A Study of the Book of 1st Peter
Finding Hope In Our Lives
Sermon # 10
“What Jesus Did For You”
1 Peter 3:18-22
Most of the Bible is easy to understand. But as you preach through the Bible you will at times come upon those “problem verses,” those verses that are not so easy to under-stand. We do not have to solve all the problems found in this passage but we do want to get the practical help that Peter gave to encourage Christians in difficult days.
You will remember that Peter is writing to the suffering church and how in verse seventeen he turned his attention to the challenge of suffering for doing good. But first he commented on suffering on the account of our sin. This is the kind of suffering that comes in to our lives simply because we have missed the mark with our lives. This kind of suffering is simply the logical consequence of sin. It is an example of the principle of cause and effect, a biblical example of the law of reaping what we have sown (Gal 6:7-8). Unfortunately we have experienced that kind of suffering in our lives! The solution to that kind of suffering is simple, repent and receive forgiveness. Suffering for doing good seems to be a much greater challenge in most of our lives than suffering for evil.
Many Christians in the modern day United States do not realize that suffering simply for being a believer is the norm for Christians in many if not most of the rest of the world! There are still people around the world who die for their faith even in our modern age.
In verse eighteen Peter takes the reader back to remind them of “What Jesus did for you!”
“For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but made alive by the Spirit, (19) By whom also He went and preached to the spirits in prison, (20) who formerly were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the Ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight souls were saved through water. (21) There is also an antitype which now saves us, namely baptism (not the removal of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God) through the resurrection of Jesus Christ: (22) Who has gone into heaven, and is at the right hand of God; angels and authorities and powers being made subject to Him.”
Although the passage before us today contains one of the most difficult passages in the New Testament, it begins with something that anyone can understand. Verse eighteen says, “For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but made alive by the Spirit.”
Peter tells three things that Christ did for each of us.
First, Jesus Died for Your Sins (3:18)
About his death we are told:
•His death was unique (once for all time)
“For Christ also suffered once for sins…”
Peter lays out that the work of Christ was unique and need never be repeated. The Temple sacrifices had to be repeated on a daily basis. But Christ made the perfect sacrifice, one and for all time when he offered himself as the sacrifice for sin (Heb 7:27).
•His death was sacrificial
Peter says, He died “for sins” but He did not die for his own sins for He had none, He died for our sins.
•His death was substitutionary
His death was “the just for the unjust.”
He took our place, he borne our shame. He paid the price for all our sin. Let me illustrate this way “Let’s suppose that you have cancer, and your cancer is so far progressed that the doctors have told you there is no hope. All methods of treatment have been exhausted. There is nothing else they can do. Without a miracle, you will die. So I come to you and say, “I’d like to help you out. I want to take every single one of your cancer cells out of your body and put them in my body.” You look at me with a mixture of puzzlement and incredible joy. The very thing that is killing you is about to be removed from your body. After you say that to the person, you then ask this question, “If that were possible, what would happen to me and what would happen to you?” The answer is, “I would die and you would live.” Why? Because I took the thing that was causing your death and placed it on myself, and I died as your substitute.” [Ray Pritchard. “The Triumphant Christ.” Strangers in a Strange Land--I Peter - www.keepbelieving.com/sermon/2005-03-13-The-Triumphant-Christ/]
•His death was a reconciling death. “…that He might bring us to God…”
The verb that is translated “bring” (prosago) conveys several word pictures. It is the picture of the presentation of a sacrifice. It is also the picture of High Priest entering into the Holy of Holies in the Temple. It is also the word used to convey bringing an individual into the presence of a King. You don’t just stroll into the presence of a great king and say, “Hi, How’s it going?” You had to have someone to introduce you properly. Jesus
Secondly, Jesus Declared His Victory Over the Cross! (3:19-20)
This passage has given rise to many varying interpretations. In fact verse nineteen is held by many to be among the most controversial passages in the entire New Testament. Roman Catholics sought to find in these verses some biblical support for the doctrine of purgatory. One evangelical commentator noted that there are nine Greek words in verse nineteen and scholars disagree about the meaning of all of them. After studying this passage again this week, I came away impressed and overwhelmed by almost unlimited variety of interpretations. I am probably not going to settle centuries of debate, by individuals much more learned than I.
But when dealing with problem text we need to follow a couple of simple rules.
(1)Problem verses (or any other single passage) should not be the basis for a new or otherwise unsupported doctrine.
(2)Never focus on the mysterious to the neglect of the main teachings of a text. I will know that I have done well if after this message you say, “What was so difficult about that!” and I will know I have failed if you leave saying, “What in the world was he talking about!”
The difficulty is understanding what Peter means in verse nineteen which states, “By whom also He went and preached to the spirits in prison.” According to Peter sometime between His death and His resurrection Jesus made a special proclamation (kerusso) to the spirits in prison. The three questions that arise from this passage are, Where did Christ go? To whom did Christ go? and What does Christ proclaim to them?
•Where did Christ go?
First, we must correct a misconception. This passage has found its way into the church through the Apostle’s Creed in the phrase, “He descended into Hell.” But this phrase is misleading. Nowhere in Scripture does is it say that Jesus visited Hell, that is gehenna. Acts 2:31 states, that Jesus visited “Hades” but “Hades” is not Hell! The word “Hades” refers to the realm of the dead, a temporary place where they await the final judgment. Hell is the permanent and final place of judgment for the lost. Hades was and is temporary place. Prior to Christ’s resurrection it was the two chambered place, Paradise and Hades, where the souls of mankind went. But the residents of Paradise were delivered by Christ when he rose from the dead. Ephesians 4:8-9, “Therefore He says: ‘When He ascended on high, He led captivity captive, And gave gifts to men.’ (9)(Now this, “He ascended”—what does it mean but that He also first descended into the lower parts of the earth?” The death of Christ on the Cross and His resurrection for the dead, changed everything in the universe. Today when a Christian dies he goes to neither place, but to heaven to be with the Lord (Phil. 1-20-24).
•To whom did Christ go?
The second question is “To whom did Christ go” when preached to the “spirits in prison”? There are various alternatives offered such as:
1.Christ preached to the spirits of dead people.
The word translated spirits is usually reserved to describe angels and Peter usually uses the word “souls” to refer to humans.
2. Christ preached through Noah to the those imprisoned in disobedience before the flood.
This is advanced primarily because Noah is used as an example in this passage.
3. The spirits Christ preached to are evil fallen angels of Genesis 6:1-8. Some Bible scholars believe that the “sons of God” named in Gen 6were fallen angels. These angels were so tempted by the beauty of mortal women, that they came to earth, seduced them and fathered a race of giants called the Nehpilim. Because of this action human wickedness grew greater and greater until every thought of the human imagination was continually evil. 2 Peter 2:4, 5 speaks of these sinning angels as being imprisoned in hell awaiting judgment. Jude 6-7 says, “And the angels who did not keep their proper domain, but left their own abode, He has reserved in everlasting chains under dark-ness for the judgment of the great day; (7) as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities around them in a similar manner to these, having given themselves over to sexual immorality and gone after strange flesh, are set forth as an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.” Both passages speak of a drastic judgment upon certain angels who not only sinned but abandoned their proper abode. For this hideous sin, the angels were sent to the pit of deep darkness and the world of Noah’s days was wiped out in the great flood. To say that Jesus preached to these demonic spirits does not mean that he offered salvation to them, but rather that he proclaimed his victory over them.
• What does Christ proclaim to them?
Some argue that Christ preached the message of salvation, to those already dead, thus in effect giving them a second chance to be saved. This is the one thing that we can know that he did not do! The Bible is very clear in that this life is the one and only time we will have a chance to make a decision to follow Jesus Christ. Hebrews 9:27 states, “And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment.” Luke similarly records Abraham’s words to the rich man about his fate in hell as “And besides all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed, so that those who want to pass from here to you cannot, nor can those from there pass to us.” (Luke 16:26)
It is much more likely that what Christ did was proclaim, literally announce, his victory through the Cross and confirm the defeat of Satan and powers of evil. It is much like the judge when he announces to the convicted man his sentence.
Third, Jesus Delivers Us From Judgment 3:20-21)
“who formerly were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the Ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight souls were saved through water.”
For 120 years while Noah built the Ark, he preached and warned his contemporaries of the coming judgment. Everyone except his immediate family (just eight people, Noah and his wife, and Shem, Ham and Japheth and their wives) got into the Ark. While he worked on the Ark Noah faithfully warned his generation of the coming judgment and the people just laughed and said, “It will never happen!”
It is interesting to consider that Noah’s work on the Ark was a demonstration of his willingness to spend this life in preparation for the next! I wonder what the lives we live demonstrate to our friends and family about what we believe about eternity!
In verse twenty-one we read, “There is also an antitype which now saves us, namely baptism (not the removal of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God) through the resurrection of Jesus Christ.”
People have used this verse to defend the doctrine that people are saved by being baptized in water. But that is horribly out of context. Peter does not say that baptism saves us or that the water washes away sins, in fact, he goes out of his way to make clear that baptism cannot put away the filth of the flesh! Even in the example he uses, Noah was not saved by the water, he was saved because he had enough faith to be in the Ark. We are not saved by the water any more than Noah was saved by the water. Noah and his family were saved by faith, because they had faith enough to be in the Ark.
Peter explains that baptism does not have any saving ability or cleansing effect on the flesh, but that it is “the answer” or literally a pledge of a good conscience.
Yet let me state emphatically that to experience salvation to its fullest I believe you must be immersed under water as a demonstration of your faith. Now before you believe I have gone over to the Church of Christ hear me out. I did not say you have to be baptized to be saved. But if you have claimed to have placed your faith in Jesus Christ but you have refused to undergo Believer’s baptism you have an obedience problem and you will never be able to experience the fullness God has for you as long as you are in disobedience in that area. Are you waiting for a more convenient time? Obedience is never convenient.
Conclusion
So what does it mean for us????
Because Christ fully experienced death we need not fear death.
Because completely paid the penalty for sin the work of salvation is complete.
Because Christ completely defeated Satan He is a defeated enemy.
“What Jesus Did For You”
1 Peter 3:18-22
First, Jesus Died For Our _______! (3:18)
•His death was _______ (once for all time)
•His death was ____________
•His death was _____________________
•His death was a ____________ death.
That’ s what Christ did for us!
Secondly, Jesus Declared His _________ Over the Cross (3:19)
The three questions that need to be answered are:
1.Where did Christ go?
2.To Whom did Christ go?
The spirits are evil fallen ________.
3. What does Christ proclaim to them?
Did He preach the message of salvation, to those already dead, thus in effect giving them a second chance to be saved.
Third, Jesus Delivers Us From ____________ (3:20-21)
So what does it mean for us????
Because Christ fully experienced _______ we need not fear death.
Because completely paid the penalty for sin the work of salvation is ____________.
Because Christ completely defeated Satan He is a defeated enemy.
