11. Eph 4:7-10 Jesus' Defeat of the Powers of Darkness
- All of us suffer from the accusing inner voices of self-condemnation.
- The powers of darkness are constantly speaking lies into us.
- But victory from these voices is available and we can all experience the freedom that Jesus wants us to have.
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1. Intro: Powers of Darkness in Ephesians
Ephesians 4:7-10
- Ἑνὶ δὲ ἑκάστῳ ἡμῶν ἐδόθη ἡ χάρις κατὰ τὸ μέτρον τῆς δωρεᾶς τοῦ Χριστοῦ. Now to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ’s gift.
- διὸ λέγει· Therefore it says:
Ἀναβὰς εἰς ὕψος When he ascended on high
ᾐχμαλώτευσεν αἰχμαλωσίαν, he took the captives captive
ἔδωκεν δόματα τοῖς ἀνθρώποις. he gave gifts to [his] people (Ps.68:18)
- τὸ δὲ Ἀνέβη τί ἐστιν “He ascended” – what does it mean
εἰ μὴ ὅτι καὶ κατέβη εἰς τὰ κατώτερα μέρη τῆς γῆς; but that he had also descended to the lower parts of the earth?
- ὁ καταβὰς The one who descended
αὐτός ἐστιν καὶ ὁ ἀναβὰς ὑπεράνω πάντων τῶν οὐρανῶν, ἵνα πληρώσῃ τὰ πάντα. is also the one who ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things.
Translation and structure by Andrew Fountain
- Summary:
2. The Argument of Col 2:8-23
Colossians 2:8-23
Colossians 2:8-23
Key: united with Jesus the head over demons in death & resurrection / human rules- Beware lest anyone carry you off as spoil
through philosophy and empty deceit,
according to the tradition of men,
according to the elemental spirits of the world,
and not according to Christ.
- For in him dwells all the fullness of Deity in bodily form;
- and you have been made full in him,
who is the head of all power and authority.
- In him you were also circumcised
with a circumcision made without hands,
in stripping off the body of the flesh,
in the circumcision of Christ, - buried together with him in baptism,
in whom you were also raised together with him
through faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead. - And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh,
he made alive together with him, - forgiving us all trespasses,
- wiping out the record of debt against us with its decrees,
that which was hostile to us, even this he has removed out of the way,
nailing it to the cross.
- Having stripped powers and authorities,
he made a public display of them, triumphing over them in it.
- Therefore let no one judge you in food or in drink,
or regarding a festival or a new moon or Sabbaths, - which are a shadow of things to come,
but the reality [body] is of Christ.
- Let no one disqualify you [from the prize],
insisting on self-abasement and worship of angels,
taking his stand on [visions] he has seen,
puffed up without reason by his fleshly mind, - and not holding fast to the head,
from whom all the body, nourished and knit together through the joints and ligaments,
grows with a growth that is from God. - If you died together with Christ
from elemental spirits of the world,
why, as if living in the world,
do you submit to regulations, 21”handle not, taste not, touch not,” - (which all concern things destined to perish with use)
according to the commandments and teachings of men? - These things indeed have an appearance of wisdom
in self-imposed religion, self-abasement, and unsparing treatment of the body,
but are of no value against the indulgence of the flesh.
3. What is the Basis of the False Judgement?
- The primary purpose for these wrong behaviors is an attempt to remove guilt,
but the end of v.23 Paul describes these as being “of no value against the indulgence of the flesh”
- suggests an additional purpose—to motivate against future wrong-doing.
- Here we have parallels with practices in our own society, of self-harming, eating disorders and self-imposed restrictive lifestyles.
4. Who are the accusers and how are we to answer them?
- The verses that bracket the central statement of union with Christ both make reference to angelic beings
- Clinton Arnold is a very highly respected scholar who has devoted much of his life to researching the local religious backgrounds to Paul’s epistles, and what Paul’s words meant in their context.
- The fact that by dying for our sins, Jesus has stripped them, strongly suggests that it is their power to accuse that has been taken away.
- And then, at the beginning (v.8) and end (v.20) of our passage we have reference to “elemental spirits”.
- They seem to function slightly differently in the argument.
- Rather than being judges, they seem to draw us into attempts to appease our guilt by doing penance.
- Most of us have a voice inside us that is saying:
- We can think of the example of Martin Luther before he came to faith.
- Lying in snow the naked all night, beating himself, extreme self-punishing behaviour
- Sure, it was his conscience that told him he was a sinner
- But what was it driving him to this response?
- Satan was using his feelings of guilt to try and get him to kill himself!
- I have talked about self-punishment, but the other common way of dealing with these voices is to numb them out
- How do people numb these voices?
- with alcohol, drugs, or binging on Netflix, shopping or social media.
- My final conclusion is that we must be constantly pointing people to Christ’s victory on the cross, not just over our explicit sin, but all our shortcomings.
- If we had time we would look at Romans 8:31:39 “Nothing shall separate us” passage which addresses this same issue, and ends with a very powerful corrective.
- If you have truly done something wrong,
- then simply bring it to Jesus for forgiveness
- and then tell the voices to be quiet. They are defeated!
(based on ESV with changes by Andrew Fountain)