The Infernal Jailhouse Rock
I Peter 3:18-20
1. A children’s Sunday School class was learning the Apostles Creed. Each child had been assigned a sentence to repeat. The first one said, “I believe in God the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth.” The second child said, “I believe in Jesus Christ, His only Son…” When he had completed his sentence, there was an embarrassing silence. Finally, one child piped up, “Teacher, the boy who believes in the Holy Spirit isn’t here.”
[adapted from Sermoncentral]
2. The Old Roman form of the Apostle’s Creed, probably composed about 140A.D., is a great statement of faith.
“I believe in God the Father Almighty. And in Jesus Christ His only (begotten) Son our Lord, who was born of the Holy Ghost and the Virgin Mary; crucified under Pontius Pilate, and buried; the third day He rose from the dead; He ascended into heaven, and sitteth at the right hand of the Father, from thence He shall come to judge the quick and the dead. And in the Holy Ghost; the holy Church; the forgiveness of sins; the resurrection of the body; (the life everlasting).”
The present form of the Apostle’s Creed probably developed about 460 A.D.
“I believe in God the Father Almighty; Maker of Heaven and Earth; and in Jesus Christ His only (begotten) Son our Lord; who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary; suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried; He descended into hell; the third day He rose from the dead; He ascended into heaven; and sitteth at the right hand of God the Father Almighty; from thence He shall come to judge the quick and the dead. I believe in the Holy Ghost; the holy catholic Church; the communion of saints; the forgiveness of sins; the resurrection of the body; and the life everlasting. Amen.”
3. Outside of a few details, the main difference between them was the addition of the clause, "He descended into hell," a clause not found in the earlier creed.
4. This additional clause was an attempt to include the material we are about to look at today into the creed, though I think it was ill-placed.
5. The transition from last week’s text is explained by David Guzik, “The just for the unjust: Jesus is a perfect example of suffering for doing good. He, the just, suffered for all of us, the unjust - and the purpose of it all was to bring us to God, to restore our broken and dead relationship with Him.”
6. The coming, death, burial, resurrection, and ascension of Christ are referred to by modern theologians as "The Christ Event."
7. So today we move into the realm of Christ’s suffering for our redemption – and then we will take some unique twists and turns as we examine some often neglected events that occurred along with the Christ event.
Main Idea: God’s plan of redemption cannot be thwarted
I. The POTENT Atonement (18)
A. Christ died for SINS
I Corinthians 15:3-4, “For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures…”
B. ONCE
1. Hebrews 10:12 (speaking of Jesus), “But when this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God.”
2. To say that Christ has to be re-sacrificed day after day is to insult the potency of His work on the cross; when He said, "It is finished, " He meant just that.
C. For ALL
1. I John 2:2, “He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.”
2. 2 Peter 3:1, “But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them…”
3. illustration: our wedding celebration (RSVP, paid by the plate…some pals preferred to go to Geno’s pizza; we paid for them either way)…
4. remember, God is not into the "no waste" thing our European forefathers pounded into our heads…God does things lavishly….and He also does things for more than one reason…
E. To Bring Us to GOD
1. The idea of being saved but without a significant relationship to God is ludicrous
2. The word translated to bring is prosaga/gh, which means, "to lead to or bring to, to introduce, to provide access for, to bring about a right relationship. The word…could denote the bringing of a person before…a royal court" (R&R, p. 759)
3. When I was a boy, my sister, who is five years older, got a summer job at Brookfield Zoo….behind the scenes places, Olga the Walrus…manure truck…
D. The RIGHTEOUS for the Unrighteous
2 Corinthians 5:21, “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”
1. Legally
2. Relationally
3. With Positive Status
4. With effect upon our lives
E. To Bring Us to GOD
F. Put to DEATH in the body
G. Made alive by the SPIRIT
The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are all said to have resurrected Christ….
Could it be just before or after the resurrected Christ appeared to Mary Magdalene? John 20:17, “Jesus said, "Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet returned to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, ’I am returning to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’”
Main Idea: God’s plan of redemption cannot be thwarted
II. The VICTORY Announcement (19-20)
A. Taken by the Spirit to PRISON
1. In the revised Apostles’ Creed, Jesus is buried, descends into hell, and then is resurrected.
2. I believe this is inaccurate.
3. The Spirit resurrected Christ and then took Him by the prison
B. Preached His VICTORY Sermon
“The Bible says that even those under the earth must acknowledge Jesus’ ultimate Lordship. Here Jesus was announcing that fact: that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth (Philippians 2:10).” David Guzik
C. Evil SPIRITS from Noah’s Day
D. “Sons of God” who produced NEPHILIM
Genesis 6:1-2, 4 “When men began to increase in number on the earth and daughters were born to them, the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were beautiful, and they married any of them they chose…The Nephilim were on the earth in those days—and also afterward—when the sons of God went to the daughters of men and had children by them. They were the heroes of old, men of renown.”
Jude 1:6, “And the angels who did not keep their positions of authority but abandoned their own home—these he has kept in darkness, bound with everlasting chains for judgment on the great Day. In a similar way, Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding towns gave themselves up to sexual immorality and perversion. They serve as an example of those who suffer the punishment of eternal fire.”
2 Peter 2:4-5, “For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but sent them to hell, putting them into gloomy dungeons to be held for judgment; 5if he did not spare the ancient world when he brought the flood on its ungodly people, but protected Noah, a preacher of righteousness, and seven others…”
Arthur Custance writes: “It is a curious fact that demons were notable for their physical strength, and it is also a curious fact that they had for some reason a fear of water. The instance of the Gadarene swine could conceivably be a case where the Lord permitted the evil spirit to enter animal bodies only because He knew that the animals would react to rid themselves of those who possessed them. It is a curious fact, too, that the Lord should have said that when the evil spirit has gone out of a man, he goeth through waterless places [so the Greek] seeking rest.” (Matthew 12:43).
(www.custance.org/Library/Volume7/Part_V/Chapter1.html)
You know what I named the sermon I preached about the demons entering the swine? Deviled Ham!
E. Eight SAVED from the ancient world
F. Mark Copeland shows how this interpretation satisfies the criteria of the text:
1. The preaching was made by Jesus Himself
2. The preaching was made by Jesus AFTER "being put to death in
the flesh"
3. The preaching was made by Jesus AFTER He was "made alive by
the Spirit"
4. The preaching was made to "THE SPIRITS"
5. The preaching was made to them "IN PRISON" (that there are
angels so bound is clearly taught in 2 Pe 2 and Jude)
6. The preaching was made to them who were "FORMERLY DISOBEDIENT
...IN THE DAYS OF NOAH"
7. The preaching was a proclamation of victory…
Main Idea: God’s plan of redemption cannot be thwarted
III. Satan’s Strategy: MINIMALIZE Redemption
A. Satan attacks our minds with lies: we need the Word!
B. Satan attacks our wills with pride: we need the fruit of the Holy Spirit
C. Satan attacks our consciences with guilt: we need the defense work of Jesus Christ, our advocate (I John 2:1-2).
D. Satan attacks our bodies & lives with suffering and sensuality to get us to turn away from God: we need the grace of God
(suggested, altered & expanded from Wiersbe’s, "The Strategy of Satan")
E. Although our redemption cannot be thwarted, the degree to which we can glorify God is variable…
