March 20, 2025 • 32 mins
The crucifixion of Jesus Christ represents much more than a religious symbol or historical event—it stands as the central pillar of God's kingdom. Through powerful teaching and an extensive reading from Colossians 2-3, we explore how the cross fundamentally transforms our relationship with God through blood covenant.
When we place our faith in Christ's sacrifice, something extraordinary happens: God takes our old sinful nature that was in rebellion against Him and gives us His divine life in return. Our old self with its practices isn't just improved—it's literally "nailed to the cross." This divine exchange isn't about following religious rules but experiencing a complete renewal of our nature.
The love demonstrated at Calvary proves stronger than death itself. Jesus wasn't defeated at the cross; He triumphantly made "a public spectacle" of the powers of darkness even in His seemingly weakest moment. This victory wasn't just to secure our afterlife but to empower us as kingdom citizens right now. We're called to "colonize planet Earth with the kingdom" through supernatural demonstrations of God's power until Christ's return.
Most profoundly, we discover that the cross enables us to live "upright" instead of "upside down." No longer bound by patterns leading to death, we can embrace God's kingdom culture and walk in resurrection power. Has God been drawing you toward Himself? The divine life that conquered death is available to you today—you don't need to wait for heaven to experience the supernatural reality of God's kingdom.
Loving Yeshua/Jesus, Loving people... Come as you are and you will be loved!
Feel free to check out our website by typing in lifearoundthefire.com or Life Around The Fire ... We think you'll find some beneficial stuff to look at and apply to your life.
Shalom to you and your home.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
As many of you know, we are in the midst of a series
right now, in this particularpodcast, concerning the kingdom
of God.
That's our focal point and inlooking at the kingdom of God,
(00:25):
god's rule, his reign, thekingdom of God and that piece is
(00:51):
the cross, the very crucifixionof Jesus Christ, and that is
where we are currently.
And that is where we arecurrently.
We are looking at the cross ofJesus, the crucifixion of Jesus,
(01:16):
and we're looking at it from avariety of different angles, and
the reason being is that itremains to be central.
In fact, it's important for itto be central.
Jesus Christ, and him crucifiedon our behalf, is central to us
(01:43):
, proclaiming any good newsconcerning God's kingdom and the
fact that we have relationshipor we can have relationship with
God, a covenant relationship,and so it's important for us to
(02:05):
look at it.
It's important for us to seewhat took place after the cross
his resurrection and hisascension, and the mysteries
that are found all throughoutthe very life of Jesus, that are
given for us to have asexperiences.
(02:29):
But without the cross, withoutJesus being crucified on the
cross, we have nothing, andsometimes, you know, I'm going
to say a couple things righthere, right now, just to kind of
(02:52):
set the table a little bitfurther, I'm going to be taking
some time in this episode andreading a pretty big chunk from
the Scriptures from the NewTestament, specifically in the
book of Colossians.
I'm going to be reading fromColossians, chapter 2, the
(03:16):
entire chapter, all the waythrough chapter 3, verse 17.
And you know, the Bible ofmyself is an amazing book but
but if it's put in the wronghands it can be really a
(03:40):
confusing set of writings.
If it's put in the hands ofsomeone who is completely
against anything to pertain toGod, the Bible is turned into a
mockery.
If it's put in the hands ofsomeone who is completely
(04:09):
without any understanding andthey are cherry pickers.
They just pick and choose froma verse here, a verse there it
can be actually again not onlyconfusing.
There, it can be actually againnot only confusing, but it can
be misleading as well.
(04:32):
As if it's put in the hands ofpeople that are far too
intellectual, because you findthey start quoting from
so-and-so who said such-and-such, and they're quoting each other
and they are caught up in theirappreciation for how much
(04:53):
knowledge they have.
And then and then there areothers who previously, like
myself, had a horrible speechimpediment.
(05:18):
I had a very, very, very severestuttering problem, and so for
me to speak publicly in any way,shape or form was excruciating.
The thought of it would justcause me to just break on a
sweat.
My mouth would get dry and Iwould inevitably at least feel
(05:41):
like a fool, not look like one,and so I wouldn't.
In private conversations,people that understood me they
would get the fact thatperiodically I'd stutter.
But if I could just relax, Icould communicate, until until
one day God put his hand upon meit's the best way I can
(06:06):
describe it.
He put his hand upon me andgave me peace, a peace that went
beyond my own understanding,and it captured my heart and got
me focused.
I was finally able to focus,even though there's still a
temptation to try to communicateeverything all at once.
(06:26):
Now I'm able to slow down andhave some peace, and in so doing
I'm able to read with feelingand with clarity.
(06:46):
I am able to read the writingsof other people, of all things.
In college I was requestedperiodically to read other
people's essays because theyliked the way that I put things
man, coming from a person whocouldn't speak publicly at all
(07:13):
to being asked to share thingson a collegiate level.
Oh, that's a hand of God.
And so this particular portionof Scripture is very germane to
the cross of Jesus Christ.
And the Bible preaches betterthan any other book, and the
(07:37):
Apostle Paul preaches as good,if not better, than any other
writer, as good, if not betterthan any other writer.
And so I'm going to let theBible preach or teach, or both,
for a while, because sometimesalso we only periodically, we
(07:57):
only get little snippets of thescriptures, and we love the
scriptures around here,unapologetically.
They're our baseline for whatwe do, how we think.
They're the measuring stick,the yardstick Keeps us in line,
(08:21):
the written word of God.
And so the Apostle Paul iswriting to this group of people
in Colossae, or Colossei,however you want to say it, and
he's.
He said in chapter 2, verse 1,.
(08:41):
He starts off by saying I wantyou to know how much I'm
struggling for you and for thoseat Laodicea and for all who
have not met me personally.
My purpose is that they may beencouraged in heart and united
(09:02):
in love, so that they may havethe full riches of complete
understanding, in order thatthey may have the mystery of God
, namely Christ, in whom arehidden all the treasures of
wisdom and knowledge.
In whom are hidden all thetreasures of wisdom and
(09:25):
knowledge?
I tell you this so that no onemay deceive you by
blind-sounding arguments, forthough I am absent from you in
body, I am present with you inspirit and delight to see how
orderly you are and how firmyour faith in Christ is.
So then, just as you receivedChrist Jesus Lord, continue to
(09:48):
live in him, rooted and built upin him, strengthened in the
faith, as you were taught, andoverflowing with thankfulness.
See to it that no one takes youcaptive through hollow and
deceptive philosophy whichdepends on human tradition and
(10:08):
the basic principles of thisworld rather than on Christ.
For in Christ, all the fullnessof the deity lives in bodily
form, and you have been givenfullness in Christ, who is head
over every power and authority.
In him, you were alsocircumcised in the putting off
(10:30):
of all sinful nature, not withthe circumcision done by the
hands of men, but by thecircumcision done by Christ.
Having been buried with him inbaptism and raised with him
through your faith in the powerof God, who raised him from the
dead.
When you were dead in your sinsand in the uncircumcision of
your sinful nature.
(10:50):
God made you alive with Christ.
He forgave all our sins.
Having canceled the writtencode with its regulations that
was against us and that stoodopposed to us, he took it away,
nailing it to the cross and,having disarmed the powers and
(11:13):
authorities, he made a publicspectacle of them triumphing
over them by the cross.
Therefore, do not let anyonejudge you by what you eat or
drink or with regard toreligious festival, a new moon
celebration or a Sabbath day.
They are shadows of the thingsthat were to come.
(11:34):
The reality, however, is foundin Christ.
Do not let anyone who delightsin false humility and the
worship of angels disqualify youfor the prize.
Such a person goes into greatdetail about what he has seen
(11:55):
and his unspiritual mind puffshim up with idle notions.
He has lost connection with thehead, from whom the whole body,
supported and held together byits ligaments and sinews, grows
as God caused it to grow Sinceyou died with Christ, to the
basic principles of this world.
(12:16):
Why, as though you still belongto it, do you subject to these
rules or submit to them?
Do not handle, do not taste, donot touch.
These are destined to perishwith use because they are based
on human commands and teachings.
Such regulations indeed have anappearance of wisdom with their
(12:40):
self-imposed worship, theirfalse humility and their harsh
treatment of the body, but theylack any value in restraining
sensual indulgences.
Since then, you've been raisedwith Christ.
Set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the
(13:01):
right hand of God.
Set your minds on things above,not on earthly things, for you
died and your life is now hiddenwith Christ in God.
When Christ, who is your life,appears, then you also appear
with him in glory.
Put to death, therefore,whatever belongs to your earthly
(13:25):
nature—sexual immorality,impurity, lust, evil desires and
greed, which is idolatry.
Because of these, the wrath ofGod is coming.
You used to walk in these waysin the life you once lived, but
now you must rid yourselves ofall such things as these anger,
(13:47):
rage, malice, slander and filthylanguage from your lips.
Do not lie to each other, sinceyou have taken off your old
self with its practices and haveput on the new self, which is
being renewed in the knowledgeand the image of its creator.
Here there is no Greek or Jew,circumcised or uncircumcised,
barbarian, scion, slave or free,but Christ is all and is in all
(14:15):
.
Therefore, as God's chosenpeople, holy and dutifully loved
.
Clothe yourselves withcompassion, kindness, humility,
gentleness and patience.
Kindness, humility, gentlenessand patience.
Bear with each other andforgive whatever grievances you
may have against one another.
Forgive, as the lord forgaveyou, and over all these virtues,
put on love which binds themall together in perfect unity.
Let the peace of christ rule inyour hearts and be thankful.
(14:41):
Let the words of Christ dwellin you richly as you teach and
admonish one another with allwisdom and as you sing psalms,
hymns and spiritual songs withgratitude in your hearts to God,
songs with gratitude in yourhearts to God.
(15:03):
And whatever you do, whether inword or deed, do it all in the
name of the Lord Jesus, givingthanks to God, the Father,
through him.
That is the word of the Lord.
(15:48):
And in that particular portionof Paul's letter to the church
at Colossae, to the Laodiceanpeople, we find him giving us
some real, important pointsconcerning the cross of Jesus
Christ and the fact that our oldway of thinking has actually
been nailed to the cross.
You see, covenant is a veryunique thing and we have a
covenant relationship with Godand the cross is part of God
(16:08):
cutting covenant with us, andthe covenant that we have with
God is a blood covenant.
It's the highest form ofcovenant that there is, and
that's blood covenant.
In a blood covenant, the twoparties come together and agree
(16:31):
that what they have as their ownbecomes also the property of
the one that they're cuttingcovenant with and the other the
same.
So for us, we cut covenant withGod and he takes our old nature
(16:59):
that was in rebellion towardhim and by the act of Jesus
Christ going to the cross on ourbehalf, us looking to him and
we saying to God I believe,because you've given me faith to
(17:20):
believe, I believe it's enough,I believe he is enough, he is
sufficient.
God considers that righteousnessand relationship, real
relationship, is not onlyrestored, but he gives to us his
(17:44):
life.
He takes our old nature and itstrajectory into outer darkness.
Death upon death upon death,the death that keeps on dying,
(18:09):
the torment that keeps ontormenting, because that's the
antithesis of relationship withGod.
It just is.
But in relationship with Godthere is eternal life.
Now, jesus, by anybody, theapostle makes it very clear that
(18:44):
he gave his life as a sacrificefor many, and you being one of
those many, you see you hearingthis right now, if this is your
first time ever hearing this andit's captivating you.
(19:05):
It's because God is drawing youto himself.
It's not because you made adecision that one day today
being that day you all are goingto be like spiritual.
Now, something's been going onfor quite some time drawing you.
It's been God, drawing you tohimself, giving you the ability
(19:30):
to change your mind and changeyour ways, giving you the
ability to have faith in him,because by your own, we were
dead.
We were dead in ourtransgression.
We were dead.
We were dead in ourtransgression.
We were dead.
We were caught in a cycle ofdeath.
Everybody, everybody.
But Jesus broke that at thecross and covered the sins of
(20:00):
all humanity for those who wouldbelieve upon him.
Now, if there's people thatabsolutely choose not to believe
on him, well, the trajectory ofyour life or of their life has
already been set.
If they refuse and theyblaspheme the Spirit of God and
(20:20):
refuse to believe, there'snothing left.
But even if you have believedand you have fallen into sin,
deep sin, the life of God hasnot left you.
He is still within you, drawingyou back to himself, and his
(20:48):
love is stronger than death.
Song of Songs, chapter 8, verse6, says that Love is stronger
than death.
God's love is stronger thandeath.
See, if life was in the bloodand the blood was shed, well
then what happened to the life?
(21:09):
The life was sustained by love,if God's in it.
If not, what was in that beinggoes into outer darkness, goes
into the trajectory that it wasset on.
(21:32):
It goes to the one who theybelieve and place their faith in
.
Whether Jesus gave his life, itwas not taken from him.
(21:55):
He gave it the love that he hadfor his father to be with his
father, the love that theyexperienced together, the love
he had for the Spirit of God,holy Spirit, the love that they
(22:17):
share, the love that God shareswas greater than death.
But the love that he has foryou and me, the love he has for
us, is we were the joy setbefore him.
He endured the cross, and thecross, the cross, the cross.
What a heinous torturemechanism.
(22:43):
Whole system, whole system.
We're going to take one moreepisode and look at that system,
because it's important toreally see what it was that
Jesus did and how he triumphedover that and made a public
(23:03):
spectacle of it.
Even in his weakest state, heovercame the powers of darkness.
He overcame the powers ofdarkness.
As I said, you might be hearingthis for the first time and it's
really laying a hold of you,and it's because God wants
(23:26):
relationship with you and wantsyou to place your faith in him.
He wants you to believe that heloves you that much that he
would lay down his life so thatyou could have his life, so that
he could take your old way andkill it, have it nailed to the
(23:47):
cross, so that you have theability to put it down daily.
It doesn't put you down daily,hallelujah.
There's a difference betweenstruggling with something and
being victorious over it thancontinually struggling with
something and being beat up byit under it all the time.
(24:08):
That was us before we come toknow Jesus, or we came to know
him, praise God.
There's something about us alsoreflecting back on the fact
(24:30):
that Jesus loves us so much thathe laid his life down for us on
a level that is beyond thelevel of just any human being.
It took divine love, the loveof God.
(24:52):
You and I are recipients ofthis, recipients of this, and so
(25:17):
this life, this life, this lifethat's been released to us, is
the very life of God.
It's from this point that we'reable to move forward and begin
to understand the ways of God,the culture of his kingdom, the
way things function, learning totalk upright instead of upside
(25:41):
down.
Right, because prior to life inthe kingdom we were living a
life that was upside down.
Now we're living an uprightlife and we have to learn a new
way of living.
But praise God, he instructs usand also there are things that
(26:04):
are available to us.
There are things that we arecapable of doing in the area of
miracles, signs and wonders thatGod has given to us as his
children, as his people, as hiscitizens, the citizens of his
kingdom, as members of the bodyof Christ for us to function in,
(26:27):
for us to understand things,for us to understand things in
which we are able to exerciseand make declarations over
situations that bring remediesinto very complex problems, to
undo the works of darkness andbring about the establishment of
(26:47):
God's kingdom until Jesus comes.
When he comes, he will do thefulfillment of the kingdom of
God on the earth, and then theknowledge of the glory of the
Lord will cover the earth as thewaters cover the sea, and the
government of all the nationswill rest upon the shoulders of
Jesus.
But until then, we are tocolonize planet Earth with the
(27:13):
kingdom.
It's not just for us to be good,try to do good and wait until
we get to heaven and then we getto do stuff.
We are called to be involved inkingdom activity and kingdom
life right now.
We are involved in eternityright now.
(27:37):
And what time is it in eternity?
It's always now.
When's a good time for us to bedemonstrating the life of God
in us?
Now, not waiting, waiting forwhat?
(27:58):
We'll wait forever waiting,waiting for things to be perfect
, not wanting to stick out.
Hey, we're going to shine withglory.
We're going to be cities on ahill that can't be hid, both
(28:19):
individually and collectively.
Jesus shed his life, gave hislife, poured out his blood.
Shed his life, gave his life,poured out his blood, shed his
blood so that we could have iteternally.
And we do when we have faith inhim, and we do when we are
(28:44):
baptized in his name.
We're immersed in the very nameand nature and power of God.
When he fills us with hisspirit and the demonstration of
it, we can see who we are and socan the world around us, and
(29:05):
especially when they see usjoined together in love,
functioning together in love,taking care of each other in
love, with the love of God.
The divine life that's in us,the love that conquered death,
the love that is stronger thandeath, that lives in us, is to
(29:29):
be shared with each other.
It's to be the motivatingthrust for us to worship God.
Hallelujah, we're in a good time, folks.
We're in a good time, folks.
(29:50):
We're in a very good time.
Get ready, get ready, man.
Things are going to continue toincrease.
The demonstration of God'sglory, his presence and his
kingdom are going to continue toincrease.
Let's be ready.
Hallelujah, let's pray.
(30:12):
Father, yes, yes, yes, yourkingdom come.
Your will be done in the earthas it is in heaven.
Thank you, thank you, thank youin the earth as it is in heaven
.
Thank you, thank you, thank you, holy Spirit, I ask that you
(30:35):
would manifest Jesus, make himreal to us and through us, and
in so doing, we stand here andwe declare his name, and we
stand here in his name and wesay amen, amen, amen, amen.
All right, folks, I love you.
(30:55):
If you have any thoughts,questions, concerns, once again,
please feel free to drop us aline at lifearoundthefire, at
gmailcom, or type inlifearoundthefire and look us up
on the web.
We would love to hear from youin the meantime.
God bless you, adios amigos.
As many of you know, we are in the midst of a series
right now, in this particularpodcast, concerning the kingdom
of God.
That's our focal point and inlooking at the kingdom of God,
(00:25):
god's rule, his reign, thekingdom of God and that piece is
(00:51):
the cross, the very crucifixionof Jesus Christ, and that is
where we are currently.
And that is where we arecurrently.
We are looking at the cross ofJesus, the crucifixion of Jesus,
(01:16):
and we're looking at it from avariety of different angles, and
the reason being is that itremains to be central.
In fact, it's important for itto be central.
Jesus Christ, and him crucifiedon our behalf, is central to us
(01:43):
, proclaiming any good newsconcerning God's kingdom and the
fact that we have relationshipor we can have relationship with
God, a covenant relationship,and so it's important for us to
(02:05):
look at it.
It's important for us to seewhat took place after the cross
his resurrection and hisascension, and the mysteries
that are found all throughoutthe very life of Jesus, that are
given for us to have asexperiences.
(02:29):
But without the cross, withoutJesus being crucified on the
cross, we have nothing, andsometimes, you know, I'm going
to say a couple things righthere, right now, just to kind of
(02:52):
set the table a little bitfurther, I'm going to be taking
some time in this episode andreading a pretty big chunk from
the Scriptures from the NewTestament, specifically in the
book of Colossians.
I'm going to be reading fromColossians, chapter 2, the
(03:16):
entire chapter, all the waythrough chapter 3, verse 17.
And you know, the Bible ofmyself is an amazing book but
but if it's put in the wronghands it can be really a
(03:40):
confusing set of writings.
If it's put in the hands ofsomeone who is completely
against anything to pertain toGod, the Bible is turned into a
mockery.
If it's put in the hands ofsomeone who is completely
(04:09):
without any understanding andthey are cherry pickers.
They just pick and choose froma verse here, a verse there it
can be actually again not onlyconfusing.
There, it can be actually againnot only confusing, but it can
be misleading as well.
(04:32):
As if it's put in the hands ofpeople that are far too
intellectual, because you findthey start quoting from
so-and-so who said such-and-such, and they're quoting each other
and they are caught up in theirappreciation for how much
(04:53):
knowledge they have.
And then and then there areothers who previously, like
myself, had a horrible speechimpediment.
(05:18):
I had a very, very, very severestuttering problem, and so for
me to speak publicly in any way,shape or form was excruciating.
The thought of it would justcause me to just break on a
sweat.
My mouth would get dry and Iwould inevitably at least feel
(05:41):
like a fool, not look like one,and so I wouldn't.
In private conversations,people that understood me they
would get the fact thatperiodically I'd stutter.
But if I could just relax, Icould communicate, until until
one day God put his hand upon meit's the best way I can
(06:06):
describe it.
He put his hand upon me andgave me peace, a peace that went
beyond my own understanding,and it captured my heart and got
me focused.
I was finally able to focus,even though there's still a
temptation to try to communicateeverything all at once.
(06:26):
Now I'm able to slow down andhave some peace, and in so doing
I'm able to read with feelingand with clarity.
(06:46):
I am able to read the writingsof other people, of all things.
In college I was requestedperiodically to read other
people's essays because theyliked the way that I put things
man, coming from a person whocouldn't speak publicly at all
(07:13):
to being asked to share thingson a collegiate level.
Oh, that's a hand of God.
And so this particular portionof Scripture is very germane to
the cross of Jesus Christ.
And the Bible preaches betterthan any other book, and the
(07:37):
Apostle Paul preaches as good,if not better, than any other
writer, as good, if not betterthan any other writer.
And so I'm going to let theBible preach or teach, or both,
for a while, because sometimesalso we only periodically, we
(07:57):
only get little snippets of thescriptures, and we love the
scriptures around here,unapologetically.
They're our baseline for whatwe do, how we think.
They're the measuring stick,the yardstick Keeps us in line,
(08:21):
the written word of God.
And so the Apostle Paul iswriting to this group of people
in Colossae, or Colossei,however you want to say it, and
he's.
He said in chapter 2, verse 1,.
(08:41):
He starts off by saying I wantyou to know how much I'm
struggling for you and for thoseat Laodicea and for all who
have not met me personally.
My purpose is that they may beencouraged in heart and united
(09:02):
in love, so that they may havethe full riches of complete
understanding, in order thatthey may have the mystery of God
, namely Christ, in whom arehidden all the treasures of
wisdom and knowledge.
In whom are hidden all thetreasures of wisdom and
(09:25):
knowledge?
I tell you this so that no onemay deceive you by
blind-sounding arguments, forthough I am absent from you in
body, I am present with you inspirit and delight to see how
orderly you are and how firmyour faith in Christ is.
So then, just as you receivedChrist Jesus Lord, continue to
(09:48):
live in him, rooted and built upin him, strengthened in the
faith, as you were taught, andoverflowing with thankfulness.
See to it that no one takes youcaptive through hollow and
deceptive philosophy whichdepends on human tradition and
(10:08):
the basic principles of thisworld rather than on Christ.
For in Christ, all the fullnessof the deity lives in bodily
form, and you have been givenfullness in Christ, who is head
over every power and authority.
In him, you were alsocircumcised in the putting off
(10:30):
of all sinful nature, not withthe circumcision done by the
hands of men, but by thecircumcision done by Christ.
Having been buried with him inbaptism and raised with him
through your faith in the powerof God, who raised him from the
dead.
When you were dead in your sinsand in the uncircumcision of
your sinful nature.
(10:50):
God made you alive with Christ.
He forgave all our sins.
Having canceled the writtencode with its regulations that
was against us and that stoodopposed to us, he took it away,
nailing it to the cross and,having disarmed the powers and
(11:13):
authorities, he made a publicspectacle of them triumphing
over them by the cross.
Therefore, do not let anyonejudge you by what you eat or
drink or with regard toreligious festival, a new moon
celebration or a Sabbath day.
They are shadows of the thingsthat were to come.
(11:34):
The reality, however, is foundin Christ.
Do not let anyone who delightsin false humility and the
worship of angels disqualify youfor the prize.
Such a person goes into greatdetail about what he has seen
(11:55):
and his unspiritual mind puffshim up with idle notions.
He has lost connection with thehead, from whom the whole body,
supported and held together byits ligaments and sinews, grows
as God caused it to grow Sinceyou died with Christ, to the
basic principles of this world.
(12:16):
Why, as though you still belongto it, do you subject to these
rules or submit to them?
Do not handle, do not taste, donot touch.
These are destined to perishwith use because they are based
on human commands and teachings.
Such regulations indeed have anappearance of wisdom with their
(12:40):
self-imposed worship, theirfalse humility and their harsh
treatment of the body, but theylack any value in restraining
sensual indulgences.
Since then, you've been raisedwith Christ.
Set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the
(13:01):
right hand of God.
Set your minds on things above,not on earthly things, for you
died and your life is now hiddenwith Christ in God.
When Christ, who is your life,appears, then you also appear
with him in glory.
Put to death, therefore,whatever belongs to your earthly
(13:25):
nature—sexual immorality,impurity, lust, evil desires and
greed, which is idolatry.
Because of these, the wrath ofGod is coming.
You used to walk in these waysin the life you once lived, but
now you must rid yourselves ofall such things as these anger,
(13:47):
rage, malice, slander and filthylanguage from your lips.
Do not lie to each other, sinceyou have taken off your old
self with its practices and haveput on the new self, which is
being renewed in the knowledgeand the image of its creator.
Here there is no Greek or Jew,circumcised or uncircumcised,
barbarian, scion, slave or free,but Christ is all and is in all
(14:15):
.
Therefore, as God's chosenpeople, holy and dutifully loved
.
Clothe yourselves withcompassion, kindness, humility,
gentleness and patience.
Kindness, humility, gentlenessand patience.
Bear with each other andforgive whatever grievances you
may have against one another.
Forgive, as the lord forgaveyou, and over all these virtues,
put on love which binds themall together in perfect unity.
Let the peace of christ rule inyour hearts and be thankful.
(14:41):
Let the words of Christ dwellin you richly as you teach and
admonish one another with allwisdom and as you sing psalms,
hymns and spiritual songs withgratitude in your hearts to God,
songs with gratitude in yourhearts to God.
(15:03):
And whatever you do, whether inword or deed, do it all in the
name of the Lord Jesus, givingthanks to God, the Father,
through him.
That is the word of the Lord.
(15:48):
And in that particular portionof Paul's letter to the church
at Colossae, to the Laodiceanpeople, we find him giving us
some real, important pointsconcerning the cross of Jesus
Christ and the fact that our oldway of thinking has actually
been nailed to the cross.
You see, covenant is a veryunique thing and we have a
covenant relationship with Godand the cross is part of God
(16:08):
cutting covenant with us, andthe covenant that we have with
God is a blood covenant.
It's the highest form ofcovenant that there is, and
that's blood covenant.
In a blood covenant, the twoparties come together and agree
(16:31):
that what they have as their ownbecomes also the property of
the one that they're cuttingcovenant with and the other the
same.
So for us, we cut covenant withGod and he takes our old nature
(16:59):
that was in rebellion towardhim and by the act of Jesus
Christ going to the cross on ourbehalf, us looking to him and
we saying to God I believe,because you've given me faith to
(17:20):
believe, I believe it's enough,I believe he is enough, he is
sufficient.
God considers that righteousnessand relationship, real
relationship, is not onlyrestored, but he gives to us his
(17:44):
life.
He takes our old nature and itstrajectory into outer darkness.
Death upon death upon death,the death that keeps on dying,
(18:09):
the torment that keeps ontormenting, because that's the
antithesis of relationship withGod.
It just is.
But in relationship with Godthere is eternal life.
Now, jesus, by anybody, theapostle makes it very clear that
(18:44):
he gave his life as a sacrificefor many, and you being one of
those many, you see you hearingthis right now, if this is your
first time ever hearing this andit's captivating you.
(19:05):
It's because God is drawing youto himself.
It's not because you made adecision that one day today
being that day you all are goingto be like spiritual.
Now, something's been going onfor quite some time drawing you.
It's been God, drawing you tohimself, giving you the ability
(19:30):
to change your mind and changeyour ways, giving you the
ability to have faith in him,because by your own, we were
dead.
We were dead in ourtransgression.
We were dead.
We were dead in ourtransgression.
We were dead.
We were caught in a cycle ofdeath.
Everybody, everybody.
But Jesus broke that at thecross and covered the sins of
(20:00):
all humanity for those who wouldbelieve upon him.
Now, if there's people thatabsolutely choose not to believe
on him, well, the trajectory ofyour life or of their life has
already been set.
If they refuse and theyblaspheme the Spirit of God and
(20:20):
refuse to believe, there'snothing left.
But even if you have believedand you have fallen into sin,
deep sin, the life of God hasnot left you.
He is still within you, drawingyou back to himself, and his
(20:48):
love is stronger than death.
Song of Songs, chapter 8, verse6, says that Love is stronger
than death.
God's love is stronger thandeath.
See, if life was in the bloodand the blood was shed, well
then what happened to the life?
(21:09):
The life was sustained by love,if God's in it.
If not, what was in that beinggoes into outer darkness, goes
into the trajectory that it wasset on.
(21:32):
It goes to the one who theybelieve and place their faith in
.
Whether Jesus gave his life, itwas not taken from him.
(21:55):
He gave it the love that he hadfor his father to be with his
father, the love that theyexperienced together, the love
he had for the Spirit of God,holy Spirit, the love that they
(22:17):
share, the love that God shareswas greater than death.
But the love that he has foryou and me, the love he has for
us, is we were the joy setbefore him.
He endured the cross, and thecross, the cross, the cross.
What a heinous torturemechanism.
(22:43):
Whole system, whole system.
We're going to take one moreepisode and look at that system,
because it's important toreally see what it was that
Jesus did and how he triumphedover that and made a public
(23:03):
spectacle of it.
Even in his weakest state, heovercame the powers of darkness.
He overcame the powers ofdarkness.
As I said, you might be hearingthis for the first time and it's
really laying a hold of you,and it's because God wants
(23:26):
relationship with you and wantsyou to place your faith in him.
He wants you to believe that heloves you that much that he
would lay down his life so thatyou could have his life, so that
he could take your old way andkill it, have it nailed to the
(23:47):
cross, so that you have theability to put it down daily.
It doesn't put you down daily,hallelujah.
There's a difference betweenstruggling with something and
being victorious over it thancontinually struggling with
something and being beat up byit under it all the time.
(24:08):
That was us before we come toknow Jesus, or we came to know
him, praise God.
There's something about us alsoreflecting back on the fact
(24:30):
that Jesus loves us so much thathe laid his life down for us on
a level that is beyond thelevel of just any human being.
It took divine love, the loveof God.
(24:52):
You and I are recipients ofthis, recipients of this, and so
(25:17):
this life, this life, this lifethat's been released to us, is
the very life of God.
It's from this point that we'reable to move forward and begin
to understand the ways of God,the culture of his kingdom, the
way things function, learning totalk upright instead of upside
(25:41):
down.
Right, because prior to life inthe kingdom we were living a
life that was upside down.
Now we're living an uprightlife and we have to learn a new
way of living.
But praise God, he instructs usand also there are things that
(26:04):
are available to us.
There are things that we arecapable of doing in the area of
miracles, signs and wonders thatGod has given to us as his
children, as his people, as hiscitizens, the citizens of his
kingdom, as members of the bodyof Christ for us to function in,
(26:27):
for us to understand things,for us to understand things in
which we are able to exerciseand make declarations over
situations that bring remediesinto very complex problems, to
undo the works of darkness andbring about the establishment of
(26:47):
God's kingdom until Jesus comes.
When he comes, he will do thefulfillment of the kingdom of
God on the earth, and then theknowledge of the glory of the
Lord will cover the earth as thewaters cover the sea, and the
government of all the nationswill rest upon the shoulders of
Jesus.
But until then, we are tocolonize planet Earth with the
(27:13):
kingdom.
It's not just for us to be good,try to do good and wait until
we get to heaven and then we getto do stuff.
We are called to be involved inkingdom activity and kingdom
life right now.
We are involved in eternityright now.
(27:37):
And what time is it in eternity?
It's always now.
When's a good time for us to bedemonstrating the life of God
in us?
Now, not waiting, waiting forwhat?
(27:58):
We'll wait forever waiting,waiting for things to be perfect
, not wanting to stick out.
Hey, we're going to shine withglory.
We're going to be cities on ahill that can't be hid, both
(28:19):
individually and collectively.
Jesus shed his life, gave hislife, poured out his blood.
Shed his life, gave his life,poured out his blood, shed his
blood so that we could have iteternally.
And we do when we have faith inhim, and we do when we are
(28:44):
baptized in his name.
We're immersed in the very nameand nature and power of God.
When he fills us with hisspirit and the demonstration of
it, we can see who we are and socan the world around us, and
(29:05):
especially when they see usjoined together in love,
functioning together in love,taking care of each other in
love, with the love of God.
The divine life that's in us,the love that conquered death,
the love that is stronger thandeath, that lives in us, is to
(29:29):
be shared with each other.
It's to be the motivatingthrust for us to worship God.
Hallelujah, we're in a good time, folks.
We're in a good time, folks.
(29:50):
We're in a very good time.
Get ready, get ready, man.
Things are going to continue toincrease.
The demonstration of God'sglory, his presence and his
kingdom are going to continue toincrease.
Let's be ready.
Hallelujah, let's pray.
(30:12):
Father, yes, yes, yes, yourkingdom come.
Your will be done in the earthas it is in heaven.
Thank you, thank you, thank youin the earth as it is in heaven
.
Thank you, thank you, thank you, holy Spirit, I ask that you
(30:35):
would manifest Jesus, make himreal to us and through us, and
in so doing, we stand here andwe declare his name, and we
stand here in his name and wesay amen, amen, amen, amen.
All right, folks, I love you.
(30:55):
If you have any thoughts,questions, concerns, once again,
please feel free to drop us aline at lifearoundthefire, at
gmailcom, or type inlifearoundthefire and look us up
on the web.
We would love to hear from youin the meantime.
God bless you, adios amigos.
Popular Podcasts
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.
Therapy Gecko
An unlicensed lizard psychologist travels the universe talking to strangers about absolutely nothing. TO CALL THE GECKO: follow me on https://www.twitch.tv/lyleforever to get a notification for when I am taking calls. I am usually live Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays but lately a lot of other times too. I am a gecko.