Sunday February 19, 2017
“the devil has been defeated”
13 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, 14 by canceling the record of debt that stood
against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross.
15 He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame,
by triumphing over them in him.
– Colossians
2:13-15
Conviction of Sin (ongo‘i tautea ‘i he angahala)
A. The
author of conviction (tokotaha ‘oku lea
o‘o)
Conviction of sin
Conviction
of righteousness
Conviction
of judgment
The conviction of judgment is produced because
the prince of this world is judged (John 16:11). Men laughingly despise the
notion of a judgment to come, and they do so because they have been blinded by Satan (2 Corinthians
4:4). But on the cross Christ conquered and judged the prince of this world and
made an open show him in his triumph (John 12:31; Colossians 2:13 – 15). The
death of Christ, which unbelieving men took to be the judgment of God on him,
was in fact the judgment of their master, and therefore the guarantee of their
own impending doom.
The ministry of the Spirit thus produces a
total reversal, a conversion in our thinking. Instead of calling Christ in
question, we discovered that we are being called in question by his Spirit. The
contempt or indifference or opposition which we poured on him now rebounds upon
us. The positions are reversed.
It is not Christ who on the cross is declared
guilty of sin – but I am declared guilty.
It is not Christ who is condemned – but I am
condemned.
This interpretation is borne out by the
fulfillment of these prophetic words on the day of Pentecost. When the Spirit
came in in the preaching of Peter, the Lord Jesus Christ was proclaimed in
exalted, three things resulted:
1) men
were impressed of their unbelief (acts 2:23, 36).
2) they
were persuaded of the righteousness and vindication of Christ
(Acts 2:24, 32, 33).
3) they
recognized his exultation as Lord over all his enemies (acts 2:34 – 36).
Challenge:
Satan is a
defeated foe. Do not give him credit he doesn’t deserve. All our defeats (daily
falls) are not his doing. We struggle with the flesh and the world. But we are
conquerors in Christ!
This Day in Christian History:
February 19,
441 – date ARMENIAN MONK MESROB died. He did more than almost anyone else
to preserve the Armenian culture. Armenia had been the first nation in the
world to declare itself Christian. Unfortunately, its language had no written
form at that time. Mesrob was a gifted
interpreter. Although successful at court, he desired a closer walk with God
and left the king’s service to become a monk. Mesrob
determined to create a form of writing that could express the sounds of his
native tongue. With financial backing from the king and assistance from other
religious leaders, he devised an alphabet of thirty-six letters. Mesrob, his associates and their students,
created a whole religious literature. In addition to translating the Bible,
they wrote and translated other Christian texts.
Memory Verse:
And I, when
I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself."
— John 12:32
Pea ko au,
kapau ‘e hiki au ki ‘olunga mei he kelekele, te u tohoaki ‘a e kakai kotoa pē
kiate au – Sione 12:32
Bible Reading Plan: (52 weeks; 5 days a week)
Week
8 – Leviticus 8-11; Psalm 110; Hebrews 4
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