Read
Colossians 2:13–15 (NIV)
13 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, 14 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. 15 And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.
2 Corinthians 2:14–16 (TNIV)
14 But thanks be to God, who always leads us as captives in Christ’s triumphal procession and uses us to spread the aroma of the knowledge of him everywhere. 15 For we are to God the pleasing aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. 16 To the one we are an aroma that brings death; to the other, an aroma that brings life. And who is equal to such a task?
Meet Each Other In the Text
What is the best financial deal that ever happened to you?
How many hits does it take you to drive in a nail?
What is the biggest public spectacle you have ever attended?
What is the biggest victory you have ever seen?
What is your favorite smell? What is your least favorite smell?
Dig Into the Text
What does it mean to be dead in sin?
What is our “legal indebtedness?”
What weapons did the “power and authorities” have that they no longer have?
Who are the captives in the first parade? In the second? Why does Paul use the parade in both of these ways?
What were the smells in the parade? How is the death smell also life giving?
Apply the Text
How does this passage help us to resist Satan?
What image should we put in our minds when we think about “the powers and authorities”?
How could you spread the scent of love to the people watching the parade of life?