" He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed. For you were like sheep going astray but now you have returned to the shepherd and overseer of your souls" 1st Peter: 24-25
Introduction:
It is gratitude that prompted an old man to visit an old broken pier on the eastern seacoast of Florida. Every Friday night, until his death in 1973, he would return, walking slowly and slightly stooped with a large bucket of shrimp. The sea gulls would flock to this old man, and he would feed them from his bucket. Many years before, in October 1942, Captain Eddie Rickenbacker was on a mission in a B-17 to deliver an important message to General Douglas Macarthur in New Guinea.But there was an unexpected detour which would hurl Captain Eddie into the most harrowing adventure of his life. Somewhere over the South Pacific the Flying Fortress became lost beyond the reach of radio. Fuel ran dangerously low, so the men ditched their plane in the ocean...For nearly a month Captain Eddie and his companions would fight the water, and the weather, and the scorching sun. They spent many sleepless nights recoiling as giant sharks rammed their rafts. The largest raft was nine by five. The biggest shark...ten feet long. But of all their enemies at sea, one proved most formidable: starvation. Eight days out, their rations were long gone or destroyed by the salt water. It would take a miracle to sustain them. And a miracle occurred.
In Captain Eddie's own words, "Cherry," that was the B-17 pilot, Captain William Cherry, "read the service that afternoon, and we finished with a prayer for deliverance and a hymn of praise. There was some talk, but it tapered off in the oppressive heat. With my hat pulled down over my eyes to keep out some of the glare, I dozed off." Now this is still Captain Rickenbacker talking..."Something landed on my head. I knew that it was a sea gull. I don't know how I knew, I just knew. Everyone else knew too. No one said a word, but peering out from under my hat brim without moving my head, I could see the expression on their faces. They were staring at that gull. The gull meant food...if I could catch it."
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And the rest, as they say, is history. Captain Eddie caught the gull. Its flesh was eaten. Its intestines were used for bait to catch fish. The survivors were sustained and their hopes renewed because a lone sea gull, uncharacteristically hundreds of miles from land, offered itself as a sacrifice. You know that Captain Eddie made it. And now you also know...that he never forgot. Because every Friday evening, about sunset...on a lonely stretch along the eastern Florida seacoast...you could see an old man walking...white-haired, bushy-eye browed, slightly bent. His bucket filled with shrimp was to feed the gulls...to remember that one, which, on a day long past, gave itself without a struggle...like manna in the wilderness. ("The Old May and the Gulls" from Paul Harvey's The Rest of the Story by Paul Aurandt, 1977, quoted in Heaven Bound Living, Knofel Stanton, Standard, 1989, p. 79-80
Transition:
Captain Rickenbacker had to remember he could not would not forget a sacrifice that enabled him to live! This memorial day weekend, our thoughts journey back to loved ones and to those we never knew who when duty called to serve the Land of the free and the home of the brave, served. Many died and freedom, that hard to describe and sometimes-illusive gift was won at a price that cost millions their lives. This Memorial Day weekend, I am thinking of heroes unnamed but not forgotten, lives cut short in their prime, for people they would never meet. People who must never forget! Memorial day is defined as: " A day designated in the United States, for honoring dead servicemen, a day also known as "Decoration Day"
Memorial day for Christian people is also a day as all days are to remember what "Our heroic Savior" accomplished. Think of it this way. Sin put you wounded and behind enemy lines, safety seemed far away. You had never felt quite so alone. Looking out across no mans land by faith you saw the form of a friend, making his way toward you, risking it all, enemy shrapnel and bullets just missing him, though not for a lack of trying. All the forces of hell were put on alert, the barrage unrelelenting! The only way to make it to safety is on the back of this heroic Savior. He scooped you up with tender hands, as you both made your way back to safety he was mortally wounded death comes to him. Suddenly the enemy retreats, hell retreats and is forced to surrender a white flag is being tossed by a breeze and you are free! Peter tells us as much in 1st Peter 2:24-25.
" He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed. For you were like sheep going astray but now you have returned to the shepherd and overseer of your souls" 1st Peter: 24-25
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Our Heroic Savior:
Took our sins in his body on the tree.
So that we might die to sins and live righteously
Resulting in our being his sheep
I. He took our sins on his body on the " He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree"
When the apostle Peter states that Christ "bore" our sins He is underscoring the fact that our Heroic Savior was a sacrifice, he like the lambs offered in the Old Testament bore or took upon himself our sins!
The Old Testament prophet Isaiah, looking hundreds of years into the future and what the Messiah would accomplish wrote:
"Therefore I will give him a portion among the great, and he will divide the spoils with the strong, because he poured out his life unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors. For he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors." Isaiah 53:12
The Hebrew word for the verb "Bore" means to ·take up! The Lord Jesus Christ in reaching down to us in our sinful condition "took up" our sin upon himself!
Allow that thought to grip your senses. Sin, willful disobedience, thoughts and acts of violence perversion hatred pride murder adultery lying stealing embezzling! He "took them upon himself"
" God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God" 2 Corinthians: 5:21
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Writer Max Lucado in his book "In the grip of grace" wrote:
" Sin has sentenced us to a slow and painful death. Sin does to a life what shears do to a flower. A cut at the stem separates a flower from the source of life. Initially the flower is attractive still colorful and strong. But watch that flower over a period of time, and the leaves will wilt and the petals will drop. No matter what you do the flower will never live again. Surround it with water. Stick the stem in soil. Baptize it with fertilizer. Glue the flower back on the stem. Do what you wish the flower is dead·.
A dead soul has no life. Cut off from God the soul withers and dies. The consequence of sin is not a bad day or a bad mood but a dead soul. The sign of a dead soul is clear: poisoned lips and cursing mouths, feet that lead to violence and eyes that donât see God.
Now you know how people can be so vulgar. Their souls are dead. Now you see how some religions can be so oppressive. They have no life. Now you understand how the drug peddler can sleep at night and the dictator can live with his conscience. He has none. The finished work of sin is to kill the soul."
*Oh but the finished work of our champion, our king our Master is to Take upon himself our sin! Why? So that we might die to sin and live righteously!
II. Were to die to sins and live righteously:
" He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed"
When a sinful soul is surrendered to the Savior, a change takes place. It might appear to be the same person same hair and eyes and distinctive laugh. Yet there not the same, forgiveness applied results in an alteration of conduct and behavior. Vices that once had gripped have been broken! Because " He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed"
Peter is teaching that this new person, a saved person can and should live for God! Righteousness can be an intimidating word. Broken down to its root it means to do right. To live for righteousness then is to live with a passion and a desire to do the right thing!
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*There's an old story about a man who tried to save the city of Sodom from destruction by warning the citizens. But the people ignored him. One day someone asked, "Why bother everyone? You can't change them." "Maybe I can't," the man replied, "but I still shout and scream to prevent them from changing me!
We must not become too comfortable in this world! We express our gratitude to God by living for him, and we all know that when a believer is living for the Lord life is worth living, because it takes on a fresh meaning each day has eternity packed into it. We know that to be in the center of the will of God is to be a success no matter our occupation. Itâs a safe place, a place of meaning and joy. Yet often in our Christian experience we willfully move from that safe place. It doesnât have to be that way, we can live for God, our sins have been forgiven.
Peter reminds us that "By his wounds we have been healed" Healed? From what? From sin and the consequences of leaving this planet without asking for the forgiveness of Christ! *A minister began his sermon one Sunday morning by saying to the congregation " Friends I want to ask you a question that I cannot answer, that you cannot answer that an angel from heaven if he was here could not answer. A demon from hell could not answer this question. Every eye was fixed on him as he asked the question that no one could answer. " How can we escape if we neglect so great a salvation"?
Our Heroic Savior:
Took our sins in his body on the tree.
So that we might die to sins and live righteously
Resulting in our being his sheep
III. Were the sheep of his pasture:
" He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed. For you were like sheep going astray but now you have returned to the shepherd and overseer of your souls" 1st Peter: 24-25
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Peter paints a vivid picture of sheep wandering away. Outside of the sight and protection of the shepherd there is danger. From the pages of Godâs word there emerges a characteristic of our God that can enrich any life! He like a shepherd searches for us! The Psalmist wrote in Psalms 95: 6-7
" Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the Lord our maker; for he is our God and we are the people of his pasture the flock under his care. Today if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts"
He cares, he searches he offers safety his watch care and so much more! The only thing worse than being lost, is being lost and not having anyone looking for you!
"For you were like sheep going astray but now you have returned to the shepherd and overseer of your souls" Peter is writing to Christians who have returned to the shepherd and overseer of their souls! Have you?
Our Heroic Savior:
Took our sins in his body on the tree.
So that we might die to sins and live righteously
Resulting in our being his sheep
Appeal Realize the need to be rescued
Remember the cost, and live accordingly
Come into the fold, thereâs safety and most importantly a shepherd who knows you and loves you!
" He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed. For you were like sheep going astray but now you have returned to the shepherd and overseer of your souls" 1st Peter: 24-25
