Passion Week Devotion #3
Oak Valley Church Passion Week 2021 Passion Week Devotions
Devotion 3 – March 31, 2021
March 31, 2021 – Wednesday
Text – Colossians 2:8-15
Focal Text – Colossians 2:13-14 – “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. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross.”
Here is another powerful Christological text. What does that mean? It means that it is a text that clearly reveals the Person and work of Christ. If you have been following the devotions this week you will remember that yesterday we looked at Philippians 2:1-11. We saw some of the significance of that passage and we heard that Christ was both divine and human. Remember he “was in the form of God”; and then we read, “and being found in human form.” What was being communicated is Christ is both fully divine and fully human. And, it was in this context that we read about his death on the cross. The God man died on the cross. Well we see something similar in our text today. We read, “For in him (meaning Christ) the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily.” Then we read that he died, was buried, and was raised. Again, the God man died on the cross. We should be aware that the Holy Spirit gives us passages that make it crystal clear that a “union” of deity and humanity, the God man was necessary to accomplish the redemption of humanity. Though more complex, there was the need for the righteousness of God, and the need for a human prone to death, because of the curse of Adam’s sin. Jesus Christ is this person.
With this truth overshadowing the text let’s see how our text today helps us in our consideration of the cross. We need to remember that the cross was a real tool of torture, which is now used or seen symbolically. The significance of the cross for the believer is the fact that Christ died on the cross. This truth is foundational. It cannot be overstated. Let’s consider how this text points us to the importance of the cross.
First, we see the end result of the cross. The believer is “filled in him” and “made alive together with him.” We do not have to imply that the believer was previously dead because the text clearly states that fact: “You who were dead in your trespasses.” What is more pointed is the fact that our deadness was an irrecoverable condition apart from the will and work of God. Our flesh was “uncircumcised” that is we were spiritually dead and unable to revive ourselves. But then notice what Paul writes, “In him (meaning Christ) you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands.”
Second, we were made alive because our sins were forgiven. “God made (us – meaning the
believer) alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses.” So, we hear that we were dead in our trespasses, that is we were spiritually dead and bound for physical death. And, if we died physically in a the spiritually dead state we would have remained spiritually dead, separated from God, and deservingly so. Why?
Third, because there was a “record of debt that stood against us.” But we were “forgiven all of our trespasses” because the “record of debt that stood against us was canceled.” The law demanded that the debt be paid. But our debt was canceled.
Fourth, it was canceled because “it was set aside” that is it was removed from our record. In legal terms our record was expunged. In financial terms the debt was canceled and there was no longer an outstanding balance. How was this possible?
Fifth, it was made possible because “it was nailed to the cross.” What was nailed to the cross? Our sin. Who was nailed to the cross? Christ! “He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree” (1 Peter 2:24a).
Do you see how foundational the death of Christ on the cross is to our salvation? Do you see why His love for us drove Him to the cross? Do you see why He never abandoned His mission? If there had been no cross there would have been no hope of life. The final word would have been DEATH. But because of the cross the final word can be LIFE. And, the final word is LIFE for those who trust in Christ Jesus.
Prayer: Lord Jesus, thank you for dying on the cross that I (we) may have life! Hymn: All I Have Is Christ