INTRODUCTION
• VIDEO CLIP (2nd service)
• SLIDE #1
• This day is unique in the sense that we are celebrating something that changed the course of history and the destiny of mankind forever!
• Christians come together not to mourn the death of our leader, but to celebrate the resurrection of our Lord. Jesus defeated death so that we no longer are trapped by the curse of death! What other faith can boast of being able to celebrate a resurrection!
• Do you ever remember a time that someone else paid the price for something you did?
• Did you have a brother or sister who took the rap for something you did? Maybe you did something at school that someone else got into trouble for?
• Have you ever done something that required punishment, only to have someone voluntarily step up and take your punishment for you?
• If you have ever had this happen to you, did you feel bad that another person took the punishment that you had earned, or were you just happy that you got away with it and someone else took the fall for you?
• Today I would like us to understand that Jesus pain IS our gain.
• Let’s begin with 1 Peter 2:21-23
• SLIDE #2
• 1 Peter 2:21-23(ESV) 21For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps. 22He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. 23When 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.
• SLIDE #3
SERMON
His pain is our gain because:
I. His pain should have been our pain!
• Why did Jesus die? Why did He endure the suffering he endured?
• In part He suffered as an example for us, so that we could learn how to deal with the difficult times of life.
• The word translated “example” was a word used that pointed out the way a child was taught to write. Letters were written on a page and the children would trace the letters so they could learn how to write.
• Let’s look at the deeper reasons for His pain!
• SLIDE #4
A. He died because of OUR sins.
• Verse 22 reminds us that Jesus committed NO sin! This whole passage ties back to Isaiah 53 which is part of what is called the “suffering servant poems.
• They were written a few hundred years before Jesus was born and they spell out exactly what was to happen to Him.
• Jesus was an innocent person. He lived a perfect sinless life. The bible shares this with us in many places. 1 Peter 1:19 says His blood was spotless, without blemish.
• We are told that not only were Jesus actions sinless, but that He did not sin in His speech!
• When Jesus was on trial, the religious leaders had to find people to falsely accuse Him of violating the Law. Matthew 26:59-60
• SLIDE #5
• Matthew 26:59-60(ESV) 59Now the chief priests and the whole Council were seeking false testimony against Jesus that they might put him to death, 60but they found none, though many false witnesses came forward. At last two came forward
• When we jump into verse 24 we see that Jesus BORE our sins. The word BORE was used in the Greek translation of the Old Testament to denote the act of a priest offering various sacrifices upon the altar.
• SLIDE #6
• Hebrews 7:27(ESV) 27He has no need, like those high priests, to offer sacrifices daily, first for his own sins and then for those of the people, since he did this once for all when he offered up himself.
• SLIDE #7
B. Jesus did not see vengeance for His suffering.
• When we get in trouble for something we did not do, our reaction would most likely be that we would vow to get even with the one who got us in trouble.
• Even if someone were to turn us in for something we had done, most people would want to get even with them.
• Did you ever get in trouble for something that someone else had done?
• I remember getting in trouble for something my brother did, the whole time my thoughts were all about getting him back, making him pay.
• When Jesus was unjustly being beaten and crucified, He did not use harsh words towards those who abused Him.
• Look at what Jesus said about His abusers!
• SLIDE #8
• Luke 23:34(ESV) 34And Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” And they cast lots to divide his garments.
• Jesus uttered no threats! He went to the cross because He loves us!
• SLIDE #9
C. Jesus put His full trust in God!
• How was Jesus able to endure such suffering? He was able to do it because not only did He love us, but He fully trusted God. He knew that God would do was He promised, He knew that His sacrifice was not in vain!
• He knows that God judges righteously!
• He knew that God would be the one who paid ultimately bring justice and mercy in the end.
• Jesus set an example of how to handle persecution. He trusted God even during the most difficult of times.
• SLIDE #10
• 1 Peter 2:24(ESV) 24He 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.
• SLIDE #11
His pain is our gain because:
II. His pain helped us gain new life!
• SLIDE #12
A. His pain opened up eternal life for us!
• His wounds, we were healed! This is used metaphorically to mean, “to bring about one’s salvation.”
• A wound or stripe was a mark or welt left on a person’s back when the scourge struck them. The scourge was an instrument that was made of strips of leather with chunks of glass and metal ingrained in the strips.
• When used properly, it would literally rip the skin off the body. It was a brutal thing to go through.
• By paying the penalty for our sins, Jesus opened the door to eternal life for us all!
• The Old Testament was full of animal sacrifices, but these did nothing more than to temporarily cover sins and show mankind the cost of sin and the need to be righteous.
• SLIDE #13
• Hebrews 10:4(ESV) 4For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.
• SLIDE #14
B. His pain broke our slavery to sin!
• Jesus carried our sins to the cross so that we could die to sin and live righteously!
• When we commit our first sin, sin is missing the mark, we become enslaved to sin, it becomes our way of life, it becomes our master.
• SLIDE #15
• Romans 6:1-11(ESV) 1What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? 2By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? 3Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. 5For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. 6We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. 7For one who has died has been set free from sin. 8Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. 9We know that Christ being raised from the dead will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. 10For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. 11So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.
• Since we are no longer slaves to sin, we can live for Jesus. We will struggle with sin, but it is not longer the master of the one who belongs to Jesus! We have NEW LIFE in Christ!
• SLIDE #16
• 1 Peter 2:25(ESV) 25For you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.
• SLIDE #17
His pain is our gain because:
III. His pain allowed Him to be the guardian of our souls!
• This word “guardian” had a great history.
• It denoted a person who would guard and protect.
• With this in mind we…
• SLIDE #18
A. Our souls are safe in His hands.
• Peter tells us that before we come to Jesus, we all continually stray like sheep.
• This is not a complement to us. Sheep are dumb. We are being compared to a dumb straying sheep. A lost sheep will eventually find itself in a bad position. When we are without Jesus, we are going to fall prey to the same fate.
• We too will find ourselves in a bad way.
• When we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we have returned to the great Shepherd.
• Jesus will protect our souls from the enemy. He will help protect us from anything that would jeopardize our soul.
• He will lead us to places of rest and nourishment. HE will never lead us wrong!
• Would you like to be covered under the safety of Jesus!
• SLIDE #19
B. A dead savior cannot guard our souls.
• The reason that Jesus can be the Great Shepherd and the guardian of our souls is the fact that He is a live and seated at the right and of the Father!
• A dead shepherd cannot lead the sheep. A dead guardian is nothing more than a scarecrow.
• Jesus not only died on the cross, but He rose on the third day!
• We celebrate the fact that He HAS RISEN!
CONCLUSION
• What is Easter to you? Is it a big bunny and candy? Is it a time for family? Is it the time when we are compelled to go to church?
• Easter is the time where we celebrate the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus! We do not go to a tomb to mourn His death, because He is not in the tomb!
