Welcome again to another edition of the Weekend Sermon. As I am typing this sermon, the snow is really coming down outside. I have a 15 mile drive to my house, so this may be an abbreviated sermon. Please pray that I can get back home safely.
This was a good week at work. I know that your prayers helped. I am very grateful for my job, and things seem to be going well at this point. Please continue to pray that the Lord Jesus will help me to do a good job.
In prayer this week, continue to pray for peace around the world. Pray for peace in Libya, Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria and Ukraine. Let us also pray for the safety of our brothers and sisters in Christ who are facing persecution around the world.
In last week's message, we learned that no matter what we are facing now in life, those of us who are in Christ know that He has redeemed us and has prepared a place for us in Heaven with Him, and we will be with Jesus for all eternity.
Today, we turn our attention to two important matters discussed in I Peter. First of all, we need to focus on how precious our salvation is. Then, we need to focus on how we should live in light of the fact that we have received so great a salvation.
In verses 18-21, we see how we have been redeemed. Our redemption from sin was not purchased by corruptible things. It was not purchased with silver or with gold. We were not redeemed from sin because of keeping the traditions of men. In other words, there was no religious system or body of belief that could save us. We could not save or redeem ourselves by our own efforts or by our own good works.
As it clearly states in I Peter 1:19, we are redeemed with, "the precious blood of Christ, as a lamb without blemish and without spot." As John the Baptist said when he saw Jesus by the Jordan River, Jesus was the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world.
So, what does this mean. In the Old Testament, the people were required to bring as a sacrifice for their sins a lamb without blemish from their flocks. This lamb was slain in order to demonstrate the penalty for sin which is death. As the Bible says, without the shedding of blood there is no remission.
Jesus is the Lamb of God. God sent His Son into this world to live a perfect, holy and sinless life. He was without sin, so He could be our sin bearer. When Jesus was on the cross, He bore our sins in His body. Our sins were imputed into Him. As we saw when we studied the book of Hebrews, Jesus became the once and for all sacrifice for sins.
The sacrificial death of Jesus on the cross was foreordained before the foundation of the world. Just as the Lord foreordained salvation for those who would believe in Jesus, Jesus' ministry on earth, His death and His resurrection were also foreordained.
This is the great and precious salvation that has been provided for us. God loved us so much, that He sent His Son the Lord Jesus Christ to die for us. Jesus loved us so much that He was willing to come to this earth and take up humanity. He was willing to suffer the cruel death of a cross for us so that we might have salvation and the redemption of sin.
Now, knowing that all of this has provided for us by the Lord, how should we act. What should be our response. If you have not accepted the Lord Jesus as Savior and Lord, I hope that your response will be to turn to Jesus for salvation and life. If you have trusted in the Lord Jesus, Peter shows us what our response should be.
We should be obedient to those things which are commanded by the Lord. We should not continue to follow the lusts of the flesh. While He was on this earth, Jesus clearly revealed to us the behavior that He expects of those who wish to follow Him. If we really treasure what Jesus has done for us, we will make every effort as we are empowered by the Holy Spirit to live lives of holiness that are pleasing to the Lord.
Those of us who follow the Lord should lead lives that are different from those who do not know Jesus as Lord. We should follow the way of the cross and not the way of the world.
I will probably go into all of this in more depth next week, Lord willing. Next week's posting schedule will be dependent on the weather. We are expected a bad weather week. I will post what I can when I can. May God bless you all. Amen.
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