Scripture Reading: Matt. 1:21b; Gal. 1:4; 1 Pet. 2:24; 3:18a; Matt. 1:6b; Psa. 51
Ⅰ
"You shall call His name Jesus, for it is He who will save His people from their sins"—Matt. 1:21b:
A
Jesus is our Savior saving us from sin and also our Joshua bringing us into rest, the rest of the good land.
B
Whenever we call on the name of Jesus, He saves us from our sins and brings us into the enjoyment of Himself—Rom. 10:12-13.
C
Jesus, the King, intends to establish His kingdom within us and to set up His throne in our hearts:
１
Christ, the King-Savior, has been born into us, and now He is establishing His kingdom within us and over us.
２
The Lord is ruling within us by saving us—Rom. 5:10b.
D
The kingly Savior came to save us from rebellion and to cleanse us from our leprosy that we might become His kingdom people—Matt. 8:1-4.
Ⅱ
"Who gave Himself for our sins that He might rescue us out of the present evil age according to the will of our God and Father"—Gal. 1:4:
A
The present evil age refers to the religious world, the religious course of the world.
B
Christ gave Himself for our sins for the purpose of rescuing us out of the present evil age.
C
Through His death on the cross, the Lord gave Himself for our sins in order to rescue us from the religious fold—John 10:1-16.
D
Christ's death on the cross to deliver us from the present evil age was according to the will of God, the Father—Matt. 7:21; Rom. 12:2; Eph. 1:5; 5:17:
１
The will of God is that we enjoy Christ and be built up so that the church may exist on earth.
２
To rescue the sheep from the fold is according to the will of God.
３
Today the Lord is still endeavoring to bring His sheep out of the fold and into Himself as the pasture, where there is "one flock, one Shepherd"—John 10:1-4, 7, 16.
Ⅲ
"Who Himself bore up our sins in His body on the tree, in order that we, having died to sins, might live to righteousness"—1 Pet. 2:24:
A
Christ's death separates us from sins and enlivens us so that we may live to righteousness.
B
Live to righteousness is related to fulfilling the requirements of God's righteous government:
１
God is righteous, and His government is established upon righteousness and requires righteousness—Psa. 89:14; Matt. 6:33; 5:20.
２
We were saved so that we might live rightly under the government of God, that is, in a way that matches the righteous requirements of God's government.
Ⅳ
"Christ also has suffered once for sins, the Righteous on behalf of the unrighteous, that He might bring you to God"—1 Pet. 3:18:
A
On the cross Christ, the righteous One, was judged on behalf of us, the unrighteous ones, by the righteous God according to His righteous requirements, that He might remove the barrier between us and God.
B
Christ's death on the cross as our Substitute was to redeem us from our sins back to God, from our unrighteous manner of life back to the righteous God.
C
The emphasis of 1 Peter is that Christ's death redeemed us from our inherited vain manner of life—1:18-19:
１
Our old manner of life had no meaning and no goal; hence, it was vain, having no aim and no purpose.
２
Now our goal is to live a holy life that we may express God in His holiness—vv. 15-16.
３
Everything we do and say should have God's goal in view; this kind of life is weighty and full of content—a life with purpose, a goal, and an aim.
Ⅴ
"David begot Solomon of her who had been the wife of Uriah"—Matt. 1:6:
A
Psalm 51 was composed after David's great sin in murdering Uriah and robbing him of his wife and then being rebuked by Nathan:
１
"Against You and You alone have I sinned, / And I have done what is evil in Your sight"—v. 4.
２
"Hide Your face from my sins, / And blot out all my iniquities"—v. 9.
３
"The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; / A broken and a contrite heart, / O God, You will not despise"—v. 17.
４
"Do good in Your good pleasure unto Zion; / Build the walls of Jerusalem"—v. 18.
B
The issue of the "marriage" of David's transgression and repentance with God's forgiveness was Solomon ("peaceful"), the one who built the temple of God—2 Sam. 7 :12-14a; 2 Chron. 3:1:
１
The church is always built up by this kind of person—a Solomon—who is the issue of man's transgression and repentance plus God's forgiveness.
２
When we experience the marriage of our transgression and repentance with God's forgiveness, we become very useful in the building up of the church.