"Who His own self bare our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by Whose stripes ye were healed." 1 Peter 2:24)
ONE SACRIFICE FOR SIN Tune to: "THERE IS A FOUNTAIN" CM/DOUBLE Words by JIM BYRD 1. The blood of bulls and goats could not Our sins remove or cleanse; Salvation from our guiltiness, Upon the Lord depends. No sacrifice could satisfy, That which the Lord commands; No offering that man could bring, Could equal His demands.
2. But lo! The Savior from above, The Father’s own dear Son, Came down to save us from our guilt, By Him the work was done! When Jesus died on Calvary, The law was magnified; There truth and mercy were displayed, And God was satisfied.
3. The Lord in justice freely saves, For Christ was crucified; He rose and ever intercedes For those He bled and died. O sinner come by faith to Him, Your wretchedness confess; And may your hope forever be, His blood and righteousness.
SCRIPTURE READINGS: MORNING: HEBREWS 10:1-14 EVENING: JOHN 1:35-51
Stricken, smitten and afflicted, see Him dying on the tree! ‘Tis the Christ by man rejected, yes, my soul, ‘tis He, ‘tis He! ‘Tis the long expected Prophet, David’s Son, yet David’s Lord; By His Son God now has spoken: ‘tis the true and faithful Word.
Tell me, ye who hear Him groaning, was there ever grief like His? Friends through fear His cause disowning, foes insulting His distress; Many hands were raised to wound Him, none would interpose to save; But the deepest stroke that pierced Him, was the stroke that Justice gave.
Ye who think of sin but lightly, nor suppose its evil great; Here may view its nature rightly, here its guilt may estimate; Mark the sacrifice appointed, see who bears the awful load; ‘Tis the Word, the Lord’s Anointed, Son of Man and Son of God.
Here we have a firm foundation, here the refuge of the lost; Christ’s the Rock of our salvation, His the Name of which we boast. Lamb of God, for sinners wounded, sacrifice to cancel guilt; None shall ever be confounded, who on Him their hope have built. –Thomas Kelly, 1769-1854
HEALING BY THE STRIPES OF CHRIST "By His stripes ye were healed" (1 Peter 2:24). We must not think that by self-loathing, self-deprivation or self-humiliation we will be healed of the disease of sin. The healing of the soul is in the humiliation of Christ, not in ours; in His agonies, not ours; in His death, not ours. To rely on or trust in anything other than the crucified Redeemer is to set up a rival to Christ. Do not beat up on self thinking that God will be more pleased with you. God is only pleased with His Son. Look outside of sinful self to the crucified, buried, risen and exalted Christ. Spiritual healing is by the stripes of the Savior, not the stripes of the sinner. –Pastor Jim Byrd
THE AWFULNESS OF SIN No human tongue can set forth the vileness and filthiness of sin. How indescribably horrible every sin is to God Almighty. Solomon said, "Fools make a mock of sin" (Proverbs 14:9). Fools are unregenerated men, those who are graceless and Christless. They speak lightly of sin, but those made wise unto salvation neither mock it nor belittle its seriousness. We understand that sin is missing the mark of perfection and must be dealt with by God in a manner consistent with His holiness. Judge the terribleness of sin by the greatness of the only sacrifice that could take it away - the substitutionary death of the Son of God. "And ye know that He was manifested to take away our sins; and in Him is no sin" (1 John 3:5). In the death of the Son of God we are made to realize that sin is not a trivial thing to God. It is an affront to His holy character, an attack upon His throne; it is treason against Him and so He declares, "the soul that sinneth shall die" (Ezekiel 18:4). We can best determine the foulness of sin by the value of the sacrifice that cleanses from it. "The blood of Jesus Christ His son cleanseth us from all sin" (1 John 1:7). If His bloody death was necessary to remove it, how unspeakably evil sin must be. Think of Who took it away - "the only begotten of the Father" (John 1:14) - and of what had to be done to take it away. He had to join Himself to our nature and become like unto those He came to save. He must step down from His lofty throne to live among people who hated God. He must bear their insults, be falsely accused, publicly humiliated, beaten and crucified. The iniquities of His people must be laid on Him and He must endure the wrath of God in our stead. He must be forsaken by the Father and suffer the fury of His judgment against sin. The awfulness of sin can only be determined by the worth of the only offering that could put it away, the substitutionary sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ. –Pastor Jim Byrd
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