I have entitled this message
today, Jesus Christ or Type. I want to start off by reading
an illustration that was given in an article entitled, The Simpleness
of Sin. It's by Mike McInnis, a preacher
down in O'Brien, Florida. I just think this is a good illustration
for how I want to start this. The awfulness of sin can be seen
when we see the one whose law has been broken. If I got angry
and shouted at you, it would surely be unsuitable conduct,
and I would owe you an apology. But if you sat on the judge's
bench in a court of law and I shouted at you, I would be in contempt
of court. The action on my part would be
the same in both cases. But the extent of my crime would
be greater in the latter case because of the position of honor
which you as a judge would occupy. As a judge seated in that courtroom,
You would represent the authority of the law. In my offense against
you, there would be against that law which you represent. We as
humans are born in nature into God's court. He represents the
law because he gave the law. God is the judge and we have
sinned against his law. Scripture tells us God is judge,
it says, In Psalms 9, 8, it says, and he shall judge the world
in righteousness. He shall minister judgment to
the people in uprightness. Psalms 56 says this, and the
heavens shall declare his righteousness, for God is judge himself, Selah. But listen to these passages.
In John 12, 48, it says, he that rejecteth me and receiveth not
my words hath one that judgeth him. The word that I have spoken
The same shall judge him in the last day. Then in Romans 2.16
we read this. In the day when God shall judge
the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel. These
are not the only scripture, of course, that tell us God is judge.
It's throughout the scriptures. But what about us sinning against
him? What does it tell us about that?
What about our sinfulness? Maybe one might say, but I have
not sinned, or I have not sinned that bad, and certainly not against
God or His law. In 1 John 3, 4, we read this. Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth
also the law, for sin is the transgression of the law. But
scripture also says this. Behold, I was shapen in iniquity,
and in sin did my mother conceive me. And what's the result of
this? The wicked are estranged from
the womb. They go astray as soon as they
be born, speaking lies. We sin daily. We have broken
God's law such that we have offended the thrice holy God. But if someone
were to insist that they have no sin, then hear this. 1 John
1 says this. It says if we say that we have
no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. It
also says, if we say we have not sinned, we make God a liar
and his word is not in us. God's word is the rule, not our
feelings or thoughts about the matter. God tells us that all
have sinned and come short of the glory of God. So we have
offended a thrice holy God and any sin is a capital crime which
is punished by death, which we have all earned by the way. We
have earned this wage. The wages of sin is death, it
says in Romans 6.23. It also says in Ezekiel 18.20,
the soul that sinneth, it shall die. But scripture also tells
us this, that God is a just God, but he's also a savior. So how
can he be a just God and a savior? If I've sinned against God, and
I have, How can he justly punish me for my sin and still be my
savior at the same time? Because think about it in scripture,
it also says this in Proverbs 11, 1. A false balance is abomination
to the Lord, but a just weight is his delight. In Proverbs 17,
15, it says this. He that justifies the wicked
and he that condemneth the just, even they both are abomination
to the Lord. If I'm wicked, how can God justify
me? It is an abomination to the Lord.
How could Christ be condemned to death? Because Christ is just.
That would be an abomination to the Lord. In light of this,
I want to look at Christ made sin this morning. But specifically,
I want to look at the subject from 1 Peter 2.24. So if you
would turn to 1 Peter 2.24. So I'm gonna read the first part
of this verse. Who his own self bear our sins in his own body. I want to look at this word in
for a minute. I had a conversation with someone and they told me
that this word should be on and not in. And I hadn't looked at
it before, so I wanted to look at it. I wanted to be sure what
they were telling me. So I checked into this word,
and we should check God's scriptures daily, as the Bereans did, to
see if these things are so. Now this Greek word is transliterated
en, or in, and it's strong 1722. The meaning is this. a primary preposition denoting
fixed position, in place, time, or state, and by implication,
instrumentality, medially or constructively. That is a relation
of rest. Now, this helped me a little
bit, but doesn't help me a whole lot. I'm not a student of Greek,
and I'm not a scholar of Greek. But others are, and we can use
some of the tools that they've given us to look these up. So
I wanted to look where this word was used elsewhere. So we can
find this word, 1722, as the word in, in Matthew 2.1, and
it says this. Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem
of Judea in the days of Herod, that is not on Bethlehem, it's
in Bethlehem. It's in the days of Herod the
king. It's during the time when he was king. In Mark 1, 2, we
also see it used as in. As it is written, in the prophets,
behold, I send my messenger before thy face. That word in, in the
prophets, that's in the Old Testament books, their writings that they
did. It's in those writings. There are a bunch more entries,
and the word in is used in most places for this 1722 word. But it's also used as the word
on, and I'm not saying that it's wrong that this word is used
as on in these passages, but let's look at a few of those.
Matthew 24 20 says this, but pray ye that your flight be not
in the winter, neither on the Sabbath day. Now is that on top
of or up against the Sabbath day or is it in during the Sabbath
day? We also have in Luke 8 15 it
says this, but that on the good ground are they which in an honest
and good heart having heard the word keep it and bring forth
fruit with patience. This is that same Greek word,
1722. Now we have to keep in mind the context here, because
the seed falls on the ground, yes. But what does it, it doesn't
just fall on top of the ground, what does it do? It takes root
down in the ground. You can read for yourself this.
Now just one more point, I want to read the rest of this verse
of 1 Peter 2.24. And it says, who his own self
bear our sins in his own body on the tree. That word on there
is a different Greek word. It's a Greek word 1909. And I
think we can see from scripture that if it should have been on,
they would have used this other word on in that scripture. But
let's look at some things in the Old Testament. You know Walter's
been in Lubbock at Leviticus for a while, so you should be
familiar with it but It talks about some of these priests laying
their hands on or upon these sacrifices And it means on or
upon So let's look at on or upon in Lubbock get Leviticus here
There's a lot of verses that have this in there. I'm just
going to use the first verse you don't have to turn to it
and But it says, and he shall put
his hand upon the head of the burnt offering, and it shall
be accepted for him to make atonement for him. Now, here's what we
have to think about with these. These are types. They're shadows. A shadow is a silhouette cast
when light is shown on an object, and it's the shadow of that object
that the light has shown on. You don't define or describe
the object from the shadow. You describe the shadow from
the object. You can have more details in
the object. If that object is gone, there
is no shadow. You have to have the object.
The object comes first. So let's look at a few other
things with these types too. In Leviticus 1.6 it says, and
he shall flay the burnt offering and cut it into pieces. Did they
do that to Christ? No. He's the perfect, spotless
Lamb of God. Everything about Him was acceptable
to God. Then in Leviticus 4.32 it says,
and if he bring a lamb for a sin offering, he shall bring it a
female without blemish. Was Christ a female? No, he's
the perfect son of God. You can't take these types too
far, but you should be taking the object to define what the
shadows mean, what the types mean. These animal sacrifices
could never take away sin. Look at what they did with these
sacrifices on the cross. Did everything happen specifically
that was done to these sacrifices? No, these sacrifices could never
take away sin on their body or in their body. These types do
signify Christ and Him taking away sin, but those priests could
not actually put sin on those sacrifices, much less in them.
The limitation here is with the types and not with God or Christ,
because Christ and God can do anything. But we also have some
Old Testament scripture that testifies to our subject. And
this is the specific object that we're gonna be looking at. This
is Jesus Christ himself. Now if you would turn with me
to Isaiah 53.6. Isaiah 53.6. All we like sheep have gone astray,
we have turned every one to his own way, and the Lord hath laid
on him the iniquity of us all. Walter spoke about this before,
and this word here, pulga, or the Hebrew Strong's 6293, is
the word, and the meaning of this word is impinged. And it's
like the illustration Walter gave. It's like a snake's fangs,
and the snake bites you, and the fangs go in to the skin to
inject the venom into the body. So from this Old Testament passage,
we have a witness to Christ being made sin. This is no type, it's
the real thing. And he bore our sins, being impinged
with them. Now, for a minute, let's go back
to the Ezekiel passage. Ezekiel 18, 20, you don't have
to turn to it, I'll just read it here, but Ezekiel 18, 20,
it says, the soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not
bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear
the iniquity of the son. The righteousness of the righteous
shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him.
God says that no one can bear the sins of another. You cannot
just put something on someone else's account and have them
bear it. It's unjust. Even in our courts,
I can't go into a court and say, I'll take his conviction and
his penalty for that conviction. You have to either have committed
the crime yourself or you have to become them. We cannot do
this for one another, but God can do anything. And God be thanked
that he was pleased to do this, to come down in this world and
to become sin for us. He had to become a man. He could
not be a bull or a goat because they were not of our own kind.
They could never do it. He had to become a man and he
did. Now let's think about the Cana of Galilee miracles. There
were six water pots. Six in scripture is the number
of man. The pots were filled to the brim with water, and with
the water being in the pots. Then the water was made wine
instantly. He did this to show forth his
glory, the glory of that hour that he came to this earth to
accomplish. Christ himself gave us this example. Some will say
that you are saying Christ was made a sinner. My answer is I
don't make Christ anything, but God has. God has made him sin
for us that we might be made to righteousness of Christ in
him. He was made what I am, sin. He
bore my sins in his own body. If you're in Christ, he's bore
your sins in his own body. So much so that he owned them
as his. So let's hear what it says in
Psalms 22. But I am a worm and no man, a reproach of men and
despised of the people. Someone might say, no, this was
not Christ. To that, I say, this is not so,
because prior to that, it says this, in Psalms 22.1, my God,
my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Why art thou so far from
helping me and from the words of my roaring? As God's people,
we have never known being forsaken of God. If we are his, we will
never know that. As a matter of fact, he says
he will never leave us nor forsake us. Again, in Psalms 40, it says,
for innumerable evils have come past me about. Mine iniquities
have taken hold upon me, so that I am not able to look up. They
are more than the hairs of mine head, therefore my heart felleth
me. So it says here, mine iniquities. Again, someone might say, this
is not Christ. But in Psalm 47, it says this.
Then said I, Lo, I come, in the volume of the book it is written
of me. The me there is Christ, and the volume of the book speaks
of him. So this is talking about Christ.
Psalm 69 says this, Psalm 69 5, O God, thou knowest my foolishness,
and my sins are not hid from thee. Again, someone might say,
this is us and not Christ. Psalm 69, four, just prior, the
verse prior to that says this. They hate me without a cause
are more than, they that hate me without a cause are more than
the hairs of mine head. They that would destroy me being
made my enemies wrongfully are mighty. Then I restored that
which I took not away. He was hated without a cause.
In Christ, we can be hated without a cause in Christ. But he's the
only one that's able to restore that which he took not away.
This is Christ. Christ was made sin that I might
be made the righteousness of Christ in him. And so that you
might be made the righteousness of Christ in him if you were
in him. He bore our sins in his own body
on the tree. So what does that make him? It
makes him a just God and a Savior. It also makes him my Redeemer. It makes him my substitute. It
makes him my Lord and my Savior. Amen. Dear Christ, holy God, thank
you for allowing us to be here today. May it be that you were
honored, dear Lord. May we honor your son May we
be able to speak boldly of what you have done. We have no power. We have nothing apart from you. All things come from you. If it be your will, dear Lord,
if we have ailments, however, what your will is to do to take
care of these, dear Lord. We thank you for everything that
you do for us. All these things we ask in Christ's
name, amen.