious thought! 
        My sin, not in part, but the whole,
        Is nailed to the cross and I bear it no more;
        Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!

        We have spiritual victory through Christ.  

          Colossians 1:16 states the relationship of Christ to 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.” Christ created the heavens and the earth and all that is in them, including Satan and his armies of fallen angels. Colossians 2:10 says, “And you have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority.” 

          Christ rules with sovereign authority over the entire created order of spiritual beings. Colossians 2:15 states the basis of that authority: “He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.” In Genesis 3:15, God said to the serpent: “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.” This divine prediction was fulfilled on the cross, where Satan bruised Christ’s heel and Christ crushed the serpent’s head. 

          Verse 15 says Christ “disarmed the rulers and authorities.” Colossians 3:9 uses the verb to order us to “take off” our sinful ways. Christ has taken their weapons away from them. Satan and his forces are real, busy, wicked, strong, and determined. They are powerless against Christ and his saints. The Lord has disarmed the rulers and authorities.

          Christ also has “put them to open shame.” The picture is of conquered soldiers being stripped of their clothes in defeat. Christ has taken Satan’s weapons and his dignity – leaving him naked, humiliated, and defenseless. Matthew Henry commented: “The devil and all the powers of hell were conquered and disarmed by the dying redeemer.” The Christians should respect the devil. There is no reason to fear him. Christ has given you the victory.

          How did Christ accomplish this sweeping victory? Verse 15 says Christ did it “by triumphing over them in him.” We tend to think the crucifixion was a defeat and the resurrection was a victory. That is not how it happened. Phillip Ryken wrote: “By the time Satan realized that the cross was the triumph of God rather than the death of God, it was too late.”

          • At the cross, our debt was paid. 
          • At the cross, sin was conquered. 
          • At the cross, we were made new. 
          • At the cross, Satan was defeated.
          • At the cross, we won the victory. 

          Triumph is used twice in the New Testament. Here and in 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.” The one who follows the conquering King Jesus should not walk in worry, doubt, or fear. We should give thanks to the God who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ! 

          Dr. J.C. Wade Sr., retired pastor of the Zion Missionary Baptist Church in East Chicago, was asked by a young man, “Why is it that every time you preach, you always go the Calvary and talk about how Jesus died on the cross?” Wade asked, “Why it is that every time they play a baseball game, someone tries to score a run? Why is it that every time they play a basketball game, someone tries to make a shot? Why is it that every time they play a football game, someone is trying to get a touchdown?” The young man gave the obvious answer. “That’s how you win the game.” Wade affirmed, “And that’s why I always go to Calvary and talk about Jesus dying on the cross!”  

          I heard an old, old story, how a Savior came from glory, 
          How he gave His life on Calvary to save a wretch like me.
          I heard about His groaning, of his precious blood's atoning.
          Then I repented of my sins and won the victory.

          O victory in Jesus, my Savior, forever!
          He sought me and bought me with His redeeming blood;
          He loved me ere I knew him, and all my love is due Him.
          He plunged me to victory beneath the cleansing flood.
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          H.B. Charles Jr.

          Pastor-Teacher at the Shiloh Metropolitan Baptist Church of Jacksonville and Orange Park, Florida.