Victory

Colossians 2:11-17 - Victory

A touchy subject: spiritual circumcision. No need for hands or medical instruments because Christ took care of it. He peeled back the fleshy – and sometimes crusty – layers of our hearts. We need to remember that the very reason that circumcision was commanded was to mark God’s people as His own. But we often forget -- or fail to realize -- that it did not serve as a sign to the rest of the world but as a reminder to His people. They belonged to God. Now the only mark necessary is Jesus’ blood – the blood poured out on Calvary’s cross that washed our sins away and forever sealed us as His own, and the only symbol required is baptism. But we have to be careful in our understanding of why baptism is necessary. It isn’t because baptism saves us that it is important but because it walks us through the process: crucified and buried with Jesus and raised to walk in a newness of life. What a powerful testimony to our souls and to those who witness this beautiful image! Every time we see a new believer immersed in the waters of baptism it should remind us of our own salvation experience, taking us back to the very cross of Jesus – reminding us that we were made alive by Him who can raise the dead. And we were dead! Dead in our trespasses in sins! Spiritually dead until He raised us through His forgiveness.

Here’s the key: once He had fulfilled the Law through His sacrificial death and resurrection, He crucified it. The very document that reveals our sin to us was nailed to a cross, and our sins were completely erased. Then, as if that were not enough, He took the principalities and powers of this world, the very powers that seek to condemn us, and He made them look like idiots. They thought they had won. They thought they had defeated the Father’s plan, and in the midst of their victory dance, Jesus arose! His victory – our victory – was complete.