Study of First Peter Chapter 2 Lesson 40
The thrust presented for us
to follow in the footsteps of Christ. (3
steps)
#1.
#2. 2:23a Avoidance of
retaliation while being reviled or insulted.
#3. 2:23b Complete
commitment to God and His will while dealing with UNDSF.
When you read through the gospels and focus your
attention on the treatment that Christ received, that was heaped upon Him,
primarily by the religious crowd all through His public ministry, it was
extensive.
Who while being reviled,
His reaction to this
treatment is stated next;
He did not revile in return
- the natural response, or tendency by most of us when
verbally attacked is to return the abuse, tit for tat.
The next phrase adds to the details of the
circumstances He was facing that are in view.
while suffering, He uttered no threats,
The last phrase describes just how He was able to
do this, the same way we are!
but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously;
- Under extreme pressure,
suffering, both physical and verbal abuse He continued to entrust Himself and His situation…
to the Father.
to Him who judges righteously;
- says the judging is
according to a standard, what is right and just according to the standard of
the integrity of God, +R/J.
Observations:
1. Jesus Christ while under
great physical and verbal abuse refrained from any retort.
- Some examples of the abuse He endured Matt. 26:67; 27:30, 39-44
2. His mental attitude
towards His oppressors is seen in Lk 23:34
3. He was totally committed
to the will of God for Him. This is seen
in the garden when He prayed. Lk 22:42; Mark
4. He endured undeserved
suffering in His humanity in order to learn obedience to the will of God. Heb 5:8
5. Some of the categories of
UNDSF that Jesus Christ endured:
a. The normal CHP's of
humanity
- hunger - Matt 21:18;
4:2
- thirst - John 4:7;
- tired/exhausted - John
4:6
- all these demo that He
was true humanity
b. Attack from the religious
crowd, the Pharisees and Scribes Mk 7:1-23
- what
bothered the religious crowd the most was that Christ and the disciples did not
adhere to their additions and distortions of the M/L
- He did maintain complete
adherence to the M/L.
c. Attack by Satan Matt.
4:1-11 (unique to Jesus Christ)
- only way we as believers
are attacked by Satan is by rejection of truth, DVPT putting the sin nature in
rulership thereby opening our soul to the kosmos influence, human viewpoint,
evil from Satan's counterfeits.
d. He was attacked verbally
by demons, Mark 1:24
e. His greatest and unique
adversity was the Cross where He will be separated from God/F while He was bearing
our sins as we'll see in 1 Pet 2:24
6. Just as Christ committed
Himself to the one who judges righteously according to a standard that is right
and just we are to do the same. 1 Pet
4:19
and He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross,
bore our sins avnafe,rw to bear up or
away
- the
aorist tense takes us to the point of time of the cross, specifically the three
hours of darkness when He was bearing our sins, being judged in our place
in His body on the cross, kjv tree; word is xulon lit. wood or anything made from wood; is used for the
instrument of capitol punishment, the cross made of wood - Peter uses it that way in Acts 5:30; 10:39;
13:29
The suffering endured as Christ bore our sins in
His own body on the cross is the only efficacious suffering related to
salvation.
Next Peter details the glorious practical purpose
behind Christ's suffering on the Cross.
so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness;
Christ's work on the cross separates us from the
sin nature which produces personal sins when in rulership and provides us the
means to live righteously, in the will of God, honoring Him in our life after
salvation.
Rom 6:1-14
Point of truth!
When we live the Christian life, walking by the
Spirit, walking worthy of our calling in Christ only then is the full purpose
of the Cross realized.
Last phrase
for by His wounds you were healed.
The same sequence
related to healing and the cross is found in Isa
53:5.
The "healing" here is referring
to God dealing with mankind's ultimate disease; one that we are incapable of
dealing with on our own, no matter what we attempts to do.
The healing then focuses on all
that God does for the individual the one believing in Christ, from forgiveness
of sin to giving him
or her a new life in Christ; a whole new basis for living not just now but for all eternity.
The same sequence related to
healing and the cross is found in Isa 53:5.
There the thrust also is spiritual
healing, the making of a new creation in Christ at Salvation, not physical
healing.
Summary of
1. Christ bore our deserved
suffering, that is, our sins of His own volition, choosing to fulfill the will
of God being obedient even unto death.
2. The UNDSF of Christ, His
spiritual death while being judged in our place, makes it possible for us to be
free from both the penalty and power of sin and therefore to live for Him!
3. Being
free from the penalty of sin is indicated here by being healed from the malady
of spiritual death.
4. Being
free from the power of sin in one's life is to make decisions necessary to
consistently walk by the Spirit thereby maintaining the isolation of the sin
nature.
5. To conquer the sin
nature's attempts to rule one's life by choosing to continue walking by the
Spirit indicates that we are living righteously.
- gives us the capacity to
maintain our spiritual momentum in life as we live out the truths of the Word!