The further I dig into Peter’s commentary on suffering, the more I wonder about suffering’s place in my life. Often I flee or avoid pain, yet as I see Peter continue to develop this treatise on suffering and grief, it thrills me to see how God can use suffering in our lives to strengthen our faith and give us hope. We often can’t see either the purpose for suffering or what it accomplishes in our lives in the present, but if we look back and see all that God has brought us through, it can revive our souls. Peter is speaking in this letter on the basis of faith, "Though you have not seen Christ," he says. It is impossible, apart from the grace of God, to act on the basis of faith, but in this passage of Scripture, and this is the key idea, Peter tells us to not become discouraged while suffering because we have a sure hope. Peter encourages the suffering believer by offering four illustrations of hope. In other words, Peter tells us in four different ways, why we can still have confidence in the God of Scripture though we are passing through trials.

1. Illustration of Christ’s suffering

The first illustration of hope that Peter gives is the illustration of Christ’s suffering. Christ suffering, though He was righteous, shows that just because you are suffering does not mean that you have been doing wrong. Jesus suffered because He was in the will of God. By suffering, Jesus was accomplishing God the Father’s purpose. You too can be fulfilling the Father’s will while suffering. Let me clarify this by saying this kind of suffering is not self-afflicted. Some in the early church thought that by self-mutilation, they were accomplishing God’s purpose in restraining the flesh. That is not what Peter is saying. This suffering is not any suffering that you inflict upon yourself nor is it suffering you have received for your own wrong doing. Peter makes that clear in 1 Peter 2 when he says, "For what credit is there when you sin and are punished for it, you patiently endure it." No this suffering is for God’s purpose of strengthening our own faith, and bringing others to faith in Christ. But look at what Peter says that Christ’s death accomplished. In verse 18 Peter lists five amazing accomplishments we see in Jesus’ death on the cross.

A. It was a purposeful event

The first accomplishment we see in Jesus’ death on the cross was that it was a purposeful event. The beginning of the verse says, "He died for sins." There was a purpose in His death. Some people see an individual’s death and they say what a waste. He died for nothing. But this is not the case with Jesus Christ. He died for a purpose. Jesus died for the sins of every one of us. It was for our sin problem that Jesus came and died. His death was for you and me.

I heard of a boy and His Father who were driving down a country road one afternoon, when a bee flew in the car window. The little boy, who was allergic to bee stings, was petrified. The father quickly reached out, grabbed the bee, squeezed it in his hand, and then released it. The boy grew frantic as it buzzed by him. Once again the father reached out his hand, but this time he showed the boy his palm. There stuck in his skin was the stinger of the bee. "Do you see this? He asked. "You don’t need to be afraid any more. I’ve taken the sting for you." Jesus’ death was purposeful. He took death’s sting for you and me so that we need not fear death any longer.

Even as Joe related this week about his friend, Dean, who just went to be with the Lord a couple of weeks ago. There was no fear of death for him. He anticipated death and look forward to that which would bring him to be face to face with Christ His Savior. He told Joe about His longing to be with Jesus. Christ’s death for our sin had a purpose. It removed the sting of death from every believer.

B. It was a single event

The second accomplishment we see in Jesus’ death on the cross was that it was a single event. This verse goes on to say,
"Jesus died once for all." He didn’t have to be offered again and again. Peter says He made the payment for all sin for us once for all. The author of Hebrews says the very same thing, "It was not that He would offer Himself often, as the (Old Testament) High Priest enters the holy place year by year with blood not his own. Otherwise, He would have needed to suffer often since the foundation of the world; but now, once at the end of the age He has been manifested to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself."

Some would say that Jesus needs to be offered again and again as a sacrifice, daily, to complete the payment for the sins people commit today, but the Bible simply does not teach that. Peter says here that His payment that took place was once for all.

C. It was a substitutionary event

The third accomplishment we see in Jesus’ death on the cross was that it was a substitutionary event. Peter next notes that it was the just for the unjust. This verse says that it was righteous (Jesus) on behalf of the unrighteous (You and me). Jesus didn’t come to help those that needed a little help. He died for those that were unable to help themselves. We were unrighteous. This is how God saw us. Not that we are a little bad or somewhat bad, but that we are unrighteous. And until you come to grips with the fact that God sees you as completely unrighteous, you cannot be helped. I grew up hearing my parents saying, "God helps those who help themselves." But this is just the opposite of what the Bible says. The Bible truth is "God helps those who understand they can’t help themselves and cry out to God for it." Jesus was the righteous one. He died on behalf of us unrighteous ones and He is willing to give His righteousness to anyone who asks Him as a free gift, which leads us to the next accomplishment of Jesus’ death on the cross.

D. It was a reconciliatory event

The fourth accomplishment we see in Jesus’ death on the cross was that it was a reconciliatory event. A recon-what? The purpose of Christ’s death was to reconcile or bring together two groups. It was reconciliatory. Jesus through His death was able to bring people back to God. He was able to initiate a relationship between God the Father and us because of His death. Apart from Christ we are cut off from God. We are both born cut off from God and we choose to be cut from God. But the death of Christ has given us the opportunity to be joined back to God. We must be righteous to have a relationship with God, and Jesus put Himself in our place on the cross (for we deserved to suffer eternal punishment) and He offered His righteousness to us if we would but receive it. And this would reconcile us to God by making us completely righteous.

E. It was a cosmic event

The fifth accomplishment we see in Jesus’ death on the cross is that it was a cosmic event. Peter ends verse 18 with the phrase, He was "Put to death in the flesh and made alive in the spirit." This is declaring more than just Jesus’ death and resurrection. This phrase declares that Jesus finished His course on earth as a man among men and entered a new realm of authority by His resurrection from the dead. He had always been the Son of God, but now (as Paul says in Romans 1) He is the Son of God with power through the resurrection from the dead. His resurrection PROVED who He was all along. That is why it is a cosmic event. Jesus now received the authority over the entire universe. That Jesus now has all authority in heaven and on earth is the hope of the suffering believer in Christ. And this is what Peter discusses next.

2. Illustration of Noah’s Time (vv. 19-20)

The next illustration of hope that Peter gives us is the illustration of Noah’s time. We find this in verses 19 & 20. "In which He also went and made proclamations to the spirits in prison, who were once disobedient, when the patience of God kept waiting in the days of Noah." There have been several interpretations about just who these spirits were to whom Christ preached and what He preached. Whoever they are doesn’t change Peter’s illustration. Some believe that Christ preached after His resurrection to the individuals awaiting judgment those who had ignored Noah’s warning. If that were the case Jesus wasn’t preaching the gospel to them but was proclaiming the justness of their coming judgment. I think what Peter is saying is that Noah was preaching, through the spirit of Christ, to these people, who alive in his day. Regardless of how people understand these verses the illustration is the same. Why did Peter mention this? Peter wrote this to encourage his readers by the similarities between the time of Noah and their present time. In the same way, these similarities exist between Noah’s day and our day. And they can be an encouragement for us also. So we have to ask ourselves, "What are these similarities?"

A. The patience of God

The first similarity between Noah’s day and our day with which Peter wants to encourage us is the patience of God. Verse 20 says, "The patience of God kept waiting." The patience of God is the same today as it was in the days of Noah. For 120 years God stayed His judgment to give individuals ample time to repent before He sent a flood. God’s response of patience can be an encouragement to us because it demonstrates to us that there is still hope for those we think are too hardened for the gospel. For our family and those we know who are far from Christ, there is hope because God is patient. Jim D. as example. God is patient and there is hope for those we love who so far have not received the gospel. How many early Christians would have believed that a wicked man named Saul from Tarsus would ever have been saved. Yet the Lord’s patience prevailed and Saul or Paul, the apostle, was saved. That should bring us hope that no one is past the grace of God. No one has gone too far. God is not willing that any should perish.

B. The righteousness of Noah

The second similarity between Noah’s day and our day with which Peter wants to encourage us is the righteousness of Noah. Peter focuses on Noah because he and his family were the only individuals made righteous by God during that era immediately preceding the flood. Noah was a man who lived in a completely godless society. Out of the many millions of people, only eight even believed in God. Yet, the Bible says that Noah was a righteous man. He lived righteously before God in a society that didn’t care a wit for Him. Regardless of the surroundings, we can live in a manner pleasing to God. If there is not one person to whom you can talk who is a Christian at work, yet you can live for the Lord there. Having been an officer in the Navy I can testify that it was a place filled with wickedness, but . . . where the darkness is the greatest, light shines the brightest. I was able to live in the midst of a perverse group of people and be a testimony for Jesus Christ. We can live righteously in a wicked society. We don’t need to cave in to the wickedness in our society because people won’t understand us or think we are "holier than thou." No, all the more, as a society gets worse, we need to take more of a stand. And as the society continues to darken our stand will seem to be more radical to those around us. Remember how the residents of Sodom responded to Lot when he tried to protect his guests from their assault. They said, who is this stranger who is acting as our judge." Lot was only protecting those under his care, not judging them. Yet we will receive the same response as we seek to live for Christ in a godless society. Here is our hope. Noah, with the entire world around him in wickedness, lived a godly life. He was able to do so by God’s grace. You can live in a manner pleasing to God also. That was Noah’s life, this is our hope for encouragement. We can live righteously in a godless society.

C. The small number of believers

The third similarity between Noah’s day and our day with which Peter wants to encourage us is the small number of believers. The end of verse 20 says, "during the days of Noah, in which a few, that is, eight persons were brought safely through the water." Noah also faced the problem of conversions. Though he preached of coming judgment for 120 years, he saw only seven others join him in his cause. That’s what Peter meant when He said, "Only a few." Peter was reminding his readers by the illustration of Noah that there were not many saved in Noah’s day and their relatively few numbers were not an indication of God’s displeasure. Today we face that same thing. We often judge a church by its numbers (even if we don’t say it out loud). Our mind works that way. Look at how many they have, they must be doing a great work for God. On many a Sunday in the fall there are 50,000 plus people who go to a service at the Gillette Stadium. Their Sunday best is red/white and blue. But do we say that they are doing a work for God? No they draw a crowd because they have some great entertainment. Some church may be really big only because they have some great entertainment. I’m not saying that if some work is growing really big its not doing a work for God. But what I am saying is that numbers are not the determining factor in whether a group is doing a work for God. The truth is that whether we have 100 or 1000 the numbers are still very small compared to the number who are perishing without Christ. And Peter was encouraging His readers in the illustration of Noah that though their numbers were few and they were experiencing persecution by the many, they were not to give up. This is our encouragement in the midst of a large counter culture that opposes Christianity.

3. Illustration of Baptism’s Meaning (v. 21)

The third illustration of hope that Peter gives us in this passage is the illustration of baptism’s meaning. This is found in verse 21. "Corresponding to that baptism now saves you – not the removal of dirt from the flesh, but an appeal to God for a good conscience – through the resurrection of Jesus Christ." Peter first of all tells us what baptism isn’t. He says it is not the removal of dirt from the flesh. What does Peter mean by this? I don’t think Peter was telling his readers that this wasn’t a bath. I think they knew that baptism wasn't their daily washing routine to remove dirt. He didn’t have to explain that to them. What he was saying was this: "Baptism doesn’t remove the moral corruption of the flesh." In other words, it doesn’t take away sin. This is what Peter was explaining by the statement that it is not the "removal of dirt from the flesh." There is no cleansing of sin in baptism. It doesn’t have that significance. No ritual can cleanse us from sin. The Bible makes it clear that there is only forgiveness of sin through the shedding of blood. Paul said that very same thing in 1 Cor. 1. He said that Christ did not send him to baptize so that the cross of Christ would be made of no effect. If baptism was necessary to remove sin then surely Paul would have included it as part of his appeal in Romans where he said, "Whoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved." He would have said, "Whoever shall call upon the name of the Lord and be baptized shall be saved." Baptism does not remove sin, not even original sin.

But next Peter clarifies what baptism is. It is an appeal to God for a good conscience. It is a pledge out of a good conscience to submit to God, or put it in even simpler terms, an agreement to submit to God’s instruction to be baptized from a pure heart (that is from a heart already purified from sin). Baptism isn’t a request for God to cleanse our conscience, but out of a desire to obey the Spirit of God’s probing and be obedient to God.

So how does baptism save you? Peter says it is through the resurrection of Jesus Christ. The two phrases fit together in this sentence. You see the meaning of baptism was clear in the ancient world and was practiced regularly, not just as a "Christian" initiation but as a pagan one as well. Baptism was an identification with something or someone. In Baptism, in the ancient world, you were declaring your allegiance to that someone or something (do now see the importance of baptism in the ancient world?). In Christian baptism you were declaring that you now left your old life to follow Christ. You are now on God’s side. Sometimes it resulted in being disowned by family or friends. Someone who believed the Christian message was often baptized immediately. An individual, who wasn’t willing to show their allegiance to Christ outwardly, probably hadn’t given their allegiance inwardly. And it wasn't so much the fact that the baptism itself saved them, but it was their public identification with Christ declared in baptism. And so the point of baptism was declaring outwardly the decision that had been made inwardly. And so I say it again. Someone who wasn't willing to be baptized had probably not put his or her trust in Christ.

Peter makes sure that we understand the significance of Christ’s resurrection in all this. Your identifying with Christ would be worthless unless Christ had been raised from the dead. Otherwise, you would be identifying yourself with a dead man. This identification with the risen Christ is what saves you. In the ancient world, this identification was seen as one complete action (inward decision and outward baptism) and is reflected in Jesus’ statement in the gospels, "whoever confesses me before men, I will confess before my Father, but whoever denies me before men, I will deny before my Father in heaven.

So what is the hope that we derive from the illustration of baptism’s meaning? Peter says that we who identify with Jesus Christ, not only will identify and share with Him in His suffering, but we can rejoice that we will identify and share with Him in His resurrection. It is this hope that gives us the strength to press on in the midst of the suffering. When we suffer as Christians what can give us more hope than to realize that sometime this suffering will cease and we will spend eternity in a new resurrection body without the effects of sin being present.

4. Illustration of Christ’s Vindication (v. 22)

The fourth illustration of hope that Peter gives us in this passage is the illustration of Christ’s vindication in verse 22. Here Peter describes the final vindication of Jesus Christ. He is seen as at the place of all power and authority. He is at the right hand of God the Father. We see everything under His control, angels and authorities and powers are submitted to Him. He has been vindicated completely. Anyone who doubted the place of the Messiah has reason to fear because He has now ascended to His rightful place. Yes those who doubt will fear, but those who have trusted Him as their Savior have a great hope. In the same way that Jesus was vindicated, we too will be vindicated. We will be raised up with Him to rule and to reign with Him. This is our hope. This should cause us to rejoice in the midst of our suffering. Though we might be mistreated for the sake of Christ now, yet when the time comes we will be exalted to the side of Jesus Christ.

Peter has given us four hopes to which we can anchor ourselves. These hopes revealed in the illustrations of Christ’s suffering, Noah’s time, baptism’s meaning and Christ’s vindication bring us full circle in the theme of 1 Peter. Peter’s view is often focused on the future and though it may seem like pie in the sky it is really our hope for living today. We can have real meaning to our lives as we see those around us respond to our hope and come to trust Christ as their Savior. And even if those who persecute us now do not trust in Christ, we can rejoice in the fact that one-day we will be vindicated as well.

If you have become depressed at your circumstances instead of looking to Christ, let me encourage you today to reflect on the hope we have in Christ. We may not be in the majority technically, but you and God make a majority, no other vote counting. What Peter wants you to realize is that you are not alone when the Creator of the world is with you. This is the hope of Peter, this is the hope for the believer, for you who are suffering and you who are not.