Meeting 4/4/20
Col. 2: 8-15.
This passage begins with a warning and wisdom. We are not called to be a people that have minds molded and influenced by the world and it's philosophies, nor the flesh. Instead, we are called to have the mind of Christ. He is our source for all wisdom and understanding. I've mentioned this before, but an additional aspect to be careful with is living by our own understanding. We are to not lean on our own understanding, for it will fail us and fall short. The best understanding and perspective comes from the Spirit. I've still got work to do in this area. If you're like me, you can easily get caught in responsibility, decisions, and judgments, especially when I don't hear His leading. I need to constantly go to the Lord and seek His wisdom on things that come up. I need to allow His Spirit to guide. What if He's quiet and I don't hear anything? This actually can often be the case, but I need not be discouraged. Sometimes, I think He wants me to just have the right mind and heart about a situation, committing it to Him, asking for and expecting His help and involvement, and trusting in His goodness and sovereignty, while still remaining humble about the expectation of results.
"In Christ you have been brought to fullness." That's a huge deal. I think we can easily miss this statement, as it can get drowned out by lofty language and elements within scripture that may be difficult to comprehend or imagine. "When you were dead in your sins, God made you alive with Christ." Wow. This is the common theme of the gospel story, folks. Please, don't ever forget where you came from in this story. We were dead, without hope, but God, because of His amazing love, made us alive in Christ. Oh, if that doesn't stir up Easter celebration vibes, I don't know what will. We have to make sure our children understand their flesh and sin problem. They are desperately in need of a Savior. I pray we never lose sight of that. May it be fresh in our minds as we head into Easter.
Now, here comes the giant switcheroo in this story! He forgave us all our sins, cancelling the debt which stood against us as condemnation. All our sins? Yes, friend. All. They are all forgiven. They are done and gone. The debt is cancelled. There is no more condemnation. All sins - past, present, and future -covered by the blood of the Lamb sacrificed in our stead. Believe afresh this day on the power of His blood to accomplish this amazing feat.
And the switch? Just when it looked like Jesus was the disgraced spectacle hanging on the cross, this scripture states He took our debt and condemnation and nailed it to the cross, disarming the powers and authorities, making a public spectacle of them! Therefore, He triumphed over them by the cross!
