The cross of Jesus Christ is not only the place where sinners are forgiven. It is also the place where Satan was defeated. The two truths are inseparable. Wherever the gospel is preached, the power of the devil is broken, because the cross answered the legal claims that gave him power over fallen humanity.

Paul makes this connection explicit in Colossians 2:14-15: "Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross; and having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it." The cross was a public, legal, cosmic triumph over Satan and his entire hierarchy.

To understand spiritual warfare without the cross is to fight with the wrong weapons. Many people imagine spiritual warfare as a struggle between two nearly equal powers, with the believer trying to summon enough faith or force to push back the darkness. That is not biblical warfare. Biblical warfare is the believer standing in a victory already won at Calvary and enforcing the terms of Christ's triumph.

Paul says there was a "handwriting of ordinances that was against us" Colossians 2:14. This is legal language. The law of God had been violated by human sin, and the violation created a debt. Every human being stands guilty before the law. The "handwriting" is the record of that guilt, the indictment that condemns.

Satan used this indictment as a weapon. He is the accuser. Day and night he stood before God saying, "This one sinned. This one is guilty. This one deserves death." His accusations were not fabricated out of nothing. They were based on facts. You did sin. I did sin. The whole human race did sin. The accuser had a case.

But at the cross, Jesus took that handwriting and nailed it to His cross. This means He took the indictment against us and absorbed its penalty in His own body. The charges were paid. The debt was canceled. The indictment was blotted out. When God raised Jesus from the dead, He was declaring that the legal case against believing sinners was closed forever.

This is why Romans 8:33-34 asks, "Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth. Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again." Satan can accuse, but he cannot condemn. The handwriting is nailed to the cross.

Having canceled the legal debt, Christ "spoiled principalities and powers" Colossians 2:15. The word "spoiled" means to disarm, to strip a defeated enemy of his armor and weapons. Imagine a victorious general stripping the weapons from a defeated army and parading them through the streets. That is what Christ did at the cross to Satan's entire hierarchy.

Principalities, powers, rulers of darkness, spiritual wickedness in high places — these are not merely human institutions. They are real spirit-beings who exercise delegated authority in Satan's kingdom Ephesians 6:12. They had weapons. They had accusations. They had lies. They had death threats. At the cross, Christ took those weapons away.

Hebrews 2:14 explains the heart of this disarmament: "that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is the devil; and deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage." Satan's great weapon was death. Death was the wages of sin, the executioner of the guilty, the terror behind every tyranny. At the cross, Jesus died. By dying, He broke the power of death. By rising, He proved that death no longer had dominion over Him.

The devil still roars, but his teeth have been pulled. He can tempt, accuse, deceive, and afflict, but he cannot damn. He cannot separate the believer from God. He cannot revoke the purchase of the cross. His weapons are reduced to harassment, because his legal power has been stripped.

Paul says Christ "made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it" Colossians 2:15. The word "triumph" was a Roman military term. When a Roman general won a decisive victory, he returned to Rome with a triumphal procession. The conquered kings and generals walked in chains behind his chariot. The spoils of war were displayed. The whole city saw the greatness of the victor.

At the cross, Jesus led such a procession. The principalities and powers who thought they had defeated Him were themselves defeated and displayed. The cross looked like shame to the world, but in the spirit realm it was a triumphal parade. The devil entered the crucifixion thinking he would destroy the Son. He left stripped of his armor and exposed before the universe.

This is why the cross is foolishness to the Greeks and a stumblingblock to the Jews, but to us who are saved it is the power of God and the wisdom of God 1 Corinthians 1:23-24. The world saw weakness. Heaven saw conquest. We must train our eyes to see what heaven sees. The cross is not a tragedy. It is a throne.