Have you ever read the Bible that Jesus read? We call it the Old Testament. Marva Dawn calls it the First Testament because it is not just old. It is interesting to look at the ways the New Testament writers reached back to the Old Testament story to discover the gospel story for themselves. I am so fascinated with this that I want to preach the Gospel Story from both Old and New Testaments starting in 2018.
Our text today is an example. For the last two days we have been contemplating the truth of Isaiah's great servant song about the sacrificial death of God's servant on behalf of his people. Who was the servant portrayed in Isaiah's "servant-songs"? Peter told the early believers that it was Christ!
First we see the principle: He himself bore our sins. To eradicate our sins, Christ chose to bear them himself, even though he was sinless. How does he carry our sins away? In his body on the cross!
Second we see the purpose of his sacrificial death. Notice that he does not mention, "So that we may go to heaven when we die." As important as our future in heaven is, all we have today is today. In response to the popular evangelism question, "If you died tonight would you go to heaven or hell," Peter offers a different consideration. What if we don't die tonight? Christ's death on the cross invites us to immediately die to sins and live for righteousness. This is our purpose in full view of God's mercy and grace.
Third, we see the promise: "By his wounds you have been healed." Some believers see this as a promise that we find immediate physical healing in Christ's crucifixion. Instead, Peter is speaking of the forgiveness we receive. The context is not physical healing (though God is well-able to accomplish that) but spiritual healing from our sins. We can be forgiven! Aren't we glad?
