As we read the letters of Peter remember that each word is colored by things which he remembered. Things like his denial of Christ when the Lord was being questioned and tortured. His foolish suggestion to build three memorials to commemorate the transfiguration. His walking on water and then the subsequent near-drowning. His refusal to agree with the Lord about His crucifixion. His condemnation of others serving Jehovah, but not while in the company of Christ. His question about the future of John in comparison to his own future. On the other side of the coin there we a dozen positive things as well. Things like the miracle of the healing of his wife’s mother. And the miracles in which he was personally involved. Every once in a while he opened his mouth and good things proceeded out of it. There are things in my past – both good and bad – which either creep – or leap – unbidden, into my mind, and which color my train of thought. Certain events must have come back to Peter as he later labored to bring glory to his Saviour. They made Peter a somewhat different person than he had been prior to Pentecost. Different – and yet much the same.
Peter shows us what sort of people Christians ought to be when thinking of the Lord Jesus. We have been fools in sin, like pigs in puddle. But – “Jesus rescued me. What a wonderful Saviour to me.” And HOW was it that He rescued me? By picking up the punishment for my personal sins, putting them on His back and bearing them to the place of execution which had been reserved under my name. He pushed me aside and climbed up on the cross – when I should have been there.
Two of the greatest Bible verses on the subject of Jesus’ substitution for the sinner were written by Peter. Did the Holy Spirit put them into his mind using past events as the catalyst? I Peter 2:24 – “Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we being dead to sin should live unto righteousness, by whose stripes we are healed.” And then there is our scripture in chapter 3.
I hope that the members of Calvary Baptist Church don’t ever tire of hearing of Jesus’ death. I wish that we were more faithful and consistent in bringing the lost to our morning service each week to hear about another aspect of Jesus’ sacrifice for the sinner’s salvation. “I love to tell the story; more beautiful it seems, than all the golden fancies, of all our golden dreams.”
Join with Peter thinking about the fact: “Christ also hath once SUFFERED….”
A couple of people and I were talking about the subject of pain some time ago. One said “all suffering is caused by sin.” The words “caused by” may be open to a bit of interpretation. I basically disagree that all suffering is “CAUSED by” sin. I know that I have mentioned this many times, but let’s consider it from another angle. I look at human suffering and sin as almost inseparable twin brothers, but they are not the same boy. Certainly, there would be no suffering of any kind in this world if it was not for the introduction of sin. It is a part of the curse brought upon creation because of Adam’s transgression against God. But just as that curse lays universally upon all creation, and “death by sin, so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned…..” Just as the curse and death are universal, so is suffering. And yet few people ever suffer in exactly the same way – and for the same reason. And it may not be that a person suffers for some specific action in his own life. Is the antelope guilty some personal sin as she lays at the feet of the victorious lion? And what about the unborn baby torn apart in the murder which is euphemistically called “abortion?” When the disciples came across the man born blind in John 9 they asked, “Who did sin?” Jesus’ authoritative answer showed there was no sin directly responsible for the man’s malady. While these arguments illustrate that I may sometime die of lung cancer caused bymy parent’s smoking, there is a much more potent and pointed argument.
When Christ hung on the cross it was in the most brutal and intense suffering. But it was not for any sin which HE had committed – for He committed no sin at all. As Peter says, Christ “did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth.” He suffered because of the sins of others – He suffered and died FOR my sin. Yes, we might rationalize His pain, as he bore our sins. It is correct to say that He suffered the curse because God placed the sins of His elect on Christ. But that is just the point – He suffered for others, not for Himself. And what about the pain of Gethsemane and elsewhere prior to the cross.
It is an awful thing to attempt to comfort someone by telling them, “My pain is much worse than yours!” While that may be true, it is a tacky way to minister to someone. As Job said, “Miserable comforters are ye all.” But there is an exception where that is a perfectly good statement. My heart is warmed to think that Jesus, my Saviour, knows what it is to suffer – really suffer. His pain and His passion were infinitely more severe than my broken leg or pleurisy – or yours. And He endured it without regret – for me.
I may be taking Hebrews 4:15 out of its context just a little bit, but… “We have not an high priest who cannot be touched with the feeling our infirmities; but was in all points tempted, touched, and pained like as we are, yet without sin.” I am comforted when I read of the God of Comfort in II Corinthians 1:3-5 – “Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort; Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God. For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also aboundeth by Christ.” Do you remember the meaning of the Greek word translated “comfort” – (parakaleo)? It means “to come along side.” The God of all comfort comforts by joining His saints in their pain. And Christ Jesus knows pain better than we do. That is even before we examine the suffering Peter is thinking about here.
If you are hurting this morning – physically, emotionally, mentally or more importantly – spiritually… I exhort you to visit God’s throne “for grace to help in your time of need.” Fellowship with the omnipotent Comforter is the need of everyone of us. Fellowship with the One who knows pain more intimately that we do, is beneficial for all of us.
Our first fact from this verse is that Jesus has suffered.
But, in Jesus’ case, there was a special form of that suffering called “SUBSTITUTION.”
“For Christ also hath once suffered for sin, the just for the unjust.” Peter is not thinking about whether or not Jesus ever had head ache or stubbed His toe. He is not thinking about Jesus’ grief at the death of Joseph, or whether the neighbors treated Him well. Peter is thinking about Calvary and the substitutionary Lamb of God Who was sacrificed there.
This word “substitution” is the at the heart of “salvation from sin.” Some people while eating cherries can only think of the pits – the seeds – as a nuisance or danger. But there would be no cherry if there were no pits. And the same is true with deliverance from sin, something which we call “salvation.” “He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities…” “Wounds” and “bruises” are both painful – both are a part of what Christ suffer. And they were borne or experienced by Christ, for those He intended to save.
A minister went to visit an elderly, dying Christian. He said, “Isn’t it wonderful that we have the gospel set down in so few and simple words?” The old man looked up and said, “It’s one word, preacher, just one word.” C.H. Spurgeon said, “If you put away the doctrine of the substitutionary sacrifice of Christ you have disemboweled the gospel.” To put it more crudely, you have ripped it’s guts out. It’s my prayer that this building burn to ground if there is ever a gospel preached in this place which is not built on the substitutionary sacrifice of the Lord Jesus for those He chose to save.
And FOR WHOM was this substitution made? It was made for unworthy, wicked helpless SINNERS.
“Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust.” The words “just” and “unjust” oppose each other in moral character – like night and day. They imply that whatever the Lord is, His substitution was for His opposites. The Saviour is described as our high priest, holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners and exalted into heaven. And you and I are described as unholy, hurtful, filthy, sinners doomed for hell. We are, by nature, what is the opposite of Christ Jesus. If the Father says of Christ, “This is my beloved Son in whom I am well-pleased,” then of us He says, “This, my creation, is defiled and worthy of destruction.” If Jesus is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, then we are worm of worms, and scum of scums.
BUT the sacrifice of Christ was the just for the unjust nevertheless. “Oh,” says the skeptic, “Jesus was just a man like all the rest of us.” No, my friend. When some statement is wrong, it is wrong. But to say that Jesus was a mere man, is among “the wrongest” statements ever made. The Son of God may have “taken upon him human flesh and was made in likeness man,” but he was completely without sin. Thus He lacked the single most common and fatal characteristic found among all the denizens of earth. Christ was and is “the Just One;” while each and every one of us are the “unjust.”
A lot of people try to deny that mankind is a family of sinners, but the proof is obvious. Why is it that even the well-educated, brilliant, gifted, artistic, idealists are often also scheming, dishonest, begrudging, impatient, arrogant and disrespectful? Why are the twin towers a disaster site? The answer is plain, “For all are sinners and all come infinitely short of the glory of God.”
But, nevertheless, “Christ died, the just for the unjust.”
Our filthiest filth is “SIN.”
Have you ever heard the saying, “Cleanliness is next to godliness?” Some people actually have that as a part of their faith, catechizing their children in those words. As a result, they shower, dress up, doll up, dude up and head off to church, thinking that in washing off their bodily dirt makes them fit to worship God. But these things only make them two fold more the children of hell than they ever were before. “Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess. Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also.“ – Matthew 23:25-26. Our real filth is sin– our internal, innate, intense sin nature.
But we have been commanded to seek “holiness, without which no man shall see God.” That verse in Hebrews 13 suggests the root of our problem. We, by nature, are as far removed from holiness as sea turtles from swimming on moon. Yet, “As He which hath called us is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation.” Why must the Lord so exhort us to SEEK holiness? Why must even Christians have to have that constantly repeated? The reason lies in our sinful depravity, our naturally inexorable filth.
I read of a man came forward during the invitation at the end of a church service. He was visibly and truly broken over the sin in his life. As the pastor met him, the man got tongue-tied and said, “My sin is full of life.” Immediately he tried to correct his blunder, but the pastor stopped him. “Fred, the Holy Spirit put those words in your mouth – that is the problem exactly.” Our sin is full of life, and that is what makes us such sinners. That makes us so needy of a Saviour. Praise God, that there is a substitutionary Saviour.
And what has He DONE? He has provided SALVATION!
“That He might bring us to God.” All men, by nature, are “without Christ, aliens from the commonwealth, strangers from covenant, having no hope and without God in the world.” As these aliens pass through the merits of Jesus, the door, “we who sometimes were afar off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.” Peter is thinking about salvation in this great verse of his.
But I’m not sure that we should confine his thoughts to mere justification. “Justification” is the legal aspect of salvation from sin. That is where the ledgers of God read under our names – “Declared righteous.” It is stamped in the bright-red blood of the Saviour. I think Peter is talking about the entire realm of salvation – including redemption, adoption, access to Heaven and agreement with God. Where there is agreement with God there is walking with Him – there is fellowship. “That He might bring us to God.”
This, I fear, is the great need of so many of today’s so-called “saints.” They are resting on the blood of Christ, awaiting the day when God will suspend their earthly life, so that then might begin their eternity of fellowship with the Lord. What a tragedy, for the Lord Jesus has given His life and blood to bring us to God – today. So many Christians are ambling through life without power, without joy, without the Lord’s abundance. They have somehow separated eternity from their life right now. They attend church and pray now and then, just to maintain contact with the Lord, the way that a good salesman stays in touch with his clients even though he will be months before he is needed again. Ah, what a sad shame.
The wonderful Saviour, has given His all that you might enjoy the Almighty – today. His comfort, His guidance, His wisdom, His fellowship, His Abundant life. What is keeping you from it? Why is your life so nominal, so average?
The question is: “Have you been redeemed?” “Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God.” Do you believe that statement to be true? Then insert your name in there. “Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the David Oldfield, that he might bring me to God.” Do you believe that Christ died for you? Then look no other place for your salvation. Forget about baptism and church membership – they can’t cleanse you. Forget about your good works and your friendly attitude – you can not save yourself. Rather repent in humility before God and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Trust what Christ did on the cross. “Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we being dead to sin should live unto righteousness, by whose stripes we are healed.”