Healed by His Wounds
Brokenness. We see it all around us. We experience it ourselves: in our relationships, in our dreams, in our bodies. And yet, something happened over two thousand years ago that still has the power to heal that brokenness.
1 Peter 2:24 says, "He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed."
Jesus Christ, the sinless Son of God, took the weight of our sins upon Himself. He carried them to the cross, giving up His life not because of His own wrongdoing, but because of ours. This is the essence of the Gospel. Through His sacrifice, He offered us a path out of darkness and into His light—a life transformed by His grace.
Because of Christ’s sacrifice, we’ve been given a profound healing of our spirits; new life taking the place of sins and darkness that separate us from God. Through His wounds, we are offered forgiveness and a new relationship with God, healed and whole.
Understanding His sacrifice transforms us. We can’t live in darkness anymore. Brokenness may surround us, but it is no longer within us. His righteousness washes over us. His healing wells up within us. Our entire life shifts as a response to the profound love and sacrifice Jesus showed us, and the healing that He alone can provide.
Shining the Light of Jesus
Have you ever walked from a dark place into a very bright space? Light has incredible power over our senses, and sometimes it can be overwhelming. But light is necessary for us to live. Light tells us about reality. It illuminates things around us.
In Matthew 5, Jesus uses various light metaphors to describe the life of a disciple. He says that His disciples are like a town built on a hill that shines light into the valley (Matthew 5:14). He also says we’re like a lamp that gives light to a whole house (Matthew 5:15).
The life of a disciple of Jesus is meant to be like that of light that shines brightly for others to see. So what is the light that we have?
First and foremost, it is the message of the Gospel. We have been given knowledge of what Jesus has done for us, and it’s that knowledge that changes everything for us. We now have a new life because of Him.
We’ve been entrusted with this message so that we could share it with others. The message and hope of ...