Victory

Introduction

Dreams are a mystery. Freud wrote “The Interpretation of Dreams” in 1900. Freud believed that dreams were repressed wishes and through free association one would reveal those unconscious desires allowing a person to move in a new and better direction. Carl Jung believed dreams bring closure to emotional and mental problems. Dreams are the means to process our emotions using symbols and story to help us understand our inner turmoil. Jung’s view is predominant.

Most of us, if not all of us, have had dreams that make us uncomfortable and dreams that bring relief. If Jung is correct, then our dreams help us work through some of our emotional turmoil to find resolution. A person may have a future event that makes them anxious and they dream of something terrible happening in front of people. They dream of speaking and forgetting to get dressed or they dream of spilling food all over them and people watching. Jung would say that we are trying to resolve our anxiety in our dreams.

Our passage requires some explanation. Images understood on the surface have a spiritual application. For example, Genesis 2:24 is a marriage text; however, Paul quotes it in Ephesians 5 and applies it to the relationship between Christ and the church. Marriage then on the surface has a meaning of oneness but it also reveals a spiritual truth — the oneness between Jesus and his people. There are two images in this text that have surface meanings and spiritual realities. The first image is of the spoils of war being taken captive. In Paul’s day, the winner of a battle and a war would take all the possessions of the loser. Additionally, they would take the losers and make them parade naked as a sign of humiliation and complete victory. The second sign is circumcision. This practice in Judaism was a physical sign that a man was dedicated to God and his family would be dedicated to God. Both of these signs make us a bit uncomfortable. We teach our kids to be good winners not to taunt the loser. Circumcision no longer holds a spiritual meaning. Paul uses both images to describe the spiritual reality of Jesus’ triumph over sin and our victory as those who follow him.

The Battle

One of our challenges is to like what we have rather than thinking we are missing out on something. FOMO is real. We are reminded that we are missing out. And the fear of missing out means that we cannot appreciate what we currently have and then we miss enjoying what we currently have because we are looking for something else. False teachers in Colossae told folks that they were missing out. They told folks that their spiritual life could be better if they added to their faith things like celebrating holy days, keeping food laws, and worshiping angels, to enhance their spiritual standing and feelings. The message is that Jesus isn’t sufficient. Paul establishes their identity as holy and forgiven who are walking in faith; that Jesus is over all; and the mystery.

2:6, Paul uses the same word as he did in 1:10 — walk. Continue to live in Jesus. Overflow in your thankfulness for what Jesus has done and the life you have in him. No FOMO. Verse 8 — see that no one takes you captive. This is the image of losing the battle. If you follow the false teachers, you will be humiliated. You will lose. Victory is found in Jesus not in philosophy, not in rules, not in thinking like the world thinks.

The fullness of God is found in Jesus. He is God in bodily form and walking with him means that you share in his victory over every power and authority. These are the hidden beings — angels and demons. In this case Paul is emphasizing the demonic more than the angelic. Jesus is head over them. He is the ruler over them. The battle was fought and a clear winner is known. Look down at verse 15. “Having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.” Here’s the irony. The cross is where Satan believed he humiliated Jesus, but it was at the cross that Jesus humiliated Satan. The word “disarmed” means to be stripped or unclothed. It carries the idea of being exposed and shamed.

It was at the cross that Jesus was stripped and shamed. While the world looked on his humiliation, God was doing something that only God could do. Humiliation gave way to triumph. The battle was fought and the war was won. Having been raised from the dead, Satan lost. Why be held captive by those who have been humiliated, shamed, stripped of any dignity. Jesus won. Why worship angels? Why keep days thinking that such increases your spiritual place? Jesus won. Live in that faith.

Baptism

It is the second image that captures the same thought. Circumcision was a Jewish ritual done as a sign of dedication. All males born into Judaism were required to be circumcised as a sign that they belonged to God. Paul takes this image and gives it a fuller meaning. He says all have to be circumcised not in the flesh but in our nature. Paul says that we all have been circumcised by Christ. Look at verse 11. “Putting off” is the word “stripped away.” This is what Jesus did. He stripped away our sin. We submit to baptism as the means by which our sins are stripped away and then we are raised by the power of God. The word power is “energy.” It was the energy of God that raised Jesus from the dead and it is the energy of God that raises us out of our baptism where he strips away our sin. Baptism is necessary because that is where the stripping away of our sins takes place. It is the place of dedication. It is the place where life is given.

Verse 13. We were dead. We have been made alive. Our sins forgiven. All the decrees demanding our allegiance have been nailed to the cross. All the rules that are used to prove we are spiritually mature are gone. It is God who makes us alive. It is God who says we are holy. It is God through Jesus who has stripped away our sin.

Why go back to being a captive? If Jesus has shamed Satan and humiliated him, why believe anyone or anything that says that Jesus plus some rules have to be followed? Instead verse 7, we overflow with thanksgiving. What do you think you are missing out on? Jesus won and in him we share in the victory. There is a parade. The captives are at the front. Satan and his demons spew their lies and make you think they have power. Then comes all the things that have been stripped away — the lies, the pride, the shame and then comes us. We are clean, forgiven, alive, triumphant, walking with our heads held high and at the back of the procession is Jesus in the robes of the king. Riding in a chariot drawn by four horses. This is the image that Paul had seen in his day. And while the image is lost on us, to our family from 2000 years ago, it reminded them that they shared in that victory.

So what’s the image that resonates for us? Our baptism. We come to the cross (enter the water). We confess our faith. We are buried (we die; our sins are stripped away). We come up out of the water (the energy of God brings us up) alive. Overflowing with thankfulness. So much thankfulness that it erupts out of us. We walk with Jesus holy, forgiven, energized, free, no shame. Live like that. Invitation.

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