Get Naked?

In this way, he disarmed the spiritual rulers and authorities. He shamed them publicly by his victory over them on the cross. [Colossians 2.15]

I must apologize for the title of this article. However, by the time you finish reading what follows, you will understand also why it was absolutely necessary.

It was initially hard to settle upon what to write about today as Paul's letter to the Colossians is packed with insight! However, I concluded today that verse 2.15 above would be my springboard.

What do we know about spiritual rulers and authorities? We know that Jesus' battle with them was and is no different than our battle with them:

For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places. [Ephesians 6.12]

Colossians 2.15 sheds all the light we need to understand the method Jesus used to defeat spiritual rulers and authorities! He defeated them on the Cross! So then, if we use the context of Ephesians 6 to understand the details of how Jesus shamed spiritual rulers and authorities on the Cross, we get this:

Therefore, put on every piece of God’s armor so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil. Then after the battle you will still be standing firm. Stand your ground, putting on the belt of truth and the body armor of God’s righteousness. For shoes, put on the peace that comes from the Good News so that you will be fully prepared. In addition to all of these, hold up the shield of faith to stop the fiery arrows of the devil. Put on salvation as your helmet, and take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. [Ephesians 6.13-17]

Jesus utilized the full armor of God to defeat spiritual rulers and authorities! 

The armor of God, consequently, looks much different on the Cross than the way modern Christianity depicts it! 

The scriptures leave no doubt that Jesus was, at very least, stripped of all his outer clothing on the Cross. And, as humiliation was a definite factor in Roman crucifixion, it is almost certain that Jesus was entirely naked. This is hardly the picture of the full armor of God we have been led to envision! But it was in the vulnerability of His physical nakedness that the full armor of God came into spiritual focus. In fact, every spiritual "piece of God's armor," in reality, is just the opposite of our physical idea of it! Physically speaking, Jesus was entirely exposed and vulnerable. He had been stripped of His clothing and any pretense of dignity or pride.

If we can "see" it, Jesus' nakedness provided the perfect palette upon which God' full armor was masterfully painted for us. In fact, God's armor will never be seen until man's solutions - man's worldly defenses - are removed. Until man is stripped of all his resources, God's armor will not be seen.

Just a few sentences earlier, Paul wrote this:

Don’t let anyone capture you with empty philosophies and high-sounding nonsense that come from human thinking and from the spiritual powers of this world, rather than from Christ. [Colossians 2.8]

Modern Church depictions of a gloriously adorned and armed soldier (when considering the full armor of God) are the product of human thinking - they are NOT the true and accurate picture Jesus Christ painted on the Cross!

So, now that we have established this truth, let's talk about our being clothed with the full armor of God! Where does it start? It starts with us being stripped as bare as Jesus on His Cross (thus, this article's title Get Naked?). AND, the truth mentioned heretofore and following leaves no question as to when and where our nakedness is to take place:

Then he said to the crowd, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross daily, and follow me. [Luke 9.23]

Until we "get naked," hanging onto not one thread of human defense, spiritual pretense or personal pride, God's full armor cannot and will not be seen. In context of Jesus' discussion in Luke 9, Jesus went right on to say:

If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it. And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but are yourself lost or destroyed? If anyone is ashamed of me and my message, the Son of Man will be ashamed of that person when he returns in his glory and in the glory of the Father and the holy angels. [Luke 9.24-26]

How do we show solidarity with Jesus' on the Cross? We unashamedly strip ourselves of every thread (giving exposure to God's full armor) and get on our cross! For a more thorough discussion of the full armor of God and our cross, see the articles So You Understand? and Forgive Us!). 

This article's title is strategically meant to draw attention to the seriousness of the subject matter! Jesus carried nothing of human design or manufacture to the Cross with Him. Think about that. We are tasked with the same goal EVERY DAY.

Father, help us to unlearn false ideas about Your full armor. Help us to see that Your full armor does not fit over our worldly adornments (regardless how satisfying they are to us). Help us to think about it. Help us to see the truth of Jesus' nakedness and vulnerability on the Cross. Help us to see the truth of Him leaving us no option but to take up our own cross every day. So be it.