Sermon Recap 3-28-10

Morning: The sermon, "He Made Us Dead to Sin and Alive to Christ," was an exposition of 1 Peter 2:24.  Peter states, "He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness.  By his wounds you have been healed" (1 Pet. 2:24, ESV).

This sermon is part of a series of sermons that are exploring what Christ accomplished on the cross.  This verse reminds us that Christ, through the cross, has made us dead to sin and alive to righteousness.

The foundation stone of our faith is the truth that Christ "bore our sins in his body on the tree."  Peter's phrase sums up the gospel.  Jesus took upon himself, in his flesh, the punishment of our sins.  They were not Jesus' sins, they were ours.  He did not wing them away or sweep them away, he bore them away in his body.  Because of this great truth we can rest in the dual reality: we are dead to sin and alive to righteousness.

But what does it mean to be "dead to sin?"  It means sin is no longer our master.  Before we come to Christ we are born along by sin with very little difficulty.  We are rarely displeased by the sinful things we do, and usually are only concerned when we get caught.  In Christ, we find ourselves hating the sins that we once enjoyed, even when (especially when) we continue to do them.

Being dead to sin means that sin is no longer our identity.  We are born into this world with a bent away from God.  We are born into an environment that is bent away from God.  Even in the most godly homes, where children are taught to fear the Lord, sin is still present.  However, when we come to faith in Christ, we are no longer sinners.  We are new creatures.  We are God's saints (even though we still sin).  We go from being bent away from God, to being bent toward him.  We are saints who struggle with sin.

Being dead to sin means also that we are no longer under the penalty of sin.  Christ has received the full wrath of God on our behalf.  He bore in his body on the tree.

What does it mean to be alive to righteousness?  It means that we are free to do righteousness.  We are free to dream great dreams (and act on them) for the glory of God.

Being alive to righteousness means that righteousness is now our identity.  By faith in Christ, we have become the righteousness of God.  Christ is the righteousness of God, and we are hidden in Christ.  His righteousness has been imputed to us.  For this reason, we continually find ourselves being compelled to do acts of righteousness.

Thus, through Christ's wounds we have been healed. He has healed us from our spiritual sickness.  He has healed to broken relationship between us and our heavenly Father.  He has healed our broken hearts.  He has done this by bearing our sins in his body upon the tree.


Evening:  We passed out our "Find It Here" packets inviting the households in our community to join us for services on Easter Sunday.  We also passed out packets in another community in our county.  Please pray that God would bless these distributions.