From Agony to Victory (1 Pet. 3:18)

Introduction

· We have spent this morning together celebrating the doctrines at the center of our Christian faith -- the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. These truths are based on the eyewitness testimony of the apostles. The first of the twelve apostles to see Jesus alive was Peter, and I’d like to take you to a passage in our remaining time that Peter would write many years later as he reflected on these events. It’s found in 1 Peter 3.

· Please turn with me to 1 Peter 3.

· The readers of this letter, like all of us today, were living in a time of rapid change. Peter wrote this letter to strengthen the resolve of the church, and to embolden their witness before a watching world. He says that sometimes, Christians will suffer, not because of anything they did to deserve it, but precisely because they try to do the right thing when everyone else around them is doing wrong.

· 1 Peter 3:16–18 [keep] a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame. For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God’s will, than for doing evil. 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,

· In some Bibles, the words of vv. 18-19 are indented, indicating they may have been an early Christian creed or hymn sung by the early church. This one verse is a concise summary of our salvation. The gospel in a nutshell. John Ross called this “one of the shortest and simplest, and yet one of the richest summaries given in the New Testament of the meaning of the Cross of Jesus.”

· Verse 18 helps us to understand Easter, and can be outlined into three points: Christ’s agony, his purity, and his victory. I pray that by the end, that you will know what Jesus has done, and that if you have not already, you will accept God’s free gift of eternal life.

His Agony

· …For Christ also suffered once for sins…

· The word used here of Christ’s suffering is pascho. It means to be acted upon, especially the recipient of harm, to suffer at the hands of another person. Christ was “acted upon” in several ways…

· First, there was Christ’s physical suffering. John 19 tells us that the soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head, then they slapped and punched him with their hands. After being whipped and beaten, Jesus was led to a place called Golgatha, “the place of a skull” (Jn. 19:17). There he was subjected to one of the worst forms of torture ever invented by men -- crucifixion. Every nerve in the body would scream in pain as the person bled and suffocated, sometimes over the course of several days. We were talking the other day about the movie Passion of the Christ. Not sure I even want to watch it. Do you really need to see the suffering of Jesus played out in vivid detail? Needless to say, his physical suffering was extreme.

· But then there was also his emotional suffering. Jesus man carried a tremendous emotional burden. He was treated like a celebrity. He would care for others, with crowds pressing in on very side. Yet when he needed others, they rarely stuck around to care for him. In Mt. 8:20 he says, “[Even] Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” He goes into the synagogue in his hometown of Nazareth and presents himself as Messiah, and do you know what his friends do? They try to kill him. “They stood up, drove him out of town, and brought him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, so they could throw him down the cliff But passing through their midst, he went away” (Lk. 4:29-30). Jesus was rejected by his family, and abandoned by his friends. He was betrayed by Judas, he was denied by Peter, he was mocked by onlookers, and then lastly, he was forsaken by his Heavenly Father. No wonder Is. 53:3 says “he was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.” When you suffer emotional pain, remember that Jesus was a man of sorrows. When your emotional and mental state are not what you wish, and relationships are broken, remember that Jesus is your great high priest.

· In addition to Christ’s physical suffering and emotional suffering was his spiritual suffering. This was the worst of all, and probably the hardest for us to understand. We get a glimpse at just how horrific it was by the way Jesus trembled as he approached it. John 12:27 “Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? But for this purpose I have come to this hour. Mark 14:36 And he said, “Abba, Father, all things are possible for you. Remove this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.” And then there is the word, “forsaken” (Mt. 27:46 ἐγκαταλείπω). To be abandoned, deserted, left behind. Jesus Christ who had enjoyed eternal fellowship with the Father, sharing one and the same essence, now found himself all alone. For the first time in eternity, he was not the object of God’s love and favor, but rather the object of his divine wrath. The fierce wrath of the righteous God pounded on Christ like a mighty hurricane, wave upon wave, wind upon wind, merciless, furious, until all of God’s wrath for our sin was spent, and our debt was paid. As Jesus hung on the cross, he was bearing the full weight of our sin upon himself. He was taking every blow of judgment that God had stored up for us. He was drinking every sip of the bitter dregs of God’s wrath.

· Isaiah 53:5 says …he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities…. Who pierced him? Who crushed him? It was not ultimately the Jews or Romans. It was God himself. Isaiah 53:4 says he was smitten by God. And Isaiah 53:10 Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him; That word “will” (חָפֵץ) speaks not only of a choice, but of desire or delight…. NASB The LORD was pleased to crush him, putting him to grief.

· I cannot even imagine how God could be willing to do this. God did not enjoy punishing his Son, but he did delight in the work it accomplished. For the next verse tells us, “by the righteous one, my servant, many will be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities.”

· >>You see, it was the righteous one, who made it possible for us to become righteous…

His Purity

· …The righteous for the unrighteous…

· Peter alludes to this earlier in his letter. 2:22 “He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth.” As far back as ch. 1, he notes how we have been ransomed “with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.”

· According to Exodus 12:5, before the Passover Feast, families were to select a lamb that was “without blemish.” It couldn’t have injury or scar. It couldn’t be blind or sick. It had to be pure, symbolizing the need for a pure and holy sacrifice.

· During the pandemic, we have all become extremely health conscious. We can try to clean surfaces, wear face masks, and put up plexiglass windows, but this side of heaven, we will always live in a world of germs. That’s why God gave us immune systems. The cleanest environment is still not 100% sterile. But spiritually speaking, Jesus was 100% pure. There was not a hint of evil, never an idle word, never a complaint, or a thought of lust, or . Perfectly kept the law.

· 1 John 3:5 You know that he appeared in order to take away sins, and in him there is no sin.

· Even Pilate, the Roman governor, recognized Jesus had done nothing wrong. After hearing the contradictory testimony of witnesses he declared, “Take him yourselves and crucify him, for I find no guilt in him.” (Jn. 19:6). And after Jesus’ death, the Roman centurion said, “Certainly this man was innocent!” (Lk. 23:47)

· And yet, although Jesus was a righteous man, and had no need to die, he was willing to suffer for the unrighteous. This is one of the main themes of Peter – the suffering of the innocent. Sometimes in this fallen world, the innocent suffer, and the wicked prosper -- at least in the short run. As much as we’d love every day to be like a TV show that gets nicely resolved in under an hour with the bad guy losing and the good guy winning, life is rarely that neat and tidy.

· 1 Peter 2:18–19 Servants, be subject to your masters with all respect, not only to the good and gentle but also to the unjust. For this is a gracious thing, when, mindful of God, one endures sorrows while suffering unjustly.

· I was talking with a friend the other day who was deeply hurt by another believer. You know, it’s hard enough to be mistreated by an unbeliever. But even harder when it’s someone who calls themselves a brother or sister in Christ. It’s like they smile and hug you on the front, while meanwhile they are stabbing you in the back. I reminded my friend that it’s OK to grieve, and to be angry, but do not to sin. Don’t let the sun go down on that anger. Guard your heart against bitterness. Pray for the person who hurt you, even if it had to be for a little while in the spirit of Matthew 5:44 for a little while Matthew 5:43–44 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.. He thanked me and said he would try to do so. When we act this way, we are following the example of Jesus, who suffered as the righteous for the unrighteous.

· 1 Peter 3:14 But even if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled,

· 1 Peter 4:15 But let none of you suffer as a murderer or a thief or an evildoer or as a meddler… 1 Peter 4:19 Therefore let those who suffer according to God’s will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good.

· >>There are only two categories: righteous and unrighteous. The only one who is truly righteous is Jesus. All the rest of us fall into the other category – the unrighteous. But thankfully, Christ died as the righteous one to save the unrighteous. And after he died, he took his life up again. That brings us to our third point. His agony, his purity, and…

His Victory

· …That he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit….

· He was put to death – we have been focusing upon that all weekend. This death took place “in the flesh.” That is, he really did die as a physical human being. His pulse stopped, and his body became nothing more than a corpse for three days.

· But even as Jesus’ body lay empty, his spirit was very much alive. He said, “Father, into your hands I commit my Spirit.” And in that moment, his spirit was given new power, strength, and authority. Then on Easter morning, Christ’s spirit and body were reunited. Strength suddenly coursed through his veins once again. His breath returned, and his body was restored in full glory.

· See verses 21-22

· Over the next 40 days, Jesus would appear to the disciples many times and show them “many convincing proofs” (Ac. 1:3). So real was this miracle that every one of the apostles gave their lives to share this message, and all of them suffered as martyrs with the exception of John.

· Jesus had victory! And now that victory belongs to us! 1 Corinthians 15:56–57 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Conclusion

· Why did all of this happen? Why the agony? Why the need for a pure sacrifice? Why should we care about Christ’s victory over death? Because all of this was to “bring us to God.”

· Friend, perhaps you’re here this morning and didn’t even know you needed to be “brought to God.” And yet that is exactly what the Scripture says. Apart from Jesus, you are not near to God. You are far from him. The Bible says you are dead in your sins and separated by an eternal chasm. It would be easier to swim across the Pacific Ocean or jump up and touch the moon than get near to God. God sees your every hidden sin, he hears your every wicked word, and because he is holy, he must punish sin. Yet through Christ, he has made a way for you to be made near to him.

· 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. Glory be to God! Amen!