The Water Filter
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
I’ll never forget the first time I filled up our bathtub
It looked like someone peed in it!
Marshall said install a filter
Every 6 months; this is after 2 weeks
The Bible talks a lot about water!
Today we’ll see what that means for us
YouVersion: The Water Filter
We’re in 1 Peter 3:18-22
Suffering
Suffering
18 For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit,
This verse says it ALL!
Peter has been talking about suffering
Now he says, Christ suffered once
“Once” is Greek word Hapax (Hop-ox)
Your Bible might say “Once for all sins”
Remember the series is called “Redemption”
Peter once tried to take control
Let me build a tent, make you king, fight the enemy...
Now he says, HE DID IT ALONE!
This is a far different Peter than the one in the gospels...
That’s the point! YOU should be a far different person from who you were
Would your friends call you unrecognizable?
Nope, same old dude you’ve always been!
If you’re not changed, how can you say you know what Jesus did for you?
Peter is saying He died once for ALL!
He was righteous, and He died for us; the unrighteous
Look at the world around us: everyone is mad at someone!
There is nothing but HATE spewed on social media
And the news eats it up
I can’t even look anymore...
People arguing over who’s worse than who
I don’t have answers, but I can tell you who’s messed up...
ALL OF US!
Nobody on Twitter is righteous!
Nobody on CNN is righteous!
Nobody in church is righteous!
But Jesus was....
In His righteousness, He chose to die for those who weren’t
I think Peter’s implying something here:
No one knows suffering like Jesus knew suffering
Spurgeon said, You know a little about grief, but you do not know much. The hem of grief’s garment is all you ever touch, but Christ wore it as his daily robe.
That’s not to say injustice doesn’t exist today
But that Jesus knows injustice in a way we can only begin to fathom
And when that injustice occured, that gave us our freedom from sin
While our flesh may still perish, our spirit will finally live
Try to wrap you mind around that for a second...
Then, try to wrap your mind around this:
Noah’s Ark
Noah’s Ark
19 in which he went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison, 20 because they formerly did not obey, when God’s patience waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through water.
In seminary there’s pressure to find answers
We call it “systematic theology”
You can’t have a “system” if all the parts don’t work
Guys push really hard to establish your beliefs
There’s a saying: If you’re only 80% sure, teach it like you're 100% sure
Francis Chan asked the question, “Why can’t i just be 80%?”
Talking about Paul:
16 as he does in all his letters when he speaks in them of these matters. There are some things in them that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other Scriptures.
It’s tempting when we don’t understand to twist things incorrectly
No one really knows how to interpret this passage
I’d love to say I’m solid, but I gotta be careful!
I say, let’s talk about possibilities
Then let God’s mysteries be God’s mysteries
Basically two theories
Neither have a ton of support elsewhere in Scripture
Here are the constants
1. Jesus made a proclamation
2. He made it in the Spirit
3. He made it to the evil people from Noah’s day
Here are the variables
1. We don’t know when Jesus made the proclamation
2. We don’t know Jesus’ message
Punctuation and influx is everything
If I said, “I remember when my mom met her friend in prison for robbery in high school they served the homeless”
That sentence could mean:
My mom was a robber or her friend was a robber
They met in prison or her friend is in prison
They served the homeless in high school or they robbed in high school
This passage has a similar problem
Let’s break down each possibility:
In the Spirit, Jesus proclaimed to the spirits of those who were not obeying God that they needed to repent when the ark was being built.
In the Spirit, Jesus proclaimed the gospel to former sinners of Noah’s day while they were in death
I believe the latter
Meaning, I believe Jesus preached to the dead!
Crazy, right?
That means Jesus went to the darkness for the worst people in history
Why do I believe that?
Ever heard of the “Apostle’s Creed”?
I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Creator of Heaven and earth;
and in Jesus Christ, His only Son Our Lord,
Who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried.
He descended into Hell; the third day He rose again from the dead...
This creed was written in 390AD
Adapted from earlier version in 180AD
So the early church thought Jesus went to hell, so?
Is there Scripture to back that up?
9 (In saying, “He ascended,” what does it mean but that he had also descended into the lower regions, the earth?
There’s debate here as well
This says “into the lower regions, the earth
Meaning earth is lower than heaven
So Jesus came to earth
Similar for NIV, NLT
But many other versions translate that differently
ASV: “...he also descended into the lower parts of the earth?”
That means descending into the earth, or into Hades!
Of the 59 translations on Bible Gateway:
16 say down to earth (ESV, NIV, NLT)
40 say lower parts of the earth (KJV, NASB, RSV)
1 is both and 2 are confusing
The brightest scholars and translators can’t figure it out!
But 3/4 say He went into the earth
Let’s jump ahead to 1 Peter 4:6:
6 For this is why the gospel was preached even to those who are dead, that though judged in the flesh the way people are, they might live in the spirit the way God does.
Maybe this means that the people before Christ knew He was coming
I think it means what it sounds like: Jesus preached to them when they were dead!
Where were they? Seems like there were dead people in 2 places
One was a place called “Abraham’s bosom”
There are references in old Jewish stuff...
But Jesus Himself talks about it
In Luke 16 He mentions the rich man and Lazarus
Both of these men died
One is in fiery torment, the other is here (NKJV)
22 So it was that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s bosom. The rich man also died and was buried.
Abraham’s bosom is a holding place for the righteous before judgment
But the rich man is suffering and yells to Abraham to help him
25 But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that you in your lifetime received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner bad things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in anguish. 26 And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, in order that those who would pass from here to you may not be able, and none may cross from there to us.’
A couple of things
There are two places here
Abraham’s bosom and what I believe Peter calls “prison”
Perhaps it’s what we think of as “Hades”
Because there are a couple of things this “prison” is not...
It’s NOT purgatory
Purgatory is where you pay for your sins before you get into heaven
NOT REAL
2. It’s not the second death AKA the lake of fire
14 Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire.
This is the eternal hell that we picture
The old Hades will be destroyed by in the permanent hell
Then, the old heaven and earth will be remade
Also look at Revelation 21
I LOVE THIS STUFF!!!
As much as I’d love to get into heaven, and hell, and end times...
I don’t want to rabbit trail here too long
Baptism
Baptism
Let’s reel all the way back to our passage...
19 in which he went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison, 20 because they formerly did not obey, when God’s patience waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through water.
God used Noah’s ark for purification
He preserved 8 people, and destroyed the rest
Then Peter connects this to us!
21 Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, 22 who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers having been subjected to him.
Who knew baptism corresponded to Noah’s ark?!
Just like Noah’s ark used water to separate good from bad...
Baptism uses water to separate good from bad
Why do we get baptized?
It is an outward sign of an inward change
We became good when Jesus handled our sin
We display that visually in baptism
Our entering into the water represents death
And coming back up represents resurrection
It was Jesus’ death and resurrection that sets us apart
It’s nothing we did or can do, it’s what He did!
That’s why Peter says, it’s about the water cleaning you...
It’s about appealing to God through Christ’s resurrection!
THAT’S THE GOOD NEWS!
Closing
Closing
In thinking of all this, where do YOU stand?
Peter was once a different person
But the power of Christ and the Spirit changed him
Judgement is a real thing…
Have you been changed, or are you the same?
One day, you will stand before God
You will be judged...
Do you want to stand alone and defend yourself
Or do you want Jesus to stand with you and say,
“My death and resurrection has covered this.”