RIGHTEOUS FOR THE UNRIGHTEOUS
1 Peter 3:18-22
INTRODUCTION
Simon Peter walked through the streets of Jerusalem with purpose. He had a place to get to and not a lot of time to get there. It had been his suggestion that the believers meet in the temple courts daily to pray, listen to reflections about Jesus, and to reach out to the poor. It had been his suggestion and he had already been late once. He laughed. Jesus had never been late and had never wasted one moment while He was with them.
Simon Peter rounded a corner and could see the temple gates ahead of him. His paced slowed a little as his goal was in sight. He was sure the others had already gathered. Peter started up the steps of the outer courts and suddenly a young man of about twenty stepped in his path.
“Forgive me,” Peter said, “I am lost in my thoughts.”
“I would like to speak with you,” the young man said. “I have some questions about Jesus of Nazareth. Do you have time to speak with me?”
Clearly the young man had been waiting for him and stepped in his path on purpose. Peter looked past the young man into the temple courts. They would all be waiting. He looked back at the young man and realized that Almighty God had already set his appointment for the day and it was the young man standing in front of him.
“I do. Let us sit.”
Simon Peter and the young man made their way to a seating area and the young man started to describe himself to Peter. He shared how he had heard the story about Jesus of Nazareth and His death. He had heard about His followers and the Way that was growing up around His teachings. “I even stopped by last week and listened to the teachings you all shared in the temple court. I think the man said his name was Andrew and he explained all about Jesus of Nazareth. I still have some questions.”
“Well,” Simon Peter responded, “I walked and talked with Jesus and so there is no better person to help answer your questions. I will prayerfully answer your questions as God gives me wisdom and discernment.”
“I have three questions based on what I heard. My first question is, ‘Why did Jesus die?’ My second question is ‘What did Jesus do while He was dead?’ My third question is ‘What did Jesus do now that He is alive?’”
Peter’s eyes grew large. All three of those were great questions. Peter looked with compassion on this young man. He wanted to answer with gentleness and respect. “Those are most excellent questions. The fact that you are asking them tells me that God is drawing your heart to Jesus. Well, let’s take each question in turn and I will answer as best I can. Those are great questions and I can imagine writing the answers down for others who have the same questions in the future.”
I. WHY DID JESUS DIE? (VERSE 18a)
READ 1 PETER 3:18a
For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God.
Let me explain a little deeper what I mean by that.
The answer as to why Jesus died comes from one of the most basic laws of existence. Sin, or wrong doing, has to be paid for. It has always been that way and not a lot of people realize that. You remember in the Garden of Eden after Adam and Eve sinned? An animal was killed to provide skins for them to wear to cover the shame they felt. Sin means something dies to pay for it and again… it has been that way from the beginning. God Almighty is gracious and merciful and allowed a substitute death to cover sins.
Later on in the Scriptures we see God the Father set up a system of sacrifices which allowed His chosen people to roll back the guilt of their sin. Those sacrifices were allowed to be a bandage on sin. The blood of bulls and goats and other animals really does not pay for wrongdoing because the ones who are guilty are us! You are guilty. I am guilty. The people of Israel were an example on the earth of human beings separated from God, but working towards restoration with God. Our whole society was set up that we might understand Jesus of Nazareth when He arrived.
Now I hope you are not offended that I am saying you are a sinner… that you do wrong. If you and I are honest with ourselves, we understand that we all have sinned and fall short of being perfect and short of the standard God has for us. A sin is lying. A sin is anger growing into bitterness. A sin is envy. A sin is anything our conscience tells us is wrong. That sin has to be made up somehow in us and between us and God. I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to pay for my sin! The price is my soul! I am glad in God Almighty’s gracious nature He allows for substitutionary death to pay for sins.
Now, in answering your question, we have to make sure that we understand that the end result for anyone who comes to Jesus Christ is that their relationship with God the Father is restored. Apart from God our lives are meaningless, full of depression, lack direction, full of guilt, and often without aid when we are in trouble. Sin breaks that relationship completely between us and God. Jesus Christ restores it completely. A great way of thinking about this is how Isaiah puts it in the Old Testament when says our sins are red like scarlet and are made white as snow. Jesus Christ restores the balance between us and God completely.
Oh, I just remembered something Jesus said to me once. He said about Himself, “Now is the time for judgment on this world; now the prince of this world will be driven out. 32 But I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself” (John 12:31-32). See, Jesus was all about drawing us to Him to pay for our sins!
II. WHAT DID JESUS DO WHILE HE WAS DEAD? (VERSES 18b-21a)
READ 1 PETER 3:18b-21a
He was put to death in the body but made alive by the Spirit, 19 through whom also he went and preached to the spirits in prison 20 who disobeyed long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built. In it only a few people, eight in all, were saved through water, 21 and this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also-- not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a good conscience toward God.
Let me explain a little deeper what I mean by that.
We must understand that Jesus of Nazareth was both 100% God and 100% human which makes His death on the cross possible for us. His nature allowed Him to take on our sin even though He Himself had never sinned. Now, that same nature also meant that He could physically be killed. When Jesus died on the cross, He actually died. When Jesus Christ breathed His last on that cruel cross, His physical body stopped working because of loss of blood and trauma.
What happened to Him? You and I believe that inside each person is a soul. Jesus of Nazareth indeed has a soul and that soul went where all souls go when they die. The unique thing about Jesus was and is His nature. His nature means that He went to where all souls go, but He also retained His divine nature. Jesus of Nazareth arrived in that place with a mission. Jesus of Nazareth, in what was three days to us, preached and taught all the people who had ever lived before. God extended His grace to those who had died who had never heard about Jesus or His message. To be honest, I do not have a clear picture of it all. It is like understanding a small etching of a very large canvass. The basic truth is that while Jesus was dead, He was still about His Father’s business sharing the Gospel message. I do not understand all the answers to this question because they are far above our human ability to understand.
Earlier I spoke about Noah. We cannot forget that through the flood of the whole earth, humanity as a race was saved. God Almighty could have wiped out the whole of the Earth and started over by creating new people, but chose to save Noah and his family. Water saved us. I cannot help but see Truth in that and in what Jesus of Nazareth taught me. Entrance into the Kingdom of God means we are born again to God as His sons and daughters. Baptism is essential in this process. Jesus of Nazareth once matter-of-factly told Nicodemus, "I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. 6 Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. 7 You should not be surprised at my saying, 'You must be born again” (John 3:5-7).
Baptism is not a physical washing. Though it is true that in being baptized all the way under the water your whole body will be immersed, the purpose is not a physical washing. The purpose of baptism is that your soul is immersed with Jesus Christ in His death, burial, and resurrection and comes out of the water cleansed of sin. When someone is baptized into Christ, Jesus pays for their sins and the Holy Spirit is given as a Constant Companion.
“Does that makes sense so far,” Peter asked the young man.
“Most of it,” the young man nodded. “You are right, I do not fully understand what Jesus did while He was dead, but I find it interesting that you believe He died physically. Do all Christians believe Jesus died physically on the cross?”
“Indeed my friend,” Peter responded with kindness and continued with a small warning, “You may hear many things about Jesus Christ. If any of them deny that He was fully God or that He died physically on the cross, these are not teachers of the Truth. Now, let’s get to your final question.”
The young man nodded.
III. WHAT IS JESUS DOING NOW THAT HE IS ALIVE? (VERSES 21b-22)
READ 1 PETER 21b-22
It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ, 22 who has gone into heaven and is at God's right hand-- with angels, authorities and powers in submission to him.
It is indeed basic Christian belief that Jesus of Nazareth physically died on the cross. He died and was laid in a tomb. Jesus died on Friday, was in the tomb all day Saturday, and arose from the grave on Sunday. I want you to know that I physically saw Jesus of Nazareth with my own eyes and I touched His hands and his feet. I saw the holes where the nails were. I felt them. Jesus was alive. He walked and talked. He even ate food with us on more than one occasion.
Jesus Christ rising from the dead completed His victory over Satan. By Jesus rising from the dead, it proves once for all that He is truly God Incarnate. His resurrection proves that He conquered the penalty for sin and came out on the other side of it. His resurrection proves that death has no hold on Him and He can offer us eternal life. Only eternal life is found in Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is the only source of eternal life and He offers that life to us when we believe in Him.
Jesus spent time with those of us who followed Him and He gave us a job to do. He said to us, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age” (Matthew 28:18-20). Then Jesus of Nazareth went back into Heaven. I have never seen anything like it before and I probably never will again. He went back to the Father in Heaven and sent the Holy Spirit to be with us.
He is in Heaven for two reasons that He told us. First, He is preparing Eternity for us. I am not sure what that entails, but Jesus said He was preparing a place for us and we believe that. He once said to us and I remember it so clearly, “In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am” (John 14:2-3). Second, Jesus went to Heaven that the rest of humanity might have an opportunity to learn about Him and confess Him as Savior. That is why He told us to go into all the nations. We are to share His message with everyone we come in contact with. Each person created by Almighty God has a soul that can choose to follow Jesus or choose to reject Jesus. There is no middle ground and it is my job and those who believe like me to share the message about what Jesus said and did. I happen to believe that Jesus Christ will return at the proper time for all who believe in Him and we will be with Him in Heaven.
“Does that makes sense?” Peter asked.
The young man nodded his head affirmatively.
Peter continued, “I hope I am not using words that confuse you or are using Christian words that only a Christian understands. As a believer in Jesus, I have tried to understand my faith well enough to explain it simply to others that they might believe.”
“I guess I have just one other question,” the young man said. “How do I become a believer in Jesus Christ.”
Joy filled Peter’s eyes. Excitement filled his heart. God had indeed made this appointment for him this day and a precious heart would come to know the saving grace of Jesus Christ this day. Simon Peter explained:
FAITH: You must place your trust, commitment, and deep trust in Jesus Christ. You must truly believe all that I said to you today. You must believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God.
REPENTANCE: You must recognize you have been separated and alienated from God. You must admit that you have sinned against the Lord and against other people. You need to realize that only in Jesus can you be forgiven.
BAPTISM: You must offer ourselves freely for baptism by immersion. This represents our old self dying and our resurrection into the new life in Christ. This is when we are born of the water and the Spirit.
FORGIVENESS: When you are baptized, you receive the forgiveness of sin from God.
HOLY SPIRIT: When you are baptized, you receive the gift of the Holy Spirit from God.
The young man looked around and saw a large bath used for ceremonial washing. He stood up and pointed, “There is water, why should I not be baptized?!”
Simon Peter stood with him. “There is no reason my friend. Do you believe that Jesus is the Christ the Son of the Living God and do you fully accept Him as your Lord and as your Savior.”
“I do.”
“Then let us go and baptize you into your new life with Christ!”
CONCLUDE IN PRAYER
CONCLUSION/INVITATION
