“But if when you do good and suffer for it you endure, this is a gracious thing in the sight of God. For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps. He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly. He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed. For you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls” (1 Peter 2:20-25 ESV).
Now, in context, this is speaking to those who are bondservants to human masters, giving them instructions in how they are to conduct themselves towards their masters, and in enduring unjust suffering (verses 18-20). But the rest of this applies to all of us who are followers of Jesus Christ, and so this is the part I will be focusing on here in this writing. For we are all called to suffer for the sake of the name of Jesus, and for the sake of the gospel, and for the sake of our testimonies (witness) for Jesus Christ.
And when Jesus was arrested and put on trial for no crime that he had committed, and when he was beaten beyond recognition, and mocked, and spat upon, and had all sorts of insults hurled at him because of who he is, and because of the things that he did and said in the name of his Father, and in his own name, and in the cause of the gospel of our salvation, he set the example for us in how we are to respond to and to endure unjust suffering on account of his name, and on account of our walks of faith in him.
But, as we know, his suffering was much worse than just what has been mentioned so far, for after they had done all those other things to him then they hung him on a cross to die a very painful death, as though he was a criminal. But this was in God’s plan for us that Jesus should die on that cross. For in his death, he who knew no sin became sin for us so that when he died our sins died with him, and when he was raised from the dead, he conquered sin, Satan, death, and hell on our behalf, so we could be free.
But now this freedom is not just freedom from the punishment of sin, but it is freedom from our slavery to sin, which was the primary reason for why Jesus died on that cross. For he died that we might die to sin and live to righteousness, and that we might now live for him and no longer for ourselves. And he shed his blood for us to buy us back for God (to redeem us) out of our lives of slavery to sin and living for self, so that we will now honor God with our bodies, and so we will now serve him with our lives.
1 Peter 2:24; 2 Corinthians 5:15,21; 1 Corinthians 6:19-20; Romans 6:1-23
So, he sets the example for us to follow, not only in how we are to conduct our lives in holy living and in surrender to the will of God for our lives, but also in how to respond to unjust suffering. For if we are living for the Lord as we ought to live, and if we are walking in his ways and in his truth and righteousness, and not in sin, and if we are speaking the truths which he spoke to the people, with regard to the gospel of our salvation, then we will also be treated as he was, and we will be hated and persecuted.
[Matt 5:10-12; Matt 10:16-25; Matt 24:9-14; Lu 6:22-23; Lu 21:12-19; Jn 15:1-21; Jn 16:33; Jn 17:14; Ac 14:22; Rom 5:3-5; Phil 3:7-11; 1 Pet 1:6-7; 1 Pet 4:12-17; 2 Tim 3:12; 1 Thess 3:1-5; Jas 1:2-4; 2 Co 1:3-11; Heb 12:3-12; 1 Jn 3:13; Rev 6:9-11; Rev 7:9-17; Rev 11:1-3; Rev 12:17; Rev 13:1-18; Rev 14:1-13]
The Sands of Time are Sinking
a.k.a. Immanuel’s Land
by Anne R. Cousin, 1857
The sands of time are sinking,
The dawn of Heaven breaks;
The summer morn I’ve sighed for—
The fair, sweet morn awakes:
Dark, dark hath been the midnight,
But dayspring is at hand,
And glory, glory dwelleth
In Immanuel’s land.
O Christ, He is the fountain,
The deep, sweet well of love!
The streams on earth I’ve tasted
More deep I’ll drink above:
There to an ocean fullness
His mercy doth expand,
And glory, glory dwelleth
In Immanuel’s land.
The King there in His beauty,
Without a veil is seen:
It were a well spent journey,
Though seven deaths lay between:
The Lamb with His fair army,
Doth on Mount Zion stand,
And glory—glory dwelleth
In Immanuel’s land.
The bride eyes not her garment,
But her dear bridegroom’s face;
I will not gaze at glory
But on my king of grace.
Not at the crown He giveth
But on His pierced hand;
The Lamb is all the glory
Of Immanuel’s land.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nbKzcwHSFSU
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