Jesus is Our Sacrifice for Sin

“Jesus is Our Sacrifice for Sin”

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 of submission 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 life as a Servant to God (1 Pet. 2:21-25).

MESSAGE:

I.       Jesus Is Our Voluntary Sacrifice to Our Benefit (1Pet. 2:21, 24). Again, the Lord Jesus is not our Example in suffering wrongfully merely, He died in our place and for our sin! He is our Substitute. His submission to the plan of God involved suffering and dying for our sins at Calvary. 

1.  Jesus Died as Our Substitute and Not a Martyr. This reminds us of the great “Servant Chapter,” Isaiah 53, especially Isaiah 53:5-7, but also verses 9 and 12.
1. Jesus did not die as a martyr; He died as a Savior, a sinless Substitute. The word ‘for’ (1Pet. 2:21) when used in conjunction with the death of Christ has the meaning of a substitute.  This is NOT teaching that Jesus left us the example of how we should be willing to die for the truth or some great cause. It is teaching that Christ died in our place, in our room, as our substitute. The Substitutionary death of Christ.

                                                    i.     John 10:15, As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father: and I lay down my life for the sheep.

                                                  ii.     John 15:13, Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.

                                                iii.     Isa 53:5, But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. He suffered for the supreme benefit of others!  That we sinners might be saved; let our sufferings lead to the conversion of sinners!

2. The word translated “bare” (1Pet. 2:24) means "to carry as a sacrifice." The Jewish people did not crucify criminals; they stoned them to death. But if the victim was especially evil, his dead body was hung on a tree until evening, as a mark of shame (Deut. 21:23). Jesus died on a tree—a cross—and bore the curse of the law (Gal. 3:13).

                                                    i.     Christ did not deserve to suffer (1Pet. 2:22), because He did not sin at all. The Lord Jesus lived a completely sinless life, therefore He did not deserve to died.

                                                  ii.     There was NO SIN in His pure perfect holy life and there was NO GUILE in His mouth or there was no deceit in His heart either. Matt 12:34, O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.

                                                iii.     This means that Christ was the perfect candidate to die for the sin of the world. God required a sinless sacrifice and Jesus provide exactly that. 1 Pet 1:18-19, Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; 19, But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:

3. Secondly, it means to us that we must live pure, clean and holy before God and the world. Jesus’ heart and life were free of any anger towards God, any bitterness about His circumstances, or any resentment in his emotions! He was not secretly holding these events against God; he did not expect better treatment because he was the Son of God; he did not feel slighted or mistreated by God for these developments. While he recognized that people were treating him unfairly, he did not make the mistake of blaming God for his pains. Remember there is nothing thank worthy or praiseworthy in being knocked around and beat up for our faults but if we suffer for living godly this is tolerable with God! His kingdom is not of this world.

2. Jesus Died in Complete Surrender as an Act of Trust. Christ suffered willingly and voluntarily as a matter of Trust in God (1Pet. 2:23).  This can be seen in three facts.
1. He was reviled but He did not rail back at His attackers.  He had the power to fight back and end it all with His spoken word, but He didn’t do it.  It would have been lawful for Him to protect Himself, but it would not have been expedient for His cause and us sinners.

                                                    i.     We need to keep this important principle in mind when we want to wage war against our government or when we have a legitimate complaint at work.  You may have a good argument and the right or power to voice your opinion. But remember our Lord suffered and died unjustly.

                                                  ii.     Sometimes we may have to overlook the immediate issue, surrender our power to fight back, look at their need for the Savior, and willingly suffer wrong that they can see Christ in us.

2. He was abused, beaten and crowned with thorns, but He suffered it willingly. He ‘committed’ Himself, His life into the hands of a just God.

                                                    i.     According to verse 23, He knew that God would vindicate Him and He fully ‘Committed’ (handed Himself over to God).  And certainly, God vindicated Him early one Sunday morning when we raised Him from the dead. 

                                                  ii.     We must TRUST God’s wisdom and God’s way. Suffering for any reason at all is not easy, but we must trust the council of God written in this passage. It Will take real faith…super trust…to Commit ourselves to God as Jesus our example did.

3. We as Christians need to stop looking entirely to the government to turn our country around and Trust God to bring us a national revival. We as Christian must first get right with God and then we will see the healing of our land. 2 Chr 7:14, If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land. It is not the government’s fault that our society is going to the devil; it is our fault. Perhaps we have been cowardly quiet where we should have boldly spoken righteousness! And it will not change until Christians repent! 

3. Jesus Suffered to the Ultimate Degree, and it was Extremely Severe. 1 Pet 2:24, Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree,
1. Isa 53:5, But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.
2. 1 Pet 3:18, For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit:
3. Jesus Christ took our sin, our guilt, our judgement and our punishment -----and bore them for us. When we trust Him we receive His payment for our sins and we receive His righteousness. We as Believers cannot die for our own sin—as our own substitutionary sacrifice. But it may be necessary to DIE FOR OUR SIN BARER. Not to atone for or sins, but out of loyalty to Jesus Christ. The reality of Christian persecution in America will continue to increase as our society becomes more anti-God and anti-Bible. There are reports of Christians being arrested for street preaching, witnessing, and passing out tracks all the time.  Those who preach on the streets are being arrested all the time.  Churches are attacked with lawsuits and court battles regularly. It is no longer a distant possibility it is an own going battle today and it could mean our lives one day for the cause of Christ. 

4. Jesus Suffered for Our Sin That We Should Live in Righteousness. 1 Peter 2:24 ....that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed. This is the clear and expressed purpose for his suffering; that we should live unto righteousness. And the hold purpose of our submission is to point people to our righteous God! So continue to do right!

5. Jesus Died to Secure Our Spiritual Healing. 1 Peter 2:24 ...by whose stripes ye were healed. The paradoxes of the cross never cease to amaze us. Christ was wounded that we might be healed. He died that we might live. We died with Him, and thus we are "dead to sin" (Rom. 6) so that we might "live unto righteousness."
1. The healing Peter mentioned in 1 Peter 2:24 is not physical healing, but rather the spiritual healing of the soul (Ps. 103:3). One day, when we have glorified bodies, all sicknesses will be gone; but meanwhile, even some of God's choicest servants may have physical afflictions (see Phil. 2:25-30; 2 Cor. 12:1).
2. It is not Jesus the Example or the Teacher who saves us, but Jesus the spotless Lamb of Cod who takes away the sins of the world (John 1:29).
3. Clearly, suffering for the benefit of others in not child’s play. Such trust in God is what Christ exemplified. Are we willing to submit to God’s leadership…to be His sacrifice…to lay ourselves down for His offering that will benefit someone else? Will we sacrifice rights, privileges, and opportunities for the spiritual benefit of others?   

6. Jesus’ Death is significant because all sinners abide under the wrath of God and we were all correctly sentenced to death. But JESUS CHRIST SUFFERED AND DIED IN OUR STEAD AS OUR SUBSTITUTE AND AS OUR REPRESENTATIVE! HE DIED FOR US! Therefore, if He took my death then I as a believer am no longer obligated to Death. That’s GOOD NEWS to us sinners!
1. Ezek 18:4, Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul that sinneth, it shall die.
2. Rom 6:23, For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
3. Rom 5:12, Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:
4. God Has Declared That the Proper Punishment of Sin is Death. We all have sinned; we all have a tendency to sin and God has condemned that tendency in us all. Because we have sinned against God, we deserve death. This death is threefold:

                                                    i.     Physical Death—This is the separation of the Spirit and Soul from the Body.

                                                  ii.     Spiritual Death—This is the separation from God, we are born in this condition because of a sinful nature. (Ps. 51:5; Ps. 58:3)

                                                iii.     Eternal Death—This is separation from God forever in the Lake of  Fire (Hell) also called the Second Death. (Rev. 20:11-15)

5. The Good News is that Jesus Christ Died for Us. He took the punishment for sin that we deserved.  He was completely sinless and could not sin, therefore He did not deserve death.  But He willingly died in our place and as our substitute.

                                                    i.     2 Cor 5:21, For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.

                                                  ii.     1 Pet 2:24, Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.

                                                iii.     Isa 53:6, All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.

The truth is that since Jesus Christ died for me and the penalty of sin was paid for everyone by Him, then we who have accepted Him need not die for our own sin.  If we accept His sacrifice for all sin…our own sinfulness, we receive complete payment to our sin debt the credit of death. We are no longer obligated to pay a debt that is paid in full by Christ. THIS IS GOOD NEWS!