1 Peter 3:18 AMP
“For indeed Christ died for sins once for all, the Just and Righteous for the unjust and unrighteous [the Innocent for the guilty] so that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the Spirit”
The suffering, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ fulfilled many Old Testament prophecies in their entirety. Just immediately after His resurrection, the Lord Jesus caught up with two disciples on the road to Emmaus; and, “…beginning with [the writings of] Moses and [throughout] all the [writings of the] prophets, He explained and interpreted for them the things referring to Himself [found] in all the Scriptures” (Luk 24:27 AMP). The Lord Himself knew what the Scriptures had said about Him. In fact, the Psalmist foreshadowed His voice perfectly when he said, “Behold, I have come; in the scroll of the book it is written of me” (Psa 40:7 ESV).
In His divine foreknowledge, Christ fully knew all that He had come to accomplish, including Him “the Just and Righteous [dying] for the unjust and unrighteous [the Innocent for the guilty]”, as in our reference text. Why did Christ decide to die for the unrighteous? He did it “so that He might bring us to God.” Hallelujah! God has always desired fellowship with mankind. Although sin disrupted the communion that began in the Garden of Eden, Christ came and paid the ultimate price to restore it completely. Yes, the price of our forgiveness was invaluable. However, beyond our forgiveness was the wonderful restoration of fellowship with the Shepherd of our souls.
Here is Paul’s version of the same truth: “For the death that He died, He died to sin [ending its power and paying the sinner’s debt] once and for all; and the life that He lives, He lives to [glorify] God [in unbroken fellowship with Him]. Even so, consider yourselves to be dead to sin [and your relationship to it broken], but alive to God [in unbroken fellowship with Him] in Christ Jesus” (Rom 6:10-11 AMP). Notice, we are the ones to consider and stand on this truth. Therefore, let us never allow the devil to deceive us into remaining in enmity with God, but instead embrace the reconciliation Christ has secured. Hallelujah!
Pst. Emmanuel
