[0:00] Can we turn back to the passage that we read together in Peter's first epistle and chapter 2. 1 Peter chapter 2 and we can read again verse 24.
[0:23] He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree so that we might die to sin and to live to righteousness.
[0:36] By his wounds you have been healed. He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree.
[0:46] We have in this one short phrase a summary of the gospel. This is the good news that brings us together here today.
[0:59] Jesus bore our sins as he hung on this cursed cross at Calvary. And his purpose in doing so the verse tells us was so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness.
[1:15] It was so that you can leave your old life behind and live a life that is conforming and being conformed to God's Son.
[1:28] Being made more like Jesus. That's why he died. So that you would be more like him. By his wounds you have been healed.
[1:40] You have been healed. And that is the sure hope of the Christian today. It's not a vain hope. It's a sure hope. That you are healed because he bore your sins.
[1:53] The debt of our sin. A debt which we could never pay ourselves. A debt which weighed heavily upon you was transferred to him.
[2:05] And he took it willingly in your place. I'd like to consider this verse today then. 1 Peter 2 verse 24. A verse which presents us with a problem, a person, and a place.
[2:22] The problem, first of all, is the problem of our sins. He himself bore our sins. That is a major problem, friends, which demands our urgent attention.
[2:37] And unless and until you grasp just how serious our sin is in the sight of God, you can never explain or understand why there had to be a cross in Christ's experience.
[2:53] The problem, our sins. The person. The person. He himself. Bore our sins in his body.
[3:03] There is a triple emphasis on this person in that verse. He himself in his body. The person, of course, is Jesus.
[3:14] The one who came to carry your burden. To bear your sins in your place. And then thirdly, the place on the tree.
[3:28] Not on a tree. But the cursed tree of Golgotha. That is where he bore your sins and mine in his own body.
[3:41] So I want to do to consider these three things from this verse. The problem, the person, and the place. The problem then, first of all, our sins.
[3:52] Now, if you don't believe that your sins are a problem, then you'll never grasp your need of a savior. It is that basic. In fact, the only way we can begin to understand or to fathom why a God who is holy and loving and just would send his son to die that awful death.
[4:14] The only way you can understand that or explain that is by understanding the seriousness of our sins.
[4:24] Now, I don't expect that you came here today to hear a sermon on sin. And I don't intend to spend too long on this point.
[4:35] But I want you to spend a couple of minutes to show, to explain, because it's here in the verse, the seriousness of our sins. Because our sins, friends, are personal.
[4:48] They are powerful. And they demand a penalty. They are personal, first of all. And we have that in the verse. See, lots of folk are happy to talk about sin in the abstract.
[4:59] The sins of our nation, the sins of our age, the sins of the day we live in. The violence, the greed, the pride, the lust, all of these things. But bring it closer to home.
[5:13] And they're not so happy to talk about it. But sin is personal. It is personal. Look at what the verse says. He bore our sins.
[5:26] Jesus didn't die for sin in the abstract. He died for your sins and for my sins.
[5:36] They're personal. And it doesn't say either that he died for our sin, as in a whole. He died for our sins.
[5:49] Particular. Your sins in all their specificness. That's what Jesus died for. It was as if on the cross he had your account details.
[6:03] With every sinful transaction listed there. And all the sinful debt that you could never pay was there before him when he died for you on the cross.
[6:17] Sin, friends, is personal. But sin is also powerful. It separates us from God.
[6:28] It separates us from God. Isaiah says that our sin causes God to turn his face away. And not to hear us.
[6:40] He doesn't want to listen to you. Because of your sin. That's how serious sin is.
[6:52] And not just that it alienates between us and God. But it alienated between Jesus and God as well.
[7:03] When he bore your sins. God turned his face away. So sin is personal. Sin is powerful.
[7:14] In the negative sense of that word. But sin also demands a penalty. Scripture says that the soul that sins shall die.
[7:25] There is no other way. The penalty must be paid and somebody has to die. And if it's not you. It can only be him.
[7:38] How could justice be done if somebody had to die? Who could die in your place? Only one who was sinless could die in your place.
[7:49] And where could one who was sinless be found? Well there's only one the Bible says who's sinless. And that is God himself.
[8:00] That is God himself. Your sins are such a great problem. Your sins that are personal. Your sins that are powerful. Your sins that demand a penalty are such a major deal.
[8:15] That only God himself could pay the penalty. And that is what he did. He came to earth in the portion of his son.
[8:28] To bear your sins. In your place. Jesus Christ became a man. To bear your sin.
[8:40] In Hebrews chapter 7 we read this. Such a high priest was indeed fitting. One who is holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners. Exalted above the heavens.
[8:52] That's the only one who could pay. One who is pure, sinless. Set apart from sinners. That word means, it's to describe him as holy. But this set apart from sinners.
[9:05] He was separate from sinners. And your sin was such a problem. That this one who was set apart from sinners.
[9:18] Had to become so identified with them. That he became sin itself. Do you begin to grasp how serious our sin is?
[9:32] I guess I'm straying there to talk about the person. And I'd much prefer to talk about the person. As I'm sure you would to hear about the person. Than hear about the problem. But just before we move on.
[9:45] This problem of our sins. If it's possible to say that there is an upside to sin. It is this. That it is what qualifies you for salvation.
[10:03] Because that's who Jesus came for. He came for sinners. And if you're a sinner today. You're qualified for salvation.
[10:16] It was Rabbi Duncan. And used to say that sin was the handle. By which he got Christ. He said, I read my Bible. I don't see it saying that Jesus came for Rabbi Duncan.
[10:31] But I see that he came for sinners. And he knew he was a sinner. And he knew therefore that he met the criteria. For those for whom Jesus came.
[10:44] If you're aware of your sin today. And you meet the criteria. But enough about the problem. Let's consider this person. He himself bore our sins in his body.
[11:01] There's three references there to this person. He himself, his body. We're talking, of course, about Jesus.
[11:12] The one who was flawless. He's described in verse 22. He committed no sin. Neither was deceit found in his mouth.
[11:24] Flawless. And despite the best efforts of his enemies. To pin him down or to find him guilty. We read that their testimony did not agree.
[11:35] Even Pilate confessed that surely this was. Or that he could find no fault in this man. And Judas.
[11:46] Even Judas. Confessed that he had betrayed innocent blood. The sinless, flawless son of God.
[11:56] We read elsewhere that God made him who knew no sin. To be sin. For us. God made Jesus sin.
[12:07] That's hard to get your head around today. Because God loathes sin. He hates it with a passion. As we've already said, he can't even look at it.
[12:21] He turns his face away from it. His wrath goes out against it. And he must punish it. And yet he made his own son.
[12:32] This thing. That he hates. At what great cost to Jesus. Who was mocked.
[12:43] Who was ridiculed. Who was beaten. Who was buffeted. Who was spat upon on the cross. Have you ever considered that. In the mocking that they did of Jesus.
[12:58] They were mocking his three offices. As prophet. As priest. And as king. They mocked him in all of his offices. As prophet. Luke tells us that they blindfolded Jesus.
[13:11] And as they were striking him. They said prophesy to us. Who it is. That strikes you. They mocked him. As a prophet. But they mocked him also as a priest.
[13:25] They said he saved others. Himself. He can't say. Himself. He cannot say. They mocked him as priest. And they mocked him as king.
[13:36] As well. If you are the king of Israel. Then come down from the cross. All his three offices.
[13:47] They mocked him. And if that didn't suffice. They then went on to mock him. As the son of God. They said to him.
[14:00] Mocking him. Let God deliver him now. For he said. I am the son of God. How hard.
[14:12] To bear such mocking. You know. If that was you. If that was me. If that was me. And we had the power to. We'd be down. From the cross. And I shot. And we'd say. See I told you so.
[14:25] I told you so. In That's what held him there.
[14:55] He himself bore our sins. Why does it say he himself? It's like a double emphasis. What I think it makes clear to us that Jesus wasn't just some facilitator who came to take our sins and pass them on to a third party to deal with.
[15:16] He took them and he dealt with them himself. In fact, there's a triple emphasis. He dealt with them himself in his body.
[15:29] In his body. Jesus and no other is the one who dealt with your sin. Why did God make him who knew no sin to be sin for you?
[15:43] It was so that you could become the righteousness of God. And that's some swap that is. I must be the greatest swap the world has ever known.
[15:57] Jesus says here, give me your sin. And you can have God's righteousness because that's who I am. I'm God. And I'll give you his righteousness in exchange for your sin.
[16:14] You know, today, if you're able to sit at the Lord's table, it's because in God's eyes you are a saint. You are a saint.
[16:25] Jesus took your sin in his own body. And he gave you his righteousness in return.
[16:36] That's the only reason you're there. Not because you had any righteousness of yourself or me with you. Because he gave you his. You know, friends, it was no easy transaction.
[16:49] We read in verse 23, When he was reviled, he did not revile in return. When he suffered, he did not threaten. Peter here is immersed, immersed in Isaiah 53.
[17:07] That's where it's all coming from. Everything he's teaching us is coming from Isaiah 53. He reviled. When he was reviled, he did not revile again. What's he thinking of?
[17:18] He was led as a lamb to the slaughter. And as a sheep before her shearers is done, so he opened not his mouth. No complaining.
[17:30] No objection, friends. As we saw yesterday, when Peter drew his sword, Jesus said to him, Peter, put your sword away. Put it away. Shall I not drink the cup that the Father had given me to drink?
[17:45] He was a willing sacrifice. He never objected. He never complained. Look at what he did at the end of verse 23. He continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly.
[18:02] You know, if you're innocent, you would relish a judge who is just. But Christ wasn't innocent. He bore my sin.
[18:17] And he bore your sin. And if we can use a phrase, he was guilty of sin. He was far, far from innocent.
[18:30] And in entrusting himself to one who judges justly, he was asking for God's wrath to be poured out upon him for you and for me.
[18:42] This God, who cannot overlook a single sin, would judge him who bore all of your sin and all of my sin in all of their gory detail.
[19:04] He was asking for God's wrath to be poured out on him. But he said, not my will, but thine be done.
[19:16] Thine be done. He drank the cup of God's wrath. He himself bore our sins in his body. We've seen the problem.
[19:29] We've seen the person. Thirdly, I want to consider the place on the tree. He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree. As I said already, this wasn't just any tree.
[19:43] This was the most important tree in all of history. This was the cursed tree on Golgotha. You know, trees, trees can be beautiful, but this one was ugly.
[19:59] It was ugly. Maybe to you today, it's beautiful because of all that it symbolizes, because of all that it means to you. Because it's because of this tree that you're able to sit where you are.
[20:14] But there was no such attraction for Jesus. As we saw yesterday, he shrank back from the horror of it. He recoiled at the thought of it.
[20:25] He was so amazed. He was so amazed. An extremity of astonishment as he considered what lay ahead of him on this cross.
[20:41] So much so that he asked, is there any other way? Have we really gone through all the options? There was no other way.
[20:54] See, if there was, if there was another way, God would never have sent his son to die such a horrific death as he did if there was an alternative.
[21:08] There wasn't, friends. crucifixion was a cruel and prolonged death.
[21:21] Why could he not have been, if he had to die, why couldn't he have been killed by a sword? Well, because he came not just to deal with sin, but to deal with the curse that sin brought into man's experience, he had to deal with that curse.
[21:43] And if you go back into Deuteronomy, I think it's chapter 21, we read that cursed is everyone who dies upon a tree. That's why Jesus had to die upon a tree so that he would become a curse, so that he would take the curse of sin.
[22:02] upon himself. Paul confirms that in Galatians 3 when he says, Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us.
[22:15] Becoming a curse for us. You know, someone else could be asked to bear the wood of his cross. Simon did. But no one else could bear the sin of the world.
[22:27] No one else but him. The wooden cross could be carried by another. But the weight of humanity's guilt, yours and mine, could only rest on Jesus, the one who was sinless.
[22:46] The Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. Of us all. Little wonder that he trembled at the weight of it.
[22:59] Little wonder that he shrank back from the horror of it. Little wonder that his sweat was like great drops of blood falling to the ground.
[23:11] The thought of what he'd go through for you and for me so that we could sit here today. It was Jesus himself that said, Greater love hath no man than this.
[23:28] That a man lay down his life for his friends. For his friends. That's who he lay his life down for. How do you know if that includes you today?
[23:43] How do you know if you're a friend of Jesus today? Well, Jesus tells us. He said, You are my friends if you do what I command you.
[23:57] You're my friends if you do what I command you. And what is it that he commands you to do today? He says, Do this. Do this in remembrance of me.
[24:14] If you're a friend of Jesus, and you obey his command and you take the place that he earned for you at such great cost and you sit with his people at his table.
[24:31] May God bless these thoughts to us on his word. We're now going to sing in Psalm 22 and sing Psalms.