He Himself Bore Our Sins in His Body

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 (1 Peter 2:24 ESV)

Our Lord Jesus bore our sins in His own body on the cross. He bore our sins Himself. The personal pronoun “Himself” in this verse might appear to be a repetition or even unnecessary, but certainly not with the Lord. He uses it to emphasize a point to us. This same personal pronoun occurred in Gen. 22:8 when Abraham, speaking prophetically about the Saviour’s death said to Isaac, his son: “God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son” (Genesis 22:8, ESV). God will provide for Himself the Lamb. It turned out that the Lamb that God provided was Himself! God did not send an angel to deal with the sins of humanity. He Himself bore our sins in His own body.

The word “bore” is crucial to understanding the substitutional work of the Saviour. It means to carry something, such as a load. It is not literal carrying but figurative. Nothing was hanging on Jesus’ body on the cross, at least to the natural eye. However, His body was loaded with heavy spiritual loads which are the sins of the whole world. What does it mean to “carry” sin? Think about carrying a load for a moment. The weight of that load is on the head or shoulders of the one carrying it. When the scripture says Jesus bore or carried out sins, it means the weight of our sins was upon Him. The weight of our sins refers to the guilt, consequences, and judgment of our sins. The scripture says Jesus Himself carried the full punishment and divine judgment of the sins of the whole world. Remember, He did not just pay for the sins of believers, but for the whole world ( 1 John 2:2).

Jesus has fully dealt with the sin problem with God. Sin is no longer a problem with God. It is a problem with us. Sin is paid, but some people have rejected Him and are going to hell though their sins are paid. The same is true about us believers who are heading to heaven. Though sin is paid, we have to yield to the Spirit to overcome the flesh which is sold under sin otherwise sin will still rule our lives here on earth. The Saviour has come. His work on sin is complete. God’s full judgment for your sins was poured out upon Him, and He bore it for you. This is a demonstration of His love for you.

MEDITATE

How does the literal meaning of the word “bore” relate to the spiritual meaning in the verse above?

APPLY THE WORD

You have to fully know and accept the finality of Christ’s work on sin. Some people become overwhelmed with condemnation when they sin. That is not the work of the Spirit but their unbelief or ignorance of what Christ has done. When we sin, the Spirit certainly will convict us and bring us to repentance. He will never tell you that God is angry with you or is pouring out His wrath upon you for what you did. If God does that to us today in the days of His Son, then Christ died in vain. The days will come when God’s wrath will be poured out unrestrained upon sin, but those days are not yet here. We are blessed. We are living in the days of the Lamb of God. Trust in the work of your Saviour!