Onward, Christian soldiers,
Marching as to war,
With the cross of Jesus
Going on before!
3. THE CROSS OF JESUS CHRIST
I will never forget the joy that filled my heart on the day the Lord opened my understanding to the power and impact of the Cross of Jesus Christ in my life. I was so elated, I stood on my bed and jumped and jumped!!!
Beloved, we have the Cross of Jesus also working on our behalf against the powers and works of darkness. Paul explained it explicitly in his letter to the Colossians…
Colossians 2:12-15 TPT
“[12] For we’ve been buried with him [Christ] into his death. Our “baptism into death” also means we were raised with him when we believed in God’s resurrection power, the power that raised him from death’s realm. [13] This “realm of death” describes our former state, for we were held in sin’s grasp. But now, we’ve been resurrected out of that “realm of death” never to return, for we are forever alive and forgiven of all our sins! [14] He canceled out every legal violation we had on our record and the old arrest warrant that stood to indict us. He erased it all—our sins, our stained soul—he deleted it all and they cannot be retrieved! Everything we once were in Adam has been placed onto his cross and nailed permanently there as a public display of cancellation. [15] Then Jesus made a public spectacle of all the powers and principalities of darkness, stripping away from them every weapon and all their spiritual authority and power to accuse us. And by the power of the cross, Jesus led them around as prisoners in a procession of triumph. He was not their prisoner; they were his!”
This scripture is fully loaded with the benefits of the Cross that give us victory over the powers of darkness. When Jesus died on the Cross and was buried; we were made one with Him in His death and burial. However, Jesus did not stay dead, He resurrected; we were also made one in Him in His resurrection. The power that raised Him from the dead is still at work in us, quickening our mortal bodies.
However, the greatest benefit of the Cross is that the power of sin itself was defeated at the Cross, causing Satan to lose his right and power to accuse us. We need to know that this is a great legal matter; which Christ accomplished for us on the Cross.
There was an indictment against us because of sin, the wages of which is death, as determined and established by God and affirmed by the Law. A record against humanity (including you and me) had been kept all the way back to Adam and Eve’s initial sin. We were all guilty by default, and there were ordinances and decrees working against us; which empowered the enemy to accuse and ensure that we paid our debt in full.
However, the only sinless and guiltless Man, Jesus Christ, was nailed on the Cross in our place, as a public display of cancellation of our debt of sin. In Law, cancellation is the act of destroying a document by making lines through it, tearing it up, or defacing it with the intention of rendering it void. In contract law, cancellation happens when a party to a contract ends the contract due to the other party’s breach.
Thus, there was a serious breach of justice when the people asked for Jesus to be crucified, instead of Barabbas, the notorious murderer. There was a serious breach of divine justice when Jesus the sinless and guiltless man was crucified on the Cross instead you and me! Thus, Jesus paid the debt He did not owe and exonerated us from its obligations. In this way, He cancelled the ordinances and decrees against us, and disarmed and triumphed over the powers of darkness, on our behalves.
This is the power and victory of the Cross that we must know, live and abide by and proclaim. The late Art Katz said….
“There is a power in the Cross; a triumph was won there that needs to be made manifest in every place through the presence and the proclamation of a believing church. Where the powers see this faith, this understanding, this proclamation and the realization of this victory by those who themselves are no longer bound in their wisdom, they know that their final vanquishing and defeat is at hand.”
The truth is that every time we proclaim the Cross in authenticity and power, the defeat of the principalities and powers is made more manifest and becomes more evident. Today, declare the power and victory of the Cross over your life, your family, community, town or city and nation.
For Further Reading: Romans 8:11; Romans 3:23; Romans 6:23; Matthew 27:15-26
Fulfilling Our Theme For 2024: “Building The Highway And Lifting The Banner” [Isaiah 11:10, Isaiah 62:10]
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