1 Peter 3:13 Who is going to harm you if you are eager to do good? 14 But even if you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed. "Do not fear what they fear; do not be frightened." 15 But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that is in you. But do this with gentleness and fear, 16 keeping a clear conscience, so that when your good behavior in Christ is being slandered, the ones mistreating you may be put to shame. 17 It is better, if it is God's will, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil. 18 For Christ also suffered for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive by the Spirit, 19 through whom also he also 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 also saves you also--not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a good conscience toward God. 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.
Introduction
Think of the last time you were mistreated by someone. Someone gossiped about you, or took something away from you, or treated you unfairly, or made fun of you, or hurt you in some way. Do you have it in your mind? How long ago was that? Raise your hand if you are thinking of something in the last couple of months.
Now think about how you responded to that unjust suffering and compare that with all that we have been learning in 1 Peter about the right way to respond. Peter has been teaching us to respond with meekness - with gentleness and humility. He has been teaching us to repay the person with blessing and kindness and love rather than retaliation. In order to have a clear conscience afterward, we need to respond graciously to abuse. How are you doing? If you are like me, you are not quite there yet. I just look at my typical response to being mistreated, and I still have to admit that even after all these months of instruction from Peter, my response to being treated poorly is still way too much like the world. And so I am glad Peter did not just give us the command and then move on to something else. He has been giving us reason after reason to help adjust our perspective, and he is going to continue that today. What we see in this closing section of chapter 3 is a ladder of reasons to respond the right way to suffering. And as we ascend up this ladder, each step is another more glorious and powerful motivation for meekness.
Trust in God's Will
17 It is better, if it is God's will, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil.
Isn't that kind of stating the obvious? Do we really need a verse in the Bible to tell us that? Does anyone read that and think, "Oh, all this time I thought God would rather me do evil and suffer rather than to do good"? Is Peter stating the obvious? Well, maybe it should be obvious, but judging from the way I tend to react when I am mistreated, it is not obvious enough to sink in to my thick skull. If I thought suffering for doing good was a good thing, why would I get so worked up when I am falsely accused or I suffer unjustly? Obvious or not, verse 17 is something we need to be reminded of because it goes against the grain of our natural sensibilities. When we do evil, and then we suffer consequences, most of the time we can understand that. We usually do not get too riled up over that because it makes sense to us. We can see that it is fitting that we should suffer if we have done something wrong. That feels appropriate. But when we suffer for doing what is right – that is when we get all upset and lose sleep and get tension headaches and act like the world is coming to an end.
So if you judge by our reactions, you could argue that we naturally think that suffering for doing evil is better. It certainly seems more appropriate. But Peter wants to reverse our thinking on that and show us that when we do what is right and it blows up in our face – that is a victory, not a defeat. It is a good thing. If that happens to you and then someone asks if you are having a good day you can say, "Yes, - a really good thing happened to me today; I suffered unjustly."
That is so counterintuitive that we need to be reminded of the truth of verse 17 constantly. Otherwise we will become like the priests in Malachi 3.
Malachi 3:14 It is futile to serve God. What do we gain by carrying out his requirements...?
When you do the right thing and it blows up in your face, the temptation is to conclude, "Well, doing the right thing sure didn't pay off." Especially when those who did the wrong thing are prospering and seem to have God's blessing. It is times like that that you really need verse 17. The writer of Psalm 73 sure could have used it.
Psalm 73:2 my feet had almost slipped; I had nearly lost my foothold. 3 For I envied the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. 4 They have no struggles ... 5 They are free from the burdens common to man ... 12 This is what the wicked are like-- always carefree, they increase in wealth. 13 Surely in vain have I kept my heart pure; in vain have I washed my hands in innocence. 14 All day long I have been plagued; I have been punished every morning.
He did not understand that suffering for doing good is better, so it seemed to him like doing good was a waste. Then in verse 15 he snaps out of it and realizes he was way out of line. But in the flesh this is the way we are tempted to think when we suffer for doing good. We think all our doing good was a waste because we have this mistaken idea that suffering or non-suffering is the indicator of whether things are going well or not. Suffering or non-suffering is not an indication of whether or not your life is going well. It is not an indication of whether you are having a good day or a bad day.
And we all nod our heads now, during the sermon, but it is so hard to make that truth stick in our hearts when we are out there in the world. So, how do we get this principle to sink in? It is one thing to say the words, "Yes, this unjust suffering is good for me," - but how do you get so you really feel it? How can we get to the point where we really believe this - so that it actually seems true to us - so much so that it actually causes joy in our lives?
Good Only Because It Is God's Will
The answer to that question is right there in the middle of verse 17. And this is the key that unlocked this whole passage for me this week. It is that little phrase if it is God's will.
17 It is better, if it is God's will, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil.
There is nothing inherently good about suffering. Scripture teaches us to avoid suffering when we can, and God offers us refuge and relief and protection from suffering. And when Jesus comes and makes all things right, suffering will be eliminated forever. So suffering in and of itself is not a good thing. Even suffering for righteousness, in and of itself, is not a good thing. The only time it ever becomes a good thing is when it is God's will. Now, if it is God's will then it turns into a very good thing. But if it is not God's will then suffering - even suffering for righteousness - is a terrible thing.
And most of the time that is the case. Most of the time it is not God's will. That is the implication of the grammar Peter uses. That phrase if it is God's will is in the optative mood, which is rare and speaks of something that is not the norm, but might possibly happen. The norm is that God blesses the righteous and punishes the wicked. Most of the time that is God's will. But on some occasions, God wills that we suffer for doing what is right.
Will of Decision Or Will of Desire?
Now, which aspect of God's will is Peter talking about here - God's will of desire or God's will of decision? Sometimes the phrase "will of God" refers to what God desires emotionally - what He likes or enjoys. I call that God's will of desire. Other times it refers to what God plans and carries out. I call that God's will of decision. God's will of desire is not always the same as His will of decision. His plan is not always the same as His pleasure. God is not willing that any should perish, right? And yet in the decision of His perfect, sovereign plan, people do perish. He takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but He does cause the death of the wicked. So His will of desire does not always happen. But His will of decision does always happen. Whatever God decides is going to happen is what happens. In Isaiah 53 it says it was the Father's will to punish His Son. Does that mean God enjoyed punishing Jesus on the cross? No, it means He decided to do it. It was His will of decision, not His will of desire.
So, which kind of willing is Peter talking about here?
17 It is better, if it is God's will, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil.
Is that God's will of desire or will of decision? We know it is not His will of desire, because God does not enjoy seeing us suffer.
Lamentations 3:33 For he does not willingly bring affliction or grief to the children of men.
So it is not His will of desire; it is His will of decision. It is better, if God decides to let it happen, for you to suffer for doing good.
So how do you know if that is the case? How do you know if it is God's will of decision for you to suffer for doing good? Here is how you can know: If you can avoid some suffering, without violating any principles in God's Word, then that suffering is not God's will. So avoid it – there is nothing good in it. But if the only way to avoid it is to violate God's Word, then you know that suffering is God's will (His perfect plan) for you.
Another way you can know if something was God's will of decision is if it already happened. Maybe it was avoidable, but you lacked the wisdom back then to avoid it - if it happened then you know it was for sure God's will of decision. So 100% of your past suffering for doing good was for sure God's will.
What Is So Great about God's Will?
One of the most important goals of the book of 1 Peter is to convince us of the preciousness and goodness and perfection of the will of God. God's foreknowledge, His perfect, sovereign plan, His purposes in redemptive history - all of that has to reign supreme in our affections for us to live the way Peter is calling us to live. So Peter keeps going back to that. He started right out in the opening greeting talking about how we have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God, and in 1:20 about God's foreknowledge and plan about Jesus. In 4:2 he points out that the difference between the way we live and the way the world lives is that we live for the will of God. The very first thing he tells us about our suffering in this book is that it is sent by God for the proving of our faith and is therefore necessary (1:6-7). In chapter 2, Peter talks about how God even predestined some people to stumble over the rock of offence, which is Christ. Peter appeals to the will of God in connection with our suffering in 2:15 and again in 2:21 and again here in 3:17 and again in 4:19. Peter is laboring to teach us to live in constant awareness of the grand design of God and suffering is only good if it contributes to that grand design. And that is the only thing about suffering that is good. But when our suffering does contribute to His glorious plan, then our suffering is as good as God's plan itself. You will have joy in suffering only when you see it as part of God's plan, and you really, really love that plan.
The Outcome of Jesus' Suffering: Redemption
So the biggest favor Peter could do for us is to show us something that would convince our souls of the unfathomable goodness of God's will. And that is exactly what he is going to do in verse 18. In verse 17 he just states that it is a good thing to suffer for what is right if it is God's will. Then in verse 18 we get a massive illustration of that.
18 For... (That means he's going to explain what he just said) ...Christ also suffered...
Your Bible might say Christ died rather than Christ suffered. Some ancient manuscripts have the word died and others have suffered. It is one of those rare times when it is hard to say for sure what was in the original. But either way we know both are true - Jesus suffered and died. The key is the word also. The point is that you are not the only one suffering - Jesus also suffered. If you are having trouble dealing with your suffering, or if you are tempted to respond to it in a sinful, ungodly way to mistreatment, Peter wants you to turn your attention once again to Jesus' suffering.
Peter sure does talk about Jesus' suffering a lot, doesn't he? He has really come a long way since Matthew 16.
Matthew 16:21 From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders... 22 Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. "Never, Lord!" he said. "This shall never happen to you!"
He had no understanding at all of the importance of Jesus' suffering and death at that time. But now Peter is the apostle whose book refers to Jesus' suffering probably more frequently than any other writer in the New Testament. Now that he understands the will of God, the sufferings of Christ are so precious to him he can hardly write a paragraph without bringing them up.
And he brings it up here to show us how wonderful and marvelous is God's will. What happens when you combine suffering with God's will? You get the redemption!
18 For Christ also suffered for sins, once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God.
Verse 18 is another one of those verses like 2:24 where Peter packs the entire Gospel message in a single verse. It is hard to imagine a more perfect summary of all that Jesus did on the cross than 1 Peter 3:18. And it serves here as yet another example of how God gives huge motivations for small commands. You want to gain a greater appreciation for the wisdom and goodness of God's will in suffering? Look at the outcome of Jesus' suffering - forgiveness of sins and eternal salvation for all who believe. That is the sort of thing God's sovereign plan brings about through righteous suffering.
Does that mean if I suffer for doing what is right it will bring about eternal salvation for all who believe? No - God already did that. Peter's point is not that God will keep doing that same thing over and over through everyone's suffering. The point is that this God can be trusted to will good things. He is reminding you that if the same God who masterminded Christ's suffering is masterminding your suffering, you can be assured that your suffering is a very good thing. It is not going to result in some lame, crummy benefit. If God is going to decide to let you suffer for doing good, you better believe it is for an exceedingly good reason. And someday when you get to heaven and you see that reason, I promise you are going to say, "Oh, I am so glad that suffering happened!!!" And you will be thanking Him profusely for not saying yes to your prayers for relief at the time.
Now, you might think, "I can see how Jesus' suffering had good results, but I can't imagine how my suffering could be a good thing. This thing that is happening to me now - it's so horrible, in my wildest imagination I can't think of any conceivable way this could be good. How could this be a good thing?" Peter doesn't say. And it is a good thing he does not say, because if he did then our hope would be in the wrong thing. All we need to have hope is to understand what sort of a God is willing this suffering. If the world's greatest architect is building a building, you do not need to see the final product to know that it is going to be marvelous. You do not even have to see the blueprint. All you have to know is how great the architect is. Peter wants to turn your attention to the skill and wisdom and love and power and goodness of the Architect of your suffering.
When we demand to know why, what we are saying is, "God, I can't just trust that You know what You're doing. You give me an explanation for You rational for this suffering, and then I'll be the judge of whether it's a good thing." What good would come of that? Isn't it better to just trust Him? Isn't His work through Jesus' suffering enough to convince us that He is trustworthy?
So one reason it is good when you follow in Jesus' footsteps and suffer for doing what is right is because of the Architect of that suffering. He did great things through Jesus' suffering, and He has not lost His touch. He will do great things through your suffering. So let verse 18 teach you to marvel at the will of God, so that when it is His will for you to suffer you can appreciate it for the occasion of rejoicing that it really is. The Architect of your suffering is the same Architect who designed eternal redemption through Jesus' suffering.
Rejoice in Christ's Work
Peter wants you to understand - if you suffer unjustly you are in the same category with Jesus Christ. Thinking about that will enable you to respond to mistreatment in a godly way, keeping a clear conscience. But that is not the only purpose of verse 18. It is not just an example of the good outcomes of suffering in God's will. Peter also wants you to understand your share in those outcomes. Notice how personal verse 18 is. When you have a statement like that - a general summary of the whole gospel, you might expect it would be stated in generic terms. Like, "Christ also suffered for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring sinners to God." But Peter makes it personal: Christ suffered for sins ... to bring you to God. When we undergo unjust suffering, it is helpful for us to understand that we are in the same category with our Lord and Master, who also suffered. But in addition to that, it is also crucial that we understand the benefits we enjoy from His suffering on our behalf.
The Prize: Nearness to God
And those benefits are summed up best in that little phrase at the end of the sentence: to bring you to God. The result of Jesus' suffering within the will of God was that you get to come near to God's presence. That is the prize. That word bring is an interesting word. It means to bring forward. The idea is not that you are going for a walk and bring someone along – it is the idea of calling someone forth. There is God the Father, in all His blinding glory and awesome, unapproachable holiness. And here is sinful, condemned humanity, about to be banished from His presence forever. But before that happens, the glorious Son of God stands from His throne at the Father's side, and selects you out of the crowd, and summons you to approach the Ancient of Days. And when you hesitate in fear, He tells you, "Fear not. Because of what I did for you, you can freely approach, and the Father will welcome you as His own dear child. Because of what I did, you can step forward and approach." And you answer, "Lord, what was it that You did, to make such an impossible thing possible?" And He responds, "Read 1 Peter 3:18 - it's all right there in the first half of the verse."
The Problem: Sin
18 For Christ also suffered once for all for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God.
There are three parts to that, and it starts with the problem - sin. Why did Jesus need to die?
Christ also suffered for sins
The problem standing in the way of us getting the prize - the reason this unjust suffering was necessary, was because of sins - especially our sins. Jesus died for all men so that He could genuinely offer forgiveness to all, but mainly His death was for those sins that would actually end up being forgiven - our sins. In order for us to be saved, Jesus had to die because of our sins.
Sin was a problem that was massive beyond anything we can even understand. One of the most damaging weaknesses we have is our inability to fathom the severity of the problem of sin. We are so used to it that we just do not think it is any big deal. We see sins that really hurt people and we can take those somewhat seriously, but sins that do nothing but offend the holiness of God? They just do not seem all that evil to us. And there is one reason for that - God's holiness does not seem like much of a big deal to us.
That is why people are outraged by the doctrine of eternal hell but not the cross. Hell strikes them as too severe. After all, all this poor sinner did was offend the holiness of God. It is not like he murdered someone or something. All he did was commit cosmic treason and dishonor a perfectly holy being who is infinitely worthy of honor.
If eternity in hell sounds like too severe a punishment, that reflects a low view of the worthiness of God. The severity of hell teaches us the magnitude of the holiness and worthiness of God because it shows how serious it is to sin against that holiness. And if you really want to get an idea of how evil and deserving of punishment we really were, eternal hell is not even the most instructive place to look. There is something even more astonishing than that. If you really want to know how massive our sin problem was, look at the price that was required to pay our debt - the life of the Son of God! Sometimes I wonder - when people are outraged at the doctrine of eternal hell, why aren't they even more outraged at the cross. Because if God requiring a sinner to suffer forever in hell is outrageous, it is far more outrageous for God to require the death of His infinitely pure, infinitely worthy Son to pay our debt. The cross is more extreme than hell. How valuable is the life of the Lord Jesus Christ? That was the price. How unimaginable must have been the mountain of our guilt before God to require such a price!
Those countless times we made the conscious decision to disobey God - those made us deserving of infinite punishment and infinitely unworthy to approach God's presence. That was the problem. The solution was for Jesus to die on the cross and pay the penalty we owed, and when Jesus did that, it was finished - forever.
The Sufficiency: Once for All
Christ also suffered for our sins once for all
This shows us the sufficiency of the cross. Unlike the sacrificial system in the Old Testament, where sacrifices had to be made over and over as people kept committing more sins, Jesus' sacrifice was once for all time. It never has to be repeated, updated, augmented, improved upon, or reenacted.
We live in the age of computers. And the world of computers is a world of short-lived solutions. Nothing lasts very long. I have an app on my phone that works like a flashlight. All it does is turn on the light for the camera flash. I click the button; it turns on the light – that is the program. Every two weeks that app has to be updated. They write a program to make it so you click a button and it turns on the light, and after two weeks, so many other things have changed that it won't continue to work properly unless I install an update. Jesus' death is not like that. It never requires an update or upgrade, there is not a 2.0 or 3.0, there was no beta version or alpha version – it is just eternal redemption 1.0, and it stands forever. It is sufficient for all sin that will ever be committed by anybody at any time in any context. No unforeseen things will take place to make it obsolete. No unexpected sin will arise that will overtax its resources. It will never be out of date, never lose its efficacy - it stands forever and is eternally sufficient.
This is one of the problems of the Catholic Mass. When they do communion they believe they are re-sacrificing the blood of Christ. But that sacrifice was a once-for-all event and is not repeated ever - in heaven or on earth.
The Substitution: Righteous for Unrighteous
As massive as our sin problem was, Jesus' sacrifice was greater, and more than enough to cover it. So we have seen the prize, the problem, the sufficiency, and one more - the substitution.
the righteous for the unrighteous
This again emphasizes Jesus' innocence. It was the ultimate in unfair, undeserved, unjust suffering - infinitely worse than any injustice you have ever suffered. And yet Jesus kept a clear conscience - even in the worst moments of the torture and mocking and all the rest, He never slipped into so much as muttering a retaliatory or sinful word under His breath. And that is why He could bear the wrath of God in our place. He could take our place only because He had no sin of His own to answer for.
So His suffering was substitutionary. It was not just an example; it was a substitution. You and I belonged on that cross. We are the ones who earned those thorns and the beating and scourging. But He took it all in our place so that we would not have to be punished at all. And instead of being punished we can now step forward and draw near to the presence of God with everlasting joy with Him in paradise.
The Participants
Those are the benefits that are available as a result of Jesus Christ suffering according to God's will. But who gets these benefits? Not everyone. Most people do not participate in the blessings that Jesus purchased with His blood on the cross. Most people will be punished for their own sin. Who does get to participate in them? Who gets to draw near to God and have all his or her sins forgiven forever?
Do you remember back in verse 16 when Peter told us to maintain a clear conscience when we are dealing with hostility from the world? He told us to keep a clear conscience (by obeying the commands of Christ) so that the mockers will be put to shame. Peter mentions conscience again in verse 21.
21 this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also--not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a clear conscience toward God. It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ
Who gets all these wonderful benefits of the cross? The baptized. "You mean all I have to do is get dunked in the water and all my sins are forgiven?" No, Peter is quick to clarify: not the removal of dirt from the body. He says, "I’m not talking about the physical act." So what are you talking about Peter?
21 ...not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a clear conscience toward God
That clear conscience he was talking about up in verse 16 - a life of obedience to Christ - salvation happens when we make that pledge of good conscience. When we come to the point where we say, "God, from this moment forward the greatest aim of my life is to obey the Lord Jesus Christ. Until the day I die, I pledge to pursue a clear conscience before Him. From now on my life is all about obeying Jesus Christ. There is no longer any area of my life that I am holding back from Him." That is the attitude of baptism. Baptism here refers to conversion. When you make this decision, and you become a Christian, you declare that publically by being baptized in water. And when you do that, if it is a valid baptism there will be two parts - the physical act of baptism and the internal attitude of baptism. And Peter wants us to understand that it is the attitude of baptism that saves. If you have the act without the attitude, you are not saved. You are just wet.
Elsewhere in Scripture that attitude is referred to as faith – trusting the Lord Jesus Christ so completely that you will follow Him no matter where He leads or what He commands. That is what it means to trust Him, and that is how a person comes to inherit all the benefits of what Jesus did on the cross. The participants in Jesus' work on the cross are only those who have the attitude of baptism - the pledge of good conscience toward God.
The Power
Does that mean you are earning your way to salvation? No. Your pledge of obedience does not save you. There is no power in a pledge. We should know that by now – it is January 13. It has been thirteen days since we made all our New Year's resolutions, and 90% of them are already in the trash. No way could making a pledge have the power to save your soul from the wrath of God.
The people who make that pledge are the ones who are saved. They are the only ones. But it is not the pledge or the obedience or the clear conscience that has the power to save them. What has that power? Only one thing - look at the end of the verse.
21 It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ
After having made the sacrifice of His own life to die in your place to pay for your sin, God the Father raised Him from the dead. And when He did that, it was a declaration that God has accepted Jesus' sacrifice, so that all who place their faith in Him will receive the benefits of His sacrifice.
How This Helps: Heightens The Importance of a Good Conscience
How does this help me when I suffer injustice? Remember – that is the topic Peter is still talking about. He is teaching us how to respond the right way when people mistreat us or insult us or make fun of us, or abuse us in some way. We are called to respond with kindness, humility, and blessing when that happens. How does verse 18 help us do that? Here's how - when someone hurts you, the temptation is to get angry, and get some form of revenge. Just throw good conscience out the window and respond out of anger. We know that is the wrong response, but it is such a powerful temptation. How can we overcome that temptation? One way is by looking to the cross. Remember that Jesus was also treated like that - worse than that. Why? Because of sin. So am I now going to add even more sin?
What did Jesus die to accomplish? –the salvation of all who trust Him enough to make the pledge of good conscience toward Him. So do I really want to throw conscience out the window at this point? Wouldn't it be better to follow in the footsteps of the Lord Jesus Christ and maintain a clear conscience by responding in a gracious way? Isn't that the very thing I pledged the day I became a Christian? Do I have any reason to turn my back on that pledge now?
Respond to hostility with kindness and godliness, because going the other way would be a violation of your vows to Christ, it would be a movement away from Christ-likeness, it would soil your conscience, and it would move you outside of the glorious and marvelous will of God. Big motives for little commands.
Hope in Christ's Victory
But Peter is not done. We still have not gotten to the greatest motive of all.
Christ's Journey to The Spirits
18 ...He was put to death by flesh but made alive by the Spirit 19 through whom also he also went and preached to the spirits in prison 20 who disobeyed long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah...
I take this to refer to the angels mentioned in Jude 1:6 and 2 Peter 2:4.
Jude 1:6 And the angels who did not keep their positions of authority but abandoned their proper dwelling--these he has kept in darkness, bound with everlasting chains for judgment on the great Day.
2 Peter 2:4 For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but sent them to hell, putting them in chains of darkness to be held for judgment...
Jesus travelled to the place where these angels are imprisoned and proclaimed something to them. Proclaimed what? Well, verse 22 refers to the spiritual beings having been subjected to Him. We do not know what He said, but evidently it was some proclamation of His victory over them and their subjection to Him. There was a Jewish tradition that said Enoch went and preached to those spirits and told them they were never getting out of that prison - ever. Maybe Peter is saying, "No, it wasn't Enoch. It was Jesus."
So why bring that up in a discussion about how the world mistreats us? – to show Jesus' supremacy over His enemies. Jesus wins! The Lord Jesus Christ triumphs! Look at how this whole passage concludes:
1 Peter 3:21 ...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.
You flip the novel of human history to the last page and you see, Jesus wins. Every knee ends up bowing to Him.
The Supremacy of Christ
There are a lot of people who have seen God the Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, and thought they were looking at someone who was beneath them. They saw a baby born out of wedlock, born in poverty in unimpressive conditions. They saw a nobody Jew who did not go to college, had no formal education, was not elected to any office, never wrote a book, did not head up any organization, all the experts found Him to be a fraud, and the government executed Him as a criminal. During His execution the people who were there observing looked at Jesus and saw someone you could safely mock. They saw someone you could make fun of, spit on, beat, and even kill without any fear of negative consequences. He did not look like He could retaliate, He did not have any powerful friends, and the government did not care. From what they could tell, God did not even seem to care.
And people today think of Jesus and see pretty much the same thing. They see a harmless, powerless figure who can be safely ignored. Jesus commanded a lot of things, but most people see Him as someone who can be safely disobeyed. His teachings can be safely disregarded. And those people who make fun of you when you obey Jesus' commands - those people evidently think that Jesus can be safely opposed. They can persecute those who obey Jesus without any fear of repercussion.
And when they do persecute us, and seem to get away with it, we are tempted to think of Jesus as one who can be safely resisted. I saw a clip the other day of the actor Jamie Foxx standing on a stage and giving thanks to "our Lord and Savior Barak Obama," and no bolt of lightning struck him, the earth did not open and swallow him up, he was not struck with leprosy. The only thing that happened was loud applause and raucous laughter.
We see missionaries barely able to get by, and Jamie Foxx living in a $10 million home, and we are tempted to think - the bad guys are winning. Jesus can be safely opposed. When we think that way we are in grave danger for two reasons. First, because it will destroy our hope in Christ. If Jesus can be pushed around and resisted and mocked by our enemies, what does that say for our future prospects? Jesus is our protector. If He does not come out on top, what good are all His promises? So the more I see Jesus' enemies as having the upper hand, the lower my level of hope in Him.
Secondly, the more I see people resist Him and get away with it, the lower my level of fear of Him. If I do not see the enemies of Christ as being in big, big trouble, then I am not going to see myself at risk of big trouble if I disobey Christ. So when temptation hits, I am going to be that much more vulnerable, because I will not fear His displeasure.
So it will ruin my hope and ruin my fear which will make it impossible to live the Christian life. So Peter is going to help us by reminding us of Christ's supremacy. He is going to show us Jesus being raised from the dead, going and reading the riot act to His most powerful enemies, and then reigning at the right hand of the Father with angels, authorities, and powers in submission to Him. And if you follow in His steps, you will take that same path through the valley of unjust suffering to the heights of exalted glory. We join Him now as the object of scorn and we will join Him then in all His glorious supremacy.
We do not need to fear the world. Nor do we need to retaliate against them. We do not have to worry about getting even, or teaching them a lesson, or making a statement, or making things right, or protecting ourselves. We can afford to respond to abuse with meekness and love, because even if it costs us everything in this world, in the end, Christ wins, and we will be there at His side.
So here is the formula: Suffering + Sovereignty = Salvation & Supremacy. It is better to suffer for good than for evil if it is God's will. Why? Because if you mix suffering with God's will - God's sovereign purposes – what you get are glorious outcomes. In Jesus' case, salvation for all who believe, and glorification and supremacy, which we will share at His side forever.
Benediction: 1Kings 8:56-61 Praise be to the LORD, who has given rest to his people …57 May the LORD our God be with us as he was with our fathers… 58 May he turn our hearts to him, to walk in all his ways… 60 so that all the peoples of the earth may know that the LORD is God and that there is no other.
1:25 Questions
1. What is your typical response when you are mistreated? And in which areas are you most prone to violate your conscience and sin when you are mistreated?
2. Which do you find the most difficult - trusting the will of God in suffering, rejoicing in the work of Christ, or hoping in the victory of Christ?
3. The principles from this passage are somewhat complex. Try to put into words a simple statement to remind you of one of these principles that you will be able to remember at the moment of temptation when you are mistreated.
