2v21-24

TEXT:  1 Pet. 2:21-24

INTRO:   Girl reading all the "People" magazines in ICU waiting room.  So many want to pattern their lives after the rich & famous.

            --Christians often guilty, too.

            --Of all famous people, one stands above all--the Lord Jesus Christ!  He is the one we "should follow."  1 Pet 2:21

            Context of Passage concerns suffering

            --As we study this section, let us see Christ and seek to live for Him.

  I.        He Is The Suffering Christ (21)

            1.     CF. 1 Pet. 3:18 and Isa. 53:3

            2.     Eleven words in Isa. 53 that characterize Christ as the suffering one:

                   -Misunderstood         -Oppressed

                   -Man of Sorrows                   -Scourged

                   -Aquainted W/ Grief  -Bruised

                   -Despised                -Wounded

                   -Rejected                            -Crucified

                   -Afflicted

            3.     Pain on cross more than physical--it was mental anguish & spiritual agony for a sinful world.

            4.     Christ suffered & died for us, we should be willing to suffer & if necessary, die for Him.

            5.     More & more unpopular to be a Christian--more politically incorrect.

 II.        He Is The Sinless Christ (22)

            1.     Christ live among men & could hurl the challenge to them, "Which of you convinceth me of sin? (Jn. 8:46)

            2.     Pilate, after examination, "I find no fault in Him."

            3.     Centurion, "Certainly this was a righteous man."

            4.     Judas, "I have sinned in that I have betrayed the innocent blood."

            5.     How crucial to redemption was his sinlessness!

            6.     Illy 1025:  The Sinless Sin-Bearer

            7.     We should strive to live without sin

III.       He Is The Submissivve Christ (23)

            1.     CF. Isa. 53:7

            2.     Spat upon, hit in face, struck with reeds, nailed to the cross, yet He prayed, "Father forgive them; for they know not what they do."

            3.     Instead of retaliation, he "Committed Himself to him that judgeth righteously."

            4.     Likewise His followers should submit their lives to the will, way & work of the Father.

 IV.       He Is The Sacrificial Christ (24,25)

            1. "Christ died for our sins accordiing to the scriptures."

            2.     CF. Isa. 53:5-6

            3.     Illy:  A Father's Painful Choice

            4.     Christ was our sacrificial lamb...He sacrificed His all for us!  Surely we should willingly sacrifice our all to Him & for His cause.

            5.     He was sacrificed for our benefit..."By whose strips ye were healed."

            6.     Illy 1142:  Wounded For Our Transgressions