For the remainder of this lesson, we want to discuss the second truth we see in 1 Peter 2:4-10: 2) his application of the cross to daily living.
In this passage, Peter states the identity of all believers: we are “living stones” (1 Peter 2:5), we are “a spiritual house” and “a holy priesthood” (1 Peter 2:5), we are “a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation”, and then two of my favorites, “God’s special possession” (1 Peter 2:9) and “the people of God” (1 Peter 2:10).
As we live in our identities as believers, we are told that all believers are to be doing two things:
“Offer spiritual sacrifices” (1 Peter 2:5).
“Declare God’s praises” (1 Peter 2:9).
Question 3. What spiritual sacrifices do believers offer today?
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The cross of Jesus Christ affects our daily living, our day-to-day routine. It leads us to offer spiritual sacrifices:
Romans 12:1-2 (NIV) Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. 2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is —his good, pleasing and perfect will.
Since we view the cross of Calvary, moment by moment, we see the immense sacrifice Jesus made for us. We are taken up in His bloody death on our behalf, we are in awe of the unspeakable gift of righteousness He purchased for us at His death. And so, as we see Him laying down His life for us, in view of this mercy purchased for us at the cross, we understand that our daily life is to be made a sacrifice as well. The cross affects our daily lives.
The message of the cross is more than “the message of salvation” where Jesus saved us from hell. It is more than Jesus’ dying to save us from God’s wrath. The message of the cross affects the way we live today, by showing us that “sacrifice” is the pathway to life, even as the cross came before Jesus’ resurrection to eternal life.
We “offer up spiritual sacrifices” by avoiding sin, refusing to gratify the lusts of our flesh, turning away from selfish living, dying to our own wants and our own rights, and living for Jesus, “who loved us and gave Himself for us” (Galatians 2:20).
We “offer up spiritual sacrifices” by loving others, counting them more important than ourselves, humbling ourselves to serve them, bearing their burdens with them, just as Jesus loved us, humbled Himself to the cross and bore our sins in His own body on the tree (1 Peter 2:24).
This is one of the greatest problems in the Christian church, worldwide, today; the viewing of the message of the cross as only “the salvation message”, which saves us from hell. And so students who come to our courses don’t understand what all the fuss is over the cross, because they think things like, "I was saved when I was five.” They don’t think they need the message of the cross after salvation.
Your role, as a supervisor, is to help your new Mentor-In-Training communicate the power of the message of the cross for daily living. Help them to see that Jesus’ laying down His life for us leads us to lay down our sin for Him. Help them to see that the message of the cross is far more than “the salvation message”, and that it affects our daily lives. Viewing the cross so much led Paul to say “I die daily” (1 Corinthians 15:31) and “We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body” (2 Corinthians 4:10).
Next, let’s discuss how we “declare the praises of Him who called us out of darkness into light.”
Question 4. How is the message of the cross related to “declaring the praises of Him who called us out of darkness into light?”
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