First Impressions
You already have the victory Sunday's sermon was talking about.
If you were in the room Sunday, you probably remember the story about the bomb that never went off. That kind of story sticks with you. But underneath the drama of that testimony was a specific promise from the Bible, and it's worth slowing down and reading for yourself: Colossians 2:13-15.
Paul writes: "And you, who were dead in your trespasses... God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him."
That's a lot packed into three verses. But here's the simple version: you used to owe a debt you couldn't pay. Jesus paid it. And in the same move, he stripped the armor off every power that had a claim on you.
Notice the order. Before Paul ever talks about spiritual warfare, he talks about forgiveness. You can't understand your authority over the enemy until you understand you're already forgiven. A lot of us get that backwards. We think we have to win some battle to earn peace with God. Paul says the opposite. Peace with God comes first. The battle you fight after that, you fight from a position that's already secure, not one you're still trying to secure.
The word "disarmed" is strong. Picture someone stripping the armor and weapons off an enemy who's already been beaten. That's the picture Paul is painting. Whatever power used to have a legal claim on you — guilt, shame, condemnation, the accuser's ability to point at your record and say "you owe" — that claim is gone. Not weakened. Gone.
Think about the last time you felt guilty for something you'd already asked forgiveness for. That heavy, dragging feeling that shows up uninvited at 2 a.m. Paul would say that heaviness isn't from God. It's an old bill collector showing up at a door that's already been paid off. Recognizing that a debt is canceled is different from feeling like it's canceled. This week, we're aiming for both.
This matters because Sunday's message wasn't really about a bomb, or a dog, or a terrorist in Nigeria, even though those stories will stick with you. It was about this: the devil is real, evil is real, but he is not the one holding your paperwork anymore. Jesus is. So here's the question worth sitting with today. Not "is there a devil," not "am I under attack." Just this: do you actually live like your debt is canceled, or do you still walk around like you owe something?
Sit with this
- 1Where in your life do you still feel like you owe something, even though Jesus already paid it?
Journal prompt
Write down one thing you've been carrying guilt or shame over, even though you already asked God to forgive it. Then write out Colossians 2:14 next to it and cross that thing out, the way Paul says God already did.