1 Peter 3:19-22 Peace From Chaos!

1 Peter 3:19-22  For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God.  He was put to death in the body but made alive in the Spirit.  After being made alive, he went and made proclamation to the imprisoned spirits—to those who were disobedient 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, and 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 has gone into heaven and is at God’s right hand—with angels, authorities and powers in submission to him.
In chapter 3, Peter talks about Christians submitting to others for order and harmony and subjecting ourselves to others to do good, not evil.  Finally, all of you, be like-minded, be sympathetic, love one another, be compassionate and humble.  Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult. On the contrary, repay evil with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing.  (3:8-9)  With freewill, our spirits so easily do what our flesh desires, not what a holy God desires.  When we feel abandoned, hurt or misunderstood by someone, we want to strike back.  If someone humiliates us, we want to retaliate, even humiliate him or her.  Our flesh is protective of self; why not, we go around only once in this world.  But we find in today’s passage that Christ suffered for us, to bring us to God.  He was put to death for our sins.  He was without sin; consequently, his suffering and death were unjust.  Clearly, the Bible says all men and women who have ever lived should pay the penalty of death for their own misdeeds and their waywardness from God’s perfection.  We were made in God’s image; therefore, we were made to reflect God in everything we do.  Because of our fallen nature, we have been unable to do that.  Instead of consistently doing good, we have fallen into the mode of evil, working and doing for ourselves what we believe is right in our own eyes.  The prophet Isaiah said we are like sheep who have gone astray, seeking our own pasture, feeding and drinking where we desire, and not the places the Shepherd of all creation desires us to inhabit.  The problem of abiding in our chosen fleshly pastures is that we feed from the wrong vegetation, consisting of noxious weeds that will eventually kill us.  Fleshly living leads to wrong thinking, impure thoughts, and selfish ambition.  In the days of Noah, we see this sinful willfulness in complete bloom.  The Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time.  The Lord regretted that he had made human beings on the earth, and his heart was deeply troubled.  So the Lord said, “I will wipe from the face of the earth the human race I have created—and with them the animals, the birds and the creatures that move along the ground—for I regret that I have made them.”  (Genesis 6:5-7)  Man had wandered far from the purpose for which God had made them: to interact with him intimately.  By creating his own environment, mankind became entirely not like God: not good, not caring, not loving.  God endured man’s wickedness for a long time, but finally destroyed every evidence of mankind except for what was in the Ark, safe within its confines.  Death and destruction came to all who chose evil and violence.  After Christ died on the cross, He also was in the bowels of death and destruction, but his resurrection revealed that death would no longer hold victory over mankind.  Eternal goodness arose with Jesus, allowing all who place their trust in him to find eternal life.  Mankind would no longer have to experience death as in the days of Noah, for God made a way through his beloved son.  And we all shout: Thanks be to God!  He gives us the victory through the Lord Jesus Christ.  (1 Corinthians 15:57)

Paul expressed the complete victory of Christ’s death and resurrection to the church at Corinth.  Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep.  For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man.  For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive.  But each in turn: Christ, the first fruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him. (1 Corinthians 15:20-23)  When Christ came out of the grave, He came out in perfection.  He was now eternal, not clothed in the shroud of death.  His grave clothes remained in the empty tomb.  His life after the resurrection revealed an entity that could move around in an instantaneous moment.  The fundamentals of our natural world such as the pull of gravity had no authority over him.  He was supernatural in every way; yet He intimately conversed with two men on the road to Emmaus; He ate with his disciples on the shore of Galilee; He appeared to Mary.  These activities were important for they reveal a relationship restored to mankind: men could interact closely with a holy God without being destroyed.  Jesus’ resurrection, his coming out of the grave as a new creature, defeating death in the process, brought man to God and God to man.  Jesus, the first fruit from the grave, was paving the way for all people to follow after him.  Men and women would no longer end their existence in a grave or under the horrible punishment of sin by a holy God; instead, they would be guaranteed eternal life if they placed their faith in the perfect One, Jesus Christ.  Eternity demands exactness, completeness, perfection, no wobbliness of character or the presence sin can be found in eternal existence.  Only the total authority of God will be found in the heavenly realm.  To live forevermore, men and women must hide in the eternal nature of God, the gift of God: Jesus Christ.  Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we much be saved.  (Acts 4:12) 

Death could not hold Jesus because the Father God sent the Holy Spirit to rescue him from the corruption of the grave.  Jesus paid the supreme price of death for the sins of the world, going all the way, giving up everything for the human race, holding nothing back.  On the cross when God turn his face from the sins of the world, Jesus exclaimed in misery, My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?  (Matthew 27:46)  Jesus suffered in many ways: his apostles abandoned him, people mocked him, authorities abused him.  Because we are to image Christ, Peter asks the believers who read his letter to submit to others: to authorities, to communities, and to the long-standing conventions of their culture.  Peter seeks this submission so the secular people will see the goodness, innocency, purity and obedience of Christians.  We submit because Christ submitted for our good.  His submission brought salvation to all mankind.  Our submission will bring only a small lightbulb into our world.  But people who are close to us will notice that light.  As they see the light in us, we hope their hearts will open to the love of God and his plan to save them from their sins.  In the days of Noah, all were destroyed because the light in the land had been darkened by the chaos of sin.  If we lack submission, love, servanthood, tenderness, forgiveness, our pathway will become dark and our influence for Jesus will come to an end.  All societies need an undergirding of love and concern for others if they are going to be healthy.  To exist through the millenniums, cultures, religions, and societies must emphasize this cohesiveness.  If they do not, their existence eventually will cease.  Selfishness, deceit, and the exploitation of others will not only cause chaos and violence, they eventually will result in the cessation of that people group.  That is one of the reasons religions hold a special place in most cultures and societies.  Religion usually keeps people from destroying themselves through their own chaotic and violent self-willed nature by looking to a power greater than themselves.  Christianity is not a religion intended to preserve a culture, society, or group of people on this earth, but our faith provides a way to know God and live for him.  As Paul wrote, That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death; if by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead.  (Philippians 3:10-11)  When we find Christ, trust in him and his works, we have found the way to eternal life.  No one can enter the Kingdom of God unless he or she comes through the Gate.  Religion can help people on Earth live harmoniously, so that they do not destroy each other.  But Christianity brings a new life, an eternal life.  No longer as in Noah’s time will all people be destroyed because of their wickedness, for the Lord has made a proclamation to our imprisoned spirits that sets all people free who trust in Christ.