Inside Out Living

Jesus never hid the truth of His purpose here on earth. Time and time again He predicted His death to His disciples, and yet they continually struggled to understand. In comparing His death to a kernel of wheat (John 12:24), Jesus makes it clear that His death will bring about new life for many. This is what the Apostle Paul meant when he said, “For God made Christ who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ” (2 Corinthians 5:21). Jesus was able to serve as the perfect sacrifice making full atonement once and for all for the sins of mankind (Hebrews 10:12).

This sacrifice is what allows God the Father to extend saving grace to all who come to Him in faith for the forgiveness of their sins. As John said in 1 John 2:2, “He is the sacrifice for our sins. He takes away not only our sins, but the sins of all the world.”

It is an irony that should cause us all to be humbled, that the horrific death that Jesus endured on the cross was the very event that allows for the beauty of saving grace in our lives.

In reading Psalm 69 today you probably made many direct connections to the life of Jesus. Verse 9 was quoted by the apostle John (John 2:17) and verse 21 was fulfilled with Jesus on the cross (John 19:29).

How can we, though, connect verse 5 to Jesus since it indicates that the Messiah was guilty of sin; and yet Scripture is clear that Jesus never sinned. Paul explains this mystery in 2 Cor. 5:21; “God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us.” Jesus became sin for the entire world, experiencing the guilt and shame of all those sins. This psalm reveals what it was like for Jesus to take on these sins?

He cries out for salvation (vs. 1-4)
He feels shame and humiliation (5-8)
He is scoffed at, mocked and gossiped about (9-12)
He expresses faith in God’s ability to deliver (13-18)
He recognizes that comfort is not available from men (19-21)
He calls for judgment on the unrighteous (22-28)
He pleads for salvation (29)
He expresses faith in God and praises His name (30-36)

How do you respond to the guilt and shame of sin?