GOD HAS FREED US - PART 5

TUESDAY 06 JUNE 2023

The great enemy of God is the power of darkness. The kingdom of darkness handcuffs men and confines them in the bondage of sin and unruly fleshly desires - with manacles. And the weak man, the devil, who heads the kingdom taught that by crucifying Jesus, he would end His Kingdom and terminate His earthly mission. But he was so wrong and I will prove that to you in today's article.

Reference: Colossians 1:13-14 New Century Version (NCV) "God has freed us from the power of darkness, and He brought us into the kingdom of His dear Son. The Son paid for our sins, and in Him we have forgiveness."

On the way to pay for our sins, the soldiers gathered around Jesus, mocked Him, stripped Him, put a scarlet robe on Him, and then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on His head. The Bible says, "After they had mocked Him, they led Him away to crucify Him. When they had crucified Him, they divided up His clothes by casting lots. And sitting down, they kept watch over Him there. Above His head they placed the written charge against Him: this is Jesus, the king of the Jews" (See Matthew 27:31-55 NIV).

All of this happened in the physical realm, but from the spiritual standpoint, it was just Jesus' portal to the realm of the spirit and the infernal regions, where the final encounter that would lead to Satan's perpetual defeat was actualised and substantiated. The Bible says, "He disarmed those who once ruled over us - those who had overpowered us. Like captives of war, He put them on display to the world to show His victory over them by means of the cross."

In other words, He disgraced and disarmed the principats and dark powers of the Principate (the devil and his minions), and rendered their powers useless, openly overcoming them by Himself. He shamed them publicly and showed them that they had no power at all, thereby demonstrating His victory to the world through the cross (See Colossians 2:13-15 NLT). What a victory! Permit me to repeat it: The Lord Jesus stripped all the spiritual tyrants in the universe of their sham authority at the Cross and marched them naked through the infernal streets in horrible shame.

Beloved, if you belong to Christ, the dominance or rule of the power of darkness is OVER in your life because Jesus defeated the weak man, who once appeared strong because of the record of the charges of sin held against you, that enabled him to rule over you. Christ took the record away by nailing it to the cross. In this way, He disarmed the spiritual rulers and authorities and freed us from the power of darkness.

If you do not belong to Christ, the truth is that you are spiritually dead because of your "sin-dead" earthly life, stimulated or energized by the control of sinful nature, meaning that your spirit is incapable of responding to God, because the certificate of debt consisting of legal demands, in form of ordinances, is still in force against you. But the good news is that "right now" is the opportunity to open your heart to Christ's atoning sacrifice - by declaring the prayer of salvation below, so that God will make you alive in Christ, as you receive the remission of all your sins. Shalom!

Scripture Reading - Matthew 15:14; Luke 23:38; John 19:19-23; Romans 6:8-10.

Guided Prayer: I acknowledge today that God demonstrated His unconditional love for me in this: While living without Christ, He sent Him ahead of time to die for me. Therefore I repent and renounce the nature of sin and I accept Jesus as my Saviour. I believe and confess with all my heart that Jesus is the Son of the true living God, who died for me and was raised from the dead on the third day by God. I affirm that Jesus is risen and He's alive forever. I accept Him into my heart and I declare His Lordship over my life forever. I'm now born again as a new creation. I have eternal life: my present-moment reality. Thank you Lord Jesus for saving me and taking full charge of my life, as my Lord. GLORY TO GOD!