Keys of the Kingdom 11 – The Suffering of Christ

For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit, by whom also He went and preached to the spirits in prison, who formerly were disobedient, when once the Divine longsuffering waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight souls, were saved through water. There is also an antitype which now saves us—baptism (not the removal of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God), through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, angels and authorities and powers having been made subject to Him. (1 Peter 3:18-22)

What does it mean that God willed the suffering of His Son—and what does the cross say about our own suffering?

Studying the Whole Counsel of God

Since the end of January we have been studying through 1 Peter together, and this series sits within a much larger study at Cross Connections through the whole of the New Testament—a study that began back in November of 2008, almost eight years ago, about the time I became pastor of this church. We went through Acts and have gone through the epistles chronologically, and we are still not finished. The Lord could come back before we do, and then He can teach us the whole book of Revelation—which I would much prefer He teach rather than me.

If you are part of our church for any length of time, you will see that we are serious about the Word of God. We believe it is important, living, and powerful, which is why we partner with ministries that deliver God's Word throughout the world. We go through the Scriptures verse by verse, chapter by chapter, book by book, to receive the whole counsel of God.

My plan was to spend only six weeks in 1 Peter. By now we were supposed to be midway through 2 Peter, having already done Jude, getting ready for Hebrews this summer. Pastor Pat, who pastored this church for 27 years, had a little magnet in his office—now mine—that said, "Man plans, God laughs." That has been my experience. I believe God kept us here because He has a message for us living in this place at this time.

Keys of the Kingdom

I have called this series "Keys of the Kingdom" because there are important truths in these five chapters that I would call keys to being part of the kingdom of God. If you are a follower of Jesus, the Bible describes you as a citizen of heaven. Paul says in Philippians 3 that we are citizens of heaven, eagerly looking forward to the day when we come into that kingdom. But for now we are here as representatives of King Jesus.

The first key is that this place, earth, is not our forever home. When I look at all the things happening in our world and nation, it makes me all the more thankful. My hope is not in this nation or this world; it is in another place, and we eagerly wait for the coming of our Lord and Savior.

A second key is that we are to represent Him well while we are here. In 2 Corinthians 5 Paul calls us ambassadors for Christ. Even if you were born and raised in the United States, if you are a Christian you have dual citizenship—your citizenship is in heaven—and as an ambassador you are called to live in a way that honors the King and His kingdom.

A third key is that, as ambassadors, we are to be completely submitted to the ruling authorities of this world. Even though our King is greater—the King of kings—He directs His followers to submit to the kingdoms and authorities of this world. There is a part of us, especially as Americans, that resists this. We even have a great Declaration of non-submission—the Declaration of Independence. So when Scripture says submit to every governing authority, something in us bristles. Yet that is what Jesus directs His ambassadors to do. We do not have diplomatic immunity; He calls us to submit, while living after the pattern of heaven, contrary to the world around us.

Sojourning, Submission, Suffering, and Salvation

A fourth key is that if you live like this—an ambassador submitted to the authorities of this world—you may suffer. Throughout Christian history, in nearly every place believers have been, they have experienced suffering for the cause of Christ. Here in the United States we have enjoyed great religious freedom, but in many parts of the world at this very moment followers of King Jesus are being persecuted because of the kingdom of God.

But another great key is that, though we may suffer here, this is not our eternal home. We have a reward and an eternity awaiting us when our sojourn is complete. That is where our hope comes from. I was listening recently to Peter Hitchens, the British Christian and brother of the late atheist Christopher Hitchens, author of God Is Not Great. In an interview Peter gave a very pessimistic outlook on Britain and America, and the interviewer said, "That sounds very pessimistic—I thought you were a Christian." In his wonderful British accent (which makes everyone sound intelligent), he said, "I may be pessimistic here, but my hope is in heaven. My hope is not in this place." That is a key of the kingdom.

So 1 Peter speaks of sojourning, submission, suffering, and ultimate salvation. We are just passing through; we should not invest in this place as if we will be here forever, though we should seek its peace. We should be submitted to the authorities, knowing it may bring suffering—but our salvation ultimately points to heaven.

Better to Suffer for Doing Good

In the midst of this, Peter writes in 1 Peter 3:17, "It is better, if it is the will of God, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil." That is audacious, perhaps even absurd. It is better to suffer? Peter says that if you are going to suffer—and it is all but guaranteed for followers of Jesus living in a contrary world—it is better to suffer for righteousness' sake than to suffer for being a bozo, a "jerk for Jesus."

Sometimes people suffer as Christians not because they walk after righteousness, but because they take the clear teaching of the Bible and become arrogant, rude, and obnoxious, thinking that will win friends for the King. It doesn't. Peter says it is better, if it is the will of God, to suffer for doing what is right.

But is it really better? For that we go back to 1 Peter 2:19: "This is commendable, if because of conscience toward God one endures grief, suffering wrongfully." Verse 20 asks, "What credit is it if, when you are beaten for your faults, you take it patiently? But when you do good and suffer, if you take it patiently, this is commendable before God." Commendation from whom? From God in heaven. When you stand before God, the One who deserves all praise will honor you if you have suffered wrongfully and endured patiently. As verse 21 says, "For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow His steps."

This was also the teaching of Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount. Matthew 5:10: "Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven." Nobody rejoices in suffering unless this is true. So if you are going to suffer, make sure you suffer for doing right, representing the King and living after the pattern of heaven.

Does God Will Our Suffering?

Peter says this is the sort of suffering God wills. Did you catch that? God wills suffering. I am not sure I like the sound of that—an all-loving, all-powerful, all-good God willing the unjust suffering of His people. Yet Peter says it again in 1 Peter 4:19: "Therefore let those who suffer according to the will of God commit their souls to Him in doing good, as to a faithful Creator."

This does not fit the cutely packaged American Christianity peddled by many prosperity preachers, that God wills the unjust suffering of His people. Yet Peter has said it twice. I would never be accused of being a proponent of prosperity teaching, and even I have a hard time with this. So we have to explain it.

After saying in verse 17 that it may be God's will for us to suffer, Peter immediately writes in verse 18, "For Christ also suffered." If it is the will of God that you suffer, know that Christ also suffered—and He suffered for doing good. Anyone who has read the Gospels recognizes this. Jesus did nothing wrong. He fed the hungry, healed the sick, raised the dead, and cast out demons. He transgressed the traditions of the religious people of His day, but He never broke God's law. Hebrews says He was tested in all points as we are, yet without sin. And then He suffered an incredibly torturous, painful death on the cross—for doing good.

Not only did Jesus suffer for doing good, He suffered according to the will of God. In the Garden of Gethsemane (Matthew 26:39) He fell on His face and prayed, "O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will." A few verses later, "O My Father, if this cup cannot pass away from Me unless I drink it, Your will be done." Verse 44 says He prayed a third time the same words. Matthew, Mark, and Luke all record Jesus praying, "I do not will this, but Father, whatever You will, I will submit to it." In His humanity Jesus did not want to suffer—and yet God the Father had planned, determined, and willed His suffering.

Christ's Suffering Fulfilled God's Will

That is point one: Christ's suffering fulfilled God's will. The number one question I receive from believers is, "What is God's will for my life?" But what if God's will is that you suffer? Do you still want it? Jesus prayed, "Not My will, but Your will be done." Honestly, I can only pray that prayer with great difficulty.

The skeptic would rightly ask, "Why would you serve a God who wills the unjust suffering of His own Son and His followers?" Look at the rest of verse 18: "For Christ also suffered once for sins." That is point two: Christ's suffering was for a purpose. Jesus came to do the will of the Father. Hebrews 10 puts it in His words: "Behold, I have come to do Your will, O God." And the Father's will was that the Son would suffer unjustly—but for a purpose: my sin and yours.

Jesus did not suffer for His own unrighteousness, but for ours, in our place. That is what the gospel preaches. Why? Verse 18: "that He might bring us to God." That is point three: Christ's suffering was for our salvation. His unjust suffering was not pointless, absurd, or senseless. The crucifixion was the predetermined plan and will of God the Father—the only way sinful, lost humanity could be brought back into relationship with Him.

That is why, when Jesus prayed in Gethsemane, "If there be any other way," heaven was silent—and that silence was loud. If there were a way through the law of Moses, through rituals, through good works, the answer would have come. But the silence declared: there is no other way. This is it.

Who Killed Jesus?

Is this really true? Turn back to Acts 2, Peter's first sermon after the church was born. With thousands before him he says in verse 22, "Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a Man attested by God to you by miracles, wonders, and signs which God did through Him in your midst, as you yourselves also know—Him, being delivered by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God, you have taken by lawless hands, have crucified, and put to death."

So who killed Jesus? According to Peter, by the inspired Word of God, it was not finally the Jews or the Romans—it was God the Father who determined that Christ would die by the agency of the Jews and the Romans, by crucifixion outside Jerusalem 2,000 years ago. It was the determined will of God that Jesus would suffer injustice, so that He might die for our sins and open the way for us to come to God through Him.

One of my favorite verses, 2 Corinthians 5:21, says, "For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him." Jesus bore my sin and yours so He could give us His righteousness.

A Sufficient Sacrifice, Received by Faith

The word "might"—"that He might bring us to God"—is important. It is the Greek subjunctive. This means the death of Jesus was sufficient for the justification of all sin of all people, at all times, in every place. When Jesus died once for sins, His death was sufficient to deal with all sin of all humanity. And yet His sacrifice is only effective for those who receive it by grace through faith.

You cannot be saved by your good works, your church attendance, your giving, or your serving in the children's ministry—although that might be as close to heaven as some people ever get! Strike that; there is no way that saves you. Christ alone saves. And the wonderful thing is that Jesus suffered temporarily so that you and I might live eternally with Him.

The Hardest Passage in 1 Peter

I would love for the chapter to end there, but it doesn't. Peter says Jesus was "put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit, by whom also He went and preached to the spirits in prison, who formerly were disobedient... in the days of Noah." What is that about?

In 2 Peter 3:15-16 Peter gives a nod to "our beloved brother Paul," noting that Paul wrote "some things hard to understand, which untaught and unstable people twist to their own destruction." When I read that, I want to say, "Peter, you just one-upped Paul's 'hard to understand' meter!" This may be one of the most difficult passages in 1 Peter, perhaps in the whole New Testament, maybe in the whole Bible.

Martin Luther—not the civil rights leader, but the Reformer of 500 years ago—said of this passage: "A wonderful text is this, and a more obscure passage perhaps than any other in the New Testament, so that I do not know for a certainty just what Peter meant." If Martin Luther doesn't have a clue, neither do you—or I. If you read five commentaries on this passage, you get ten opinions. After reading many commentaries and talking with friends I respect, I have come to the conclusion, with dear old Martin Luther, that I do not know with certainty what Peter is saying.

What These Verses Do Tell Us

Even so, these difficult words answer at least three important questions: What happens when we die? What happened when Jesus died? And what did Jesus do between Good Friday and Easter Sunday?

What happens when we die? We do not merely sleep or cease to exist—that, for me, is good news. What happened when Jesus died? From this passage, He did not immediately go to heaven (He would ascend later, after the resurrection and forty days on earth). He did not lie frozen in the tomb, awaiting Sunday. He did not cease to exist, as many today claim. Nor did He go to experience the torments of hell. What He did do was win. At His death Jesus was victorious.

So what did Jesus do between Good Friday and Easter Sunday? Upon His death He went, as a living spirit, somewhere where others were, to whom He proclaimed His victory through the suffering and death of the cross. That opens a Pandora's box of further questions: Where did He go? Who were these individuals? What was His message?

There are three classical interpretations. First, that Jesus descended into a place called Hades and proclaimed His victory to the spirits of those who had died in Old Testament times. Second, that this has nothing to do with the time between the cross and resurrection, but rather that Christ, through the Spirit, spoke through Noah to the people of his day about coming judgment and about Christ. Third, that Jesus descended into Hades and proclaimed His victory over the spirits of fallen angels connected to the days of Noah recorded in Genesis 6. If you're confused, I can give you a stack of commentaries that will only confuse you more.

What Truly Matters: The Victory

Here is what I know for sure, and this is essential: what you believe about these 45 words does not matter as it relates to your salvation. You may have an opinion on this—differing from the person next to you—or no opinion at all, and that is fine. But what you cannot do is have no opinion about the vicarious redemption of Jesus Christ, about whether His death on the cross matters. That is essential.

The important point taught through these words is point four: Christ's suffering brought about victory. Notice it says Jesus "went and preached" to the spirits in prison. That word "preached" means to proclaim or to sound—the shout of victory. When Jesus cried out on the cross, "It is finished," and breathed His last, He declared with victory: sin, death, and Satan are done; the victory is won.

That means all the suffering you may experience as an ambassador of Jesus in this life is temporary. That is point five: Christ's suffering means our suffering is temporary. I hope you don't go and watch them, but videos have circulated of terrorists in Syria and Iraq putting Christians to death—burned, beheaded—twisted and sick things. We look at suffering that none of us may ever experience, and yet any suffering in this life for the cause of Christ is temporary. When those believers breathed their last in agony, they woke up in eternity with pure joy.

Does Baptism Save Us?

Peter continues with hard sayings in verse 21: "There is also an antitype which now saves us—baptism." Wait—what? If you've been around the Bible and the church a while, this strikes a problem, because Peter seems to say baptism saves us. Let's read it carefully: "Not the removal of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ."

People come to me and say, "I was reading 1 Peter and hit a verse that's tough." I say, "Let me stop you—you're probably reading 1 Peter 3:21," and they're amazed. I know it's because if you're having trouble with Peter, you're probably troubled that he seems to say baptism saves us.

We have to get into the context. The previous verse speaks of Noah. We believe that thousands of years ago there was a global flood through which God judged the earth for its sin, and all humanity was destroyed except Noah, his wife, their three sons, and their sons' three wives—eight people—along with two of every kind of animal, plus extra animals for sacrifice, saved on the boat we affectionately call Noah's Ark. Why do we believe that? Because Jesus preached and taught it, and the Bible records it as having actually happened. Call us crazy; we believe it.

Now, we do not believe there were stone people, or that Noah's pregnant daughter was aboard, or that Kurt Russell was on the ark—none of that nonsense is in the Bible. But we do believe a man and his family were saved through a global flood. Peter says that water is symbolic of the water we experience in the Christian act of baptism—the sacrament whereby a person who has put their faith in Christ is taken down into the water, baptized in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and comes up out of the water to rise and walk in newness of life. Baptism does not save by washing the flesh; it is the answer of a good conscience toward God, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

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