1 Peter 3:17 For it is better, if God should will it so, that you suffer for doing what is right rather than for doing what is wrong. 18 For Christ also suffered for sins once for all time, the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit. Scapegoat (def) - a person who is blamed for the wrongdoings, mistakes, or faults of others, especially for reasons of expediency. As you can see, Jesus is The Ultimate Scapegoat and we are the recipients of Him taking the punishment for our sins to make us right with God.
The scapegoat mentality is well known, especially among children who say and do childish things, like saying this when they are in the wrong. "I didn't do it, you did!" Anything to keep the focus off of their wrongdoing because they hate to admit they were wrong. If anyone had the "right" admit they had not done anything wrong, it was the "perfect" Son of God, Jesus. John 19:10 So Pilate *said to Him, “Are you not speaking to me? Do You not know that I have authority to release You, and I have authority to crucify You?” 11 Jesus answered him, “You would have no authority over Me at all, if it had not been given to you from above; for this reason the one who handed Me over to you has the greater sin.” 12 As a result of this, Pilate made efforts to release Him; but the Jews shouted, saying, “If you release this Man, you are not a friend of Caesar; everyone who makes himself out to be a king opposes Caesar!”
Jesus had done nothing wrong, and His false conviction was the result of those Jewish leaders wanting Him to be silenced and killed because He had said He was the Son of God. Instead of just taking the truth that Jesus was saying and "living" before them, their hateful pride took over, and they did the ultimate act of heresy: they killed an innocent man. Jesus went to the cross willingly to pay the penalty for our sins, and He is the ultimate scapegoat.
When we are trying to follow the loving example of Jesus, we need to lay down our pride and keep our realization of our lack of righteousness from anything we can do and receive and realize the righteousness of God through the blood sacrifice He gave. The Bible's truth of the pharisee and the tax collector further illustrates what kind of wrong attitude can come from self-righteousness. Luke 18:9 He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt: 10 “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed[a] thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’ 13 But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ 14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”
When the righteousness of God kicks in we forget trying to judge others, we forget trying to outdo others, and we remember the humility of our great Savior, Jesus Christ. Then, the love of God is truly seen in our actions and words. We also quit pointing at others and realize our shortcomings, and then we are overwhelmed by the grace that only comes from The Ultimate Scapegoat, Jesus. When we are constantly trying to be "right," we are constantly lifting up ourselves, and that pride monster is living without restraint. Only the Holy Spirit can control that monster, so we must submit to the Lord in all things and let His loving righteousness be seen in us. We cannot know all the love of God because it is too immense, but we can learn from His love and thus see changes made in our inherent lifestyle to cause lasting change in us.
The first thing that needs to happen to see change is to bow the knee before our heavenly Father and ask Him to change our hearts. Ephesians 3:14 For this reason I bend my knees before the Father, 15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name, 16 that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner self, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love,18 may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and height and depth, 19 and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled to all the fullness of God. This is one of those "spiritual" things we cannot do alone because it is God generated. All of this is possible because of The Ultimate Scapegoat, Jesus Christ. Don't let his attitude of love and forgiveness be lost on your own wrong attitude. Let Him be the change maker. Only He can do it, and we must surrender.
Today's Message,
David Warren
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