A Murderous Heart And The Power Of The Gospel

30MAR2012

A Murderous Heart And The Power Of The Gospel

Servants, be subject to your masters with all respect, not only to the good and gentle but also to the unjust.  For this is a gracious thing, when, mindful of God, on endures sorrows while suffering unjustly.  For what credit is it if, when you sin and are beaten for it, you endure?  But if when you do good and suffer for it you endure, this is a gracious thing n the sight of God.  For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in His steps.  He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in His mouth.  When He was reviled, He did not revile in return; when He suffered, He did not threaten, but continued entrusting Himself to Him who judges justly.  He Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness.  By His wounds you have been healed.  For you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.

1 Peter 2:18-25

***Before I begin, I want to encourage you to make sure you get what God through Peter is saying above.  It is far more important that you grasp the meaning of this text than you hear anything that I am about to say.  My words simply come from my experience.  Peter’s words are God-breathed and useful for all things.***

I woke up this morning with two thoughts on my mind.  First and foremost, thoughts of thanks and praise to Jesus Christ for keeping me and blessing me with another day were abundant.  More and more frequently, this is my first thought of the day and I’m so glad it is because nothing is truer than the supremacy of Jesus Christ over all things.   

The other thought wasn’t nearly as pleasant.  It was a heaviness and sorrow for the murder that I committed yesterday.  No, I didn’t grab a gun and blow somebody’s brains out.  I didn’t rig up a bomb to someone’s car so it would explode when they turned the key in the ignition.  But, according to Jesus, I did something every bit as bad when I ceased to love another human being who is created in the image of God. 

My exceeding sinfulness would have me believe that it was this person’s attitude that caused my hatred.  And even that it was an environment in which I was destined to fail.  Put me in a context doing something I’m passionate about and know a lot about and then bring in a person who literally seeks to destroy my joy and what do you expect to happen?  I’m going to get irate and defend that which is precious to me! 

But this is not what God calls me to.   No matter what situation I may be facing, my responsibility is to Jesus Christ and making much of His name.  And I fail to do that when I exalt myself and defend my integrity and justify my behaviors. 

I’m grieved by my heart because yesterday I acted as though I had never even heard of Jesus Christ, let alone spent any significant time with Him. 

But there is hope!  There is glorious hope and this passage tells us about it.  I just want to try and bring out a couple of points from Peter’s words and hopefully we all are changed by their power. 

First, notice what kind of perspective we are to have when suffering or enduring injustice.  It isn’t one of vengeance or defensiveness.  We aren’t called to be tough and manly nor are we told to simply ignore the injustice either! 

Twice Peter says, “For this is a gracious thing…this is a gracious thing in the sight of God.”  What is a gracious thing?  When, mindful of God, one endures sorrows while suffering unjustly…But when you do good and suffer for it you endure. 

Now, I’m definitely not saying that I did these things and you should follow my example.  In fact, I didn’t do these things at all!  But I want to do these things and think this way about suffering.  I want to trust God when He says that suffering is His grace to me.  I want to believe God when He tells me that Jesus has called me to this very thing and that it is by way of suffering that I experience intimacy with Jesus and I honor His name! 

I want this for myself and I want it for all of us!  Just above these verses in verse 16, Peter calls us to live as people who are free.  People who are free don’t have to worry about taking a stand for their rights or getting the last word and being found to be in the right.  People who are free can continue to entrust themselves to the One who judges justly and wait on the Lord to exact payment due for our lives. 

My actions were not actions of one who knew that he was free.  They were actions of one who believed he was enslaved by his self-preservation and pride.  Lord Jesus, I know I am free.  Help me to live like I believe it! 

So, to summarize this first observation from our text:  Suffering is God’s grace to us and when we respond in faith and not hatred towards others (or God) we follow in the steps of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ and He is honored on earth. 

There is one more point that I want to make from this passage.  The power to live like this comes from the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  Notice that Peter does not stop with this verse: For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in His steps.  If that was where this passage stopped, we could rightly conclude that Jesus was a great moral teacher and if we just try hard enough we too can be righteous like Him through our own efforts.  

But Peter goes on.  And what he says is the most important message of all time.  Let’s read it again.

He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in His mouth.  When He was reviled, He did not revile in return; when He suffered, He did not threaten, but continued entrusting Himself to Him who judges justly.  He Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness.  By His wounds you have been healed.  For you were straying like sheep, but have no returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls. 

Jesus remained sinless despite tremendous suffering and persecution unlike any we can even fathom.  Sinless.  Spotless.  Blameless.  Perfect.  He didn’t even have to hold back a harsh word towards any of His accusers!  There was no sin in His heart.  This was no purely external effort.  He was sinless from the inside out! 

So what does this have to do with us?  Where is this power that you speak of, Matt?  It’s in the fact that Jesus Christ bore our sins in His body on the tree so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness.  His wounds have healed us from our guilt and sinfulness through faith! 

Do you see?  The power isn’t in changing our way of thinking or avoiding hard situations so that we appear to be more like Jesus.  The power is in believing that Jesus Christ’s death on the Cross is truly adequate to deal with sin.  Not just sin out there, but sin in here, in my heart, in your heart. 

The power is in the affection that this reality ought to generate in your heart if you truly know Jesus Christ.  To love Jesus is to want to follow Him.  To love Jesus is to yearn to be like Him because He saved our souls from the wrath of God.  Jesus shows us how much He loves us by dying in our place.  When we experience this love, we are transformed and we want to live in a way that pleases Him and by beholding the face of Jesus Christ, we have the power to do that! 

There is no power like the power that Jesus manifests at the Cross.  Embracing that power gives us everything we need for life and for godliness. 

Apart from Jesus, we were straying like sheep.  We were lost without hope of finding our way home.  Maybe some reading this are still straying like sheep.  I promise that you will never be free unless you surrender everything to Jesus.  You won’t find what you are looking for anywhere else. 

And those who know Him, who have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls, follow His example.  Why?  Because He bought your life and ransomed you from utter destruction.  And because He is worth dying to our rights for and suffering for and losing everything for because He is Ultimate. 

Entrust yourself to Him who judges justly and endure suffering for this is a gracious thing in the sight of God.  Look to Jesus.  He supplies all the power we need.