Christ's Submissive Example

Christ's Submissive Example 

1 Peter 2:21-25

SUBJECT: THE PROFIT IN SUBMISSIVE LIVING

THEME: There are immediate and eternal benefits to living submissively unto God.

RELEVANCY: But why is this important to us?

Christ’s example and the message of the gospel impact our lifestyles and behaviors giving credibility to our faith claims and confidence in our experiences.

INTRODUCTION:

Christ’s Submission to God Involved Suffering to Secure Our Eternal Benefit. Please consider that the Lord Jesus suffered in fife as a Servant to God (1 Pet. 2:21-25). In the Bible, our responsibilities are always connected with Scripture teaching and truths. When Paul wrote to the slaves, he related his admonitions to principles of the grace of God (Titus 2:9-15). Peter connected his counsels to the example of Jesus Christ, God’s "Suffering Servant" (1 Peter 2:21-25; see Isa. 52:13-53: 12). (W. W. Wiersbe)

Through his own experiences, Peter learned that God’s people serve through suffering. At first, Peter had opposed Christ’s anguish on the cross (Matt. 16: 21); but then he learned the important lesson that we lead by serving and often serve through suffering. He also learned that this kind of suffering always leads to eternal benefits! Peter encouraged these suffering slaves by presenting these imagines of the Lord Jesus Christ.

MESSAGE:

I.               Jesus Is Our Example of Trusting God (1Pet. 2:21-23).

All that Jesus did on earth, as recorded in the four Gospels, is a perfect example for us to follow. The Christian can always look to the incredible example in Jesus Christ.  He never sends us to where He has not been Himself. He does not lead us into the unknown but into the well-known. Jesus is our example in suffering while submitted to God.

        A.  The Great Call of Every Believer   vs 21

1 Pet 2:21, For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps: We are called to suffer as Christ did as He suffered for us while submitted to the Father’s will. 

               1.  The word ‘example’ means the pattern of some picture or letter that a teacher gives to the pupil.  The pattern is to be copied or reproduced.  The idea is that an exact copy is to be made; every detail of the pattern is to be reproduced. We are to be exact copies of Christ; We are to follow His pattern in every detail.

               2.   The word ‘follow’ is the picture of a guide leading us along a most difficult and rocky path, so difficult that we must actually put our feet in his footprints.  We are to follow Christ step by step, moment by moment, and day by day. In order to provide leadership, we must be willing and ready to follow the guidance given.

               3. The word ‘submit’ or ‘subject’ does not occur in verse 21, but it is obviously implied from verse 18,… “Servants, be subject to your masters with fear,” and verse 21, “because Christ also suffered for us”. Slave are to follow carefully Christ, Jehovah Servant’s example!

“Subject”, literally means “to stand under” suggesting subordination, obedience, submission, subservience, and subjection. Jesus Christ willingly placed himself under the Father’s authority, control, and leadership. Jesus trusted God completely!  

       B.  Christ Responded to Suffering with Submission. (1 Peter 2:19-20)

But He is especially our example in the way He responded to suffering. In spite of the fact that He was sinless in both word and deed, He suffered at the hands of the authorities. This connects, of course, to Peter's words in 1 Peter 2:19-20. We wonder how he would have responded in the same circumstances! The fact that Peter used his sword in the Garden suggests that he might have fought rather thin submitted to the will of God. Jesus proved that a person could be in the will of God, be greatly loved by God, and still suffer unjustly.

There is a shallow brand of popular theology that claims Christians will not suffer if they are in the will of God. Supposedly, if a person is right with God they will not suffer physically, spiritually, or financially. Those who promote such ideas have not meditated much on the Cross! They may claim first century believers suffered but not us today, but they have zero Bible evidence to support such claims. In fact, the Bible say much about and to suffering real believers!

It should also be remembered that our Lord’s humility and submission were not evidence of weakness, but of power. Jesus could have forsaken the Cross in his own power, but he did not. Jesus could have lived a luxurious life of opulence, but he lived like a poor man instead. Jesus could have summoned the armies of heaven to rescue Him from the cross, but he did not! His words to Pilate in John 18:33-38 are proof that He was in complete command of the situation. It was Pilate who was on trial, not Jesus! Jesus had committed Himself to the Father, and the Father always judges right. This act of trust in submission to God’s will is an example to every believer.

         C.  Suffering is Not a Means of Salvation. (1 Peter 2:22)

We are not saved by following Christ’s example, because each of us will never qualify according to 1 Peter 2:22: "who did no sin." Sinners need a Savior, not an Example. But after a person is saved, he will want to "follow closely upon His steps” and imitate the example of Christ.

Truly we lead by serving and we serve still even while suffering to do so. If God’s will involve a degree of disadvantage or discomfort, then we must willingly submit ourselves to His will to see that it is executed to His satisfaction.  

Christ submitting was taking the divinely ordered place in his relationship with the Father. Submission was not a requirement of the Father for the Son; it was given based on trust in the Father, that is, Jesus believed God’s Word and wanted to fulfil his role completely. In his person, Jesus was never made second to the person of the Father in general, but as Jehovah’s special slave, Jesus accept his Father’s leadership for our benefit.

        D. Salvation is Always by the Grace of God!

             1. What is Grace? Grace can also be described as the unmerited favor of God towards us.

a. The Apostle Paul defined saving grace in Ephesians, 2:8, 9, “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.” We are entirely undeserving of God’s favor as sinners; He independently takes the initiative to grant us salvation motivated purely by His own character and love.

b. Donald Barnhouse said it best: “Love that goes upward is worship; love that goes outward is affection; love that stoops is grace.” God’s grace can never be deserved or earned; it is afforded entirely by a benevolent God who stoops down low to fervently extend kindnesses to us.

c. Dr. J. Vernon McGee aptly explains further, saying, “The grace of God is the passion of God to share all His goodness with others. Grace means that God wants to bestow upon you good things, goodnesses. He wants to make you fine and noble, and He wants to bring you into the likeness of His Son.”

2.     What is Saving Grace?

a.      With regards to salvation God does for us what we could never do for ourselves no matter how hard we try; He delivers us from the eternal consequences of our sins because He is gracious. Though we are utterly unworthy of it, salvation is given to us based on the Person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ (MacDonald & Farstad).

b.     Through a definite trust in the Son of God and belief of the Gospel as God's solution for our sin problem a person can be saved (Rom. 10:8-17).

c.      Clearly, Paul said, “For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich” (2 Cor. 8:9). Christ suffered tremendously that we sinners might be saved through His sacrifice for sins.

 

Since forgiveness for sin and a relationship with God are freely offered at Christ’s expense, why not repent and believe the gospel of Jesus Christ to be saved? Trust Christ and God will save you by His infinite grace.