[Transcript represents full sermon's text]

       Colossians 2:11: “In him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ” (ESV).

       We come to the part of Paul’s conversation with the Colossian believers where he moves from the internal things, things of the mind we could say, to the external things, things of the material world. The underlying background behind the defense seems to be a refutation of pre-gnostic beliefs from false teachers who were trying to get people to follow their ways in Colossae. Apparently, we might assume, is that Epaphras was concerned about possible persuasion from these things in the culture, and therefore, asked Paul to discuss these matters. Seems almost certain. These were beliefs that Epaphras didn’t want his church, his group of people, those entrusted him by God, to fall into. And perhaps, and we don’t really know for sure, there had already been people within in the church asking questions, or even maybe getting mixed up into what the false teachers were saying. Nevertheless, Paul must think the whole thing is important, or he wouldn’t spend so much time discussing it. That means it’s important for us, and something we want to pay attention to ourselves.

       In American culture, we are familiar with different kinds of belief systems that have popped up in our time, those which are contrary to what the Bible teaches, or the church has taught. One prevalent way, and it seems to have become more popular over the last ten years or so, is turning to the spiritual without the need for Jesus Christ. Without the need for Jesus Christ. We see it in popular books—where the reader is encouraged to be spiritual, like encouraged to meditate, perhaps even pray, encouraged to be moral in dealings with others (but usually not moral in sexuality), and on and on. It is a formulation of religion, or spirituality, without Christ. It’s almost as if people want the benefits of the spiritual principles that Christianity offers, but they do not want any of the sufferings, the hardships, the confrontations. So, they have developed a new way, a way that takes Christ out. And we even see this spiritually has moved into the modern day church, where an emphasis on tradition is highly discouraged for the sake of doing things for their core essence. Yet, tradition was meant to be there in the first place to protect; that point has been forgotten and discarded.

       In the verse we read a moment ago, we are getting into circumcision, which means we are getting into more of a Jewish theme here as pertains to the way God worked in Old Testament times. Paul’s focus then, at least at this part of the epistle, is to Jewish listeners and readers to some degree. He ties in that Old Testament practice, however, with the New Testament reality, and that is the while in the Old Testament circumcision was external, now it is internal. It is in the heart. And so he is using that Old Testament practice for sake of illustration in showing that the person who has come to Jesus Christ, who has believed in him for the forgiveness of one’s sins, who is attending the church at Colossae, that the person has put off the old ways—the ways of living without the true God, the old ways of immorality, or whatever you want to name. It shows the choice which has occurred, which has lead to a transformation in the spiritual realm. Just like external circumcision was symbol of a spiritual reality, so now is this internal circumcision. One’s decision to follow Christ instead of the world, instead of whatever any false teachers might advocate.

       Verse 12: “having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead” (ESV).

       A lot is going on here in this verse. The first part of “having been buried with him in baptism” appears to be referring to the spiritual baptism that has taken place from our believing in Jesus. It could be talking about water baptism, as the outward symbol of water baptism represents what we are talking about in these verses. But, we have to remember that Paul talked with the Roman believers concerning this spiritual baptism, recall, in chapter 6 of Romans. Let’s quickly pull up that passage to see what he said there. Verse 3: “Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life” (ESV). We know in these verses that Paul is not discussing water baptism, but a spiritual baptism that occurs from the moment we believe in Jesus. If he were talking about water baptism, it could be concluded on that account that everyone who is water baptized is automatically saved, having become “buried therefore with him by baptism into death.” Invariably, that would mean all the evangelist needs to focus on is water baptizing people. However, we know that’s not the case because it simply doesn’t add up with other parts of Scripture.

       “The powerful working of God” brought up here in Colossians 2 is what God has accomplished for us on the spiritual level, through this spiritual baptism, in which our old life has been buried, and we are now raised with Jesus into a new life. Again, this confirms for us the need for the born-again experience, that which Jesus discussed with Nicodemus in John 3, when he said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God” (ESV). Now whether this experience has to be maintained or not, that is up for debate, but the fact that the experience has occurred in the first place is confirmed here by Paul. And Pauls says that it is the same power of God, in the same category, of which was used to raise Christ from the dead. For us as Christians, we don’t doubt that powerful act. In fact, perhaps it can be taken for granted at times, or quickly moved pass. It is good to remember, however, how powerful that is, to go against the natural setup of the world, in which a physical body dies and decays, to God interrupting the process, and reversing it, so that Christ’s body is alive, and alive for the rest of eternity. Even a restored body. Not a different body, but the same one brought back to life. Pretty incredible.

       In our time, being where we are at nowadays, with all the movies and special effects they bring, and even with all the fiction available for us to read, it could be easy to become immune to such points as this—as God raising Christ back to life. Even with all the medical miracles that doctors have been able to accomplish—and it is a lot—we are immune. Perhaps we don’t appreciate this quickening of Christ’s body as much as we should. We are kind of “ho, hum” about it. And it seems like we are gaining a greater appreciation for it when we understanding the spiritual elements behind it, in that there is a spiritual world, and that there is evil, and Satan, and fallen angels. It wasn’t just something easy that God did, like causing a plant to sprout and grow in a lab. It required going against the natural, against the physical, and even to some degree, and we really don’t know what that degree is, going against the spiritual—namely the forces of evil that are unseen. God getting what he wanted and Satan not getting what he wanted. That part seems to be missed, and not even particularly considered or understood. It requires a lot of power to do these things—power that us natural people don’t have.

       Continuing in verse 13: “And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands.” (ESV).

       Let’s start first with the fact that we used to be “dead in [our] trespasses.” “Dead in [our] trespasses.” Indeed, that enlightenment came to us when we believed for the first time—when we realized that our way of living just wasn’t bringing that fulfillment we wanted out of life. Even for those who grow up in Christian environments, whether that be a good, Christian home as the cliche goes, or even in a committed Christian community, like a Mennonite community, there seems to be that awakening that comes at some point. That born-again experience. For some, it comes at four years old, for another, it might come at thirteen years old. And for some, it doesn’t come at all, and yet they might remain in the home or community, and eventually leave some day, or not leave at all. It’s important to note that Paul says the Colossian believers “were dead in [their] trespasses,” instead of “are dead in [their] trespasses.” If he had said are, it would mean the sin-nature has equal power with the new life we have found—it would mean that we could never actually be free from sin, but that we would have God and sin equally. It would be life and death at the same time, which, as we know, is truly impossible.

       But one might ask, “Don’t we still retain our sin natures even after believing? Doesn’t that mean that I’m still going to sin, and still have death in me?” It is true that God doesn’t rid us of our sin-affect flesh right when we believe. Our flesh isn’t immediately transformed into a new, physical outward body which isn’t subject to the fall. The Bible tells us that doesn’t come until later. Yet, the power, the power is there, from the indwelling of the Spirit of God, from the use of forgiveness instead of unforgive-ness of others, from the new practices of right ways versus the incorrect old ways. God has given us grace by making us alive. Remember, when Christ died on the cross, the veil in the Jewish Temple was torn down the middle, which represents that God and man are no longer separated. We have direct access to God, and that includes direct access to his power.

       Let’s take a moment and talk about the obvious, and that is why don’t we get our new bodies which are sin-free upon conversion? Why do we have to live for another sixty or eighty years in this sin-affected body? This is an important elephant in the room to discuss. Interestingly, Paul sort of indirectly touches on this in 1 Corinthians 5, when he talks about associating with individuals in the outward world, those outside of the church, those who aren’t included in the body of believers yet. He says that we are still definitely to associate with them, that in order not to, we would need to actually leave the world. And, it would seem, in thinking about it, that the same could be said in regard to our physical bodies that we currently have. In order to get out of our current, physical body that is affected by sin, we would need to gain that new one, and then go out of the world, like Christ did when he ascended back to Heaven. That would mean we couldn’t share the Gospel, that God’s willingness that more people would be saved, besides us, would be thwarted. That God wouldn’t be able to show his kindness in hopes that people repent. And, at the same time, we have to note that having these physical bodes is the way our current world works. What is meant is that just as God told Adam, “in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die” (Genesis 2:17, ESV), that stands even after the conversion. We have to die physically even though we have already died spiritually. That’s the current setup. That’s the way it works.

       Paul continues, “you… God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands.” We are presented with the Gospel—with the great truth of our current state after we have believed in the Gospel. Each of us, then, each of us has accumulated a “record of debt.” And notice, and don’t miss this point, that the “record of debt” has “legal demands” in that it it has to be dealt with. It merely can’t be passed over, set aside, or pretended not to be there. This doesn’t even work in human relationships, let alone our relationships with God. Nonetheless, Paul disassociates the record here with God’s emotions, in that he emphasizes “legal demands” that the debt imposes. In other words, it is a statement of fact, a matter of fact, that when we sin and debt acclimates, it must be dealt with regardless of how God feels about it. It is independent of God’s emotions, in this sense, even though he does have emotions about it. But no matter how much love even God has, he cannot simply let the debt go undealt with. It is as if it is external of him, just like the law is external of the earthly judge.

       The forgiveness of all our trespasses then removes the block between God and us, us and God, so that we can freely enjoy a new relationship with him. Thus, aliveness in God. This is the removal of fear, or, at least, it is supposed to be, though, oftentimes, this removal of fear seems to develop over time. And this seems to into one’s relationship with their earthly father, assuming there was a relationship. From observation, it seems natural that we at least initially view God as we viewed our earthly father. Of course, if the relationship was secure, we have a head start in that there is less fear to overcome. For those of which the relationship was insecure, in whatever fashion, or non-existent for whatever reason, there is more fear and whatnot to overcome. Unfortunately, it’s just the way it works. It isn’t, though, as might be presumed that a person who grow up insecurely or without a father is somehow permanently damaged. We have seen, for instance, those who grew up with great security not turn out so well, and likewise, those who didn’t turn out real well. So, the presumption made by some in the past is indeed incorrect.

       Continuing in verse 14: “This he set aside, nailing it to the cross” (ESV).

       The setting aside of sin is able to be accomplished by “nailing it to the cross.” It wasn’t just the he set the sin aside, but, again, it had to be dealt with. And the cross dealt with it. Going back to the discussion of our newfound aliveness in Christ, this means the removal of guilt from us. That’s the initial relief of coming to Jesus. When a person has failed, usually in a big way, or multiple big ways, the initial experience, or even attraction, is that removal of guilt. The ability to have a new life in ways that have promise. The old ways weren’t working, and this new discovery of truth presented to us has shown us a new way. That’s how we realized the old way was wrong. There’s that contrast—that contrast which brings aliveness. And for a person who really in the past was not exposed to any real form of truth, it brings a lot of aliveness. The most beautiful thing, above all, is that God is now on our side. Not, in a way, that he never really wasn’t—for he had always wanted us to come into relationship with him. But we have that feeling that God is now for us.

       This brings to mind the verse, and it seems appropriate here, of “And as you wish that others would do to you, do so to them” (Luke 6:31, ESV). That’s the beautiful thing. This newfound faith that we have—we can share with others. And not only sharing in a witnessing type thing, but really, and probably moreso, in how we treat others, how we relate to them. That natural occurrence is that we are going to be treating others well, if we didn’t in the past, or if we did to some degree, we are going to be treating them better. This means that we will offer forgiveness ourselves, just like our Heavenly Father has offered forgiveness of us. We will be less confrontational, less demanding, more caring, and more willing. Truly, it is the speaker’s belief that this can actually only come about as we develop a more non-resistant attitude. It seems that until this is developed, we cannot be truly like God. It cannot imitate him to true effectiveness. Unfortunately, this is not demonstrated to us overall by the current Evangelical church. In their mindset, we get saved, and then we resist. Resist, resist, resist. Resist the unbelievers and tell them how bad they are! Just think if God took that approach with the Gospel. Just think how many would come to him!

       Verse 15: “He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him” (ESV).

       We are aware then that Satan, somehow, for this still boggles the mind when thinking about it, thought that he was messing up God’s plan by having Jesus crucified. That’s what he thought. That’s why he orchestrated the whole thing. That’s why he entered Judas Iscariot. It was probably tied in to the fact that he believed Jesus was on the earth to set up his earthly kingdom, remember, for the Jews, and of which, interestingly enough, it appears that was the plan at least initially. It was initially the plan that Christ would go ahead and reign on the earth in his earthly kingdom. But we all know what happened. The Jewish people rejected Jesus. That’s interesting, isn’t it? That, technically speaking, the church age, in a way, wasn’t supposed to happen. Anyway, Satan then uses the initial rejection of Jesus by the Jewish leaders to have him arrested and brought under the death penalty at that time of the cross, of crucifixion. Satan expected a big win out of all this, perhaps, ultimate victory in that God’s program would be completely and entirely over.

       Of course, the opposite happened. God was way ahead of Satan. If Satan hadn’t been so busy possessing Judas, he probably would have overheard the conversation between Jesus and the Father in the Garden of Gethsemane. But he missed that all important conversation, where Jesus clearly spells out what is actually happening. So God, through the cross, uses the execution of Jesus for the payment of people’s sins, anyone who will choose to count on the blood he shed as erasing their sin. The whole thing for Satan, the whole plan he had, in seeking to accomplish whatever it was that he was trying to accomplish, backfires. God, then, God makes a mockery of Satan and his fallen angels. He puts them to open shame. They become utter fools. This shows God’s triumph over him, how God wins in the end. How people win. The only loser, then, is Satan and his demons.

       We could presume, and it is an interesting idea, that Satan and his demons didn’t understand why Jesus would come into the world. They didn’t understand the love behind it. And this makes sense because it would explain why Satan thought he was accomplishing something great by having Jesus arrested, by having him put to death. His eagerness to seemingly have victory over God blinded him to the fact of what was actually taking place. That’s what evil does, isn’t it? It blinds individuals to the truth, even Satan himself. Jesus warned us about this. And this would explain one element of beauty behind the cross, and that is that Satan in essence destroys himself. He goes against himself. It wouldn’t have made sense for him to do so if he had known what was truly going on. So, now, now, because Jesus died on the cross, and through his blood made atonement for our sins, Satan cannot use the legal demand that the law required and really accuse us before the Father in Heaven. Even if he tries to now, the Father will immediately point to Jesus and say, “He or she is covered.”

       This is why Paul could say to the Corinthians, “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” (2 Corinthians 2:14, ESV). So, as Paul said to the Colossians, “by triumphing over them in him”—by triumphing over Satan and the fallen angels—God leads us in triumphal procession. We are winners, and can never be separated again from God’s love. The whole thing of love—the thing that Satan missed. That critical part of the equation; that underlying motive behind God’s heart. It was missed. And our redeemed states, then, as we live out our lives, goes to show God’s knowledge, or might say his wisdom, to all. How wise God is. We demonstrate this, in how we have been transformed, and in how we have love for one another. All this, whether from God’s perspective, or whether from our perspective, shows that love truly rules the world. Satan tried, but due to his own evil nature, he was blinded so that he could never really win.

- Daniel Litton