“When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross. And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.” Colossians 2:13-15 (NIV)
I’m reading a great book, Hosting the Presence Every Day by Bill Johnson. The reading on February 22nd gave me a new appreciation for the way I am to live my life using Jesus as my example. He gave three examples of how Jesus fought when He was on this earth. I always knew that God’s philosophy and the world’s philosophy were opposite and that is very evident in Jesus’ approach to fighting the darkness around Him.
The most important truth to grasp is that there really is no battle between Satan and God. “God has the eternal advantage of power and victory over him.” We are the ones that fight with Satan because without Jesus’ power, we will be overcome. When Jesus came to earth as a human, He chose to fight on our behalf in three very specific ways. When He chose to heal and deliver every single person that came to Him asking for healing or forgiveness, that was the first way He overcame the power of darkness. Second, He lived without sin. His human body was tempted in the way that our human bodies are tempted, but because He was also God, He never let thoughts of sin take root in His life and therefore, He never sinned. Lastly, the authority that He legitimately had He used only to serve others. He never used His power for Himself but ultimately, He used His power to die a cruel death on the cross in our place so we could join His family.
When I read that, it was as though I was reading those Truths for the very first time. I never thought about when Jesus healed and delivered people from their sins that it was a way He won the battle. However, healing from sickness and sin is taking power away from the evil one and giving it back to Jesus. Second, yes, Jesus in human form was tempted when He lived here on earth, but His relationship with His Father was so close, sin had no hold on Him. I can understand that feeling to a very small degree. My biggest struggle is with food. When I am in close communion with my Father, the temptation of overeating loses it’s grip on me. I don’t want anything to come between my Father and myself and eating becomes a nuisance instead of an obsession.
I’m challenged by the last way that Jesus exercised His authority here on earth. If I want people to see Jesus in me then I need to be serving them, all the time. What a power truth to live out! When I lay down my agenda and solely seek God’s purpose in situations is when I find the most peace because I know I have pleased Him. It can be something as simple as graciously choosing to show patience and compassion or something more difficult such as choosing to love someone whom has done nothing but show me contempt.
The Truths discussed above aren’t new…however, for some reason as I was reading them again, I gained new insight into how Jesus wants His love reflected to others. To fight using Jesus’ principles, I need to stay close to Him and have the attitude of a servant. Sometimes easier said than done, but as a Christ follower who wants to please my Father, I’m up for simple…but hard.
© Cheri Swalwell 2015