THE EXAMPLE OF CHRIST’S SUFFERING. 1st Peter 3:18 Christ is the classic example of suffering. 6 features of His suffering… Expiatory: to free sinners from the punishment of their sins. Effectual: eternal; His sufferings settled the sin question; they are completed. Substitutionary: He suffered the just for the unjust. Reconciling: we have been brought to God because of His sufferings. Violent: death by execution; crucifixion was extremely violent. Resurrection was the climax: He was raised by the Holy Spirit.
Christ’s suffering ended in the triumph of resurrection, ascension, and dominion. We look beyond the hardship of His suffering to the victory Christ’s suffering won… [1] For sins – He bore humanity’s sins on the cross. [2] Once finished, it never has to be repeated. [3] The just for the unjust: because of His sinlessness, He was qualified to bear the sins of mankind that He might bring us to God. His death has bridged the gap between God and us. Christ’s resurrection over death lifted Him out of the earthly sphere into the heavenly.
The example of unjust suffering is found in our Lord, who "suffered, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God." He did this once for all, so that our sins, which had alienated us from God, have been dealt with by our Lord Jesus Christ. He has personally provided a holy and just way for us to come to God without fear of rejection. That wonderful fact has brought us into a relationship with Him without fear of divine retribution. We have not merely been brought to heaven, but to God Himself. He did this when He suffered in His body, "bare our sins in His own body on the tree." The Holy Spirit raised that same body on the third day, when He was "raised again for our justification."
It happened once for all, but what an awful “once.” In His spirit, He was troubled, the Righteous and Holy One, always in continuous, perfect, harmonious fellowship with His Father – they were always “One.” But one dark day, divine justice picked the “Just” to suffer for the “unjust,” and in His spirit, He suffered – for me!
Emotions crowded in upon His holy soul. Followers spoke strong words from weak hearts; one was a denier, and worse, another was a betrayer. All the senses linked to His holy humanity, like tight cords, bound Him to the divine will to suffer for the “unjust” in His soul; He suffered – for me!
Cords bound Him, led like an animal in humiliation. A blindfold was stretched over all-seeing eyes, fists struck Him in the face, foul spittle came from evil-speaking lips, hair was pulled from His face, and thorns were driven in. Hatred, the whip leaving the lash marks on His bleeding back, the weight of the cross, the nails through His hands and feet, caused suffering in His body. Suffocation from compressed lungs, the darkness when He suffered for the “unjust,” and our sins on His body, caused Him to suffer for me!