In nineteenth century Scotland there lived a man with an amazing amount of promise and potential. Everyone around him readily agreed the young man was destined for greatness. Everything seemed to be going well for him and the sky seemed to be the limit for this promising young man gifted for greatness. While engaged to be married, he was suddenly hospitalized. It was discovered this young man full of promise and potential was suffering from a degenerative eye disease which would eventually leave him blind. Consequently his fiancée broke their engagement and in so doing broke the young man’s heart. His world seemed shattered. His storm was not the result of poor life choices or past indiscretions. There was no explanation for the howling winds and the torrential rains that bombarded the shore of his soul. Yet within a period of five minutes, George Matheson, blind and broken, chose to lift His heart above the storm to the One who rules and reigns above the storms. The comfort he found in the arms of the loving Father led him to pen these words of comfort and hope:
O love that will not let me go
I rest my weary soul in Thee;
I give Thee back the life I owe,
That in Thine ocean depths its flow
May richer, fuller be.
O joy that seekest me through pain,
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I cannot close my heart to Thee;
I trace the rainbow through the rain,
And feel the promise is not vain
That morn shall tearless be.
“I trace the rainbow through the rain.” From the depths of despair, George Matheson traced the rainbow of God’s grace through the rain of personal pain.
All of us experience storms in life. Some of those storms we understand. When we suffer pain because of poor personal choices we at least know the wounds are self-inflicted. We brought the suffering on ourselves. But what do we do when we suffer for doing what is right? We do the right things for the right reasons and as a result of our seeking to honor God we get hammered. The winds blow, the rains fall, and everything in our lives that is not nailed down seems to fly away.
The first epistle of Peter was written to men and women trying desperately to trace the rainbow of God’s grace through the rain of their personal adversity. These believers were not suffering from poor choices or past indiscretions; they were suffering for their faith in Jesus Christ. The rain was falling, the winds were howling, and these precious saints of God needed to know how to trace the rainbow through the rain. Where could they find hope in the midst of suffering? Peter reminds them, and he reminds us, hope is found in the One who suffered for us. Twelve times in this epistle Peter refers to the suffering of Christ. You and I can find hope in the face of suffering by keeping our eyes focused on the One who suffered for us. The conquest of Christ in the face of suffering encourages us in the face of our suffering.
I encourage you to open God’s Word to the third chapter of First Peter as we seek to find encouragement in the face of suffering. How can you trace the rainbow through the inevitable rain of life? We find hope in the midst of suffering by looking to the One who suffered for us. The conquest of Christ’s suffering encourages us in our suffering.
Read First Peter 3:18-22
The apostle Peter was writing to believers who were experiencing tremendous suffering as a result of their personal faith in Jesus Christ. Some of these believers could not find work because of their faith. Jewish merchants refused to hire them because they were considered traitors to Judaism. Greek merchants refused to hire them for fear that loyal customers might boycott their business thinking they were sympathizers of ‘The Way’, this new religious uprising that offended both historic Judaism and pagan polytheism. If they could not work, they could not buy food. If they could not buy food, they could not feed their families.
Can you imagine holding your infant child in your arms as they cry from hunger pangs? Can you imagine watching that poor child slowly wither away in your arms as they suffer from malnutrition? Can you imagine clutching that child to your womb as they breathe their last breath? Can you imagine all of this pain and suffering being the result of your belief that Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life? This was the scenario for many of these believers in Asia Minor.
This letter was written in or around 64AD. The reigning Emperor, Nero, had made it his personal mission to exterminate Christianity from the face of the earth. Many believers were snatched off the street and hauled to the Colosseum where they would become appetizers for the lions in order to appease the sadistic pleasures of the audience. Perhaps one of Nero’s most heinous forms of torture was to roll believers in wax, impale them on stakes, and use them to light his rose garden at night. This was the kind of suffering these believers were enduring. They needed help and they needed hope. Where could they find hope in the face of such overwhelming pain? Hope was found in the One who suffered for them.
The example of Christ reminds us triumph is often birthed out of tragedy. God does not cause only good to happen in our lives, but He does cause all things to work together for good through our lives. Out of the irritation of a single grain of sand, the pearl is produced. Out of the unrelenting pressure upon the carbon, a diamond is forged. Out of the pain and suffering of the cross, our salvation is secured. Our standing with God is forged in the suffering of that cross, and the conquest of Christ in the face of His suffering encourages us in the face of our suffering.
BE ENCOURAGED BY THE CONQUEST OF CHRIST! (V. 18)
Peter offers us a wonderful reminder of the price Jesus paid to purchase our salvation. We have right standing with God, not because of who we are, but because of who Jesus is and what He has done for us. Our salvation was born out of His suffering. Jesus suffered like no man ever suffered or ever will suffer. He lived His entire life in the shadow of the cross. From the moment of His birth to the moment of His death, every step He took was a step toward that cross. He lived every moment of every day with the imminence of that cross in His heart and on His mind.
He endured the pain of scourging and the suffering of the cross. Thirty-nine times the cat of nine tails was hurled into His back. Pieces of flesh were ripped away. Blood flowed freely. A crown of thorns was pressed upon His perspiring brow. His beard was pulled out by the fists full. Roman spikes were driven into His hands and His feet, and the Lamb of God was lifted between heaven and hell as if fit for neither. Then, in His hour of greatest need, when He needed paternal communion the most, God the Father turned His back on God the Son because His holiness could not look on our sin. O what suffering! O what sorrow! Jesus suffered like no man ever suffered or ever will suffer. Yet out of that suffering and out of that sorrow came overwhelming victory. Peter reminds us:
A. His suffering was sufficient.
“once for all”
No more would man have to take a spotless, innocent lamb to the temple and slaughter that lamb as atonement for sin. No more would man struggle to satisfy the demands of the law in order to impress God. When Jesus hung on that cross He satisfied the demands of the law. When Jesus shed His blood it was sufficient to cover every sin ever committed. There is no sin so awful the blood of Christ is not sufficient to cover it. The writer of Hebrews declares: “But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things to come, He entered through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation; and not through the blood of goats and calves, but through His own blood, He entered the holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption.” (Hebrews 9:11-12)
When Jesus hung His head to breathe His last, He cried out: “Tetelestai”. It is finished! Paid in FULL! It was a cry of triumph in the face of agonizing tragedy. The moment that word was uttered, the veil of the temple was rent in two; from top to bottom it was torn in two; because once was enough, no other sacrifice would ever be necessary. That is the sufficiency of His suffering.
Not only was His suffering sufficient:
B. His suffering was substitutionary.
“the just for the unjust”
Jesus did what He did for you and for me. The prophet Isaiah wrote: “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.” (Isaiah 53:6) Paul declared: “For he hath made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.” (2 Corinthians 5:21) Do you hear the inclusiveness of those proclamations? There is no one who can say He did not die for me. He did not suffer for my sin. Every evil thought that has ever entered the mind of man, every evil deed that has ever been done by the hand of man, every evil word that has ever fallen from the lips of man, Jesus bore on His shoulders. He died for us and we died in Him. For all, that includes every one of us, have sinned and come short of the glory of God, but Jesus died to pay the penalty for our sins; the “just for the unjust.”. There is no one so good he need not salvation, and there is no one so bad he is beyond salvation. What Jesus did, He did for you and for me; “the just for the unjust”.
The power of His sufficient, substitutionary suffering grants us right standing with God.
C. His suffering reconciles us to God.
“in order that He might bring us to God”
The Greek word Peter uses for “bring” (prosago) means: to gain an audience at court, to make an introduction. In His suffering, in His vicarious death, Jesus did not simply open the door and give us access to God. He opens the door and ushers us in to the presence of God. When, as a fifteen year old boy, I repented of my sin, accepted the sacrificial death of Jesus on my behalf, and asked Him to make me part of His forever family, at that moment, Jesus took me by the hand and brought me into the presence of God. He said; God this is Wayne. He was once separated from you. But I have paid the penalty for his sin. I died in his place. I have met the demands of the law, and I want you to know he is now part of our family. We have adopted him and he now has all the rights and privileges of sonship. Wow! No wonder the author of Hebrews declares: “Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.” (Hebrews 4:16)
In His suffering that is what Jesus has accomplished for us. Out of His pain, came our salvation. We will never be called upon to suffer for the sake of Christ, to the degree that Christ has already suffered for us, and we should count it a privilege to suffer for the One who suffered for us. Peter exhorts us: “but to the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing;” (1 Peter 4:13a) Be encouraged by what Christ has accomplished through His suffering.
BE ENCOURAGED BY THE PROCLAMATION OF HIS CONQUEST! (vv. 18b-21)
We come to, what many scholars believe to be, the most difficult passage in all of God’s Word. The church father, Martin Luther said: “This is a strange text and certainly a more obscure passage than any other passage in the New Testament. I still do not know for sure what the apostle means.” Peter tells us Jesus died in the flesh but was made alive in the spirit. The phrases ‘having been put to death in the flesh’ and ‘made alive in the spirit’ appear to stand in contrast to one another. Some interpreters suggest the phrase ‘made alive in the spirit’ is a reference to the resurrection; but on the dawn of the third day it was not simply the spirit of Jesus that was raised from the dead, but the flesh as well. In verse eighteen, Peter makes reference to the death of Jesus. In verse twenty-one, Peter makes reference to the resurrection of Jesus. In verse twenty-two, Peter makes reference to the ascension of Jesus. It is my supposition that wherever Jesus went in the spirit, He made the journey between His death and His resurrection. Some intelligent, godly scholars share differing opinions, so I am not willing to die for my supposition, but I do believe it is the conviction that best fits the time line of the text.
I might interject at this point, we must be careful that we do not become so obsessed with the complexities of this difficult passage that we lose sight of the context of this passage. Peter is encouraging saints in the face of suffering. Whatever one’s view of this passage, it must be understood within the goal of encouraging the saints.
This text confronts us with two complex questions. What did Jesus preach? To whom did He preach? These two questions cannot be separated. The answer to one question provides insight into the other.
During this span of separation:
A. Christ made a proclamation of conquest.
“in which also He went and made proclamation”
What did Jesus proclaim? Did He proclaim the gospel? The word Peter uses for ‘proclamation’ is the Greek word ‘kerusso’. The word means: to announce, to proclaim. The word is used elsewhere in the New Testament to refer to the preaching of the gospel; however, when Peter discusses the proclamation of the gospel in his epistles, he always uses the word ‘euangelizo’, the most common word for the gospel. If we follow the author’s linguistic pattern, it would seem if Peter meant the proclamation of the gospel, he would not have used the word ‘kerusso’ but the word ‘euangelizo’. If we are to maintain consistency within the epistle, we must acknowledge Peter had a different proclamation in mind.
When a Roman general had won a victory, he would have a runner go ahead of him and that runner would proclaim (kerusso) that the victory had been won. That is what Jesus is doing. He is making a declaration that Satan’s time of greatest victory proved be Satan’s time of greatest defeat, and what appeared to be Jesus’ time of greatest defeat proved to be Jesus’ time of greatest victory.
Remember, Peter is writing to the persecuted. He is writing to saints who are suffering. These are men and women who have been victimized by Satan. What an encouragement to know what appears to be Satan’s greatest time of victory in their lives is in reality Satan’s time of greatest defeat, and what appears to be these suffering saints time of greatest defeat is in reality their greatest time of victory. Jesus is saying: You need not fear Satan or his dominion because you are victorious in me. Christ made a proclamation of conquest.
B. Christ made a proclamation of conquest to those who sought to sabotage His redemptive plan.
“to the spirits now in prison”
If Jesus proclaimed victory, to whom did He make His proclamation? Again, scholars are widely scattered in their identification of these spirits. Are they Old Testament saints? Are the people who were alive in Noah’s day, men who ignored the proclamation of Noah during that 120 year period of divine patience? Are they fallen angels who sought to sabotage God’s redemptive plan? In his second epistle, Peter refers to a group of angels, whose deeds were so wicked, God has confined them to ‘tartarus’: a specially designated place within the abyss. They do not roam the earth with Satan, who appears as a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. They are bound for their abominations. Jude makes reference to these fallen angels who did not keep their own domain, but abandoned their proper abode.
Could these fallen angels be angelic beings who, during the time of Noah, cohabitated with women creating a monstrous and abominable race? Genesis tells us: “The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came into the daughters of men, and they bore children to them.” (Genesis 6:4) Whether these fallen angels entered men (we still believe in demon possession don’t we?) and had relations with women, creating a wicked, perverse, demon possessed offspring, we cannot say with clarity. But we do know these fallen angels were deeply involved in propagating the wickedness of Noah’s day, and God dealt with them swiftly and severely. They sought to sabotage God’s redemptive plan. But through Jesus Christ, God’s redemptive plan is indeed fulfilled.
The apostle Paul may give us insight into the proclamation made to these imprisoned spirits when he writes: “having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of the decrees against us and which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. When He had disarmed the rulers and authorities, He made a public display of them through Him.” (Colossians 2:14-15) Paul paints a word picture common to his readers. When a Roman general won a mighty military campaign, a triumphal procession made its way through the streets. The conquering general would lead the procession, followed by his army singing songs of celebration. Bringing up the rear would be the defeated kings and warriors in bondage subjected to public ridicule and being paraded through the streets in disgrace for everyone to see.
On the cross, Jesus waged war against Satan and his slimy hoard. On the cross a mighty victory was won. Then, He led the parade through the streets of the abyss proclaiming that victory to the demonic hoards who sought to sabotage it. Jesus Christ has won the victory, and there is no place, not in heaven above nor in hell beneath, where his victory has not been proclaimed.
Then, as if to provide evidence of His proclamation, Peter provides two portraits of divine conquest.
C. Christ gives evidence of His conquest. (vv. 20b-21)
Trying to follow the logic of Peter, he seems to be saying: I mentioned the fallen angels from Noah’s day; that reminds of the ark. The ark reminds me of the water, and the water reminds me of baptism. The ark and baptism are two visual images of redemptive victory.
1. Christ conquest is evident in the ark.
The ark is evidence of the grace and mercy of God. As God scanned the earth He had created and the people He had made in His image, He was broken by the wickedness and waywardness in the world. His grief was so great, and His sadness so severe, God determined to destroy the world he had created and start from scratch. But in the eighth verse of the sixth chapter of Genesis we find an incredible announcement: “But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.” Grace. Noah’s salvation was not based on Noah’s goodness but God’s grace. Grace is God’s unmerited favor.
How would God carry out His benevolent act of grace? Genesis 6:14 records the instructions of the Lord: “Make yourself an ark of gopher wood; you shall make the ark with rooms, and shall cover it inside and out with pitch.” Cover it inside and out with what? Pitch: a sticky, gooey tar. God said, not only do I want you to make the ark out of Cyprus, a durable, indestructible wood, I want you to cover it inside and out with pitch. That pitch was to caulk the seams of the ship so it would not spring a leak. The significance of God’s instruction is wrapped up in the word ‘pitch’. It is the Hebrew word ‘kaphar’ and is translated over seventy times in other parts of the Old Testament as ‘atonement’. In fact, Genesis 6:14 is the only place in the Old Testament where the word ‘kaphar’ is not translated ‘atonement’. Leviticus 17:11: “For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you on the altar to make atonement (kaphar) for your souls; for it is the blood by reason of the life that makes atonement (kaphar).” Literally, God was telling Noah to put atonement on the outside and on the inside. What was that atonement for? To keep the waters of God’s judgment out. The water became an image of judgment, but the ark became an image of grace.
What God did for Noah with the ark, he has done for every one of us in Christ. We are inside the ark of God’s grace, which is covered inside and out with the shed blood of the Lord Jesus. His atoning blood is the pitch which protects us from the day of judgment.
This image of salvation naturally led Peter to the image of baptism.
2. Christ conquest is evident in baptism.
Baptism does not save us, but baptism is visible evidence of the conquest of Jesus Christ. The act of baptism itself does not save anyone. Peter says “it is not the removal of the dirt from the flesh” that saves us. You could be baptized so many times you become a permanent prune, but that would not save you. You could spend so much time in that water the tadpoles knew you by name, but that would not mean your name has been written in the Lamb’s Book of Life. It is not the act of baptism that saves us.
It is what baptism symbolizes that saves us; namely, the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ on our behalf, and our identification with Him. We are buried with Him in baptism. He is our ark, and His blood is the atonement protecting us from the waters of judgment. Every time someone steps into a baptistery, a pool, or a river to identify with Jesus Christ, they give evidence of His incredible conquest on the cross. To those of us experiencing pain and sorrow, there is incredible comfort in knowing we are His, He is ours, and nothing shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
What a proclamation of conquest! But His conquest did not end with this proclamation. This proclamation is a glorious declaration that there are better things to come.
III. BE ENCOURAGED BY THE CONSUMMATION OF HIS CONQUEST! (V. 22)
After His death, burial, and resurrection, after His glorious conquest over sin and shame through the shedding of His blood, Jesus ascended to His rightful place at the right hand of the Father.
A. Christ has returned to His rightful place at the right hand of the Father.
The right hand is a seat of honor. In Acts 5: 31 Peter, when challenged not to preach Christ, declared of Him: “He is the one whom God exalted to His right hand as a Prince and a Savior, to grant repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins.”
The right hand is a seat of honor. In his letter to the Romans, Paul declares: “Who will bring a charge against God’s elect? God is the one who justifies; who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us.” (Romans 8:33-34)
The right hand is a seat of power. “but having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, sat down at the right hand of God, waiting from that time onward until his enemies be made a footstool for his feet.” (Hebrews 10:12-13)
Most of us would agree Jesus has earned His position at the right hand of the Father. He is worthy of glory, and honor, and power, and praise for what He has accomplished for sinful man. But what does that mean to those of us suffering for our faith?
B. His conquest secures our conquest.
Peter says, “And after you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.” (1 Peter 5:10)
Throughout this entire epistle Peter contrasts the sufferings of this present life with the glories to be revealed. He is making a distinction between the rain of the here and the rainbow of the hereafter. Because of what Christ has done for us we have an inheritance secured for us. This inheritance is protected in heaven by the power of God. One day the eastern sky will split wide open, and the One who secured our inheritance on the cross, the One who protects our inheritance in glory, will return in power and majesty to carry us with Him to claim the inheritance He has secured for us. That is good news! That is great news! That is glorious news! The trials of this life are temporal, but our inheritance is eternal. It is an inheritance made available to us through the conquest of His suffering.
I do not know what you are going through this morning. I do not know the storm crashing against the shore of your soul. But I do know you can trace the rainbow through the rain by putting your faith, hope, and trust in Jesus who suffered for you. On the cross He won a mighty victory: victory over your sin and your shame. His victory can be your victory if you will reach out in faith and claim for your own.
Will you trace the rainbow of God’s glorious grace through the rain of your personal storm? The storm is temporal. God’s grace is eternal. We can find hope in the midst of suffering by focusing on the glorious conquest of Him who suffered for us.
“For you have been called for this purpose, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in His steps.” (1Peter 2:21)
