What It Means to be Crucified
Today’s Verse:
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
The Romans were notorious for how they tortured their condemned. Their methods were atrocious, cruel, horrific, inhumane, and wicked. Foremost of their instruments of cruelty was the crucifixion. This method involved the placing of the condemned individual on a cross, with the hands and feet either tied to or nailed to the two cross beams. It was a slow, excruciating, painful, and shameful death. This morning, let us examine what the death on the cross, or to be crucified, means.
We see the sinner.
Peter referred to our sins. God is holy, just, and righteous. Sin is heinous and repugnant to God. We are born with the curse of sin upon us. The judgment of God has been passed upon us. “For the wages of sin is death….” Death is two-fold. There is physical death when the body lives no more. Then, there is spiritual death when the sinner is separated for all of eternity from God. As sinners, we deserve to spend eternity separated from God in Hell. As a sinner, there is nothing I can do to atone, or pay, for my sin debt. Sin must be paid for in full.
We see the Savior.
God, in His supreme love, sent Jesus, the sinless Son of God, to die for our sins. We see His substitution. “Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree….” Jesus took our place on the cross. As the condemned, it should have been me dying for my sins. Instead, Jesus voluntarily took my place. We see the suffering. He was reviled, beaten, scourged, pierced with nails in his hands and feet, and pierced through the side with a spear. He endured physical, emotional, and mental suffering of the most extreme. We see the sacrifice. Jesus was the perfect sacrifice for every sinner. He is the blessed and loving Savior Who paid the price for our sins.
We see the satisfaction.
“…By whose stripes ye were healed.” Jesus satisfied God’s righteous demands for sin through His shed blood and death on the cross. Through His death, He brought us to God. He reconciled us to God through the blood of His cross. He triumphed over Satan, sin, and death, declaring them defeated. He alone saves us from our sins. He gives us peace with God. He put our sins on His account. He has healed us spiritually. We are saved from wrath through Him. When a sinner places his faith in Jesus’ death and resurrection, he is saved and born into God’s family.
We see the standard.
We have been called to follow in His steps. “…We, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness.” Being crucified means I no longer yield the members of my body as instruments to sin. Instead, I live for Him. “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.” I am dead to self and sin, but alive unto Christ. Following His steps means my flesh must be crucified every day. I must walk in the Spirit so that the lusts of the flesh do not prevail against me. I am to take up my cross daily, deny myself, and give evidence that I am one of His disciples. “Living for Jesus a life that is true, Striving to please Him in all that I do.” He is my standard for humility and victorious living. Have you crucified your flesh this morning? Are you in submission to His perfect will for you today?
Have a crucified God Morning!
Bible Reading Schedule: 1 Samuel 4-8