Triumph By The Cross

He Cancelled The Charge (Colosians 2:1-15, Ephesians 2:1-10) "So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord,j continue to live your lives in him, 7 rootedk and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught,l and overflowing with thankfulness. 13 When you were dead in your sinsw and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made youd alivex with Christ. He forgave us all our sins,y 14 having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness,z which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross.a 15 And having disarmed the powers and authorities,b he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over themc by the cross.) (Collosians 2:6,13,14) in our training in Rwanda we studied and seen people wanting to be rid of guilt,of fear, of shame, and of failure. Many peole are filled with these things and the yseek many ways of trying to rid themsleves of them. They dry smokinh, drinking, drugs, sex,and living what they think is the high life Only to find themsrlves oncr again down in the dumps. It’s a dramatic roller coaster ride. I've been there done that, not to the extent I just spoke of, but I too was on a roller coaster ride at one time in my Christians ;ife. I was riding on the highs and lows and feeling guilty about it all the time. But while in Rwanda, we did something that helped people understand that Christ on the cross is the only way to rid yourselves of these things, Christ wants to come in and take all of those things away, and fill you with Himself. So as students and later I had my students do the same, After I built a wooden cross resembling what Jesus died on and set it up in the school compound, we got the students to write all of their hurts,troubles and pains, grudges and hates on a piece of paper, teaching and explaining that Jesus came to take those things, forgive the mand said they would be gone for ever, as far as the East is from the West and cast into the deepest sea.We got them to take that piece of paper out and take a hammer and nail, and nail it to the cross and then leave it there. And later we had a fire and burnt all of the papers to signify that they were gone. No power in the fire, other than those pieces of paper with the thing written on them disappeared. As we come to Christ and lay down our burdens and sins at the foot of the croos, Jesus takes them away. When we lay down our burdens at the foot of the cross we are surrendering ourselves spiritually, willing to let go and let God. We give your worries, guilt, and pain to Jesus Christ. We stop trying to do it all in our own stregth, we stop carrying our emotional bagage and release the pain into Jesus hands. Trusting God and believing in what Jesus did on the cross, that He has the power ansd stregth to carry that weight for you, in where you are then set free.You have traded your anxiety and your tired soul for peace and rest in Christ. (Colossians 2:8) Reminds us that we should not trade Jesus for empty substitutes, like Alcohal, drugs, smokomh, sex and so on, those things will not give you peace and rest in your soul, they will only add to the weight, the guilt and the shame. We must believe in Christ as the only visible “image of the invisible God” (1:15) who lovesd us enough to come and die on the cross for the penilty of our sins and willing to tak all of the pain on Himself Christ has been given authority over all of these things, HE is the supreme being, He was fully God and fully human(1:16), God in a human body (2:9), He was givenn complete power and authority over all things.(v. 10). This morning, I pray you will believe in His death and resurrection, that we are rooted and built up in him” (v. 7), and fully alive and forgiven by Him (v. 13). That all of our human efforts are powerless, and that only Jesus and His sacrifice on the cross can cancel sin’s debt and break its grip on you and me, and He and only He can lift the weight of sin from our shoulders. Instead of yielding our burdens to rituals and traditions, let’s surrender them to Christ. He alone frees us from captivity and fills us with hope. (Matthew 11:28) Jesus says, "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest." (1 Peter 5:7) Tells us as believers to"cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you." Father God, Jesus, I admit I have been trying to carry my own sins, hurts and shame, try to solve them my self, I commit them all to you this morning. God, I am honestly coming to you, and asking you to take them all away, as I lay them do=wn at the feet of Jesus. I want your peace every day, in my life please help me, when and if I go to pick them back up, you will give me the strength to leave them there.vThey are gone, and Jesus has cast them away. Help me not to mentally pick them up again, for that is the only wa=y the enemy can destroy me, is to falsely accuse me again of those things that have been forgiven. Jesis, I leace them at the foot of the cross. In your name I pray AMEN.