Pilgrims in a Fallen World: Good News for Exiles! I Peter 2:24,25

Pilgrims in a Fallen World: Good News for Exiles!

I Peter 2:24,25

Introduction: “Do you want the bad news or the good news?” I saw a couple of those jokes about pastors, The Good News: The Deacons voted to send you to the Holy Land. The Bad News: They only bought a one-way ticket!  The Good News: Church attendance rose dramatically over the last three weeks. The Bad News: You were on vacation. I don’t know about you, but if I am going to get both, and I have a choice, I’ll take the bad news first and hope that the good news that follows overrides it!  As we’ve been studying I Peter the apostle has been giving his readers some bad news – they are foreigners and exiles living in a world that is not their own. They can expect tribulation and persecution on the journey.  The world, which was created “good” is under the curse and currently under the deception of the devil. The good news however is that a price was paid for our redemption that is so much greater than we can express, that it more than overwhelms the bad news, or as Paul said, “The sufferings of this present age are not worthy to be compared to the glory that shall be revealed in us!”

       Last week, in our series in First Peter on “Pilgrim Living in a Fallen World” we looked at chapter 2:21-25 under the title, “Gospel Shaped living.”  I barely touched on verses 24 and 25 so I decided to return this week, a Communion Sunday, to these rich and important sentences that express so beautifully the Gospel.  It’s an old, old story but it never gets old! And it is the greatest “good news” that humans have ever received.

The Maine* Idea: Jesus took our sins and died as our substitute so that we could have a new life in a living relationship with God.

I. Jesus willingly became our substitute and paid the penalty for our sins (24a).

^24a He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree…

       First of all we have to understand that we (all humans since the fall) have a sin problem. The first humans were created directly by God, in his image. With the rest of creation He pronounced them “good.” They were without defect, without moral flaws, God’s masterpiece.  Then, what was good and perfect was plunged into darkness by human rebellion. God had told Adam and Eve that sin would bring death. As you read the genealogies in Genesis a refrain carries through, “…so and so lived X number of years… and then he died…”  If God is good why is there sickness and suffering in the world? Because of human rebellion against the authority of God, because of sin. Paul said the same thing in Romans,

“...by one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all have sinned...” (Romans 5:12).

A little further down in the same letter he says,

“...the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord...”  (Romans 6:23).

In that verse Paul points to both the bad news (what we deserve because we are sinners) and the good news (the gift God offers us by grace). Peter gets to it right in the beginning of this verse. Yes, we have a sin problem, but...

         “He himself bore our sins...” The wording here is emphatic. “He himself...” did it. If He himself didn’t do it, we ourselves would have to! If we did not have his intervention, we would have no hope. If we had to answer for our own sins, it would mean no hope for reconciliation with God, no possibility for eternal life.  There had to be another, a perfect sacrifice, a substitute.  And so Jesus, the only human who was sinless by birth and by choice, who was fully man and fully God, He himself bore our sins in his body... Paul is equally emphatic when he says...

“For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in

him we might become the righteousness of God...” (2 Cor 5:21).

That unimaginable exchange took place, He was sinless, the spotless Lamb of God. We all, like lost sheep, had gone astray, we had turned everyone to his own way, and the Lord laid on Him, on Jesus, the iniquity of us all. The rest of the verse amplifies the awesome act, since it happened “…on the tree…” This word is not typically used to describe the cross in the New Testament, so why did Peter use this particular word? What point is he trying to make? He is inviting us to think of the Old Testament!

        “...on the tree...” The Law said that whoever committed a capital crime was to be hanged “on a tree” and “was cursed by God” (Dt 21:22,23).  By using that same word, Peter wants to make sure that we understand what Jesus did for us. The Law promised “blessing” for obedience to the stipulations of the covenant, “Do this and you will live.” It also warned that disobedience would bring “cursing.” Peter says Jesus absorbed the “curse” so that we could receive a “blessing,” He died so that we could have life. He took our sin.  That is the heart of the Gospel.  

       As he said in 2:21, “Christ died for you.” In Dickens A Tale of Two Cities, near the end of the book, Sydney Carton takes the place of Charles Darnay, sacrificing himself so his friend could live. He said, “It is a far, far better thing I do, than I have ever done before...” He was his substitute. Jesus took our sins and died as our substitute so that we could have new life and a living relationship with God.

II. What he did for us makes it possible for us to have a new life (24b,c).

“…that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed…”

       Someone might read this and think, “Is Peter saying that a believer in Jesus will never sin?” I don’t think that is the point he is making. The point is we were in bondage to sin, we were dominated by our old sinful nature, and now, through faith in Christ, our sins were “nailed to the cross.”  Paul said in Romans 6:8-11,

⁸ Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him.  ⁹ We know that Christ being raised from the dead will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him.  ¹⁰ For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God.  ¹¹ So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.

Notice what he says, Jesus “…died to sin, once for all.” And because of that “…you also must consider yourselves dead to sin…” What Jesus did objectively, as our substitute, has to be subjectively, personally lived out in our life. This is what Jesus has done, now live like you believe it!  If you know him, you are not a slave to sin!  Paul said it this way in his letter to the Galatians,

I have been crucified with Christ.  ²⁰ It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me… (Gal 2:19b-20).

      Paul wasn’t literally, at least not physically, crucified with Christ. Yet He understood that Jesus died as his substitute, and that now He lived his life in obedience to the crucified and resurrected Savior.  He lives by faith: notice that he believes who Jesus is, “the Son of God,” and he trusts in what He did, “…who loved me and gave himself for me…”

       The last phrase of I Peter 2:24 is a clear allusion to Isaiah 53:5 where the prophet says...

But he was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed.

Here Peter says, “By his wounds you have been healed.” The only two times in the entire Bible that this exact word appears are in I Peter, and in Isaiah 53 (in the Greek translation). Do you remember the old song, “There is a balm in Gilead, that heals a sin sick soul...”  That seems to be the idea, healing our brokenness, restoring us to fellowship with God.  By his wounds.  As He addresses believers the verbal tense indicates Jesus did it all, they were passive: “...you have been healed...” Jesus took our sins and died as our substitute so that we could have a new life in a living relationship with God.

III. Jesus met our deepest need, and did for us what we could not do for ourselves (25a).

“For you were [constantly] straying like sheep...”

       This week, on Thursday, the VBS lesson for the kids touched on Jesus admonition to Peter, after the resurrection, “Feed my sheep.”  He is referring to his followers as “sheep.” Of all the animals we might be compared to, this is not the most flattering!  I never raised sheep, but in talking with those who have they are pretty dumb animals. They depend on the Shepherd for everything.  They are without any natural defenses, so they need to be protected. They depend on the shepherd to lead them to water and green pastures. If they fall over they may even need help to get back up!  Even though they are so needy they are prone to wander.  That need is the point of the metaphor here, “You were constantly straying like sheep...” The verbal tense (present participle) seems to indicate an ongoing condition that was characterizing Peter’s readers before they turned to Jesus.  It’s like what the writer describes at the end of Matthew 9:36,

“When he [Jesus] saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.”

Think back to your life before you trusted in Jesus. In my case it was just like the context in the book of judges, “Every man did that was right in his own eyes…”! Paul said the “natural man” simply “does not understand the things of the Spirit of God” (I Cor 2:14). It’s not that we are as bad as we could be, it’s that our “badness” touches every part of our being. My dad used to say, “Beauty is only skin deep, but ugly, runs right to the bone!” That is true of sin. As the prophet said, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked, who can know it?”  That was where every human is apart from Christ.

       By the way, think about this in terms of our mission.  We need to see the harvest fields more like Jesus sees. Instead of judging the conduct of our neighbors or lamenting their lifestyles, we should be moved with compassion, we should ache with the realization that apart from Jesus they will be judged, eternally, for their own sins.  The first man and woman tried to hide from God—there will be no hiding at the Great White Throne.  We need to take seriously our responsibility to point our friends and relatives and neighbors to Jesus.  After all, Jesus took our sins and died as our substitute so that we could have a new life in a living relationship with God.

IV. Now, because of Him, we have been reconciled to God by grace through faith in Jesus (25b).

…BUT have now returned…

       The word “BUT” is a strong contrast.  You were a lost sheep, wandering, in desperate need, “BUT NOW…” For Peter’s readers, they were no longer in that hopeless position.  They had turned in their need in a new direction. Have you ever made a wrong turn? I frequently do!  During our time in Brazil we lived in a huge city. Once, when we were fairly new there I remember making a turn on a road and very quickly a car pulled up alongside of us. It was the grounds keeper from the school our daughter attended! He made it clear we were going the wrong way, into a dangerous neighborhood. We thanked him and turned around!  There are many wrong turns that people make trying to find peace and purpose in life. There is only One way that leads to life. Jesus said it plainly, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father but through me…” (John 14:6).

       Peter says that his readers have “returned” or “turned” to the Lord.  The prophet Isaiah expressed this idea centuries before,

“...let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the LORD, that he may have compassion on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon...” (Isa 55;7).

The Hebrew word “return” [shuv] is translated in the Septuagint (the Greek Bible that most of the church was using in the first century) by the word epistrepho, the same word Peter uses, “turn, return.” It can be used of a literal change in direction, like coming down a mountain and returning to the camp, or going back to a city. It is frequently used of returning (or turning) to God, or negatively, of turning away from Him to idols. They had turned from their old lives to the Lord...

“…to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.”

These are familiar words in the New Testament. “Shepherd” is also translated “pastor,” and “overseer” is the word “episkopos,” which refers to a “bishop” in the KJV, simply “overseer” in most modern translations. Both words are used in parallel with the word “elder” when talking about the church office. The point here is, that the men that God raises up in the church have a role, but JESUS is the “Good Shepherd” who laid down his life for his sheep. I like the way the New Living Translation puts this verse,

“Once you were like sheep who wandered away. But now you have turned to your Shepherd, the Guardian of your souls...” (1 Peter 2:25). 

I think that is exactly what Peter is saying. The contrast is between our lost state, wandering, without direction, without hope, and turning to the one who is our Shepherd and Guardian.

What is God saying to me in this passage? Jesus took our sins and died as our substitute so that we could have a new life in a living relationship with God.

What would God have me to do in response to this passage? I’ve got some bad news for you and some good news. Let me give you the bad news first. Every human being, by birth and by choice, is a sinner, and “The wages of sin is death…” Eternal separation from God.  The Good News? “…but the free gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” As we consider the Gospel of God’s grace, the price that was paid for lost sheep like you and me, the first question to ask, are you sure of your salvation?  The price has been paid, of infinite worth, a perfect sacrifice, but the salvation is effectual for those who believe. Do you hear the Shepherd’s voice? Jesus said,

“My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. And I give to them eternal life and they shall never perish...” (Jn 10:27,28a).

To “hear his voice” is to hear and believe the truth of His Word.  He is who He claimed to be, the Son of God, He did what He promised to do, died on the cross for our sins, to purchase a place for us in heaven, which He offers as a free gift. Have you received the gift that He is offering you? If not, don’t put that decision off, today is the day of salvation! 

       For those who are His, this message should motivate us, his people who have “turned” to Him in faith, to share this “Good News” with the people around us. I’ve been urging you to write down those names, those people who God has place on the “front burner” of your life, and to start praying for them every day. And as you pray, ask God for an opportunity to speak about your faith in Jesus, and to invite them to come to a church meeting.  In James 5:20 we read,

 “...let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.”

James is not saying that we save anyone by our effort. But he is indicating that God has chosen to use weak and fumbling creatures like us to bring that life changing message of salvation to the world. You are part of a mission to change the world! It starts with your extended family and friends, your oikos.  Are you willing to allow God to use you?  

       As we prepare our hearts for the Lord’s Table consider the events that we are commemorating with this ordinance. Remember the plan that God worked in history so that we could have forgiveness of sin and reconciliation with God.  The kids in VBS this week learned I John 4:9, “This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through Him.” Paul expresses the idea in Romans 5:8 where he said, “God demonstrated His love for us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” We are saved by grace. It is His act of substitution that we remember today. Jesus celebrated the Passover meal with his disciples in the upper room. Christ, our Passover, has been sacrificed for us.  AMEN.