You Have Hope! 1Peter 3:15-22
Pastor Thomas Kock 6th Sunday of Easter May 29, 2011
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! He has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Christ from the dead. Amen. The Word of God for our consideration is found in 1Peter, chapter 3. (read text) In the name of Jesus, our conquering Savior, my dear brothers and sisters in Christ.
Memorial Day is a day set aside for remembering, particularly remembering those men and women who have given up their lives to fight for our country. It’s certainly an appropriate thing for us to do, simply because of the gravity of their sacrifice.
But I suppose a Memorial Day observance also gives us some degree of hope for the future. There have been so many times in our nation’s history when things looked oh-so-bleak. Certainly that was true during the Revolutionary War. During the War of 1812 the nation’s capital was burned; how bleak that must have felt. And there were certainly times like that during WW1, WW2, etc. And yet our nation has survived! That gives us hope for our nation, hope for the future! So while Memorial Day is a time for remembering the past, in a sense it’s also about hope for the future.
And, isn’t hope something that you and really need? Often you’ll hear things like this said, “A person can handle about anything if there’s something to which to look forward.” In other words, if we have hope, we can handle most anything.
In our text for today, God makes it clear that we HAVE hope. It’s kind of an assumption in the opening verse: (1 Pet 3:15 NIV) “Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.” God is saying, “You HAVE hope. Hope IS yours!” And what is that hope? That hope is life which is eternal! It’s knowing that we’re going to heaven! It’s THE hope which we need, THE hope which everyone needs! You HAVE that, because “Christ died for sins once for all!” Real, eternal hope IS yours!
And so it’s reasonable to ask, “Do we live that way?” As people look at us is it obvious that we are people who are “hoping” in Jesus? Do people look at us and say, “These people clearly have an eternal perspective”? Or do we often “hide” our hope, or act as if we had no hope? Wouldn’t it be downright damnable if people couldn’t see the hope of heaven clearly in us?
Yes, it sure would be. Unfortunately, that’s often where we find ourselves, living as if we had no hope, hiding our hope under a “bushel basket”, failing to live in a way which made clear that we are focused on life eternal.
Thank God that our God is a God of hope! Thank God that our God is a God of forgiveness, that Christ really did die for sins once for all! Thank God that we really ARE forgiven! And thank God, that by assuring us of that, that He renews our hope. Today I want to focus us on two thoughts from this text.
First take a look at vv18-20. These are the key verses in the Bible concerning the truth which we confess in the Apostles’ Creed, that Jesus descended in hell. Now, let’s walk carefully through it, making sure that we’re getting the point.
First, look at WHEN it took place. It took place AFTER Jesus rose from the dead. The end of v18 reads, “He was put to death in the body but made alive by the Spirit,…” The NIV chooses to translate “Spirit” with a capital “S”, indicating the Holy Spirit. That’s probably not the best understanding. Rather, it’s probably better to understand that the reference to being “put to death in the body” is a reference to Jesus’ humiliation. How much was God willing to love you? So much that He was willing to humble Himself to the most amazing level of all – death on the cross! But then He “was made alive by the spirit,” might better be translated, “He was made alive in a spiritual way.” The thought is that even as Jesus was amazingly humbled through His life and death, He was amazingly exalted through His resurrection from the dead, as He again took up rule over all things, the rule which was rightly His as true God. In other words, He rose in a powerful, glorious, majestic manner!
And now comes verse 19: “through whom also he went and preached to the spirits in prison {20} who disobeyed long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built.” “Prison” is a gentle word for “hell,” reminding us that hell will be an awful place, with no release, ever. The people at the time of the flood become a picture of all unbelievers; they were so “bad” that God – for the only time ever – chose to wash the earth almost completely clean. So, we’re reminded that people who rebel against God on this side of eternity, those who are unbelievers, will go to hell.
Now the risen Jesus descends there – powerfully, victoriously, majestically – and makes a proclamation. Note, He’s NOT there to suffer! He’s there in power, in victory, in majesty! For what reason? To proclaim that the battle was won!
The picture is from something which took place in the Roman army. When a general defeated an important city, he would often hold a victory parade down the main street of that defeated city. The people all had to come out and watch; the defeated army often had to march in the parade, and the defeated general would often be put to death at the end of the parade. It was the conquering general’s way of saying, “I’ve won the battle! I can walk down your mainstreet, and you can’t touch me! Don’t even try to rebel!”
That’s what Jesus was doing as He descended to hell. He was proclaiming that the battle was won! He could walk down the main street of hell, and the devil could NOT touch him!
Now, for whose benefit is He doing this? Do the people in heaven know that Jesus has won? Of course! They’re in heaven! Do the devil and the people in hell know that Jesus has won? Yep, because they’re stuck in the prison of hell. Does Jesus know He’s won? Obviously! So, it doesn’t benefit any of them.
But it benefits you! Jesus descended to hell in order to say to you, “The battle is WON! It’s won for you!” Jesus’ descent into hell gives you the wonderful assurance that your #1 enemy – the devil – can’t really touch you. Not really. Why so? Because Jesus won that battle!
And, Jesus wants to give that victory to you and to me. So, how is He going to do that? He’s going to give you that victory through your baptism! Notice what God says in v21: “…and this water [i.e. the water of the Flood] symbolizes baptism that now saves you also--not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a good conscience toward God. It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ,…” We generally think of the flood as a time of destruction. God here says just the opposite: that it saved Noah and his family. How so? Well, it lifted Noah and his family up out of that horribly sinful world, held them above the destruction which was going on on the earth. It saved them.
Now, no one can say that the water of the flood was symbolic. No, it was real. And Noah and his family were really saved by those flood waters. In exactly the same way, as those flood waters saved Noah, so the waters of baptism have saved you and me. The waters of baptism have saved you and me by connecting you and me to Jesus, the risen Savior. For in those waters of baptism God made a pledge.
What does that mean? There are a couple ways the Greek could be understood, but the way that seems to make the most sense is that the word would be very similar in thought to our “down payment.” When you bought your first home, I’m guessing most of us weren’t able to pay cash. So, we made a down payment. As we made that down payment, we were making a promise – that the other payments would be made.
In your baptism, God made a down payment. His down payment is regarding you. Specifically, it’s a down payment that – on the day you stand before Him – your conscience will be “good.” That your conscience will be clean.
And isn’t that what we want? Indeed, isn’t that what we really NEED?!? Absolutely! What we need to know more than anything in the world is that when we leave this world and stand before our God, that our conscience will be good! We need to know that God will look at us not with accusation, but with love and acceptance.
In your baptism God says to you, “I am giving you exactly that. Here’s my down payment that – when you stand before Me – your conscience will be good!” What do you think; will God go into “foreclosure”? J Of course not! Indeed, the entire payment has already been made, for Christ died for sins once for all! Jesus proved that victory by descending into hell. And in your baptism, God gave that victory to you! God’s down payment has been given … to you! To me!
And therein is real hope! You and believe in a God who HAS won the battle! His descent into hell proves it! And God has given that victory to you! Your baptism gave it to you, seals it to you!
And so on this Memorial Day weekend we thank God. We thank God for the men and women who have given up their lives in service to our country, battling for you and for me. But we thank God even more that THE battle has been won. Jesus died, Jesus rose, Jesus descended victoriously through hell! God’s given that victory to you and to me! You HAVE hope!
And how we pray, “Lord, make me always ready to give an answer to anyone who asks me to give a reason for the wonderful hope which You’ve given me.” Amen.