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On Nov 05, 2006: Colossians 2:11-15 · Teachings On This Day On FerventWord

• You are listening to FerventWord, an online Bible study ministry with teachings and tools to help you grow deeper in your relationship with God. The following message was taught by Jerry Simmons in 2006. We're in Colossians 2 this morning, but I'd like to divert you from there for just a moment. So put maybe your bulletin or your thumb in Colossians chapter 2 and turn with me to Luke chapter 22. Luke chapter 22. This morning is the first Sunday of the month of November, and so as such, the first Sunday of every month, we partake of and celebrate communion together. And I want to encourage you as we prepare for this, Prepare for that at the end of service, that during the time as we study the word together, that you would be preparing your heart to partake of communion. It's important, Paul says in 1 Corinthians chapter 11, that when we partake, we ought to examine ourselves and check our hearts and see where we stand with God and how we have been dealing with or having relationship with Jesus Christ. In Luke chapter 22, Jesus is beginning the Lord's Supper, what we call communion or the Lord's Supper, the last supper he has with his disciples. It's during the Passover meal, and he takes some elements that they're already familiar with in the Passover meal and transforms them now, gives them new meaning and In a relationship with Jesus Christ about what he is going to do in his death upon the cross. And allow me please to read to you Luke chapter 22 verses 14 through 20. It says this. When the hour had come, he sat down with the 12 apostles and the 12 apostles with him. Then he said to them, Then he took the cup and gave thanks and said, Take this and divide it among yourselves. For I say to you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes. And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it and gave it to them, saying, This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me. Likewise, he also took the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is shed for you. Jesus is here. He's with his disciples. It's his last night before his crucifixion. And he tells his disciples as he's celebrating the Passover meal with them. He says, I've greatly desired to have this dinner with you. I've greatly desired to sit down and spend this meal together with you. It was an important feast to the Jewish people because it was the Passover. But Jesus earnestly desired to have this particular meal with them because he would now take these elements that they were familiar with. And transform them into something new for them to remember and understand what he was about to go through. He says, I'm about to suffer, but I really wanted to have this dinner with you. And he gives them the bread. And when he gives them the bread, he says, look, this is my body, which is given for you. He gives new meaning, new symbolism to this bread that they were eating. And he says, this is my body. I'm going to be broken for you. I'm going to be pierced and I'm going to be crucified upon the cross for you. And he says, do this in remembrance of me. And that's why we partake of the Lord's Supper regularly. Once a month on the beginning of the month, the first Sunday, not because that's when Jesus told us to do it, but because that's the time that we have set aside to do this in remembrance of him. And I want to encourage you as we get into the word in Colossians chapter two this morning to remember him, what he has done for you, what his death on the cross means to you, how much he dearly loves you. He gives them the cup and he says, this cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is shed for you. Under the old covenant, they would come to the Lord and have relationship with God based on their completing the rules and regulations, their fulfillment of the law. But Jesus says, this is the blood of a new covenant. No longer will people come to me Through the law, by keeping the rules and regulations, but now I'm doing a new work because of what I'm about to do and about to suffer. This cup represents something completely new, and that is the new covenant. That is my blood shed for you. That no longer do you have to keep these things in order to have relationship with God. No, instead, by faith, by receiving what I've done for you, you will have full access to God. and relationship with him. Jesus tells us the bread represents his body. The cup represents his blood. And we partake of these together today to remember what Jesus has done for us. Now, what Jesus has done for us is the subject of what Paul has to say this morning in Colossians chapter 2. What he has accomplished for us at the cross is Is the center of God's plan for you and I. It's the basis for his relationship with you and I. All of history centers around this event. Everything that God has for you and me and all that he has planned for us and all the wonderful things he desires to give to us centers around this event on the cross. Some 2000 years ago. which Jesus gave us the bread and the cup to represent, to remember, and as Paul said in 1 Corinthians 11, to proclaim his death until he comes. And so this morning I would challenge you and ask you to prepare your heart, to examine yourself. Where do you stand with Jesus Christ? What does the bread and the cup mean to you? Are you living in relationship with God? Are you proclaiming his death until he comes? This morning in Colossians chapter 2, we're continuing on from last week as we read verses 11 through 15. And if you remember last week, we ended with verse 9 and 10 of Colossians 2, in which Paul is telling us that Jesus... Has the fullness of the Godhead dwelling within him bodily. He is fully God and fully man, Paul was saying. And so in verse 10, he told us, therefore, as a result, you are complete in him. You are complete in Jesus Christ. And the point was, you don't need anything else. The false teachers were there saying, well, you need to add on to your faith. These things and and achieve this special knowledge and keep these rules and regulations and and then you'll really be spiritual and and you'll be closer to God and you'll have you'll have a better relationship with God and more access to him and he'll listen to you more. And if you achieve these things, man, you can be just that close with God. And of course, you can only learn those things from us is what they would teach. But Paul is telling us he's telling the Colossians as well as you and I this morning that You don't need anything else. You are complete, totally, completely complete in Jesus Christ. There's nothing else that needs to be added on to that. And that's what verses 11 through 15 is all about. He's explained to us how we are complete or how complete we are. Rather, verse 11 says this. In him were in Colossians chapter two, by the way, Colossians two eleven in him. You were also circumcised with the circumcision made without hands by putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ. Now, he starts out by saying in him because we are complete in him and everything that God has for us is found in him. And so he says in him being complete in him, you have been circumcised with a circumcision made without hands. Now, this morning, as we look at verses 11 and 12, we'll find three things that Paul says that we were three things that Christ has done for us and to us when we were born again this morning. Maybe you are not born again. Maybe you do not have a relationship with God. God wants a relationship with you. He wants these things to be true of you. And at the end of the service, I'll give you an opportunity to receive all that he has for you and enter into a relationship with God. But for those of you who are born again in him, these three things have been accomplished for you. He says you were number one, circumcised. You were number two buried and you were number three raised from the dead. Notice that they are all past tense. All of them are already accomplished, completely fulfilled in Christ. You are complete. The work is finished. It is completely done. The first thing we see that Paul says that you were what God has done for you. is that you were circumcised. Now, circumcision was part of the Old Covenant. For those of you who are familiar with the Old Testament, a person's circumcision represented that they were in a covenant relationship with God, that they agreed to approach God on his terms and to follow the law and be obedient to the rules and regulations that he had set forth. But circumcision, even though it was a part of the law and in keeping the law, it was never just about the physical state of a person. It wasn't just the physical act that God was referring to in circumcision. In Deuteronomy chapter 10, verse 16, God says, circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart and be no more stiff necked. The issue is, God is saying, the heart. It's not the physical body that I'm so concerned with, but it's the heart. And that is what needs to be circumcised. Paul tells us in Romans that a person is not a Jew who is one outwardly, that is, circumcised, but one who is circumcised spiritually or one who is circumcised inwardly. Paul says in him, you were also circumcised. And notice it's with the circumcision made without hands. He's not talking about a physical act or a physical state, but a spiritual one. Now, circumcision is a cutting away of the flesh. Spiritually speaking, circumcision is a cutting away of the sinful nature, the flesh itself. When we talk about the flesh, as Paul makes reference to the flesh, it's a reference to the sinful nature that we were born with. The sinful nature passed down to us from Adam, in which our hearts and our flesh is continually thirsting after sin. Constantly in rebellion to God, prone to wander. That's our sinful nature, driven to sin. But Paul says in him, you've been circumcised. That sinful nature has been cut off. That's why he goes on to say by putting off the body of the sins of the flesh, it's been cut off. It's been put off. If you are in Christ this morning, you are circumcised is what Paul is saying. In him, you were circumcised. Your sinful nature has been cut off. Now, in John chapter 3, Jesus talked to a man named Nicodemus, and he told him, you must be born again to enter the kingdom of God. Why must you be born again? Well, because... Before Christ, without Christ in your life, your spirit is dead. The Bible teaches it very clearly. Ephesians chapter two says that we were dead in our trespasses and sins. We were dead spiritually, but our flesh was alive. We continue to live and to breathe and to eat, even though our spirit was completely dead. When we are born again, the spirit is given life. The spirit is given life and now we are able to have relationship with God because our spirit is no longer dead, but alive. We've been regenerated by the Holy Spirit, born again by the spirit of God. And so we have a spirit that is living, that is alive. We have the Holy Spirit working within us. And when that takes place, when we are born again, the control flips. We used to be controlled by our flesh, right? By our sinful nature, we had no other alternative. We could try to be disciplined and try to keep ourselves from things that we knew were bad. But the reality was we were controlled by our flesh and we were on a path towards more and more corruption. But when we were born again, the spirit was given life. Now the control is switched. It's flip flopped. And now the spirit has control. of those who are born again and the flesh has been circumcised it's been cut off it's been put to death before christ your flesh was alive but your spirit was dead and therefore your flesh had full control you were subject to it you had no alternative you had no choice but through jesus christ in him you were circumcised your flesh is taken care of if you are in christ if you are born again Understand that you are circumcised. Your flesh has been cut off. You're not subject to it any longer. You don't have to obey its desires unless you're free from the power of sin. You're free because the flesh has been cut off. Now, I know some would say, well, hey, wait a second. I don't think my flesh got the memo because there's a really big struggle going on in my life. The flesh is so powerful. My sinful nature is still just impossible to deal with. Why is it that I struggle with sin if I've been circumcised? As you say, circumcision, Paul says, it's a work that has been done. It is complete in Christ. Understand, we have been set free from the power of sin. We haven't been set free from the presence of sin that will take place later. God will do that as we spend eternity with him. He gives us new bodies and we will not have to deal with sin ever again. But until that time, until we go to be with him, we have the presence of sin, but it does not have dominion over us. The power of sin has been broken because the flesh has been circumcised. It has been cut off. It's still there for now and it wants to be in control. And that's why you have the struggle that you have, because there's a war going on within you of the flesh wanting control, in a sense, seeking to reattach itself and reattain the position that it once had of control in your life. Galatians chapter 5 verse 17, Paul says that the flesh lusts against the spirit and the spirit against the flesh. And these are contrary to one another. The flesh and the spirit are contrary. And so there's this battle between the flesh and the spirit in your life. And that is the struggle that you experience. And I think we can all understand that there is this war that's going place or taking place. We know that the flesh is struggling for control, but we must understand that it has been cut off, but desperately wants to reattach itself. Here's the thing. My flesh is. Only has the control that I give it. It's only as powerful as I let it be in my life because I've been circumcised in Christ. The flesh has been cut off. The work is completed. The power is broken and it only has the power that I give back to it. It only has the control that I allow it to have. This is such an important issue. We must believe God's word on this. You have been circumcised in Christ. The flesh has been cut off. So you are no longer subject to it. Believe it with all your heart. Now the flesh may scream and shout. And throw a tantrum, like we're very good at doing. The flesh will throw a fit and tell you, no, you have to fulfill this desire. You have to fulfill this craving. You have to act this way. You must, or else the implication is you'll die. But you know you won't die. It's like if you've ever spent some time fasting. And if I don't eat, I'm going to die. You know, in our culture, we say, I'm starving. Right? We're not starving. Right? Give me a break. But that's our flesh. We're dramatic. We're all drama kings and queens because our flesh desires and screams and torments and says, hey, you have to give in. You have to obey. You have to fulfill. You're subject to me. And the reality is you're not. God has set you free by Jesus Christ. He's cut off the flesh. You've been circumcised. You don't have to give in no matter how much your flesh threatens you. In Christ, you're free from the power of the flesh. That's why Paul says in Galatians 5, 16, I say then walk in the spirit and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. See, it's a choice. You have the choice to walk in the spirit or fulfill the lust of the flesh. You don't have to comply with the flesh's demands or requests. You can choose to walk in the spirit and not fulfill those desires, cravings, lusts of the flesh. Romans 8, 13. If you walk in the spirit, you won't gratify the lust of the flesh. If you're in the spirit, you'll put to death the deeds of the body and you will live. Both cases, it's a choice we must make. And so my flesh only has the control that I choose to give by being obedient to its requests and demands. But if I buy the spirit, put to death those things, if I walk in the spirit and not gratify those things, I will experience victory through what Jesus Christ has done because he has defeated the power of the flesh. It's been circumcised. It's been cut off. It's a choice that we have to make. To give the spirit control or to give the flesh control. Now, someone who is really struggling with sin will say, you know, I don't feel like I have a choice. I don't want to sin. I don't want to be involved in sin. But I don't have any other choice. It's too strong. The temptation is too powerful. I'm not able to escape it. I try. I've tried everything. But I just cannot do it. Now, listen, you must believe God's word. You have been circumcised in him. You have been set free from the power of sin. You do not have to obey the desires of your flesh. You have been. There's no question. You're not the exception. You have been set free. Christ has set you free. But understand that circumcision and being free from the power of sin does not mean that the desire to sin has been cut off. The power of the flesh cuts. Has been cut off. And there is a struggle. But you need to understand. That it will be painful. A lot of times we think that. Well I've. You know been cut off. I've been circumcised. This is what the Bible says. So I shouldn't struggle with sin. I shouldn't desire it anymore. It shouldn't be an issue. Well that's not the case. It has been cut off. And that the power has been broken. But the fact that there's a struggle. Is actually an indication. That the spirit is working within you. Because the spirit and the flesh are warring against one another. The fact that there's a struggle indicates that you are a child of God and that you have a choice. And you can choose to walk in the spirit or to fulfill the lust of the flesh. But understand, it will be painful to walk in the spirit. See, God has called us by the spirit to put to death the deeds of the body, Romans 8, 13 tells us. We've been circumcised. The power of sin has been broken. But the presence is there. The struggle, the desire is there. And what we must do is put that to death. As the flesh is designed to reattach itself, we have to cut it off and get it out of our lives. It's like it's a crude comparison, but it works. Pulling a band-aid. Now, I have a band-aid on my arm. Have you ever had a band-aid that you had to pull off? And you understand how painful it can be as you're pulling it and it's tugging on your flesh. It's painful because it's pulling away the flesh. And so if I pull off this band-aid, it's going to be painful. It's not going to be easy. It's going to feel like it hurts. It might feel like I'm going to die if I'm dramatic. Someone told me to use duct tape, but then I would really die. But you understand. So when I pull this off... I did it first service, I can do it second service. Ah! The cutting away of the flesh, it hurts. Understand that the struggle is real. And yes, it's there. And that's okay. And it's going to hurt. It's going to hurt. Just like the cutting away of your physical flesh. You need to know to fight, to stand. You don't have to give in. It doesn't mean it will be easy. It doesn't mean it will be painless. But you need Have been set free from the power of sin. You've been set free as the flesh tries to reattach itself. Pull it off. It's hard and painful, but you can do it in Christ. You have been circumcised. And if you're still struggling in these things, I encourage you to do a good study of Romans chapter eight and Galatians chapter five. Spend some time and allow God to speak to you because he has set you free. He wants you to have victory over the flesh in your life. Moving on to verse 12, he says we were buried with him in baptism in which you are also raised with him through faith and the working of God who raised him from the dead. The second thing we find that Christ has done for us. Number one, you were circumcised. It has taken place if you're in Christ. The second thing is you were buried. You were buried with him in baptism is what Paul says. Now, this is not a reference to baptism in water. Like circumcision, baptism is not just a physical act, but we often describe it as an outward symbol of an inward change. It's something that's taken place within that God has done already within, and we are baptized out of obedience and to proclaim what God has done within us. This is talking about the inward change that God does. Now, just to make sure that it's clear, water baptism does not save you and is no guarantee of salvation. Water baptism is a choice we make to show what God has already done. Now, when you were born again, you were baptized into the body of Christ by the Holy Spirit. Baptism speaks to us of identification. We were identified with Christ or included with Christ. See, we believe as Jesus instructed us. He told us to believe in him. And as we do, we are included with him. He was crucified. So are we. Or so were we rather. Now, that's what we've just been talking about. The circumcision of the flesh. The crucifixion of the flesh is another way that Paul describes it in Galatians chapter two. We were crucified. The flesh was put to death, circumcised. We were included with Christ when he was crucified again. So were we. He was buried. So were we. He was resurrected. So were we. We've been baptized into his body by the Holy Spirit, by being born again. We were included with him at his death, his burial and his resurrection. Romans chapter six, verse three and four says, It says, Now here he's talking about we were buried with him in baptism. And to be buried is something important to understand. Because to be buried is to be laid to rest. This is speaking to us of the old life. Your past has been put to death. Your old nature, your sinful nature has been put to death. But not only that, your past, everything that you once were and the things that you were once involved with and the ways that you used to live, your old life, your past, your lifestyle, your habits, those things are gone. They've been buried. They're six feet under. Second Corinthians 517 says, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. Old things have passed away. behold, all things become new. You know, things have passed away in Christ. Your past has been wiped out, buried, taken care of. It's not an issue any longer. It shouldn't be something that you would be worried about or dealing with. You need to let it go. Don't be stumbled over your past. Don't let your past keep you from moving forward with God. Don't let your past keep you from serving the Lord in the ways that he's called you. Let it go. Don't be dealing with it. Just leave it buried where it belongs. Don't go digging it up. Believe God's word. Your old life has been buried. It was buried with Christ. The old things have passed away and behold, all things become new. That's the third thing we find this morning. Jesus in Jesus. We were circumcised. We were buried and we were raised. That's what he goes on to say here in verse 12. We were buried with him in baptism. We were buried with him in baptism. This is the second part of 2 Corinthians 5.17. You're a new creation. All things have become new because you were resurrected with Jesus Christ. You were included with him, spiritually speaking, at his resurrection. The second part of Romans chapter 6 verse 4, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. God has given us new life. He set a whole new life in front of us, no longer governed and dictated by our sinful nature, no longer with the history of our past and the things that we were once involved in and the way that we were raised and grown up. And those things, those are buried. They're gone. They're dead. And now he's given us a new life, a clean slate to be able to walk with God, to please him and to do the things that he's called us to do. You were buried with him, but you were also resurrected with him. By believing in Jesus, you were included in his death, burial and resurrection. You have a completely new life. Now, understand, it's not a reformed old life. Jesus didn't take your old life and say, well, I know what we can do. Just need to, you know, apply some patchwork here. A little bit of paint here. Get him a haircut. Boom. Good as new. He didn't reform our old nature, our old life. He didn't reform us. He said, it's not even worth it. Just knock the building down and build a new one. Leave it buried and give a new life through my son, Jesus Christ. That's what God did for us. He doesn't try to patch us up and make us OK, make us look better. Instead, he says, no, it's not even worth saving. It's not even worth trying to reform it. Instead, leave it buried and I give you new life. By the power of my spirit to walk and to live by faith in me. He didn't try to make you a better person. He transformed you from the inside out by including you in Jesus's death, burial and resurrection. Galatians chapter two, verse 20. Paul says, I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me and the life which I now live in the flesh. I live by faith in the son of God who loved me and gave himself for me. Paul's expressing this very thing. I've been crucified with Christ. I've been circumcised. My old nature, my old life, it's all been put to rest. It's been buried. And now I have a new life that I live by faith in the Son of God. Out of obedience to Him, walking with Him, relationship with God, But it's all through Jesus Christ. It's a new life that he has given to me. Now, this morning, I'm using an abundance of scriptures because I want you to know that this is what the Bible teaches. The Bible teaches that you can be set free from the bondage to your sinful nature, that you can be set free from the burden of your past. And you have a new life set before you in Jesus Christ. Those things do not need to trip you up or hold you back or keep you from what God has for you. You're complete in Him. Believe God's Word. You were circumcised. You were buried. You were raised. You've been set free from the bondage of sin. Your old life, your past, it's been buried and gone. And you have a completely brand new life in Christ Jesus. What does that mean to have a new life in Christ? Paul goes on to explain it in verses 13 through 15, and we find three more things. First three things is you were circumcised, buried and raised. The next three things we find what he has done. Number one, he has forgiven you. Number two, he has wiped out the handwriting of requirements. And number three, he has disarmed the principalities and powers. This is the new life that Christ gives to you. A life of forgiveness, of no more the handwriting of requirements. And of an unarmed enemy. Verse 13. He says, you were dead. You were dead in your trespasses and in the uncircumcision of your flesh. Your spirit was dead. That's why you had no relationship with God and you could not approach him. You could not come to him because we relate to God. We have relationship with God by the spirit. And if your spirit is dead, you have no relationship with God. But when you're born again, that death or that sinful nature, that flesh is put to death and you're given new life in the spirit. You were dead, but he made you alive. And Paul's point in all of this is that he has done everything. He's accomplished it all so that you can receive him simply by believing in him and what he did for you. That's why this morning we're preparing ourselves to partake of communion. To prepare ourselves to take the bread which represents his body which was broken for us and his blood that was shed for us in which the work is complete that we have everything that we need for right standing with God, for forgiveness, for everything. It's all found in the work of what Jesus did for us 2,000 years ago. You're complete in him. You cannot add to it. You cannot become more saved. You have everything that you need and what Christ has already done. You already have relationship with him. He already grants you full access to him. You already have his complete love. You can't add to that. You can't increase your favor with God. Now we grow and we learn to appreciate what God has done for us more. We grow in our relationship with him and learn more intimacy with God. But it's not because God changes. He gives us full access. We have full relationship in him right now. We have his complete love already right now because we're complete in Jesus Christ. And you can't add to that by keeping laws, working hard, having special knowledge or anything else. What has Christ done for us? Number one, he has forgiven you. Paul says he's forgiven you all trespasses. How many trespasses was that? All. He's forgiven you all trespasses. Now, notice as we look at these things, these three things that Christ has done for us are all past tense as well. Forgiveness is already available to you for all your trespasses. It was accomplished at the cross. All sin was paid for. It's already done. Now, could you imagine how horrible that would be if you had to come to God and convince him to forgive you? You know, sometimes we offend each other and we have to come to each other and say, you know, please forgive me. I really didn't mean to do it. We buy dinner. We send flowers, you know, please, please forgive me. I wasn't I wasn't thinking I didn't mean to. I was wrong. Sometimes it takes a lot of work to convince someone to forgive us. Can you imagine if we had to do that with God? Please, God, please forgive me every time we sin. Try to convince him and sway him and persuade him to forgive us. No, that's not the way it works with God. In fact, it's completely the opposite. He says, look, I already did it. Forgiveness is already available for all your trespasses. Past, present, future. You don't have to plead and beg. You don't have to buy him flowers or pay any penalties. All your sins are forgiven in Christ Jesus, past, present, and future. All you must simply do is receive that forgiveness. Because we do sin, and we will continue to sin until we are with Jesus for the rest of eternity. But he offers to us forgiveness. We've been forgiven. We simply need to receive it. 1 John 1, verses 8 and 9 says this. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. John tells us this. Listen. Forgiveness, it's already accomplished. You've already been forgiven. You simply need to receive it. The way you do that is you come and you ask God for forgiveness. You confess your sin to him. Confess means to agree with God about your sin. And so if you come before him and saying, well, that was really nice, Lord, that you gave us forgiveness for all our things, but I don't need it. I keep the law. I'm good. I don't need your forgiveness. But thank you. That was really nice gesture. Or you come and say, I don't want it. He says, okay, you're deceiving yourself. The truth is not in you and you have no forgiveness, but that's your choice. But if you will come to him and confess your sins and agree with God, Lord, I blow it. I blew it. I messed up. I'm sinful and rebellious and my heart is prone to wander. He's faithful and just to forgive us. If we come to him with our strength, we deceive ourselves. If we come to him with brokenness, he grants us forgiveness. And cleanses us from all unrighteousness. Because you're complete in Jesus Christ. Because he's already done the work. And he's granted you forgiveness through his blood that was shed for you. You are forgiven. So confess your sin to God. And experience his forgiveness. And right relationship with him. Verse 14 says, We find the second thing that Jesus has done for us. He says, having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us, and he has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. The second thing that we find that Jesus has done for us is that he has wiped out the handwriting of requirements. He's wiped out the handwriting of requirements. Now, what is this handwriting of requirements? Some will say the law, the Ten Commandments. And by looking at it with certain perspective, you could see that. But I take issue with that because the word wipe out means to obliterate, erase, to blot out. And in Matthew chapter five or 17, Jesus says, do not think that I came to destroy the law or the prophets. I did not come to destroy, but to fulfill. He didn't come to wipe out the law. The law didn't need to be wiped out. So what is this handwriting of requirements? Well, it's interesting. This terminology is business terminology in the Greek world. Described a certificate of indebtedness in the debtor's handwriting, which means a person who owed a debt wrote, I owe such and such a person this debt, showing, proving that they owed the debt. This handwriting of requirements says, is my acknowledgement of sin. The law is good and right. It didn't need to be wiped out. Paul explains that thoroughly in Romans chapter 7. The handwriting of requirements is the acknowledgement of my sin and my debt to God, where I, in my own handwriting, acknowledge, yes, I owe God a debt. There's a penalty that I owe because I do not keep his law. Because I do not keep his requirements. I owe him a debt, a great debt that I'm not able to pay. Romans 6.23 tells us that the wages of sin is death. The debt I owe to God is my death, my judgment, which is greater than I could pay. What needed to be wiped out was not the law, but the requirement for me to fulfill the law in order to have a right relationship with God. Now, we've just been talking about forgiveness. That's the first thing we saw that Christ has done for us. Forgiveness has to deal with restored relationship and forgiveness happens apart from justice. Back in February, I was called to jury duty and I got selected and I was quite surprised that they wanted a pastor with a Bible in his hand on the jury, but they did. And the trial was for a young lady who was charged of attempted murder of her father. And during the course of the trial, the father took the stand and testified that he has forgiven his daughter. Now, at that point in the trial, the judge didn't say, oh, you forgave her. What are we doing all this for then? Everybody just go home and have a wonderful life. That's not what took place. Yes, the father forgave his daughter immediately. And that was important for them. And that restored their relationship. But justice still needed to be done. And many months later, it's still waiting to be done. I keep checking back, but nothing still happened. But the law was not satisfied because of forgiveness. If we received God's forgiveness and that was it, then we would still owe this debt for our sin. Because it's what's just and right. We rightfully owe a debt. Our death. Our judgment to God. But Jesus took care of that too. He didn't just work forgiveness for us. He also wiped out the handwriting of requirements. He nailed it to the cross is what he says here in verse 13. He nailed it to the cross. Verse 14 rather. He wiped it out by dying on our behalf. Pastor Greg Lloyd, I think, is the one who often says that Jesus came to pay a debt that he did not owe because you and I owed a debt that we could not pay. He took care of it. That no longer do we have to approach God on the basis of our keeping the law. No longer do we have to be fearful of his judgment because we don't keep the law. But he took care of that. He paid the penalty. He granted us forgiveness. We have right relationship with God. No judgment for us in Christ. And thirdly, we find in verse 15, having disarmed principalities and powers, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it. Number three, we find what Jesus has done is he has disarmed principalities and powers. He's forgiven us, restoring right relationship. He's wiped out the requirements by dying on the cross for us, but also he has disarmed the enemy. Principalities and powers referring to Satan and his demonic forces. Ephesians chapter 6 verse 12 reminds us that we don't wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Principalities and powers have been disarmed by Jesus Christ. Jesus' death on the cross was the undoing of Satan. Now, this is extremely important because in Christ, Satan has been stripped completely of his power. He has no authority, no control, no weapons in the life of a believer. That's why Paul said, no weapon formed against us shall prosper. They've been disarmed in Jesus Christ. Stripped. And the picture is of a Roman captain who... When he was victorious in battle, he would come back and he would lead a procession of his captives, those who were his enemies. He would lead them stripped without arms, showing their shame and demonstrating his victory. This is what Christ did for us. He has disarmed principalities and powers. Now understand that Satan is powerful. Jesus calls him the ruler of this world in John 12, 31. Paul calls him the God of this age in 2 Corinthians 4, 4. John tells us in 1 John 5, 19 that the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one. The whole world is under the sway or under the authority, under the influence of Satan. But for the Christian, we have been set free. There's a saying, you know, the devil made me do it. But the reality is for a Christian, the devil can't make you do it. He's unarmed, defenseless. He's been stripped in Christ like the flesh. He only has the control and the power that you give to him in your life. Colossians 1.13 tells us that God has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the son of his love. He's delivered us. We've been set free. The enemy, his weapons have been rendered useless. He's been stripped of his power. And this is what God has done for us through the crucifixion, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. In believing in him, you are complete. In Christ, you are circumcised. Your flesh has been cut off, taken care of. Yes, the struggle is still there. And yes, it's painful and it hurts. But it no longer has dominion over you. You've been set free by Jesus Christ. In Christ, you were buried. Your past has been buried and put away, done away with. No longer does your upbringing have to determine the way that you are going to live. No longer your old habits and your old lifestyles and habits The things that took place in your past, they don't have to control you or hold you back or keep you from what God wants for you. They're buried, taken care of by Jesus Christ because you were included with him at the cross. You've been raised in Christ, which means that you have new life in him. Brand new life to live by the power of the spirit, by faith in the son of God. As Ephesians 2.10 says, with good works laid out before us. It's a world of opportunities in serving God and walking with him and doing the things that he has laid out for us. In Jesus Christ, we have been forgiven. We have right relationship with God. We can come to him and have relationship with him, intimacy with him. In Jesus Christ, he's wiped out the requirements of the law. It's been satisfied and taken care of. He nailed it to the cross with him. So that no longer do I have to be fearful of judgment. Fearful of the penalty because I sin. Because I break God's law. He's not out to get me. He desires to draw close to me. Not only that, but in Christ. The principalities and powers are disarmed. They have no strength. No power. They don't have any weapons. I don't have to be subject to them. Obedient to them. There's nothing the enemy can do to me in Christ. That's why Paul says you're complete in him. You can't add to this. He's done it already. He's accomplished it and fulfilled it. You can't have more access to God. He's already given you full access. You can't have more forgiveness. He's already forgiven you all trespasses. You just simply receive Jesus Christ and what he has done for you by faith. And you are complete in him. You have everything that you need. Those who are teaching in Colossae were saying you need other things. You need to be obedient to this and follow this and adhere to this and learn this special knowledge and achieve this thing. And Paul says, no, you're complete in Jesus Christ. He's done it all for you at the cross. The worship team is going to come up now and prepare for communion and the ushers are going to come forth to prepare to pass out the bread and the cup. As they do, I want to encourage you to hold your portions. We'll partake together of the bread and the cup at the end. But as they lead us in worship, Spend some time. Prepare your hearts. Examine yourself. Where do you stand? Remember what it represents. The bread, his body broken for you. The cup represents his blood that was shed for you. And so you need to ask yourself, have I been living gratifying the desires of my flesh? Have I been living in subjection to my sinful nature? Because I don't need to. Christ has set me free. Maybe this morning you need to remember what he did for you. Jesus said, as often as you do this, do this in remembrance of me. Remember what God has done for you. Be set free from the bondage to sin. Maybe you've been worried about your past, caught up in the things of the past. Maybe you feel like God has called you to do something, but your past has been holding you back. Be set free. Remember Jesus Christ. In Him, you were buried. The past is gone. Maybe you haven't been walking in newness of life. Maybe you've been walking just like you used to. Maybe you haven't been walking in the power of the Spirit or by faith in the Son of God. This morning, remember Jesus Christ. Remember what He accomplished for you so that you can have victory over sin, so that you can bury the past, so that you can walk in newness of life. Maybe this morning you need forgiveness. Maybe you've been burdened, thinking that God hasn't forgiven you or won't forgive you or can't forgive you. God can. He's forgiven us of all our trespasses in Christ. We need to confess our sin to Him. So this morning, as they lead us in worship, confess your sin to God. Prepare your heart. Remember what Jesus did for us. Maybe this morning you've been trying to keep... You've been caught up in legalism. Well, if I read my Bible, then God will be pleased with me. If I go to church, then God will be happy with me. Maybe you've been in fear of judgment because you know that you haven't kept the law. Remember Jesus Christ. Remember that he's wiped out the handwritten requirements. They're taken care of. He nailed them to the cross. You don't have to be fearful of judgment, nor do you have to keep a set of rules and regulations in order to have relationship with God in Christ. Finally, maybe you've been letting the enemy mess with you. Maybe you've been giving him authority and power in your life. Remember Jesus Christ. He's powerless. He has no strength, no weapons. He's been stripped in Christ. He only has the authority and the power in your life that you give him. And so we need to remember Jesus Christ this morning. This morning, maybe you're not born again. Maybe you've never had a relationship with God, but you're here because God is is calling you and he wants relationship with you. He wants you to be complete in him and to have everything you need by believing in what his son did for you on the cross 2,000 years ago. And you can receive that. You can be born again this morning by faith, simply believing what Jesus said. He says, believe in me and you shall not perish, you shall have everlasting life. Have faith in him. Receive what he has done for you. And you can do that this morning simply by praying. As they lead us in worship, you can say this prayer in your heart. Lord, forgive me. Come into me and make me born again. Give me a new life in you. And Jesus will do that. It's a promise of God's word. And I encourage you, if that's your desire, if that's your heart, then as they pass out the bread and the cup, you partake with us and we'll remember together. We'll celebrate together what Jesus did for us on the cross. and that we are complete in Him. So let's worship the Lord together. They'll pass out the bread and the cup. Hold your portions. Partake together.