The Victory of the Cross

Colossians 2:13-15-'When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of our sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave all our sins, having cancelled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross. And having disarmed the powers and authorities, made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.
As we come to Good Friday and Easter, I want to reflect a bit on the meaning of these special days. For now, I want to reflect on Good Friday-the day we remember Christ's death and suffering for us. By all appearances, it seems that Christ's suffering and death were a loss. He was humiliated, tortured and killed. Death is usually pretty final. There had been other so called Messiahs and other religious leaders and they all died. But for Christ, death was gain...his death brought victory-even more so, his resurrection. But even in His death, he won. How amazing is that! The last line there about triumphing is a 'metaphor that recalls a Roman general leading his captives on parade in a city to show as evidence of his complete victory' (footnotes from NIV Study Bible). Through his sacrifice, he won. In the greatest symbol of love and giving, he won. This act was something so different from anything else before or since. In his suffering and death, we are offered forgiveness for our sins. I encourage you all to reflect on and accept Christ, his Cross and the victory that came from it. In a few days, I will have a scripture/essay about Christ's resurrection.