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Feb 10, 2013

The Wonder of the Cross (Part 12)

Passage: 1 Peter 2:20-25

Preacher: Tim Badal

Series:Strangers in a Strange Land

Detail:

Peter has laid forth a difficult theme and difficult road ahead for his readers in the book of 1 Peter.  He says in chapter one, “You shall be holy, for I [God] am holy” (1 Peter 1:16).  That is a tall order in a world full of temptation and sin.  Our family and friends seem to thrive in lifestyles that run contrary to God’s Word.  Peter is calling us to be holy and not be conformed to the passions and pursuits of this world but to be self-controlled (1:13-14). 

    • We are to conduct ourselves with reverent fear knowing that the God Whom we serve and call Father is One Who judges each man’s works with impartiality (1:17). 
    • This life of holiness is to be seen in our lives as believers as we live out the “one another” commands.  The love we show is to be selfless and sincere. 
    • This holiness is calling us to be submissive and obedient to the governing authorities God has placed over us (2:13-17). 
    • This holiness gives us an insatiable appetite for God’s Word (2:2). 
    • This holiness calls us to put away all deceit, malice, envy, hypocrisy and slander (2:1) so that we can truly taste and see the goodness of God in a life of holiness (2:3).

Yet as Peter has unveiled all of this, I wonder if the readers in the first century—and many of you today—who read this letter for the first time might have said, “Peter, you don’t understand.  The world I live in is far too difficult to be holy.  The passions I have are too strong to defend against.  The situation I find myself in is so frustrating it’s impossible not to sin.  The authorities over me—the boss and employer I have—are so hostile and corrupt it is impossible to submit.  The persecution and pain this world is putting on me is bringing me to my end.”  Peter seems to recognize our reaction.  He says, “This call of holiness in a world of suffering can only be made a reality when we put our eyes on Jesus—when we put our focus and attention on Him.”

To be able to do that, we need to look at Jesus in a way that maybe we have forgotten.  Maybe some of our wonder has gone away.  My aim in this message is to remind us of the truth of Jesus’ sacrifice.  At the end of the message, I’m going to show a video to see in picture what we know in word—this is the sacrifice Christ made.  We need to do some business with God and reclaim the wonder and mystery of Christ’s sacrificial death on the cross.

Now let’s look to the words of Peter, an eyewitness to Jesus’ sufferings and resurrection.  Let’s look at our text.  1 Peter 2:21-25 says:

21 For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps.  22 He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth.  23 When he [Jesus] was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he [Jesus] suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him [His father] who judges justly.  24 He [Jesus] himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness.  By his wounds you have been healed.  25 For you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.

Let’s pray.

Father God, bless the reading of Your Word today.  Remind us of the truth contained in this short passage we will be looking at.  I pray that the cross would be central to the preaching of this church—not only today but also in the days and years to come.  I pray that the proclamation of Your gospel—that You were crucified, buried and rose for the forgiveness of our sins—would be proclaimed from every church pulpit today.  I pray that people will come to saving knowledge of You—that today would be the day of salvation for those who have never trusted You as their Savior.  I pray that they would bow the knee and give their life to You as their Lord and Savior.

Lord, I also pray for those of us who have heard this story for a long time and in some ways feel like we have been there and done that.  I pray that You would reclaim in our hearts a wondrous awe and reverent fear for what You did when You placed Your Son on that cross.  Lord, let us never forget the old rugged cross and the price He paid.  Let us be reminded of what You did for us once and for all to deal with our sin.  You did it to cleanse us of all unrighteousness so that we can now live in righteousness and be—not a wandering people—but a people of Your flock and fold; that we may be guarded and shepherded by You alone.  Give us the grace we need to do this, Lord.  In Christ’s name we pray.  Amen.

There’s an idiom that rings true in many facets of life: familiarity breeds contempt.  The idea of this truism is the more acquainted we become with something, the less we come to treasure it or see it for its worth and value.  This isn’t any more true than in the life of an average Christian who sees the cross, hears the gospel message, has studied this wondrous story and its meaning but has lost the wonder of it.  Because we know the outcome of this story and are familiar with it, we lose the wonder of it all.  Let me ask you—have you lost the wonder of the cross?  Has it become routine because you go to church every week, listen to a sermon and sing some songs?  Have you forgotten the grace that saved you?  Have you lost that first love?  Do you find yourself just kind of saying repeatedly, “What more is there to the gospel?  There’s got to be more to this”?  Have you lost the wonder of the sacrifice?

Peter seems to say we can know the answers to these questions by looking at our heart of submission—especially in the light of great persecution.  The Apostle Paul hit it on the head when he said in Philippians 3:10 that he wanted to “know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death.”  Paul wanted to know this wonder of the cross.  How are we to share in the sufferings of Christ in His death?  How are we to continue having this wonder for the cross of Christ?  Peter has told us repeatedly, “Partaking in Christ’s death involves suffering for doing good and persecution for being a light in a world of darkness.”  Sadly, far too few of us are partaking in that holiness on a daily basis for one reason: we don’t want to suffer.  We don’t want to endure hardship.  So we just find ourselves masking our Christianity to make it look like the lives of everyday people.  People don’t know we’re Christians or that we’re followers of Jesus Christ.  We live good lives but the last thing we want to do is “out ourselves” as a follower of His—as a person who has been wondrously changed by the power of the cross from 2,000 years ago.

Some of us have lost that wonder and mystery because we have forgotten the agony and misery of the cross.  Here Peter reminds us we need to renew the wonder.  How do we do it?  Peter gives us three headings.  We need to see Jesus as:

    1. The Standard
    2. The Savior
    3. The Shepherd

Jesus has shown the world these three attributes through His submissive action.  This is how He wants us to live amidst suffering so that as wandering sheep, we might be found in a way that we may live the abundant life amidst difficult suffering and pain.  Let’s look at each of these headings.

1.    Jesus as the Standard

We finished up last week in verse 21 where we’re reminded of this truth: “For to this you have been called.”  What have we been called to?  We’ve been called to suffer.  For some of you, that’s not your idea of Christianity.  “Wait a minute Tim, that’s the wrong word.  I’ve been called to abundant life.”  Yes, abundant life in Christ—which is seen in suffering because we can see all trials as joy.  Jesus reminds us that we are called to suffer.  Peter says we “have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps.”

The writer of Hebrews reminds us of a related truth.  Turn to Hebrews 4 just for a moment.  This passage reminds us that Jesus has suffered, endured, gone through what we have and He is able to sympathize with us.  Hebrews 4:14 says, “Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession.”  What’s the confession?  We have a High Priest.  He’s able to sympathize with our weaknesses.  He is One Who has been tempted in every respect as we are, yet is without sin.  We’ve got a High Priest Who knows what we’re going through and recognizes what it is to suffer—yet to do so without sin.

Some of you are suffering great hardships right now.  I don’t want to diminish that one bit.  That is why Peter says, “Turn your eyes to Jesus—not to your neighbor, your favorite preacher or some other person who has walked a difficult life.  Turn your eyes to Jesus.  He’s the standard.”  Notice what we’re called to do that Hebrews reminds us of and is true as well in 1 Peter.  Verse 16 says, “Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”  We’re to go to Jesus so that we may receive grace and mercy in our time of need.  So whatever struggles or sufferings you find yourself dealing with, Peter is reminding us of the same thing Hebrews reminds us of—we are to turn to Jesus in our times of weakness, trials and temptations.  It is there we receive grace and mercy.

Here’s the amazing thing of what the writer of Hebrews is saying.  Prior to the incarnation, God knew and understood suffering.  He knew it from an intellectual standpoint.  But God in His perfection had never suffered.  In His perfection, God had never dealt with that kind of pain.  It wasn’t until the incarnation when God put on flesh and Jesus walked this earth that He felt the sting of suffering.  We don’t serve a God Who says, “Yeah, I guess I feel your pain but I’ve never been in your situation.”  No!  We have a God Who not only feels our pain but also has felt the sting and pain of suffering.  He did so without sin.  Therefore, Jesus is our example.  He is the standard.

In 1 Peter 2:21 we see that Christ is our example.  The word “example” is the Greek word hypogrammos.  Hypogrammos means a picture.  It gives the picture of an educational classroom of Greek schoolchildren.  The best way to explain it is that the teacher would go to the “blackboard” and teach the students their ABC’s.  The teacher would write “A,” “B” etc.  I know that’s not the Greek alphabet but you know the English one better so that’s what I’m using.  The teacher would write the letters of the alphabet.  Then the students’ job was to go to the blackboard and trace the teacher’s letters.  In that way, the teacher was instilling knowledge into the minds of the students as to knowing their ABC’s and how to write them.  The students’ job was to get as close as possible, to trace out the letters to the best of their ability, to follow their teacher’s example.

Peter is saying that Jesus is our example.  He’s the great teacher, leader and Messiah and He has left us an example.  He left it on the spiritual chalkboard for us so we can follow and trace His ways.  Did you know holiness is not about a list of do’s and don’ts?  Some of you have this idea that holiness is doing all the right things and staying away from the bad things.  It’s not that.  That’s stale.  That’s duty.  Jesus calls us to trace His ways.  We are to follow Him.  He has set the example—the direction.  Holiness means we get as close to the example of our Teacher Jesus as possible.  Holiness is just trying to get as close to the lines that Jesus demonstrated.  We’re trying to make our letters look like His; we’re trying to make our lives look like His.  You know the problem with holiness?   You and I look at the other students in the room and say, “Well, look how messed up they are!  They’re all over the place.  They’re scribbling all around.  They’re not even close.  I’m better than they are.”  Holiness is not about being better than each other.  Holiness is about how close we are to the Savior’s example—our King’s letters.  As Christians, we need to begin to trace out the life and example of Jesus.

How does Peter say we do this?  How do we begin?  We have to get as close to Jesus as possible.  C.S. Lewis says this in his book Mere Christianity, “If you want to get warm you must stand near the fire; if you want to get wet you must get into the water.  If you want joy, power, peace, eternal life you must get close to, or even into the thing that has them.”  Who has those things?  Jesus Christ.  You have to get close to Him.  Some of you want to be told what you can do or what you can’t do to get holiness.  Let me tell you what you can do—get as close to Jesus as possible.  Follow His ways.  Follow in His steps.

Peter learned and understood this.  This wasn’t just something he was writing theoretically.  After three and a half years of walking and following in the example and steps of Jesus, Peter came to know what the Scriptures said.  Jesus said, “When a student is fully taught, he becomes like his teacher” (Luke 6:40).  Peter and John stood before the Sanhedrin being questioned and they were hit with questions about Who Jesus was and all kinds of theological issues came up.  Peter and John—though they were unlearned men—answered and gave responses.  The Sanhedrin stood back amazed.  The response was simple: “These men have walked with Jesus.”  That’s holiness.

Holiness happens when the world sees you and recognizes that you’ve been with Jesus.  Does your workplace see that this morning?  Does your neighborhood see that?  Do your children and your spouse see that?  Does our government see that Christians are walking with Jesus?  Holiness is not a list of do’s and don’ts.  It is following an example.  It’s not just in the words we say but also in the actions we do.  It’s that in good and bad times, people see Jesus when they look at us.

So notice what Peter says, “Okay.  We’re in difficult times.  How do we live out holiness in a world of debauchery, sin, persecution and pain?”  We see the answer in Christ’s suffering.  He says, “The example He’s given us is that He suffered for us and committed no sin in that suffering.”  First Peter 2:22-23 says, “He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth.  When he was reviled, he did not revile in return.”

Let’s stop there for a moment.  Let’s look at the standard Jesus gives us:

In His time of suffering, Jesus did not retaliate.  Jesus is our standard of holiness.  If we want to have holiness amidst suffering, we must look at Jesus.  When we see Jesus, we don’t see One Who retaliates.  Let’s remember that Peter is an eyewitness.  Peter isn’t putting together the children’s Bible book and just making Christ out to be a great guy.  Peter is dealing with his own sin and his own unwillingness to suffer well and He sees—from a distance the gospel writers remind us—that Jesus does not retaliate.  The word “reviled” (loidoreō) speaks of insulting and abusive language.  The people let Jesus have it.  They vilified Him.  They spoke words and did things to provoke a response from Jesus.  If you were to read every one of the things Jesus endured in the biblical narrative, you would see that the enemies of God were trying to elicit a response from Jesus.  With every punch it was, “Come on Jesus!  Punch back!”  With every evil thing said it was, “Come on Jesus!  Revile back!  Retaliate!  Stake Your claim.  You say You’re Jesus.  You say You’re the Messiah.  Do something about it.”  Everything they did was to get Jesus to retaliate.

Turn in your Bibles to the Gospel of Matthew for a moment.  Let’s be reminded of this truth in Matthew 26:65-68:

Then the high priest tore his robes and said, “He has uttered blasphemy.  What further witnesses do we need?  You have now heard his blasphemy.  What is your judgment?”  They answered, “He deserves death.”  Then they spit in his face and struck him.  And some slapped him, saying, “Prophesy to us, you Christ!  Who is it that struck you?”

They were looking for a response out of Jesus.  With every blow to the face and every spit, they were looking for Him to retaliate.

Look ahead at Matthew 27:12-14 when He was before Pilate:

Now Jesus stood before the governor, and the governor asked him, “Are you the King of the Jews?”  Jesus said, “You have said so.”  But when he was accused by the chief priests and elders, he gave no answer.  Then Pilate said to him, “Do you not hear how many things they testify against you?”  [Pilate’s saying, “Speak up!  They’re accusing you of stuff, Dude!”]
But he gave him no answer, not even to a single charge, so that the governor was greatly amazed.

Go on to verses 28-31.  It tells us that the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the governor’s headquarters and gathered the whole battalion before Him.  He was before everybody.  This is what they did:

And they stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him, and twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on his head and put a reed in his right hand.  And kneeling before him, they mocked him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!”  And they spit on him and took the reed and struck him on the head.  And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the robe and put his own clothes on him and led him away to crucify him.

Look at verses 38-44:

Then two robbers were crucified with him, one on the right and one on the left.

And those who passed by [These passersby are just bystanders—you would think they would be sad about what was going on.  Who wants to see a man die?  But notice what Matthew reminds us of.]

And those who passed by derided him, wagging their heads and saying, “You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself!  [Prove Your deity to us!]  If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross.” 

So also the chief priests, with the scribes and elders [it wasn’t just bystanders], mocked him, saying, “He saved others; he cannot save himself.  He is the King of Israel; let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him.  He trusts in God; let God deliver him now, if he desires him.  For he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’” 

[Notice who else gets into it.]  And the robbers who were crucified with him also reviled him in the same way.

They vilified Him with abuse after abuse.  It came from people who had watched Jesus’ ministry, from those who had never seen His ministry and even from guilty sinners on crosses for crimes they had committed.  Do you know the human instinct when that happens?  It’s to respond.  Have you ever been accused of something?  Has someone ever said something about you that is wrong?  The natural desire is for your blood to boil because you say, “That’s not true.  That’s not right.  Let me set the record straight.”  Yet Jesus suffered unjustly without retaliating.

You need to know that Peter understood this instinct.  Remember John 18:1-11 when Jesus was arrested.  The battalion came to take Him away.  Peter—Mr. Spartacus himself—pulled his sword out.  “You don’t mess with Jesus!  I’ll show you who’s boss!”  He swung that sword with such utter perfection and accuracy that he cut off the ear of a soldier in the battalion.  What did Jesus do?  It was a perfect opportunity for Him to say, “That’s what you get for trying to arrest Me.  Serves you right.”  Instead, He pushed Peter out of the way, told him to put away his sword and reattached the ear of the man to make him whole again.

You might say, “Tim, why does Peter bring all this up?”  He does so because people were suffering in Peter’s day.  The readers of his letter were struggling with arrests, persecution, all kinds of mocking and all kinds of reviling in their everyday lives.  I can assume several of you today have some level of reviling going on in your lives.  Peter is reminding us that we are not to retaliate just as Jesus did not retaliate.  “But everything in me says I should!”  But Jesus says, “No.  I didn’t retaliate.  If I’m your example—your standard—then you shouldn’t retaliate either.”

In His time of suffering, Jesus did not respond with threats.  The text tells us “when he suffered, he did not threaten” (1 Peter 2:23).  Peter is talking about the continued suffering of Jesus.  The text says “when he was reviled…when he suffered.”  It’s speaking of how these things were happening over and over again.  During the incessant jeering, the ongoing abuse and the persistent beatings, Jesus uttered no words of threat.  You might ask, “What’s the difference?”  The difference between retaliation and threats is the difference between active and passive revenge. 

In active revenge, you hit and abuse me.  My response is to punch you back.  I use my abilities, strength and power to punch you back.  Jesus didn’t do that.  Jesus did not sin in retaliating and going against the will of God in a passive way, either.

Let me explain.  When we threaten, we passively find revenge.  For example, your employer asks you to do something.  You know that if you tell him how you really feel you’ll be fired, so you gather up a group of people who aren’t the boss and say, “Let me tell you if he ever asks me to do that again, I swear to all that’s good and holy in this world that I’ll deal with him.”  You didn’t do it actively, but you did it passively.  Many of us passively threaten things because we know we can’t respond in our own power.

So Peter is saying, “For any of you who think Jesus didn’t respond because He couldn’t have, you’re wrong.”  You might think He couldn’t respond because the world was against Him, He had the whole Roman Empire coming down upon Him, the Jewish establishment coming after Him and the mob of people coming after Him, yelling, ‘Crucify!’  “Of course He’s not going to retaliate!  He’s One dude!  He can’t make that work!”  But if that was the case, Jesus could have still said, “Wait until My Father brings in His kingdom.  Then you’ll feel the pain.  Wait until I’m resurrected in three days.  You just wait until I come on a horse called Faithful and True and I yield my sword on that last day of judgment.  You just wait!”

He didn’t say any of that.  In fact, as they were yelling and screaming profanities at Him and mocking Him on the cross, He looked to the heavens and said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34).  Peter says, “I was there.  Jesus suffered well.  I saw from a distance the stuff that was going on.  He didn’t just not retaliate—He did not threaten.”  Peter addresses repeatedly in this passage what Isaiah 53:7 says, “…like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth.”  Peter is telling us, “When people hurt you, wrong you, persecute you or call you all kinds of things, don’t sit there and retaliate.  Don’t threaten.”  Don’t say, “Hey, what’s that smell?  Oh, it’s your soul on fire.”  Don’t respond like that.  Respond like Jesus.  Suffer well by not threatening or retaliating.

In His time of suffering, Jesus fully relied on the Father.  How did Christ do it?  We are told He was afflicted in Isaiah 53.  He was oppressed.  Our iniquities were put on Him.  How could He suffer that well without responding with human instinct?  He did so just like we are called to: by fully relying on the Father.  Notice verse 23.  How did he endure?  Peter says, “…but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly.”  How could Jesus endure such abuse, trial and tribulation?  Peter says, “He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth.  When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten” (1 Peter 2:22-23).  How did He do these things?  The text says He, “…continued entrusting himself to him [the Father] who judges justly.”

Jesus didn’t use some supernatural power while He hung on the cross.  He didn’t use any deity pyrotechnics.  The way Jesus dealt with suffering was the same way you and I do.  That’s why Peter says He is our example and our standard.  What did Jesus do?  He endured suffering and abuse from men by giving it to God.  “God, it’s Yours.  I’m going to entrust Myself to You.”  The Greek word “entrust” is paradidōmi.  It was used in the legal system to speak of a man placing himself in the custody of someone else.  So we see here the legal mindset of a person turning himself in and saying, “I’m going to place myself under the custody of someone greater.”  Jesus put handcuffs on Himself and said, “I’m not going to allow Myself the prerogative to speak into My own life or address the things that have been said about Me.  I’m not going to deal with them.  I’m going to put handcuffs on and place Myself in the custody of the Father.  Whatever You think needs to be done, Father, I’m okay with that.  However You think it needs to be addressed, whatever accusations You think need to be responded to, I’m giving it all to You and won’t worry about it.”

Holiness in a life of submission is putting handcuffs on our will and our sovereignty and giving it over to God.  Does your boss hate your guts?  Put handcuffs on your arms and mouth and say, “God, it’s up to You.  You deal with it.”  Do you have someone who is your enemy who wants to bring pain and suffering into your life?  Put handcuffs on your will and say, “God, it’s up to You.  I’m giving it over to You.” 

So what did Jesus give over?  It doesn’t say.  It just says he “continued entrusting himself” (verse 23).  This was on an ongoing basis.  John MacArthur puts it this way, “With every punch of the fist, with every mocking of the mouth, Jesus—with every one of those instances—continued to give Himself over to God.”  Jesus was saying, “I’m not going to deal with it, Father.  I’m going to let You deal with it.  I’m not going to address it in My own strength; I’ll let You address it.”  Some of you are being beaten, some of you are being abused—emotionally or maybe even physically—and you’re wondering, “What do I do?  How do I fix it?”  You suffer well by giving it to God instead of trying to deal with this suffering on your own.

Notice Jesus didn’t just entrust His own physical and emotional well-being to God but He also entrusted His enemies to God—those who were hurting and beating Him.  You see we want revenge because we don’t think God’s going to deal with it.  “I have to deal with it because God is not faithful.  He’s not going to avenge or repay.”  We think He’s not going to do it because He’s not doing it in the here and now.  So when our boss or the government authorities are beating us down, persecuting us and we are suffering, we say, “God, You’re not dealing with it!”  Maybe we don’t like how He’s dealing with it.  Jesus said, “I’m giving it to You, God.  Those who abuse and hurt Me are Yours.”

Oh how we can learn from Jesus’ example!  In this world of suffering and pain—whether its trials no one has brought on like medical conditions, emotional distress or tribulations others have brought into our lives—we need to give it all over to God relying on Him and knowing He is faithful and right.  He will right all wrongs and bring all things under His sovereign hand.  Give it all over to God like Jesus did.

2.   Jesus as the Savior

Verse 24 says, “He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness.  By his wounds you have been healed.”  It’s here where Peter speaks of Christ as our Savior.  He speaks—as Isaiah 53 has reminded us—of the Suffering Servant Who now saves.  He says this Suffering Servant—Jesus—was sent by the Father to redeem a people, to be their Savior and he describes how Jesus redeems us as Savior.

Jesus died for our sins.  Peter says, “He himself bore our sins.”  Theologians call this the vicarious substitutionary atonement.  What does that mean?  By His own sacrificial choice, Jesus Christ was punished and put to death in your place, thus satisfying the demands of justice so God could justly forgive your sins.  This means Jesus became the ultimate scapegoat which is something the Israelites would have known all about.  The Hebrew people of Peter’s day would have known about the scapegoat and how all the sin was put onto it.  The scapegoat hadn’t done anything wrong but it became the one condemned as a substitute for the people.    They put all the sins and transgressions on that one animal.  Jesus was our scapegoat.  That means Jesus Who knew no sin became sin on our behalf (2 Corinthians 5:21).  This is what Peter is saying, “He himself bore our sins in his body.”  Isaiah 53:6 reminds us that God “laid on him the iniquity of us all.”

The vicarious substitutionary atonement of Jesus means that when Jesus hung on the cross, He did not die for His sins; He died for mine.  He died for yours.  He took our place.  The beating I deserved, He took for me.  The death I was supposed to die, He died for me.  The fellowship He lost, I should have lost with the Father but He took it and was forsaken by the Father so I might be a child of God’s.  If that doesn’t warm your heart and get you to start dealing with your sin in a real way, then there’s something wrong with your Christianity. 

Christ was lifted up on that cross to take all our punishments and penalties so we might live.  He did so by having all our sin put on Himself.  Jesus did the most unspeakable thing: He took that sin and presented Himself to the Father.  He said, “Father, I am sin.  I bear it on My body.”  God did the only thing a holy and just God could do with sin.  He poured out His righteous indignation and wrath on His Son.  Why?  Because if we enter the presence of God in our sin, God would justly pour out His wrath on us.  The problem sinners have is when they stand before the presence of God outside of this life, God will do to them what He did to Christ.  For eternity, He will pour out His wrath and indignation in a place called hell.

You call yourself a believer today—have you lost the wonder?  Christ took an eternity of punishment, pain and suffering and bore it on His body on a tree that you and I might now die to sin and live to righteousness (1 Peter 2:24).  Praise God!  This is the great heart of the gospel.  He died for a sin not His own and took the blame for us.  He took the shame and suffering that was our destiny so we might no longer be objects of God’s wrath but rather objects of His mercy and love.

We should deal with our sin.  You might say, “Tim, I don’t know about all of that, but I sure do like the cross.”  Let me tell you—the cross is nothing without Jesus.  Jesus’ life is nothing without the cross.  Without the cross, who cares about the miracles?  Who cares about deliverance of demons?  Who cares about healing?  The only thing that matters is Jesus Christ crucified on our behalf.  If you don’t accept and receive that then the cross means nothing.  It’s a nice piece of jewelry.  Put it all over your wall—it will decorate it beautifully.  But there is no power in the cross without a changed and repentant heart.  So Peter says we need to deal with our sin.

How do we deal with our sin?  Peter shows us.  He tells us to “die to sin and live to righteousness” (verse 24).  If you’re a follower of Jesus Christ, your sin is paid for.  You no longer have to toil and strive with the bondage of sin.  No longer does sin have dominion over your life.  Now you can live in righteousness.  How do you do it?  You do what Christ did.  He died to sin.  The word “die” (apoginomai) there speaks of a rupture.  It speaks of a great divide.  It says that I make a decision because of what Christ has done for me.  Because I look to the cross and see that He died on my behalf, the sins that put Christ there can no longer be a part of my life.  I can’t live that way anymore.  I can’t pursue or long for those things anymore.  That’s what put Christ on the cross.  That’s why He suffered and died.  So I say to sin, “Get lost.  I’m done with you.  I’m mortified by the very thought of your existence in my life.”  I say “no” to sin.  How do I do it?  I do it by relying on and entrusting my life to the Father.

Sadly, so many of us find ourselves still in bondage.  You might say, “Why?  We’ve been set free!”  In 1863, Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation.  It freed all the slaves in the South.  Yet, no one left.  No one got his or her freedom.  Slaves did not see their freedom until 1865.  What was the problem?  The problem was the slaves in the South did not believe that Abraham Lincoln was the bondage-breaker—the one who had set them free.  They believed the old slave masters they had were far more powerful than the President of the United States.  Let me tell you something.  The only reason you’re in bondage today is not that someone has chained you up.  It’s because you think the old slave master—the devil—is a lot stronger than the One Who has set you free.

When the devil—your old slave master—says, “You can’t live without this stuff,” you should say, “I’ve been set free by the blood of Jesus Christ.  Greater is He Who is in me than he who is in the world” (1 John 4:4).  We’ve been set free so we are to live to righteousness.  We are to pursue Him.

3.   Jesus as the Shepherd

What does Jesus want us to do?  What is He asking of us?  Peter says, “For you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls” (1 Peter 2:25).  There’s Isaiah 53:6, “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.”  Amidst this wandering group of people, Christ went to the cross and died for our sins.  Peter reminds us of two things:

Our turning.  Christ died for us so we can return to Him.  Notice this return (epistrephō) involves our turning.  It deals with repentance.  If we want to be part of the flock of God, we have to turn from sin, pursue righteousness and pursue Christ.  We need to bow the knee to Jesus and give our lives to Him, no longer living in the bondage of sin but now living under the fold of God.  Peter reminds us we’re wandering.  Some of you are wandering far from the fold of God and it’s time to come home.  Look to Jesus.  Look to the cross and the price that was paid.  Repent of your sins, bow the knee and give your life to Jesus.  Start living for Him.

Christ’s task.  When we start living for Him and turning from our sins, then we see Christ’s present task as the great Shepherd.  He’s the great Guardian of our souls.  We bow the knee to Jesus.  He promises to lead, guide and guard us.  The word “Overseer” (episkopos) is literally the “Guardian” of our souls.  He guards us from all “dangers, toils and snares.”  He promises His presence and love.  He empowers us with His Spirit.  He gives us gifts with which we can serve and worship Him.  He places us within a local church to be led by elders who are there to serve as shepherds under the Chief Shepherd.  He does this so in the end, He won’t lose any of us but will bring to His Father those whom He has redeemed.  He will present before His Father a people of all tribes, tongues and nations without blemish and defect—His bride—so that we might reign with Christ.

Peter reminds us that all of this is done through the cross.  Have you lost its wonder this morning?  Have you forgotten the shame, sorrow and suffering?  Have you forgotten that you’ve been set free from the penalty and power of sin?  One day when we stand before Him, we will be free from the presence of sin.  Praise the Lord!