Written ~ 11-20-2023
1 Peter 2:21-25
21 “For God called you to do good, even if it means suffering, just as Christ suffered for you. He is your example, and you must follow in His steps.
22 He never sinned, nor ever deceived anyone.
23 He did not retaliate when He was insulted,
nor threaten revenge when He suffered.
He left His case in the hands of God, who always judges fairly.
24 He personally carried our sins in His body on the cross so that we can be dead to sin
and live for what is right. By His wounds you are healed.
25 Once you were like sheep who wandered away.
But now you have turned to your Shepherd,
the Guardian of your souls.”
As believers we have been called to be like Christ. To follow His example. When I look over our passage for today, it seems quite impossible to follow that example! Well, it is impossible! That’s why we have the Almighty God and the Power through the Holy Spirit to help us. It’s only through that power we can even begin to be like Christ. But isn’t it our deepest desire to want to mirror His behavior? When we get wrapped up in our own mindset and follow our sinful nature, it can get us into a whole heap of trouble.
I’m sure none of us like the idea of suffering… But we need to remind ourselves that if we are suffering because we follow the Lord Jesus Christ, we are blessed! And we will be rewarded.
Let’s look at what verses 2:22-25 list as examples we should follow…
- Jesus never sinned
- He never deceived anyone
- Jesus never retaliated
- He never threatened revenge
- Jesus left judgement to God
- He carried our sins in His body
- Jesus died so our wounds would be healed
- He is our Shepherd and Guardian
I must say this is a pretty difficult list to follow!
When verse 2:21b says, “He is your example, and you must follow in His steps…” how does that statement make you feel? For me? Honestly, I feel quite overwhelmed. I know I will never live up to that example. Not in this human body. But does that mean I give up and throw in the towel? No, definitely not. This list is a perfect measurement, we know as humans that living a sin free life won’t be possible. But, how close can we get? If our hearts and minds are fixed on Christ and nothing more, our behavior will change, it has to. His example is a shining beam of light and when we follow that light it will lead us to changed attitudes and our entire demeanor can become Christ-like. However, we will fall prey to temptation and sin… and if we really want to indulge in that sinful behavior, we have a choice in that moment to continue in that sinful behavior or turn away immediately and get back to seeking the example of Christ. Jesus was tempted, but did not sin, He kept His eyes on the Father at all times.
Jesus never lied, He never tried to deceive anyone, not with the words He spoke or His actions. He was true to His word. Think about how you speak to each other. Do you embellish your story to make it grander than it really is? Or do you flat out lie about what you’re up to. Deceiving and lying are characteristics of our enemy, Satan, they are not found in the example of Christ’s behavior, ever. Having a deceitful spirit is something that needs to be rectified immediately. The Holy Spirit within us would never prompt us to lie, that is solely coming from our sinful nature and needs to be dealt with swiftly.
It is also our human nature to retaliate when someone wrongs us. When we look at the example of Christ, He suffered greatly, just for being who He was! The religious leaders at the time were ruthless in carrying out their hatred towards Him. But never once did Jesus turn in anger or have a vengeful reaction. He only spoke in love. He pointed out the wrongdoing but never did He throw something back in their faces as retaliatory. Jesus was insulted time and time again and never did He threaten revenge of any kind. That characteristic needs to be one we follow closely. It may not be that we throw insults back at that person, but instead we hold a grudge. We hold over that other person a vengeful spirit, even if we don’t act on that feeling deep within us, we are still creating vengeful thoughts and we need to nip it in the bud right away. It’s true that people can have a mean streak, but we need to look at our example from the life of Jesus. Verse 2:23b says, “He left His case in the hands of God…” So what does that mean? Let’s look at how The Message Bible explains this verse… “He suffered in silence, content to let God set things right.” Jesus was content to let God take care of things. So even Jesus, though He has all the authority of Heaven at His fingertips, gave the responsibility of judgement to His Father. That’s what we need to do as well. Verse 2:21 starts off by saying, “For God called you to do good…” If we go around retaliating with vengeful actions because another person does something to make us mad, how is that pursuing the goodness God is calling us to have? Something to think about for sure…
Let’s look at verse 2:24. What does this mean to you? “He personally carried our sins in His body on the cross so that we can be dead to sin and live for what is right…” And how do we follow that example? Let’s search the Scriptures for the answer:
Luke 9:23-24, Then He said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow Me.For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for Me will save it.”
Galatians 2:20, “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.”
Galatians 5:24, “Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.”
Romans 6:11, “In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.”
1 Peter 4:1-2, “Therefore, since Christ suffered in His body, arm yourselves also with the same attitude, because whoever suffers in the body is done with sin. As a result, they do not live the rest of their earthly lives for evil human desires, but rather for the will of God.”
2 Corinthians 5:17, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!”
We may think the example of Christ is too lofty of a goal to strive for. But each and every day we have the choice to live for Christ by putting to death our sinful desires or we can fall into the lure of temptation and repeatedly find ourselves in trouble. If you have put your trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, you must make the conscious decision to seek His example and follow it.
Look at what Jesus did for us! He died on the cross for us, carrying the weight of OUR sin and He did that because of the love He has for us. By silently receiving the torture administered by the Roman soldiers, the beating, the whipping and the mocking, it was through those stripes ripping through His flesh that we are healed from our wounds. He placed all that pain and suffering on Himself, so that we would never have to carry that burden.
Jesus Christ our Lord, our Savior is the Good Shepherd, He gathers us together as His beloved sheep, He guards us, protects us and searches for any of us who have wandered away. He shields us from the attack of the enemy and holds our souls in His hands because we belong to Him.
Christ is our example to follow. Living for Him is what we are called to do. Suffering for Him comes with the territory. Will we succeed in following His example? That’s up to each one of us.
Father God, my prayer is that I will be mindful of how I live my life. Am I following the example of Your Son? With the help of Your Holy Spirit I pray wholeheartedly that my heart, mind and soul can be laid down before Your throne and my life can be used for Your Glory.
~AMEN~