AM Bible Study Group; March 27, 2013
Colossians 2:13-15
Theme: We have been raised up from the dead together with Jesus unto a completely new life.
(Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture references are taken from The Holy Bible, New King James Version; copyright 1982, Thomas Nelson, Inc.)
Think of the stories we’re told in the Bible of how the Lord Jesus—in His earthly ministry—raised people physically from the dead. There was the little twelve-year old daughter of Jairus (Mark 5:41-42), And there was the poor widow’s son that Jesus raised during his funeral (Luke 7:14-15). There was Lazarus—the man mentioned in the Bible for all time as he ‘whom Jesus had raised from the dead’ (John 12:1). And of course, there were the people who rose from the grave when Jesus Himself was crucified (Matthew 27:52-53). All of these people—for all we know—went on to live lives just like anyone else; and then die (again) like everyone else. But whatever life was like for them before they were raised, it certainly couldn’t help but have been radically different afterwards. Such a person would be living and working for the remainder of his or her days as someone that Jesus had raised from the dead!
This passage affirms that we too—who have trusted Jesus as our Savior have been raised spiritually, together with Him, unto a new life. The life we currently live in Jesus is the very same eternal life that we will live in heaven; but we’re living that life on earth. What is it, then, that’s different about us? How have things changed for those of us who have been spiritually resurrected with Jesus? Note how this passage shows us . . .
I. OUR RESURRECTION WITH CHRIST (v. 13a).
A. Paul write, “And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him . . . ”
1. Before God made us alive in Jesus, the Bible tells us that we were spiritually “dead”. You can’t be physically “resurrected” unless you are first physically “dead”; and likewise, you can’t be spiritually “resurrected” unless you are first spiritually “dead”. Apart from God’s grace toward us in Jesus Christ, that’s what we were—spiritually “dead” in God’s eyes (Ephesians 2:1-6). What’s more, we were dead in ‘the uncircumcision of our flesh’; that is to say, we were living in a condition of alienation from the God of Israel. We were not ‘His people’, and He was not ‘our God’ (Ephesians 2:11-13).
2. But now, Paul says, “You . . . He has made alive together with Him . . .” The Bible tells us that “if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection” (Romans 6:5); and that “if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him” (Romans 6:8). As those who have been raised together with Christ, we’re welcomed to draw near to God—He being Our God, and we being His people.
B. You can see three dynamic elements that are involved in our being made alive together with Christ:
1. The One who performed this act—God Himself. We, who were dead in trespasses and the uncircumcision of our flesh, were utterly helpless to do anything for ourselves. But by the unmerited Grace of God, we have been rescued from that state by “Him”—the almighty God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
2. The action that God took on our behalf—He made us “alive”. Only God can raise the dead. Apart from an act of grace, there was no hope that we would ever live again. But in love, He has made us alive and raised us up from our condition of death.
3. The means by which God raised us—He united us to Jesus Christ. We were powerless and there was no life or strength within us. And so, God joined us to the life and strength of Another. We were “raised with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead”.
C. Coming to terms with all this as a personal, real experience is one of the most important things we can do to grow in our Christian life. If we have placed our faith in Jesus, then we can take it as a fact that we have been spiritually “resurrected” with Him. God has already given us life. We must learn to look at ourselves in a brand new way—as someone who has been raised up with Jesus from the dead unto new life. The Bible’s way of putting it is that you must “reckon” it, or “consider” it, or “count it” to be so. Paul wrote that, just as Jesus died and was raised, “Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:11; see also Galatians 2:20; 2 Corinthians 5:17).
II. THE BLESSINGS WE NOW ENJOY AS THOSE WHO HAVE BEEN RESURRECTED TOGETHER WITH CHRIST (vv. 13b-15).
A. If we have been raised up with Christ, then there are, quite honestly, a multitude of things that are different for us. If Paul were to tell us everything that has changed, we’d never be able to lift our Bibles! Instead of mentioning everything that has changed, however, Paul spotlights only three things:
1. The forgiveness of all trespasses (v. 13b). Paul told the Colossian believers that God has made them alive together with Christ, “having forgiven you all trespasses.” The word “trespass” refers to the times when we’ve stepped out of God’s moral pathways and stumbled onto one of God’s moral “no trespassing” zones. It’s simply another name for “sins”. And one of the wonderful things that is now completely different about us is that we have forgiven of all our sins. Jesus paid the death penalty for all our sins to the uttermost; and now, they are completely removed from us. We have been washed thoroughly clean of all our guilt. As Paul put it elsewhere, “we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace, which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence” (Ephesians 1:7-8).
2. The release from all indebtedness (v. 14). Paul said that God has made us alive together with Christ, “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.” A clue to what Paul means by this is found in verses 16-17, where he says, “So let no one judge you in food or in drink or regarding a festival or a new moon or sabbaths, which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ.” We could never please God by keeping the religious rules and regulations of the law—God’s "handwriting of requirements"—because the principle of sin that indwells all of us us would never permit us to keep God’s requirements perfectly. But God has made us alive, “having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us.” He didn’t simply deal with those requirements by ignoring them, or by ignoring our failure to keep them. Instead, He extracted the full penalty that “the handwriting of requirements” demanded, by sending His own Son to pay the death penalty for us. “And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross” (See Ephesians 2:14-18). He has resurrected us to newness of life “debt-free!”
3. The victory over all accusers (v. 15). Paul said that God has made us alive together with Christ, “having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it.” The name “Satan” means “the adversary”; and the name “devil” means “the slanderer”. Jesus said of the devil that “he is a liar and the father of it” (John 8:44). He is referred to as “the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night” (Revelation 12:10). But we’ve been delivered from the power of the devil’s kingdom (Colossians 1:13). God has rendered the devil’s every accusation null and void through the cross of Jesus (Romans 8:31-39). He “disarmed” the “principalities and powers”—divesting them of their power against us; He “made a public spectacle of them”—turning their accusations around upon their own heads and shaming them in open view; and He “triumphed” over them through the victory of the cross; leading them, as it were, in the style of a mighty Roman general who returns home from a mighty conquest to a grand parade with his humiliated enemies drawn in chains behind him in the view of all.
B. Paul had a specific reason for mentioning just these three blessings—a reason that supports the whole purpose of his letter to the Colossians. He wanted to make the case that we have all now been completely and utterly saved by a totally sufficient Savior, Jesus Christ; and that we now stand in God’s complete favor; and that there remains nothing more that we need to do in order to be acceptable in God’s. We can safely and confidently rest in the full work that Jesus has already accomplished for us.
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If you have placed your trust in Jesus Christ by faith, then as far as God is concerned, you’ve been raised up with Him in newness of life. You no longer live the old life you used to live. You now live the very same “eternal life” in Him that you will forever be living in heaven. May He help us to, now, to go back to our homes, our jobs, our neighborhoods, and our daily lives, living from now on as those who have been made alive together with Jesus!