The Victory of the Cross

I found this series really helpful as we head towards Good Friday and Easter. No matter how long you've been a Christian—whether it's days or decades—getting a better insight into what the cross is about and the depth of what Jesus accomplished is invaluable.

Rethinking Good Friday

When I looked up definitions of Good Friday, I found that many describe it as "a solemn day of mourning." But I have to push back on that word—mourning. Yes, we should reflect on what Jesus endured, but the cross is not primarily a day of mourning. It's a day of celebration.

Sometimes when we look at Easter from the outside, we think: the cross is where Jesus was defeated, and then in that waiting period before the resurrection, he turns that defeat into victory. But that's not quite right. The victory is at the cross itself.

Let me use an illustration. Think about exam season. Years of hard work go into preparing for exams—months or years of effort. The day of the exam, the work is done and it's over. Then there's a waiting period. Finally, results day comes. The envelopes open, and you see what's been achieved by all that work. You celebrate.

But here's the key: you're not celebrating what happened on results day. You're celebrating what happened before—the effort, the work, the victory that was already won. In fact, families often celebrate more at the end of the exams than on results day, not just because it's over, but because of the pride and effort that went into reaching that point.

This is how we should view the cross. We celebrate the victory at the cross itself, and then again at the resurrection. We reflect on the horror Jesus endured for that victory, but we celebrate the victory that was won there—not mourn it.

Dead in Sin, Made Alive in Christ

Let's look at what Scripture tells us. Colossians 2:13-15 says:

When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross. And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.

First, you were dead. If you're a Christian here this morning, you were dead. The Bible is very clear: "There is no one righteous, not even one; all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God." And "the wages of sin is death." Anything we do—no matter how small—that falls outside of God's perfect holiness is sin, and it is punishable by death. You are dead until Christ deals with it.

But God made you alive with Christ. This is the transformation. You have been made alive.

The text also mentions "the uncircumcision of your flesh." In the old covenant, circumcision was a permanent physical mark showing that someone belonged to the people of God. What Paul is saying is this: before Christ, you didn't even have that mark. There was nothing connecting you to God. You were as far separated from Him as you could possibly be. And in that state, God made you alive in Christ.

Your Record Canceled

Now here's where it gets powerful. The passage says He "canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness."

The word for "charge" here is the same word for "handwriting." It refers to a written, handwritten record—like a ledger, an account book. And the idea is this: there is a written record of your life.

Imagine your own record. For me, it would probably cover about a week just with the things I've done wrong. Austin got cut up in traffic and called someone names. Austin let someone in, then got annoyed they didn't wave to say thank you. Time and time again, I didn't love my neighbor as myself. I didn't even love my family as myself. I spent too long on my phone. A whole load of stuff I wouldn't want to read out loud. A written record of wrongs.

And Jesus said: This record of your wrongs? I've canceled it. I've forgiven it. I've paid for it. It's done. It's been propitiated, atoned for, reconciled, redeemed—every single one of those things. It's done.

But it doesn't stop there.

Nailed to the Cross

The next verse says: "He takes it away, nailing it to the cross."

You don't just have a record that's crossed out. Your record is gone. It's taken away. It is finished.

This means that anything in your future—Satan has no record to refer to. It is gone. It is done. When we hear in those beautiful wedding sermons from 1 Corinthians 13 that "love keeps no record of wrongs," it means there is no record. It's gone.

Satan is "the accuser," and the accuser has no evidence to accuse you. It is gone.

When Romans crucified somebody, they would write the person's crime on a board and nail it to the cross. That way, anyone passing by would know why this person was being crucified. When Jesus was crucified, He had committed no sin. There was no crime. So "King of the Jews" was written above His head—a prophetic statement. The Jewish leaders questioned it: "You can't write that; that's not a sin; that's not a crime."

But we're told in Colossians that our crimes, our sins, are what was nailed on that cross. Our sins are there because those are the things He has died for. Nailed to the cross. Gone from us. All on Him.

The Powers Disarmed

The passage continues: "Having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross."

This is the triumph. This is the victory right here.

When the New Testament talks about "powers and authorities," it's generally referring to spiritual powers—the powers of darkness, Satan, evil spirits, the powers and authorities that would accuse us. And here we're told He has disarmed them and made a public spectacle of them.

The original readers would not have missed the irony: Jesus was stripped. He was disarmed. He was marched in a triumphal procession toward the cross, made a public spectacle of, shamed, about to be killed. And while that was happening, He was disarming the powers and authorities that would accuse you. He was stripping them of all their power. He was stripping them of all the evidence they would hold against you.

So when the accuser shows up—and Satan does show up, especially in our minds—he might say, "Yeah, but he did this, so he should suffer with me in hell." And God says, "Where's your evidence?"

"Well, I know enough about it. I've whispered it in his ear enough times."

"Yeah, but where's your evidence?"

And when the deceiver is done deceiving, he has to admit: he has nothing. It's gone. He's got nothing on you. You are free.

Clothed in His Righteousness

But it doesn't even stop there. As we heard last week from 2 Corinthians 5:21: "God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God."

Not only does He take away your sin—past, present, and future—but He clothes you in His righteousness. He pours His righteousness on you. You are completely covered in His righteousness. It's as if every righteous act of Christ is yours. You are in Him.

Romans 3 tells us: "This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe."

If you believe, this is yours. Your sin is gone. You have righteousness. You now have the same access to the Father as God the Son—completely, forever. And there is nothing that can get in the way of that. You're free. You have been made holy and perfect in God's sight.

So God doesn't just welcome you in by the skin of your teeth. You're welcomed in as one, the same as Jesus, for eternity.

If you're not a Christian here this morning, if you don't know this for yourself, you can have it today. Anyone who believes can have it. Just believe and follow Him, and your sin—past, present, and future—is gone. You'll be clothed in the righteousness of God forever.

The Challenge: Don't Focus on Your Sin

When we get something clean, new, and perfect, we have a desire to keep it that way. Just look at anyone in Gen Z with white trainers!

But here's where many of us struggle. I spent far too much of my life concentrating on the sins I want to get rid of rather than concentrating on Him who's already got rid of them. And I have a feeling there are some of you right now who have been beating yourself up about something. You've got that thought pattern: "God, I've done that sin again. I'm still struggling with that. I need your forgiveness." You've probably asked multiple times, and you're really fighting it. "God, will you break through?"

But here's what happens: when we do that, our mind is on us and the sin. That's not what He's asked for.

Colossians 3:1-3 tells us:

Since then you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on the things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on the things above, not on earthly things; for you died and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.

Set your heart and mind on Him. It's that straightforward.

Because as we do that with the power of the Holy Spirit, we get breakthrough. We need to get our minds off our sin and onto Him who has already won the victory over it. As we do that, we will see breakthrough.

If this is you this morning, I really want to encourage you: push through. Stop concentrating on the sin. Start concentrating on Him who has already won the victory over it.

Celebration and Reflection

This Good Friday, of course we should reflect. Of course we should reflect on what Jesus endured to make this possible. But we should celebrate. We should celebrate this victory that He has won.

We fix our hearts and minds on Him because He has won it. So that by the time we get to the resurrection, there's even more joy—because of what the outcome of what He's done is.

Let's do that now. Let's fix our hearts and minds on Him as we move forward.