| “He himself bore our sins…” |
| —1 Peter 2:24a |
The happiest sheep are the ones who remain close to the shepherd. When a sheep goes astray—and sheep stray easily because they are very curious—that sheep seems to experience a bit of shock, confusion, and panic when the sheep comes to his or her senses and realizes that he or she has wandered away from the flock and moved outside the protection of the shepherd. These wandered-away sheep begin to run around in a circle until they become faint with exhaustion. In their rundown condition, they become all the more vulnerable to predators.
In our natural state, stained by Adam’s sin and all the more so by our own sins, we are dazed and confused. We wander through life aimlessly. We are hopelessly lost. We may think that our “curiosity”—our longing to experience all this world has to offer—has given us a better place than the one we had under the protection of the Shepherd. But, the reality is that at some point the Holy Spirit will reveal to us how desperate our situation really is. We will realize that having become separated from God, we are in great peril.
Thankfully, God, in His mercy, grace, and love has acted to gather us to Himself through the redeeming power of Christ’s blood. As the Holy Spirit convicts us of our sorry state, He also shares with us the marvelous reality of God’s loving grace, which He has given us through the sacrifice of His Son.
The Apostle Peter explains God’s actions toward us in 1 Peter 2:24-25:
He himself bore our sins” in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; “by his wounds you have been healed.”
For “you were like sheep going astray,” but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.
Quoting from the Prophet Isaiah, Peter confirms the great truth of God’s consuming grace. Through Christ’s birth, life, suffering, death, resurrection, and ascension, we have been redeemed and set free from the bondage of sin.
As this new day begins, let us allow the mercy, grace, and love of God to arise within us. Let us surrender to God’s will for our lives. Let us turn away from sin and return to the loving, protective arms of the Shepherd. Let us die to sin this day and live for righteousness. Let us determine to be ambassadors of God’s unfailing, undying love. Let us become beacons of God’s light in a lost and dying world.
Based on a blog originally posted on Thursday, April 7, 2016
