The bigger picture…
When Jesus Christ died on the cross, the original audience could only see the partial message. They only knew, “Christ died…” When you look at the Crucifixion alone, you see only defeat. Good Friday without Easter sends the wrong message. But the Resurrection tells the fuller story: “Jesus defeated…Satan on the cross, He paid our debt, and He set us free.” The Resurrection of Jesus spells “Victory!”
In today’s text, an even fuller story is told. It gives us in chronological order the stages of Christ’s victory, from His Cross to His Ascension.
The stages of Christ’s victory:
1. His
This verse has been described as one of the richest summaries given in the Bible of the meaning of the Cross of Jesus. Let’s take it one phrase at a time. “For Christ suffered for sin once for all.” Does it seem strange to you that a sacrifice must be made for sins? It wasn’t strange for Israel. For them, there was an endless stream of animal sacrifices that necessarily but temporarily cleansed the people of their sins. Why was that necessary? Because the sins of people are what separate us from an altogether holy God. But with Christ, the sacrificial system ended abruptly. Never again does a life have to be given for sins. On the cross, in Jesus Christ’s sacrificial death, God dealt with humanity’s sins in a way which is adequate for all sins, for all people, for all time.
And here’s why: “For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous [Christ] for the unrighteous [you and me].” The sinlessness of Christ made Him the only perfect offering for sins. Earlier Peter wrote, “You were…redeemed …with precious blood…unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ” (1:19). This is what gives Christ’s blood immeasurable value—He is sinless and altogether “righteous.” And the only way we could be found acceptable to Holy God is for a perfectly righteous Christ to take the place of a fully unrighteous us. So, on the executioner’s cross, He was treated the way we deserve to be treated by God.
But why? “For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God.” God fully embraces only those of us who have accepted Jesus Christ as our Savior, having by faith asked Him to forgive us of our sins. And He fully accepts us because of the sufficiency of Christ’s death. And now that our debt is paid in full, He draws us in close to Himself, completely cleansed and forgiven.
A spiritual exercise:
Your besetting sin:
The verse closes with this fascinating statement: “Christ…being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit.” The contrast is between Christ’s “body” (aka, “flesh”) and “spirit.” On the cross, Jesus died. But before He died in His body, He suffered spiritual death. When Jesus became sin on our behalf, He experienced spiritual death, which means to be separated from God. On the cross, He was forsaken by the Father. But when he physically died, he was made spiritually alive.
2. His
Who are “the spirits now in prison”? The best explanation I have found is that they are fallen angels, also known as evil spirits, or demons. These “imprisoned spirits” somehow crossed the line in their “disobedience when God waited patiently in the days of Noah” during the 120 years it took for the ark to be built.
These imprisoned spirits are described in 2 Peter 2: “God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to pits of darkness, reserved for judgment; and did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a preacher of righteousness, with seven others, when He brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly” (4). Most demons are still powerfully active, but these evil ones did something so unimaginably despicable that God cast them into hell during the days of Noah (cf. Jude 6). So Jesus descended into hell after His death to proclaim what? His victory! According to Colossians 2:15, the death of Christ had “disarmed the powers and authorities” and “made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.”
3. His
The third stage of Christ’s victory is His resurrection from the dead, which is necessary for our salvation from our sins. The resurrection declares that Jesus is God, and that the work of our salvation was completed and accepted by the Father. Without the resurrection of Christ, we couldn’t be saved. It is only the Risen Christ who can save sinful humanity. Jesus, to be our Savior, had to be raised.
And “baptism,” according to the verse, does “save” us, but not from sin. It can’t save us by “the removal of dirt from the flesh.” But baptism can save us from a bad conscience toward God. Baptism is symbolic of a complete break with the Christian’s past life. As Noah’s Flood wiped away the old sinful world, so baptism symbolizes our break from our old sinful life and our entrance into a new life in the resurrected Christ.
Our tendency today is to downplay baptism’s importance. But for Christians in Peter’s day, it was a serious matter, because it meant not only a break from the old life but often a break from one’s family, friends, job—in many cases, all was lost for Christ’s sake. Baptism in that day meant that the convert was following through with his commitment to Christ regardless of the consequences. Even today, in some cultures, baptism is considered an official pledge of allegiance to Christ. And that kind of allegiance doesn’t cleanse away any spiritual dirt, but it sure does save a person from having a bad conscience toward God.
Notice the exact chronology of the passage: His death; His descent; His resurrection. Christ descended to proclaim His victory to His enemies. And Jesus Christ arose a Victor from the dark domain!
4. His
This great event took place forty days after His resurrection and is recorded in Acts 1:9-11.
Our Lord’s ascension. Not only has Christ been raised from the dead, but in His victory, He has “gone into heaven,” and there He is seated at the right hand of God the Father, which is the seat of supreme honor, the seat of supreme authority, the seat of God. And further, according to verse 22, this took place, after all fallen angelic authorities and powers had been subjected to Him. Of course, they continue to rebel against Him, but their submission to Christ is total. As Martin Luther said, “Even the devil is God’s devil.”
So, you have the picture: Jesus Christ has ascended to the Father, and is seated at His right hand, the seat of supreme power, and all wicked angelic powers are subjected to Him. They are under His feet, but where are we believers in Christ? Ephesians 2:6-7 states, “Even when we were dead in our transgressions, God made us alive together with Christ, and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly realms.” Positionally in Christ, it’s like we are already there, guaranteed!
But until we are there, it is a spiritual fight all the way. So, be sure to…
Fight from victory in Jesus!
“As Christians,” writes Warren Wiersbe, “we do not fight for victory, but from victory—the mighty victory that our Lord Jesus Christ won for us in His death, [descent], resurrection, and ascension.”
If you are saved in Christ alone, by grace alone, through faith alone, then Jesus is your Savior, and as a saved person, you are fighting the spiritual battle from victory!
If you haven’t received Jesus as your Savior, then you are not saved from your sins, which means you are fighting not from victory, but for victory—a fight no one can ever win without faith in Christ. But praise the Lord that you are here, that you have heard the truth preached, and that you have an unparalleled opportunity. Every believer in this place prays that you would not leave today without placing your faith in Jesus as your Savior, and sharing in His victory, and taking your seat with Him in heaven—forever saved by the Victorious Christ!