On Thursday we were looking at what happened when Jesus rose from the dead. When a returning emperor or general came striding through the gates on his big, powerful horse, he was accompanied by his fellow victorious warriors, who also appeared glorious after their triumphant battle. As the parade followed, the weaponry and treasures seized from the enemys territory were displayedThe grand finale to this triumphal procession was the foreign ruler himself. This ruler had been beaten and bound in chains and was now being forced to walk in disgrace, shame, dishonour, embarrassment, and humiliation as crowds of people came to celebrate his defeat and to get a peek at a once-powerful but now totally defeated opponent. They would also cut off his big toes and thumbs so that he could not walk properly or fight again. They stripped all his clothes off. He was completely defeated!
So when Colossians 2:15 declares that Jesus triumphed over evil powers, it is declaring that Jesus took the enemy apart piece by piece as He thoroughly spoiled principalities and powers. When Jesus was finished with those demonic forces, they were utterly plundered stripped to bare nakedness and left with nothing in hand to retaliate!
The big problem is that most Christians missed the ceremony! They dont realise or acknowledge that Jesus destroyed the works of the evil one!
You may then ask if Jesus did this, why is the devil still making my life difficult? Why is there still so much evil in Zimbabwe and the world? In most countries there is law and order, even so there are criminals. Do they have any authority? No! Do they still steal and destroy? Yes. John 10:10, tells us that the devil is a thief. If you are sitting at the kitchen table and a thief walks in and goes to the fridge and helps himself and on the way out he grabs your CD player, are you just going to sit there and let him do it? No! You will do whatever you can to protect your family and your property.
Question? Why then, when the devil and his demons try and steal from us, do we not rise up with the same anger and determination? Because we dont believe what Jesus did for us two thousand years ago!
We are like a policeman who hears there is a thief breaking in. He goes and investigates sees the thief and calls the head of the police and asks him to come and deal with the thief! He will be fired. Many Christians are the same, they run to God and ask Him to deal with the problem.
We need to learn not to talk to God about our problem but talk to our problem about God!
Jesus said in Matthew chapter 28: vs 18-19, that all authority has been given to Him on earth and in heaven. He has given back to the human race the authority that Satan stole and the only difference is, two signatures are required and even if any of us turn our back on God, Jesus signature has to be on the cheque.
Satan will never ever get back that authority. Jesus said, go in my name. So Jesus has done it all for us. We need to just believe and accept it.
Most Christians cannot get their heads round the fact that Jesus has done it ALL and so they keep going back to God, asking God to deliver them. We are just like the policeman above – we keep going to God with the problem when He has already done it for us.
Every day in each one of our lives God continually reveals His love towards us and we can never out love Him. We can never out give God and the sooner you acknowledge that, the sooner there will be peace and confidence in your heart.
Jesus has gone to prepare a place for us and when we die we will see Jesus not only by faith – we will see Him in Spirit form. Throughout eternity Gods love will continue to be poured over us.
I pray that what I have shared with you will help you understand Gods love for you and as you respond to His love He will reveal more of His love to you. Let us not love God for what we can get out Him, but let us learn to love God for Who He is!
God loves you more than you love yourself. God loves your family more than you love them. He wants you to succeed even more than you want to succeed yourself. God, by grace has provided everything that is necessary for you to accomplish what He wants you to do. Its already been done.
As I mentioned in the first article that I wrote, God loves Zimbabwe! God loves you! Spend time in His Word; get to know the King of Kings. Begin to see Zimbabwe as God sees it, not a place that is doomed. If God would have saved Sodom and Gomorrah if there were only 10 righteous men (and I reckon if Abraham continued to negotiate, he could have brought it down to four), how much more will He save a country under the new covenant when there are thousands of righteous? We just need to believe Him!
From Tuesday I will be sharing some thoughts on the Christmas story, so please keep reading. I can assure you, you will discover truths that you probably have never heard before. – Fourie is the author of Love is the Greatest Conqueror. www.raysonlinebooks.com
Post published in: Opinions