And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses, 14 having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. 15 Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it (Colossians 2:13-15 NKJV).
In our previous study, we considered the total work of the cross. The dead state we all were in because of our trespasses and as Gentiles, we had no part in the covenant God made with Abraham. The Law of God was given to Israel so that God could be their God and Israel His people. The Gentiles did not have the same privilege. Circumcision only belonged to the Jews except if one became a proselyte from a Gentile nation to the Jewish Law, such as Rahab, Ruth, Bathsheba, and the Ethiopian Eunuch mentioned in Acts 8. The Jews understood that becoming a Jew was the only way to have God’s favor. God’s plan from the beginning included all the nations. He always planned to defeat the principalities and powers which dominated and ruled over the nations.
In today’s study, we want to consider verse 15 that declares what Jesus accomplished beyond the human race as He “disarmed principalities and powers, making a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them.” This one verse is packed with so much truth, there is no way we can plumb the deaths in 25 minutes. We must settle in our hearts and understand that the kingdom of God is present now and not some future event. We must understand and believe that the “kingdom of God is in the Holy Spirit.” In other words, the Holy Spirit is the “Spirit” of the Father and the “Spirit” of the Son. The Son of God humbled Himself and put on human form. Coming from the linage of King David and was David’s greater son whom God raised from the dead to rule from heaven. Christ reins over all the powers of the kingdom of darkness and is currently ruling over the nations and judging them.
Jesus, in His earthly ministry, manifested many ways that He was God’s Messiah. He told His disciples, “Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me, or else believe Me for the sake of the works themselves.” (John 14:11). One of the most potent demonstrations in Christ’s earthly ministry was how He dealt with demons in people. A demon is a “disembodied” spirit looking for a body to enter into to do its evil deeds. They are also known as “unclean spirits” and “evil spirits.” “Then they were all amazed and spoke among themselves, saying, “What a word this is! For with authority and power, He commands the unclean spirits, and they come out” (Luke 4:36 NKJV).
Even the demons recognized who He was. “Then they went into Capernaum, and immediately on the Sabbath He entered the synagogue and taught. And they were astonished at His teaching, for He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes. Now there was a man in their synagogue with an unclean spirit. And he cried out, saying, “Let us alone! What have we to do with You, Jesus of Nazareth? Did You come to destroy us? I know who You are — the Holy One of God!” But Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be quiet, and come out of him!” And when the unclean spirit had convulsed him and cried out with a loud voice, he came out of him. Then they were all amazed, so that they questioned among themselves, saying, “What is this? What new doctrine is this? For with authority He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey Him.” And immediately His fame spread throughout all the region around Galilee” (Mark 1:21-28 NKJV) Well, the answer is yes, He did come to destroy Satan’s kingdom. He came to paralyze Satan’s demons and release those whom they had made captive. He intended His disciples to deal with the realms of darkness through His imparted authority and imparted power. He even gave His apostles a run at it in their training. (See Luke 10:18-20). He intends us to do the same.
The demons consider His coming as their destruction, and their torment through Jesus’ person and eventually His coming kingdom in the Holy Spirit. It is the Holy Spirit by the word of God that makes this a present reality. The Lord has chosen to work out His plan and judgment of Satan and his kingdom domain through the “lively stones” of people, known as His church.
Consider the woman who was a daughter of Abraham who had been bent over for 18 years. “And, behold, there was a woman which had a spirit of infirmity eighteen years, and was bowed together, and could in no wise lift up herself. But when Jesus saw her, He called her to Him and said to her, “Woman, you are loosed from your infirmity. And He laid His hands on her, and immediately she was made straight, and glorified God” (Luke 13:11-13 NKJV).
Then in Mark 5:1-20, we are told the story of the “Gadarene Demoniac.” A Demon-Possessed Man Healed as also recorded in Matthew 8:28-9:1; Luke 8:26-39). Let’s consider together what the enemy can do to a human being, but also what Jesus has done to the enemy’s kingdom.
Mark 5:5 “Then they came to the other side of the sea, to the country of the Gadarenes. And when He had come out of the boat, immediately there met Him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit, who had his dwelling among the tombs; and no one could bind him, not even with chains, because he had often been bound with shackles and chains. And the chains had been pulled apart by him, and the shackles broken in pieces; neither could anyone tame him. And always, night and day, he was in the mountains and the tombs, crying out and cutting himself with stones. When he saw Jesus from afar, he ran and worshiped Him. And he cried out with a loud voice and said, “What have I to do with You, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I implore You by God that You do not torment me.” For He said to him, “Come out of the man, unclean spirit!” Then He asked him, “What is your name?” And he answered, saying, “My name is Legion; for we are many.” Also he begged Him earnestly that He would not send them out of the country. Now a large herd of swine was feeding there near the mountains. So all the demons begged Him, saying, “Send us to the swine, that we may enter them.” And at once Jesus gave to them permission. Then the unclean spirits went out and entered the swine (there were about two thousand); and the herd ran violently down the steep place into the sea and drowned in the sea. So those who fed the swine fled, and they told it in the city and in the country. And they went out to see what it was that had happened. Then they came to Jesus and saw the one who had been demon-possessed and had the legion, sitting and clothed and in his right mind. And they were afraid. And those who saw it told them how it happened to him who had been demon-possessed, and about the swine. Then they began to plead with Him to depart from their region. And when He got into the boat, he who had been demon-possessed begged Him that he might be with Him. However, Jesus did not permit him but said to him, “Go home to your friends, and tell them what great things the Lord has done for you and how He has had compassion on you.” And he departed and began to proclaim in Decapolis all that Jesus had done for him, and all marveled (NKJV). There is so much to be learned from this story.
Jesus’ superior power over Satan and Satan’s dominion proves the break-through on the part of the kingdom of God. This is already proved at the start of Jesus’ ministry by the temptation in the wilderness. Jesus rejection of the tempter is the beginning of the victory and of the coming kingdom. The victory had to be renewed again and again in our Lord’s life and His ministry. This what we observe in the passages we have considered.
The work of the cross, in part, is God’s prosecution of sin and the prosecution of the prince of demons with his kingdom of darkness. It is God’s New Covenant in the broken body of His Son through His shed blood for the forgiveness of sin and the bringing forth of life out of death by raising Christ from the grave and seating Him as King of kings and Lord of lords at His right hand as He promised David in 2 Samuel 7. Then He poured out His Holy Spirit on all those who believed and received the promise of new life in Christ—giving the down payment of our inheritance as Ephesians 1:13 tells us. The Holy Spirit has come to continue the work of Christ in Christ’s body, the Church of the “First Born” and the regenerated Holy Nation that is called to disciple the nations and implement Christ’s authority and power against the realms of darkness.
Paul, the apostle of Christ understood this as did all of the apostles. As Paul writes in Ephesians 6:10-12, “Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against all the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in heavenly places.” From this powerful summation, Paul instructs us to “put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day.”
In the glorious plan of God, you and I have a part in the responsibility of Satan’s prosecution and his final judgment. We must learn to live our daily life with an eternal “mindset.” We are seated with Christ in heavenly places, so we must put off the old man, which is the prosecution of sin with all its lusts, and put on the new man created in the image of the Son of God. Day by day, as we stand in our “eternal position,” which Christ has given to us. We are prosecuting the judgment of the devil and all his demons until their destruction. Every believer is of “the first resurrection” mentioned in Revelation 20. “Over such the second death has no power.” Revelation 20 is not literal, but in prophetic imaging reveals that that Jesus has bound the enemy for an indefinite period. In other words, he cannot prevent Jesus from accomplishing His intended work through His Spirit-filled people, His church.
In our next study, we will cover Col 2:16-19 and the subject of judging by false humility and pride. Open your heart wide to the Holy Spirit so He may reveal to you all He has for you in your growth and your witness of Him and His kingdom.