Colossians 2:11–15 Entering into this fullness is not something you figure out or achieve. It’s not a matter of being circumcised or keeping a long list of laws. No, you’re already in—insiders—not through some secretive initiation rite but rather through what Christ has already gone through for you, destroying the power of sin. If it’s an initiation ritual you’re after, you’ve already been through it by submitting to baptism. Going under the water was a burial of your old life; coming up out of it was a resurrection, God raising you from the dead as he did Christ. When you were stuck in your old sin-dead life, you were incapable of responding to God. God brought you alive—right along with Christ! Think of it! All sins forgiven, the slate wiped clean, that old arrest warrant canceled and nailed to Christ’s cross. He stripped all the spiritual tyrants in the universe of their sham authority at the Cross and marched them naked through the streets. (The Message)

 

After Jesus rose from the dead, He appeared many times to many people. As we read the account of Christ meeting with His men, in John 21:1–23, we became aware of the fact that He did some things for them that only a risen Savior could do. 1) He Finds His Sheep, 2) He Feeds His Servants, 3) He Fellowships With His Saints, 4) He Forgives Your Sins, 5) He Refocuses Your Service.