| Our verse to DATE the Word on March 18 (3/18) is 1 Peter 3:18 |
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| 1 Peter 3:18 says, “For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit, |
| He GAVE HIS LIFE TO SAVE YOUR LIFE As we move toward Easter one of the most enlightening and illuminating verses for the Easter season is 1 Peter 3:18. I will seek to unpack this verse so that we might know what Christ did for each of us and for the entire world with the hope you will come away having read this crying WORTHY IS THE LAMB! Our attention should immediately be drawn to the word, the name Christ as Peter makes it abundantly clear WHO will be doing all that follows in the verse. Christ is our Messiah. Christ is our Savior. Christ is our PASSOVER lamb. The next word is SUFFERED. The church I attended growing up would have us recite the Apostle’s Creed and in it were the words “He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried.” HE SUFFERED are painful words to read, are they not? To think of Christ dying is difficult to comprehend but to wrap one’s thoughts around His suffering is so much more painful, especially in light of the next words in which He suffered for sins that He did not commit. I would ask that you pause and consider just some of His sufferings (yes, plural). He was alone and in agony in the garden. He was arrested after being betrayed. He beaten and bruised. He was crucified. (Think excruciating pain). He was despised. He was embarrassed as He hung naked on the cross. He was called an evildoer. He was falsely accused. He was forsaken by His Father. He watched as they gambled for His clothing. They hung Him on a cross beam. He was insulted as they jeered at Him. His betrayer kissed Him. They laughed at Him. Our sins were laid on Him. They mocked Him. They nailed Him to the cross. He was oppressed. They punched Him in His face and they pierced His side. He was questioned relentlessly and taunted to prove He was the Son of God, to self-incriminate Himself. He was ridiculed. They spit on Him. He was smitten. He was scourged. (as with the word crucified let this one grip your soul) They placed a crown of thorns on His head. They tempted Him to come down from the cross. He would speak of His agonizing pain with the words “I Thirst.” Everything done was unjust, but nothing more so that the irreligious unjust trial by the ungodly religious leaders. He was treated with such contempt, even being offered vinegar to His cry of “I thirst.” They wagged their heads at Him in rejection of Him. He SUFFERED. He suffered the shame and indignancy and the pain of a cruel crucifixion. Our verse tells us why He suffered as it was for sins, the just for the unjust. In theology, we learn that His death was a vicarious substitutionary death. He who had done no sin nor had done no wrong will take the place of all the UNJUST, wicked, sinful, ungodly, etc. He will die in my place and He would die in your place. He would die for everyone! We again will ask why and the answer is so that He might BRING US TO GOD. Because of His death on our behalf, we can be RECONCILED to God! We can have access to God. Our acceptance of His gift of salvation will cause us to be ADOPTED into the family of God. Our status goes from a child of the devil to a child of God. Peter concludes this verse with His death and then His resurrection. He GAVE His life to SAVE our life. He was RAISED AGAIN so we could be BORN AGAIN. Verse to DATE the Word on March 18 (3/18) is 1 Peter 3:18. It says, “For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit, No wonder heaven is filled with the singing, “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain To receive power and riches and wisdom, And strength and honor and glory and blessing!” Continue Strong in adoration of the Lamb of God that suffered for your sins! And remember to DATE THE WORD |