1-6: We must always remember that Peter wrote a letter, not a book of the Bible with chapters and verses. In writing this letter, his thoughts flowed naturally and consecutively. It is no great surprise then that he ends 'chapter 3' with Christ on the throne, only to pick up the very next 'verse' with Him suffering in the flesh. To Peter it is a perfectly logical thing to do. "This Christ, then, since He suffered in the flesh...", he continues. This Christ, who ascended to power, subjecting all things to Himself, achieved His glory through the low road. God exalts the humble, He lifts up the downcast. Humble yourself before the Lord and He will raise you up. Christ, the King of all things by right, models this for us in the Cross. Peter is encouraging us here, and the encouragement is strong. Christ had to suffer. It was necessary that He do so, both to bring us salvation, and to pave the road to glory. That road is the road of death. But Jesus removed the sting. He took away death's victory. This means our suffering and our death can now achieve the glory that awaits us. The Dispersed Christians, to whom Peter is writing, were heavily persecuted, more than we can dream of. Lead before crowds and torn to pieces by animals. Brutal persecution. But this is the path we are given to walk, Jesus having walked it just before us. "This Jesus, who sits enthroned above the cherubim, having suffered in the flesh," this Jesus, has led the way home. Therefore have this mind in you, as Paul would say. Peter says, "Arm yourself with this way of thinking." Make this thought your armor, for you are about to go to war. What is this thought, this way of thinking? God exalts the humble, therefore have humility in suffering. It has been Peter's constant theme through this letter. Trust in the Author of all things. Obey His commands, and submit to His ways. Learn to see the end from the beginning. Our end, the purpose of our created lives is to bring God glory, and to live before Him for all of eternity. Just as Christ sits on the throne, so too we are given crowns. We are God's royal nation. That is our end. How do we get there? Through this veil of tears. We weep for those who suffer, and we weep in our own suffering. But it cannot break us. For death's one weapon, despair, has been broken, and the shards cannot penetrate our armor.
Our hope is this. Christ suffered and died. He conquered the grave and rose in glory. Therefore when we follow His lead and cross over that final river, we too are raised in glory. We are raised to a life that is free from sin, free from bondage. This is pictured in our earthly life as well. As Paul says, how can we who have died to sin, continue to live in it? We have a problem with this however. I believe we have heard this so much that one of two things happen. Either we seek to try harder and do more, recognizing our inability to stop sinning, and motivated by that guilt, or we throw in the towel, burdened by the guilt to the point of despair. But we need do neither. I believe both apostles are giving us words of gospel hope, not marching orders. When we hear the question, "How can we continue to live in sin?" we often think Paul is exhorting us to stop sinning, and of course he is. But primarily he is reminding us of our status before God. First he is telling us that we are no longer defined by sin. If we were once A, and have now been called B, how can we continue to be called A? Abraham was not called Abram after God changed his name. Sarah was never again called Sarai. If you take a white piece of cloth and dye it red, do you continue to say it is white? No. We can no longer be defined by our old natures. The Old Man has been put to death. Adam died. Jesus was raised. We who were once called Adam, are now called Jesus. We just are. It is not first and foremost a call to stop sinning. It is before all else a call to rest. Rest. Rest in Jesus. Of course you should stop sinning, but that cannot fully happen till after you die anyway, so just rest in Him. The more we rest in Him, the less we will be enamored with this world, and the less we will sin.
This is all well and good on paper, you might say. But what does this mean for me? Here and now? Changing this dirty diaper? Dealing with this issue at work? Sitting at this stop light that isn't changing fast enough? We have all been given different lives and different personalities with different struggles and different temptations to sin. It is the majesty of the Father. He weaves together such disparate lives in the tapestry of His people, but in doing so makes them one. The foundational truth remains. You have died to sin. You who were once 'A', are now 'not A'. This changes everything, from how we view dirty diapers to our attitudes towards stoplights. Do we live with respect to our own desires? Do we live insisting on our own way? Do we inhabit a Me-centered universe? How would our friends and family answer that question? Our lives no longer belong to us. It is not up to us what we do. We belong to Christ and He has given us things to do, and people to see. And so we approach every moment of our lives as a gift from the Father. And with that gift, we first say thank you. Thank you for this dirty diaper. Thank you for this issue at work. Thank you for this malfunctioning stoplight. If our first response is not gratitude it is grumbling. There is no middle road. Therefore we must live life giving thanks for every moment given to us. If this is our attitude in all things then the temptation to see our own fleshly wills at the center will diminish. It is the glory of giving thanks. It turns our eyes outward, first toward God, then toward others. Therefore the answer to your question is this. We are new creations. We are called to rest in Jesus. Give thanks for all things and in all things. The peace of God which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and your minds in Jesus. The answer again is this: Draw near to God. He will draw near to you.
Back to our text. We must not live as we used to, as unbelievers still do. Our actions must give testimony to the transforming power of the Spirit. As Peter says, the time for that is over. The time for self-worship is over. The time for self-gratification is over. And when we abstain, our former brothers in the devil are surprised. They cannot believe we would choose to live our lives differently. They are startled by the hope that is within us. It is stark because deep down they recognize the lack of hope within their own soul. Their only recourse in the flesh is to mock, to draw their attention away from their own empty pit of a life. This becomes the source of our suffering. Mockery takes many forms, from benign to diabolical. Still, it is Christ being mocked by the Roman guards all over again. This is the suffering that remains for us, the suffering we share in if we are in Christ. Therefore we must hold fast and remember that their words carry no water. They will be judged at the last day. They will be held accountable for every idle word. They will have to give an account of every slander and every lie. And justice will be upheld. So do not worry about the world. Trust in Jesus the Firstfruits. In Him we are free.
Having this freedom, we have the tools to preach the gospel. This was the strength given the apostles after the ascension of Jesus. All things are being made new. Jesus now sits in power over all things. He has been given not only dominion and authority, but a kingdom as well, so that all peoples and nations and languages should serve Him. So we, who have been transformed by the power of the Spirit, are given not only to share in His suffering, but in His ministry as well. We are dead to sin. Sin can no longer define us. This reality we are to live out before all men, so that by our love for one another they will know who it is we serve. Our very lives then become evangelistic in nature. We preach the Gospel with our tongues, our hands, and our feet. And when the Good News is heard, and the heavens rejoice as the sinner repents and trusts in the Lord, the living temple, which is the very temple of God, grows. The mustard seed takes another step forward in becoming a great tree.
This is our lasting hope. As we who have been given the Spirit of Life approach death, we do so full of hope. All religions exist to answer the question, "What happens after I die?" The only true religion tells us we go to meet our Maker. All will die. It is the way of all flesh. Our flesh will see corruption. But it will also see resurrection. We die to live. We enter the grave and enter glory. Going downhill we find we have reached the top of the mountain. This is the grace of God. The valleys have been raised up, and the mountains have been made low. He has come. He will come again. To Him be all praise and glory.
