The Cross of Christ

It's great to have you with us this evening whether you're tuning in online or here in the building. We have been working our way through this series looking at the cross and the big words associated with the cross, the things that Jesus achieved for us at the cross, and we have reached 1 peter 2, and we are going to be thinking about Christ on the cross as our example, in how to bear up under suffering, and not only in how to bear up, but how to bless even in the face of suffering and injustice. Let's let's pray together before we dive back into 2 Peter 1 Peter 2. Sorry.

Father, we thank you for this series that we've been working through together. We thank you for our Lord Jesus Christ and for the splendor of the cross for the wonder of the cross. We thank you that all that Christ achieved on the cross will be the subject of our eternity that we will be learning about it, loving it, glorying in it about how you, the king of heaven came and exchanged all the richer of glory for the shame and agony of a cross in order to buy and purchase and redeem sinners like us so that we might have a home with you. We pray that as we look at this particular aspect of the cross this evening that you would help us to understand it. Some difficult ideas here.

In this passage, give me clarity as I speak and give us all hearts that are keen to understand to respond to in Jesus' name. Oh, man. Oh, man. 1 of the things that we prayed for this morning in our in our morning service was was these missionaries, these various missionaries, about 18 of them who have been captured by a gang in Haiti and are being held hostage and have asked for a million a million dollars per person in order to to be released. That's what the gang have asked for.

And and as far as I know, they're still being held. And 1 of the amazing things that they asked for was that God would help them to make the most of the unique opportunity in which they find themselves at the moment and that they would be able to express love for their captors, their enemies, and point their enemies to to Christ. And I don't know how you feel when you hear stories like that or when you read stories about the persecuted church and how you process it in your mind. I think there are a number of ways that we can process it. The first is the first is just intellectual, really, in the sense that we we hear the information, we read the information, we understand what's going on, a bit about the situation that they're in, We might pray for it, think about it for a little bit, and then and then forget it, or we can process it in in in an emotional way.

Which I think is harder to do, and that's where we try to actually imagine just for a moment what it would be like to be enduring that sort of hardship for Christ and for the gospel. When we imagine, what what would it what would I do if was me and my family in Haiti who had been captured. How would I respond? What would I be asking for prayer for? What would I be thinking about, and we try to and put ourselves into into the position of those who have been captured, of those who have been persecuted.

And it's when we try to process it on that emotional level. Certainly, I really feel unqualified to speak about suffering for the gospel. When we try to actually imagine what our brothers and sisters are going through. It's it feels in some ways quite hard to get up and give a sermon about suffering for the gospel, because what do I what do I really know about that? But then, we also need to remember that there are different types of suffering in the bible.

There there there is the type of suffering that we read about in in in in verse 20. There is a kind of physical suffering, a hardship, an enduring physical pain for the gospel. But there is also the sort of suffering that Peter talks about quite a lot in this letter, and you see an example of it in chapter 2 verse 11. Dear friends, I urge you as foreigners and exiles to abstain from sinful desires which wage war against your soul. In chapter 1 verse 1, he introduces the letter like this.

Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ to God's elect, exiles scattered throughout the provinces of Pontus Galatia, Capidonia, and Bithynia. Now, the words scattered in some translations, it's the word dispersed, would have reminded the Christians of the Jewish exile. When God's people were scattered dispersed out into the nations to live among pagan pagan peoples, But now, he takes that way of thinking, dispersion scattering, and he applies it to us all. And so there is a type of suffering which Peter talks about quite a lot, which is the type that comes upon us when we want to live a God honoring life in a world which doesn't share that vision. When we are scattered amongst the people, where we live among a people who do not share the same worldview and view that we do about God and His and his word.

It's a sort of suffering we might experience when we're asked to teach something to children that we that we just don't believe is good or or true. It's the sort we might experience when we're required to wear a symbol or a badge at work that we simply don't wanna wear. The sort we might experience when we're asked to use a pronoun of somebody which we just do not believe reflects who God made them to be. Now, Christians can and and will have and do have various ways of responding to those sort of challenges, but that is what Peter is talking about in this letter. There is a physical suffering, and there is the type which he describes which is to live as exiles in a world which doesn't share Christian values and is hostile to Christian values.

And that is something that I think we can all relate to. Because increasingly, the jobs that you have to do, not so much me, the jobs that you have to do, and the places in which you study come with these kind of expectations. There is not only work that you have to do, but increasingly there are ideologies that you have to support. Were increasingly made to feel that only the coldest, most hardhearted and backward people would not support those ideologies as part of their work. And that can be very draining, and it can be very hard for Christians to live like that, they feel themselves to be exiles and strangers and foreigners in the land.

And given that that is true, what do we need to know? That's the question for this evening. Given that that is true, and we live in a world like that, what do we need to know? How do we bear up under that kind of suffering? Well, ultimately Peter would have us to look at Jesus Christ on the cross.

To see how he coped with his suffering, to see how he lived as a stranger and an exile in the land, to see how he responded in the face of injustice. The Lord Jesus Christ is our example. When it comes to how to live as exiles in the land. And that is what I want us to major on this evening. But before we get there, I want us a bit of time looking at the setting.

To think a bit about the setting of 1 Peter, how 1 Peter talks about suffering, before we then see the diamond that he's working towards, which is Christ on the cross. And just a few points to share with you foundational points. And the first is this, that suffering is not without purpose. Suffering is not without purpose. That's what he would have us know.

Now last week, we were preaching on the subject of reconciliation, and we looked at Roman chapter 5, that was our passage. And you remember that in Romans chapter 5, there is a very clear connection between holiness and hardships. So in Romans 5 verse 3 to 4, Paul puts it this way. Not only so but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance, perseverance character, and character hope. There is a connection between holiness, growth in faith, and the hardships that Christians experience.

And that connection is here in 1 Peter as well. This is 1 Peter 1 for 6 to 7. In all this, you greatly rejoice Though now, for a little while, you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. Why have they come? They have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith of greater worth than gold, which perishes, even though refined by fire, may result in praise, glory, and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.

So in both Peter and Paul, there is this vital connection between holiness and hardships between the trials that we go through and the faith that God grows in us. 1 writer says, puts it this way. Trials should not surprise us or cause us to doubt God's faithfulness. Rather, we should actually be glad for them. God sends trials to strengthen our trust in him so that our faith will not fail.

Our trials keep us trusting. They burn away our self confidence and drive us to our Savior. The fires of affliction or persecution will not reduce our faith. To ashes. In other words, suffering is not without purpose.

They are a source of grief They are hardships, but they are not without purpose. God can grow our faith by burning away our self confidence and driving us to our savior. But there is even a greater purpose beyond our own growth. And we saw that in 1 peter 1 verse 7. Look how he look how he puts it in verse 7.

These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire, may result in praise glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. So what he's saying there is that suffering is not without a purpose. The ultimate purpose is that God might use hardships and difficulties to drive us to Christ, to grow our faith so that on the last day when Christ is revealed, all the glory would go to him. It would be seen that he was the 1 who gave us strength to endure. It would be seen that he in his wisdom and sovereignty had sent these trials to grow us, and it will all rebound to the glory of Christ.

Our faith will rebound to the glory of Christ. So suffering is not without purpose. This other quote puts it this way. When Jesus Christ is revealed, the gold of our faith will shine to his praise. The whole nature is shut suffering has changed for the Christian when he or she realizes that his anguish brings honor to Christ.

Suffing is not without purpose. God will use this exile life to grow our faith, a faith which will ultimately bring glory to Jesus. Secondly, second foundation, suffering is not without a sovereign God, which is a little bit of a clumsy point, but It's it's actually related very much to to the 1 we've just looked at as well. And it's picking up on this calling language of 1 Peter. Have a look at some of these verses from elsewhere in the letter.

1 Peter 1 15 As obedient children do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance, but just as he who called you is holy, So be holy in all you do. For it is written, be holy because I am holy. 1 peter 2 verse 9, but you are a chosen people A royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's special possession that you may declare the praises of Him Who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light, 5 verse 10. And the God of all grace who called you to his eternal glory in Christ after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm, and steadfast? Last 1, 1 Peter 2, 20 to 21, our passage for this evening.

How is it to your credit if you receive a beating for doing wrong and endure it? But if you suffer for doing good and you endure it, this is commendable before God to this you were called. Because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example that you should follow his steps. So when you put all of that together, you see that Christians are a people who have been called out of darkness and into the glorious light of Christ. They are a people who have been called to declare the excellencies of the 1 who called them.

They are a people who have been called to share an eternal glory with Christ, but he also says, to this you were called, what? To the life of an exile, to sufferings, even beatings for doing good You've been called to that. To that, you were called. The exile life is not fate or chance or calmer. It is our calling.

And 1 p 2 verse 21 suggests that the reason it is our calling is because it was Christ's calling. We are called to it for he was called to it. And so Peter's message is that the God who reigns overall, the God who has elected us to salvation has called us to this life. Exiles may feel themselves to be out of control, they might feel drained and worn down by the world views all around them. But they serve a Sovereign God.

And therefore, they don't have to despair. Because if God is sovereign, if he has called us to this life, He will give us grace to endure it. 2 foundations, suffering is not without purpose, suffering is not without a sovereign God, thirdly, suffering is not without a vision of the future. It's not without a vision of the future. And that's picking up on chapter 5 verse 10 again.

And the God of all grace who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, After you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong firm and steadfast. And the word restore there means to put in order. It means to make good or to fix up. In fact, in the Gospels, that word is used of the disciples when they're mending their nets. They're restoring them.

They're mending them, they're making them good, they're fixing them up. And Peter is telling us that 1 day, God is gonna mend the nets. God is gonna make good. God is gonna put into order whatever has been lost or suffered for Christ's sake. He will mend the nets, he will restore you, strengthen, establish you.

In other words, we really can trust him. In chapter 4, Peter talks about those who might malign us and pour scorn upon us simply because we don't want to join in with what they're doing. So it's not that we're even having a go at them or condemning them or pointing out their sin. We just don't want to join in, and yet they heap abuse upon us. But what does he say should be our conviction in those moments.

But they will have to give an account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead. Another writer puts it like this If the Christian responds in kind, good for good evil for evil, he becomes merely a victim when he is treated unjustly. In burning resentment, He seeks an opportunity to repay the evil. But if he bears the evil patiently, he has broken the chain of bondage in the power of the lord. He shows that his confidence in God's justice, he need not avenge himself.

We really can trust him to mend the And then think of Christ. Chapter 2, verse 22 to 23. Look with me at 22 to 23 again. Christ committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth. When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate.

When he suffered, he made no threat. Instead, what did he do? He entrusted himself to him who judges justly. In other words, he had a vision for the future. He knew that his father would mend the nets.

He entrusted himself to the 1 who judges justly. And so just like Jesus Christ, the exile needs a vision for the future. They need to look forward and know that eternal glory is coming just a little while, and they need to know that 1 day justice will come and God will mend the nets. 1 writer puts it like this, every wrong deed in the universe. Just think about that.

Every wrong deed in the universe will either be covered by the blood of Christ or repay justly by God at the final judgment. Every every wrong deed in the universe is either going to be covered by the blood of Jesus or it will be repaid justly by God at the final judgment. And exile knows that. He has a vision for the future, He trusts his God. He looks to his God.

This vision, this 1 of glory, and also justice. And when we grab that by faith, We are free not only to endure but to do good in the face of suffering. 3 foundations, fourthly. This is our main point in many ways, suffering is not without an example from the past. And that example word is the 1 that is used in chapter 2 verse 21, and it is actually a very rare word.

In fact, it's the only time in the new testament that this word for example is used, but in other literature of the time, it was used of of children who would sit down and copy out the alphabet letter by letter. So it wasn't a to z, but for argument's sake, The children sat there with the alphabet learning to copy, learning to read and write a a b b c c d d e and they're looking, and they're copying, they're copying, they're making it sound, they're making it look exactly as it does there, letter by letter. And Peter is saying to us here that Christ is your alphabet. He is your alpha and your omega. You are to copy from him.

He is your example. Copy from him like they used to copy from the alphabet. I was thinking that I don't know if they still use this. But I was thinking that old terrible tracing paper we used to use at school, you know, where you just lay it on a graph. With a pencil and you would have to sort of copy the copy the thing out.

Is that kind of idea? You lay the tracing paper on Christ, and you copy from from his example. We need an example from the past. So let's pick it up in verse 18 to to 21. Look at verse 18 to 21 with me.

Slaves in reverent fear of God submit yourselves to your not only to those who are good and considerate, but also to those who are harsh. For it is commendable if someone bears up under the pain of unjust suffering, because they are conscious of God. But how is it to your credit if you receive a beating for doing wrong and endure it? But if you suffer for doing good and you endure it, this is commendable before God. To this, you were called because Christ suffered for you.

Leaving you an example, an a to z that you should follow in his footsteps. Now the words slave there is actually quite strong. And and in this case, it doesn't It's not the normal word for slave. It's a word some means something like domestics, or it means those who are unfree house servants, unfree house servants. That's really what it means.

So slaves is maybe a little strong. And so when we read about this, we're we're not to we're to think less like historical slave trades that we know of and that may spring to mind, and more like the kind of employee employer relationship that we would be familiar with today. It's more like that than it is the historical slave trade. And in places like Rome, you know, big metropolitan cities, these unfree house servants could make up half the population. I mean, this was a lot of people.

A lot of people were employed in in this in this work, unfree house servants. And for a Christian, that could be a very challenging environment to be in. Because you would, I guess, often have to work for masters who thought very differently about God than you did. There might be an expectation that a Christian servant would join in with household worship that they didn't believe in or agree with. And then there was the character of the boss.

Sometimes, he might be a good and gentle boss. But other times, they might be unjust and harsh, harsh bosses. Now, in 1 Corinthians 7, Paul says, were you a slave when you were called? Don't let it trouble you, although if you can gain your freedom do so. He says, look, if you were a slave when you called, and you can gain your freedom, then you should do it.

If you can gain your freedom, do. But I guess Peter would add, but if you can't, you must submit to them. That is the plain teaching of verse 18, and it is quite radical, isn't it? Whether the boss is kind or cruel, whether he beats you or whether he blesses you, Because you are conscious of God, you should submit. You should submit, no matter what their character is like.

And more radical, he goes on to say, look, if you if you suffer for doing wrong, there is nothing virtuous about that. I mean, if the boss tells you to cheat on your expenses, and you and you do it, or if you're if you No, rather, if you if you do cheat on your expenses and the boss finds out and he punishes you, Well, there's nothing particularly virtuous about that. You've been punished for doing something wrong. You've been found out and rightly so. But if you suffer for doing good, and you endure it, and you submit, and you return blessing for evil, and you remain conscious of God, his glory, his justice, then you commend the gospel.

This is rat this is quite radical to look with me, this is quite radical, isn't it? Verse 80, slaves in reverent fear of God Submit yourselves to your masters, not only to those who are good and considerate, but also to those who are harsh. Now, how is that possible? How is what he is saying possible? To put up with something that we know is wrong and to submit to it.

Is not the instinct to rebel against that, so strong that you can hardly bear it. Is not the temptation to fuss against the boss, the stupid boss, like everyone else is doing in a staff room, so overpowering that you can't resist it. It's not the temptation to take to Twitter and to explode to whoever will listen so needed that it's impossible to resist it. How do we do that? Only verse 19, because you are conscious of God, because you are mindful of God.

Because you have a vision for the future that God will mend the nets. And because you have an example in the past. You have a savior who died on a cross only when you look at him, is that sort of radical freedom possible. Verse 21 to 23. To this, you were called.

Because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example that you should follow in his footsteps. And then the next verse, he unpacks what the example is. What did he do? He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth. When they hurled insults at him, He did not retaliate.

When he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly. And I don't know, but I would imagine that that was very moving for Peter to actually write. He knows that's true because he was there. He was standing far off.

He was in the middle of denying his lord. He could see, and he knew that when they hurled insults at him, He did not retaliate. And now he says, although when that happened, I stood far off, I now want you to come close. Come in. Follow his example.

See what he did see how he lived. Because to that, you were called. When Jesus was under his cruel authorities, there were things that he did do and there were things that he didn't do. What didn't he do? When they hurled insults at him, he did not retaliate.

He made no threats. What did he do? He entrusted himself to him who judges justly. Now in those next verses, we remember very importantly That Jesus is more than just our example. He is our savior who shed his blood on a cross for our sins.

That we might die to them and live to God. If Jesus is only our example, it becomes crushing. Because we can never live up to that. We can never match that. But when we know him as our savior, then we can follow him as our example.

And Peter is saying that this kind of radical submission is only possible when we're mindful of God and live close to our example. And so lastly, How do we apply some of this radical this radical teaching, here's some applications. Now it's worth saying that that there that there are some quite important differences between when Peter wrote this letter and now. And although some people, today really don't have much choice with jobs and bosses, generally, working today is not the same, not exactly the same as a slave master type relationship. We do we do live in a democracy.

You know, not everyone can, but lots of us can just move or leave jobs We can raise concerns. There are checks and balances. There are complaints procedures. There are HR departments. Will listen to things like this.

And and therefore, a wrong application, this would be a wrong application, would be something like this. If you are actually being abused by an authority in your life, you should just suck it up and say nothing. Because that's godly. If you're actually being seriously abused by an authority in your life, do what Jesus did, stay quiet, and suck it up. If that is the case, you need to tell someone, you need to get out of there, you need to do what you need to do.

Even Paul, when he was about to be flogged, said this, is it legal for you to flog a Roman citizen who hasn't been found guilty? And the bible says, and they withdrew immediately. He used a system to escape abuse And that is a perfectly right and biblical thing to do. The point here is that when Jesus was treated like that, He did not repay evil for evil. He did not take vengeance and hurl insult.

Insult. So that would be a very bad application. But here's what it is here's what it is saying. This whole letter is asking us the question. How how do we live in a way which commends the gospel?

How do we live salty, different lives as exiles in the world? And 1 very unglamorous way is submission to our authorities. Even in the face of injustice. You see, often I think that that we consider it radical to rebel against authority. Peter says be radical in terms of submission to your authorities.

Be radical in your submission. You see, you don't actually need the Holy Spirit to be outraged on Twitter. Don't need the Holy Spirit to do that. You don't need the Holy Spirit to fuss against a bad boss and to complain about them with everyone else. Anybody can do that.

But you do, to submit and to endure and even to bless, because you are mindful of Christ, and because you know your God. And therefore, and I'm talking to myself as much as anyone else. Before we say, I'm not submitting to that. That's not just who do they think they are to tell me to do that sort of thing. They've got no right to do that.

And before we consider every little thing to be a goth will compromise. Sometimes we just need to slow down and ask, what would Jesus do? What would Jesus do? I know you've got to be careful with that example language. But verse 21 means something, doesn't it?

It means something to this you will call to to this you were called. Because Christ suffered for you leaving you an example. It means something, doesn't it? His authorities were were wrong. They were not just But he endured it because he was mindful of his father.

Now, of course, sometimes it is quite clear that in good conscience, we cannot follow the boss. You know, if they command us to cheat on tax returns or to steal or to abuse other colleagues, there are times when we just can't, in good conscience, follow that because we're because we're Christians. But often, it's not quite as clear what we should do, is it? So I heard recently about a a girl in this church who who during lockdown had all of her lectures on Zoom. And at the beginning of each lecture, the the lecturer, the teacher would say, we we are going to begin this lecture, and they began every lecture by going around and identifying what pronouns that people want to be called by.

And the lecturer said, and, you know, we must all know this, and then we must all refer to other by the pronouns that we want to be referred by. For the sake of this argument, that's sort of like a a slave master relationship, isn't pupil, teacher, lecture, lecturer, student should they do it? Should they do it? 1 Christian might say, you know, in good conscience, I just cannot I just cannot do that. That would be such a compromise in labeling someone in a way that God has not made them to be, that what I'm gonna have to do is to graciously gently tell my lecturer that I just I just can't do that.

Another Christian might say, do you know, I think in all good conscience, and because I'm mindful of God, I can do that. I can do that, and I will do that. Because in some sense, I want to try to not put up unnecessary barriers and I want to try to work on this relationship, win them for Christ, and I'm not gonna let that particular thing get in the way. And I think with those difficult cases, there is some freedom And although it can be helpful to ask the what about questions, I think Peter would also say to us, be careful about what abouttery. Be be careful about what about this, what about that.

Now, it can be helpful to ask that because it clarifies what exactly we are and we aren't saying. But if we're approaching it with a kind of how can I find a loophole mentality, how can I how can I use this what abouttery to get me out of the teaching that I don't like, then we gotta be careful? Because the plain message here is brothers and sisters because of Christ, be radical in terms of your submission. Be radical in terms of your submission. The gospel does not make us difficult revolution race.

It's not what it produces. You don't find that in the new testament. It doesn't make us difficult revolution race. But those who submit even in the face of injustice because we're mindful of God. And because we know the message of the cross and because we have the example of our savior.

And all of that we do in the hope that the gospel might be beautified. That's what he says. That as we live this life of radical submission even in the face of injustice, it may well be that others around us look on and think, gosh, that is so different that is so radical, there must be something more to this person. And Peter says they may well see your good deeds and glorify God on the day that he visits us, which I take to mean that they might see that sort of submission in a world of outrage and be converted as they look at it and hear the message which produces it, the message of Christ. All of that we do to beautify the gospel.

Be radical, not in terms of what you're rebelling against, but in what in terms of what you're submitting to, because of Christ, on the cross, our great example. Let's pray together. Father, we do want to thank you and praise you for this amazing teaching of which really we've just scratched the surface of this evening. Lord, in this reading, there are difficult things. There are things that aren't hard for us to understand things that we'll need chewing over and working through.

And yet, Lord, as we ask questions about them, we don't want to try to escape the plain message of your word. To this you were called. We thank you that the lord Jesus suffered for us leaving us an example that we should follow in his footsteps, that he is not just our example But he is our savior. He is the 1 who bore our sins in his body on the cross so that we might die to sin and live for this kind of life. Live for righteousness.

Lord Jesus help us to trust you as our Savior and to follow you as our example. That we would be known not for what we're rebelling against and standing up against and what we're outraged by, but in a kind of radical gospel submission. For the sake of Christ and in order to draw people to his gospel. And we ask it in his name, amen.