God made man and placed him here as a king of this earth. Everything on the earth joyfully submitted to him. This was the order on the earth whether it was a lion or a lamb. But sin totally changed this order. A blessed king fell under punishment and curse. Many of his friends became deadly enemies and rebels. He fell from life to death. The once healthy man started being ruled by sickness. A powerful king became a slave to everything. This is the condition of man after Adam’s fall into sin. Sin brought chaos into the good world created by God.
1 Peter 02:24 “and He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed.” Many a time we do not understand and believe the reality of the death of Jesus for us. Jesus bore our sins in His body. This gives us a great scope to die to sin and live to righteousness. We have to accept this and believe it in our life. Then we can experience the fruits of the finished work of Jesus on the cross. By His wounds we were healed. In other words, all the fruits of the sin were annulled by the death of Jesus Christ on the cross. The verse specifically says ‘die’ to sin and ‘live’ for righteousness i.e.; we must have 0% sin and 100% righteousness. This is the scope God placed in front every believer by the death of Lord Jesus Christ. Almost every believer remembers the death of Jesus Christ. But he does not remember the finished work of God for him through Lord Jesus. So when the Holy Spirit is showing us the Jesus who was crucified for us, it gives us a strong encouragement and power to die to sin and live for righteousness.
Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.
The Holy Spirit is reminding us of the great exchange that took place at the cross through the death of Jesus Christ. He paid the penalty of every sin on the cross so there is no need to live under and in obligation to our flesh. Rom 08:12-15 “ 12 So then, brethren, we are under obligation, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh, 13 for if you are living according to the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live.14 For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.15 For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, “Abba! Father!”. God is giving this privilege to every believer to live by utilizing the provisions given to His children by obeying His spirit.
Every true Christian ministry is leading us to a life which is perfect in Jesus Christ. See what Apostle Paul says in Col 01: 28,29 “ 28 We proclaim Him, admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom, so that we may present every man complete in Christ. 29 For this purpose also I labor, striving according to His power, which mightily works within me.” To experience such a perfect life in Jesus Christ we have to believe in Him and whenever that faith falls we should come back unwavering with a confession of hope. “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.” (Heb 10:23). We should not depend on our sight. God does not want our faith to fail. But He always does everything for us. The Jesus who prayed for Peter is praying for us also. (Luke 22:31,32)
See how Jesus was treating the apostle Thomas about his failure on true faith. He had depended on his own understanding and was not ready to believe what Jesus told him and what the other apostles had told him. John 20:27-29 “ 27 Then He said to Thomas, “Reach here with your finger, and see My hands; and reach here your hand and put it into My side; and do not be unbelieving, but believing.” 28 Thomas answered and said to Him, “My Lord and my God!” 29 Jesus said to him, “Because you have seen Me, have you believed? Blessed are they who did not see, and yet believed.” The brokenness and trust in God is very obvious in his response to Jesus – “My Lord and my God!”– This true confession of hope will lead us to victory and make us perfect in Christ.
May God help all of us to become perfect in Christ Jesus
