Victory Achieved
March 22, 2008
"And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by cancelling 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."
- Colossians 2:13-15
"When the Christian looks at the cross, he sees two accusations nailed to it. Our Lord's own accusation is clearly displayed, and beside it, that terrible accusation against us that Christ himself nailed to his cross. Not only did he release us from the guilt and dominion of sin, but he led captive those powers of darkness that had held us in bondage, utterly defeating and humiliating them. That suffering and finally lifeless figure at Golgotha seemed to human eyes the epitome of weakness and failure. His enemies rejoiced. This self-styled king, they thought, would trouble them no more. Yet this was the moment of crisis for the world, the exact moment when Satan was cast out, mortally wounded, with his armies in full retreat."
- Frederick Leheay from The Victory of the Lamb
"He grappled with them and mastered them, stripping them of all the armor in which they trusted, and held them aloft in his mighty oustretched hands, displaying to the universe their helplessness and his own unvanquished strength...Had they but realized the truth, those 'rulers of this age'...'they would not have crucified the Lord of glory' (1 Cor 2:8). But now they are disabled and dethroned, and the shameful tree has become the victor's triumphal chariot, before which his captives are driven in humiliating procession, the involuntary and impotent confessors of their overcomer's superiority."
- F.F. Bruce from his commentary on Colossians
- Colossians 2:13-15
"When the Christian looks at the cross, he sees two accusations nailed to it. Our Lord's own accusation is clearly displayed, and beside it, that terrible accusation against us that Christ himself nailed to his cross. Not only did he release us from the guilt and dominion of sin, but he led captive those powers of darkness that had held us in bondage, utterly defeating and humiliating them. That suffering and finally lifeless figure at Golgotha seemed to human eyes the epitome of weakness and failure. His enemies rejoiced. This self-styled king, they thought, would trouble them no more. Yet this was the moment of crisis for the world, the exact moment when Satan was cast out, mortally wounded, with his armies in full retreat."
- Frederick Leheay from The Victory of the Lamb
"He grappled with them and mastered them, stripping them of all the armor in which they trusted, and held them aloft in his mighty oustretched hands, displaying to the universe their helplessness and his own unvanquished strength...Had they but realized the truth, those 'rulers of this age'...'they would not have crucified the Lord of glory' (1 Cor 2:8). But now they are disabled and dethroned, and the shameful tree has become the victor's triumphal chariot, before which his captives are driven in humiliating procession, the involuntary and impotent confessors of their overcomer's superiority."
- F.F. Bruce from his commentary on Colossians
