“He Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree; so that, having died to sins, we might live for righteousness. By His wounds you have been healed. For you were like sheep going astray, but you have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.”

Today is the final day of our week-long dive into the doctrine of the atonement. I hope this week has been a blessing to you as you have meditated on the ways in which Jesus purchased atonement for us through His death on the cross. I love that this week fell on Holy Week, as we consider and celebrate the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ.  

Today, we meet on a particularly melancholy day historically. Yesterday, we observed Good Friday and the remembrance of the death of Christ. Tomorrow, we will celebrate His triumphant resurrection. But today is the day in the middle, the day when the whole of creation held its breath to see what the Messiah would do. The day when some lost hope and other reveled in their triumph over Christ. The day when it looked as though evil had won. But praise God we know what happened on Sunday!

Around 30 years after the fact, Peter penned the words of our passage today. As one of Jesus’ closes disciples, the man who denied Christ three times, and the one the risen Christ promised to build His church on- Peter knew intimately the power of the resurrection of Christ. Not only had He witnessed it, but it was the resurrection of Christ that took Peter from an arrogant and foolish disciple to a powerful man of God, leading the church in Jerusalem. It was the resurrection of Christ that changed Peter from the scared man hiding his association with Jesus, to publicly proclaiming it to anyone who would listen even when it risked his life. It was the resurrection of Christ that enabled Peter to be filled with the Holy Spirit at Pentecost and witness boldly to the people thereafter.  

I believe that Peter beheld the risen Lord, and something fundamentally core to his inner man shifted in all the right ways. When he wrote the words of today’s passage, I can imagine that he wrote it with his old self in mind, knowing that it was only through the resurrection of Christ that his sins had been atoned for. He was the sheep who had gone astray. But by the grace of God, Christ had redeemed him and called him home. So, when he wrote this passage, he wrote it from a place of personal experience.

I imagine the tears that may have fallen as he contemplated again the truth that Christ carried his sins with Him to the cross so that they could be crucified there. I imagine the joy that stirred Peter’s heart as he wrote of the new life found in the resurrection of Christ, knowing from the past 30 years of experience how impactful it would have been. I imagine the gratitude breaking his heart as he wrote of Christ’s wounds healing us. I imagine the longing of Peter to see every fellow lost sheep return to the Good Shepherd and Overseer of our souls.

I want to encourage you today to sit in contemplation of what this week really means. Don’t let another year fly by with another Easter in the books and fail to take time to let it stir you. Like Peter, each believer has a story of redemption. Each has a past, a struggle, a brokenness that Christ came to heal. For all of us, there is still more to be written, still more to be healed. But we can’t wait to tell our stories or insist on a final ending before we reflect over all that God has done. Your story is powerful because the redemption of Christ is powerful.  

I encourage you to take time today, on this day suspended between the death of Christ and His triumphant resurrection, to reflect on what Christ has done for you. Take time to see yourself as the person you where- that lost sheep, the one dead in sin, the one who is lost and separated. And then take time to celebrate that you are no longer that person. If you are a follower of Christ and you have chosen to make Him Lord of your life, you are redeemed, found, restored, and forgiven. Through the atonement of Christ, we are made right with God. Through His death, our sins are crucified with Christ so that we may live to righteousness. Let that truth scream at the top of its lungs inside your heart.  

The Saturday between Good Friday and Easter Sunday was a dark and uncertain day. It was a day of fear, worry, anxiety, and despair. Maybe you find yourself in a difficult season- your own personal “Saturday” of sorts. Maybe you have seen the death but not yet witness the resurrection. Maybe you are still holding your breath waiting for God to do something amazing. If that is you today, I want to encourage you- SUNDAY IS COMING!!!  

Your deliverance is sure. I don’t know what it will look like, and I don’t know how God will accomplish it. But you can rest assured that God always wins! There is no death, no hurt, no fear, no pain that is stronger than our God. We already know how this story ends. God wins! So, wherever you find yourself today, let the truth of who He is and His perfect love for you fill you with hope and freedom in the name of Christ. Let the victory of Christ remind you that He is powerful enough to defeat the grip of sin and death- so what else could He do?! He is a mighty God, faithful to save.  

Jesus,

Thank You for paying the penalty of my sin. Thank You that You literally took my sin upon Your body and crucified it on the cross. You atoned for me, making a way for me to be right with God. The amazing truth is that the work is finished, Your victory is won. I need only to receive. So today, I say YES! I accept Your victory and I ask You to be my Lord forevermore. You are amazing! You are so good! You are perfect and victorious! I will follow You all the days of my life and sing Your praises forevermore!  

Amen