1 Peter 2:22-23
22 Who [hos] did [poieo] no [ou] sin [hamartia], neither [oude] was guile [dolos] found [heurisko] in [en] his [autos] mouth [stoma]:
23 Who [hos], when he was reviled [loidoreo], reviled [antiloidoreo] not
[ou] again [antiloidoreo]; when he suffered [pascho],
he threatened [apeileo] not [ou]; but [de] committed [paradidomi] himself to him that judgeth [krino] righteously [dikaios]: KJV-Interlinear
22 who committed no sin, nor was
any deceit found in His mouth; 23 and
while being reviled, He did not revile in return; while suffering, He uttered
no threats, but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously; NASB
The who, is Jesus
Christ.And it was He, who lived His
entire earthly life as a man, for thirty-three and a half years, in sinless
perfection.
From infancy to the
Cross, He lived a life as we all do, but unlike you and I, He never committed
even a single sin.Foregoing His powers
of deity, Jesus lived His entire life relying on the support of the Holy
Spirit, thereby proving that it is possible to live a life in this world (which
is a life in fellowship), apart from sin.
Jesus was rejected,
despite His perfection.Jesus was
despised.Jesus was hated. Jesus was set up. Jesus was accused of being an imposter, of lying,
of being in league with the devil, of trying to overthrow the government. He was beaten, and run through six separate
trials, and despite all of this, He never opened His mouth, nor had even the
slightest of negative thoughts against anyone.
Isa. 53:9
9 His grave was
assigned with wicked men, Yet He was with a rich man in His death, Because He
had done no violence, Nor was there any deceit in His mouth. NASB
Isa 53:7
7 He was oppressed and
He was afflicted, Yet He did not open His mouth; Like a lamb that is led to
slaughter, And like a sheep that is silent before its shearers, So He did not
open His mouth. NASB
Psa. 37:5-9
5 Commit your way to
the Lord, Trust also in Him, and He will do it.
6 And He will bring
forth your righteousness as the light, And your judgment as the noonday.
7 Rest in the Lord and
wait patiently for Him; Do not fret because of him who prospers in his way, Because
of the man who carries out wicked schemes.
8 Cease from anger, and
forsake wrath; Do not fret, it leads only to evildoing.
9 For evildoers will be
cut off, But those who wait for the Lord, they will inherit the land. NASB
And why did he not cut
down His accusers right where they stood?
Because defeat of the enemy, of sin and evil and death was not His purpose
at the first advent.Salvation was the
goal of Jesus Christ, and the cross was His destiny, for which He was born.
Satan tried as best he
could to cause Jesus to fail and take the cross in sin. Satan tried to prevent the cross by a perfect
Jesus.But Satan could do neither.
Through all of the
spitting, and foul mouthed comments, through all of the beatings and accusations,
through the malicious public charges by the influential of the land, through
the attempts to distance His friends from Him, through all of the sarcasm,
mockery, scorn, gossip, ridicule, contempt, and so forth, Jesus never once
became defensive, never once tried to get even, never once returned sin for
sin.
And why? Because it is the Father who blesses, not
man. It is the Father whose plan will be accomplished, not mans. It is the Father, who possesses the power and
authority, and the ultimate judgment against everyone, not man. And Jesus looked to the Father, not to man.
People overestimate
their own worth.People overestimate
their own value.People overestimate
their own power over life and circumstances.
And it is people who ultimately will cause the downfall and near extinction
of the entire human race (in the Tribulation).
Jesus could have easily
called down an army of angels, and wiped everyone off the face of the earth. But, that is not in the plan of God.
To commit sin never
pays, therefore, every time you get tempted in life, for whatever reason,
whether you have good cause of not, consider the repercussions of your thoughts
and actions.Sin removes your
blessings.Sin causes you loss. Sin takes away from your spiritual stability.
And even if you find it
easy to sin, to hate, to get even, to lust, etc., simply by giving in to the
temptation, opens up the door for further excuses for the same, and the more
you open up that door, the more the possibilities you will fall into the trap.
You are not stronger
than sin.You are not stronger than your
sin nature.So do not believe for even a
second that you can beat it at its own game, or that you can have life both
ways.
Only in doctrine, can
you defeat sin and temptation, and doctrine is from God, not from yourself. Only in spiritual growth will you develop the
spiritual muscle to fight the good fight.
Only through your daily study and use of doctrine will you have the
exercise that develops spiritual muscle and therefore spiritual endurance to
get you through life.
Look at this life and
examine just what you will gain from your hate, from your gossip, from your
revenge, from your crusade, from your self-pity, from whatever it is that you
expect out of this life.And, you can
take one-hundred percent of everything that you will ever get out of this life
and put it in a bag and throw it in the garbage. And that is all you will ever have from this
life.
Now compare it to what
you will receive in eternity.By the
way, eternity is a very long time.
Before you were born
into this life, you had no say as to how your life would pan out. You had no say as to who you would be, as to
who your friends would be, as to what circumstances you would face in life. You had nothing with which to predetermine
your life in this world.
But in the spiritual life,
we have the ability to define our next life.
We can advance to maturity and be counted among the phenomenally
wealthy, the phenomenally gifted, the phenomenally talented, the phenomenally blessed,
the phenomenally promoted, and far more for the next life which will be the
bulk of our existence.
Would you trade that
away, for a bag of garbage?
Is getting upset worth
it, when you really have lost nothing in this life, but could have real losses
from the next?