Monday: The Passion of Christ
Christians often talk about “the passion of Christ.” The word passion comes from a Greek verb that means “to suffer,” and the phrase “the passion of Christ” usually refers to what Jesus suffered in the final period of His life, beginning with the triumphal entry into Jerusalem. Peter, too, dwells on the theme of Christ’s suffering in those last days.
Image © Lars Justinen from GoodSalt.com
Read 1 Peter 2:21-25 and Isaiah 53:1-12. What do they tell us about what Jesus suffered on our behalf?
There is particular significance to the suffering of Jesus. He bore “our sins in His own body on the tree [a reference to the cross; compare with Acts 5:30], that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness” (1 Pet. 2:24, NKJV). Sin brings death (Rom. 5:12). As sinners, we deserve to die. Yet, the perfect Jesus-who had no guile on His lips (1 Pet. 2:22)-died in our place. In that exchange, we have the plan of salvation.
Read Isaiah 53:1-12 again. What do the texts say that Jesus suffered as He worked out the plan of salvation in our behalf? What does this tell us about the character of God?
“Satan with his fierce temptations wrung the heart of Jesus. The Saviour could not see through the portals of the tomb. Hope did not present to Him His coming forth from the grave a conqueror, or tell Him of the Father’s acceptance of the sacrifice. He feared that sin was so offensive to God that Their separation was to be eternal. Christ felt the anguish which the sinner will feel when mercy shall no longer plead for the guilty race. It was the sense of sin, bringing the Father’s wrath upon Him as man’s substitute, that made the cup He drank so bitter, and broke the heart of the Son of God.” – Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages, p. 753.
| What should our response be to what Christ had endured for us? How are we to follow His example, as 1 Peter 2:21 says? |
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To follow Christ's example we must be motivated by the same Love He was motivated by. For this to happen we must choose to allow the Holy Spirit to motivate us like He motivated Jesus and the Father--with Love. Love is the fruit produced by the Holy Spirit.
Last quarter, we studied that the things of the mind of The Father are brought to our mind by the Holy Spirit as He did for the only begotten human Son of God, Jesus. If we choose to let our will be motivated by the Love of God by consenting to allow the Holy Spirit to motivate our thoughts and feelings we can have the motivation that Jesus had to keep Him from sin.
This is simply the way for us to follow the example of Jesus. A child can do it. What is stopping us from walking forward in the footsteps of Jesus to be like Him? We haven't made the choice to allow the Holy Spirit to motivate our will and be in charge of our thoughts and feelings NOW.
Yes. To be like Jesus we have to love like Him. That's the main point. We need to learn how to love like Him, then everything else will be add.
Passion is it negative or positive? How can it be negative? How can it be positive?
What was the passion of Christ?
His passion was the redemption of humanity.
Why after saying to us we should follow His steps
Peter gave us the following verse
“Who committed no sin,
Nor was deceit found in His mouth”;
What is the purpose of this verse?
Deceit - the action or practice of deceiving someone by concealing or misrepresenting the truth.
Satan - Misrepresenting the truth
Jesus is the truth
Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.
Who are we representing in our life?
What is our passion today?
We are to dedicate our whole life to him in response to the price he did pay on our behalf and let is example be our model so that at the end, we will reign with Him.