A Deep Dive On Our Hope in Christ | 1 Peter 3:18-22 | Pastor Andrew Coleman | 02/01/2026

There couldn't be a more appropriate

psalm song um than that which we've just

sung for our service this morning. I'm

going to ask our men to go ahead and

come forward as we uh want to prepare

our time uh and get our notes together.

Um Marcy, I need my notes right there. I

got away from them. Um so if you would,

thank you very much, Vanna. I appreciate

that. uh this morning that we come to a

beautiful passage of scripture that we

have really just sung about. If you

don't have notes, lift your hand and

these guys will get it to you. We're

going to look at what Peter gives us in

what I've entitled a deep dive on our

hope in Christ. So, what we've just been

singing about is setting our hope on

Christ. And that is exactly what Peter

leads us to in the passage that we're

going to study. We've been looking at

this little letter of First Peter that

was written to people who were being

persecuted. They were being persecuted

in the first century. If you missed

Wednesday night, you really missed it.

It was a beautiful time together as we

unpacked a little bit more of what

persecution looked like in the Roman

Empire. But not just what persecution

looked like, but listen to this. Even

better, even deeper, even more supreme

was this,

the faith that God gives to people when

they're being persecuted. The faith that

God gives, as we will see here, and the

way in which he gives it to those who

are suffering for his name's sake. Now

some of us are in this room are

suffering with um physical illnesses,

medical illnesses. Some of us are

suffering with various other pressures

of life, relationships or maybe it's

financial issues or other things that

are internal maybe not physical but more

mental or emotional struggles. There's a

lot of different ways in which we can

suffer. Now Peter is writing primarily

about our suffering as a result from

outside attack of actual persecution

being mocked. We have people in the life

of our church that are mocked on a

weekly basis by either friends or

family. We say friends um maybe

co-workers. Um we have people in our

church who have been demoted. We have

people in our church who have lost their

jobs because of their faith. We have

people in our church who um have

strained relationships

um with family because of their faith.

And so this morning as we look at

Peter's

call to remain steadfast in Christ, to

submit ourselves to the government, to

submit ourselves to our employment,

submit ourselves to family life, and

then he says, most of all, to submit

yourself to your church family

so that you can have the hope that God

has called you to. Look at the overview

in context. Now, for some of you,

especially if you're brand new to us,

maybe this is your first Sunday here,

what's about to happen is, I think,

going to be shocking. And I say that

because every Sunday when somebody is

new here, multiple people are new here,

and they see the way we preach during

this time, the way we study the Bible

during this time, you're usually shocked

that there's how many pages here?

There's three pages of notes. I've never

seen that before. Um, I understand. I

really do understand. But why do we do

that? Because God's word is so rich.

It's so deep. It's so powerful. And you

can understand it if you will take the

time to look at it. If you will take the

time to read it, and if you will submit

yourself to the teaching and the

preaching of God's word, the reason we

do this is because God's word is the

most important thing in our lives.

There's nothing more important. The

grass withers, the flower fades, but the

word of our God stands forever. My

friends, your house is not going to make

it with you out of this world. Your car

is not. Your favorite pictures, your

favorite little letters, your momentos,

all of the things that you like so much,

your 401k or your social security, none

of that is going to make it out of this

life. There's one, excuse me, there's

two things that are going to make it out

of this life. The first one is the word

of God. It stands forever. And the souls

of people. Those are the only two things

that leave the earth. Everything else

stays. And so this is why we devote

ourselves to this word. It is rich. It's

good. You can understand it. It's why we

teach it. And we want to see this. So I

want us to see that this section. First

of all, look up there at the top in the

above the box. It says first Peter 3.

And then what verses are there? What

does it say? 18

>> 18- 22. So last week we were looking at

the section just before this. But when

we come to this section that is here, I

want you to see this because it is

different and it is um it is uh very

interesting and we're going to look at

it. Look at this. The first bullet point

under this is this is one of the densest

write that in densest

christoologgical passages in the New

Testament. Now right above the word

christoologgical it is who is Christ?

Who is Christ? What has he done? That's

what christologology studies is who is

Jesus? Who is Christ? And so this

passage is super dense with who Jesus

is. And this is really important. We'll

see why. Look at the next one here.

Peter is deep diving on Christ's life,

underline that, and Christ's work to

what? Encourage his suffering readers.

So all of us who live in a fallen world,

which is all of us, we are going to

suffer because the world is fallen. It

is tough. I was walking across the

parking lot with a friend today and I

said, "How's work going?" He said,

"Well, it's kind of tough." He said,

"It's kind of a toxic environment." How

many of you have ever worked in a toxic

environment? Anybody ever worked in a

toxic environment? Do you know what? I

think we all work in a toxic

environment. Why? Because that we live

in a fallen world. We live in a world

that has fallen into sin. And so, who's

toxic?

I am. Can you put a little finger above

your head?

>> You are. We're all toxic.

>> We We We all are sinners. And especially

if Christ is ch has redeemed us and he's

changing us. It things should be getting

better. We shouldn't be as toxic as we

could be or as we once were because he's

changing us. But without Christ, we

certainly can be. So organizations,

governments, businesses, hospitals, uh,

entities of all kinds are very often

toxic environments because there's

people there. There's people there. And

so Peter is is writing to encourage us

and he deep dives on who Jesus is and

what he did in order to help us see the

reason for our hope. Look at the third

bullet point there. Peter stacks. And

this is quite a list here. I put it in

blue on the screen, but I've underlined

it on your outline. Notice these. And

some of you are going to say, "Well,

what do those words mean?" I don't know

what those words mean. But but just

notice this. Peter stacks atonement,

resurrection,

proclamation,

judgment,

salvation, history,

baptism, and even exaltation into these

five verses. All of this is here. I

mean, there are big concepts here. What

is he doing? He's saying, "Let me help

you see the reason for your hope." And

he packs in these things about Christ.

So, this is super thick. And it's not

just super thick and dense, but listen,

write it down. It's super rich, too.

It's super rich. It's super worthy. It's

it's packed with good things. And so

I want you to see that Peter is helping

us have the reason for our hope. Look at

this main theme. I love this main theme.

Look at this.

Because Christ triumphed through

suffering

and now reigns in glory, believers can

endure suffering

with what? Confident hope. We've just

been singing about that. We've just been

singing about the fact that when trials

come and when they are deep, in fact,

I'm going to go back to one of the songs

that we just sang in this. When trials

come and they are deep, listen to this

in verse two. It says this

um or in verse one. I want to look at

verse one first. Look what it says. When

this life of trials tests my faith, I

will set my hope on Jesus. That's what

this passage is about. When the

questions come and doubts remain, I set

my hope on Jesus

for the deepest wounds

that time

won't heal. How many times have you

heard somebody say, "Well, you know,

time has a way of healing all wounds."

That's not true.

There are some wounds

that time will not heal.

It will remain a wound. Now, there's not

a lot of those, but there are some of

those. Time will heal most wounds. But,

but this one is saying in that third

section there, it says, "For the deepest

wounds that time won't heal, there's a

look what it says. Read it out loud.

What is that last line? There's a joy

that runs still deeper.

You see, this is the way of Christ. This

is the life

of Christ.

There's a truth that's [snorts] more

than all I feel.

I set my hope on Jesus. You see, your

feelings can deceive you. Everybody,

your feelings can make you think that

there's no hope. your feelings, our

emotions when we don't always need more

emotions. A lot of times we need truth.

>> We need the facts of truth. And so

that's what that is saying. There's a

truth that runs that that that's more

than all I feel. I set my hope on Jesus.

And so, and then the chorus says, "I set

my hope on Jesus, my rock, my only

trust, who set his heart upon me first.

I set my hope on Jesus." Amen. And so,

that's really I want you to see this

main theme that we're looking at.

Because Christ triumphed through

suffering and now reigns in glory,

believers can endure suffering with

confident hope, knowing that salvation,

judgment, and vindication belong to him.

So last week, what we looked at was

verses 13-1 17 where Peter said, "Don't

fear those who harm you. You don't have

to fear them, but instead honor Christ

the Lord as holy. And that means honor

him as supreme. He's set apart. He's

greater. He's bigger than everything

else. Holy means not like the rest. So

he's bigger than any others that are

going to harm you. He's saying, "Honor

Christ. The Lord is holy." Now today,

look at this. We see in verses 18- 22,

here is the theological proof for why

you don't have to fear those who are

going to harm you. Here's the here's the

thick, dense reason that you don't have

to fear. Now, I I believe that as we

study this this morning, as we break it

down, as we look at it, and if you will

take the time to look at this, not only

this morning during this message, but if

you will take this this week and kind of

think through it, young people, middle

school, high school, college, I this can

be part of the great foundation of your

life because you don't just look at it

lightly.

you don't just kind of look at the

gospel lightly about your life, but when

suddenly you're in the middle of the

semester and you're out of money and mom

and dad have said, "Okay, we've given

you a lot. You're going to have to work

it out yourself." And so you're trying

to get a job and then you realize there

are two textbooks you haven't even

bought yet. Which I found myself in that

condition one time in one semester when

I was in seminary when I was in college.

And then I failed two midterm exams. And

then I was looking at all of the

pressure that was coming my way on this.

And part of it was because I was rather

undisiplined in my study. I enjoyed

playing volleyball at midnight or

hanging around and debating various

things. And so I had kind of made a

mess. And here I was under a lot of

pressure. And that went on for sometimes

months of trying to work it out and grow

up.

Whether it's

the troubles of a college student

or whether it's now you're looking at

divorce

or now you're looking at bankruptcy

or now you're looking at cancer

or now you're looking at paralysis.

the the troubles of life, whether light

and but seemingly great or whether truly

great, we can see that there's a reason

for us to have hope. And that's what

this passage is about. So, it's worth

you diving in and seeing it this

morning. The theological reason for our

hope. Let's read the passage. Notice

here 1 Peter chapter 3 and verse 18.

1 Peter 3 · chapter mention

Look what it says. So again, this is

this is Peter saying, "Here's why you

can trust the Lord and and you don't

have to be afraid of those who harm you.

Or you don't have to be afraid of the

trials that come your way." Here's why.

For Christ also suffered once for sins,

the righteous for the unrighteous,

that he might what?

>> Can you underline that? That he might

bring us to God.

>> That's huge.

that we we we were enemies of God, but

he brings us to God.

And how did he do it? Christ was being

put to death in the flesh, but he was

made alive in the spirit.

Verse 19, in which he went and

proclaimed to the spirit in prison. What

in the world does that mean? We're going

to look at that in just a minute. Verse

20. Because they formerly did not obey

when God's patience waited in the days

of Noah, while the ark was being

prepared. Yes, Noah's ark was being

prepared in which a few, that is eight

persons

were brought safely through the water.

So, it's going back to salvation history

of how God rescued Noah and his family

in the midst of all of their

persecution, in the midst of a wicked

world that was against God and against

them.

But God God rescued him and he's saying

God's going to rescue you. Look at verse

21. Baptism, which corresponds to this,

and we'll see why and how it corresponds

to this. This is very deep. Baptism,

which corresponds to this, now saves you

not as a removal of dirt from the body,

but as an appeal to God for a good

conscience through the resurrection of

Jesus Christ. Underline that. Through

the resurrection of Jesus Christ. So how

does that come about? It comes about

through the power of Christ. Look verse

22. who has gone into heaven and is at

the right hand of God with angels and

authorities and powers

having been subjug subject subjected to

him. So all of those angels, authorities

and powers are now subjected to the

reigning Lord. So this is why you can

have hope. Let's look and see how this

all fits together. Notice this. How does

this logic flow? How does this fit

together? Here's Peter's logic. Number

one, we looked at this last week. You

are suffering unjustly

or you're suffering in a fallen world.

Um, we saw that last week. So, how can

we have hope? Number two, so did Christ.

Christ suffered, too. He truly suffered.

In fact, he suffered greater than you

have ever suffered or ever will suffer.

the sinless son of God nailed to a

cross, put to ultimate shame and

rejected by everyone. Look at this. But

his suffering was purposeful and

victorious.

And so number three, his death led to

resurrection, not defeat. So he wasn't

defeated on the cross. This is amazing.

This is the power of God. It led to

resurrection. This is the true power of

God. Number four, his re resurrection

declared victory over all spiritual

rebellion. And let me remind you, it's

spiritual rebellion that brought all of

our trials and all of our trouble

because sin entered the world, pain

entered the world, defeat entered the

world, trouble entered the world. Number

five, God has always saved his people

through judgment,

not exemption from it. And we're going

to see this. Noah's ex is one of the

ones that is giving as an example here.

God saves us through his judgment. And

this is made. We'll see what that means

in just a minute. Number six, your

baptism marks your union with this

victorious Christ. Circle the word

union. Your baptism marks your union

with this victorious Christ. And Peter

is saying because you are united with

Christ. Because you are one with Christ,

you share his victory. May not feel like

it right now. It may be really hard. But

then you start to see that even when I

have wounds that time won't heal.

H there's a joy that still by the grace

of God runs deeper than those wounds

because of what? Because of Christ. And

so number seven, that Christ now reigns

over every power, including the powers

that beset your soul, including the

powers that attack your life. This is

the Christ who reigns over him. Okay, so

let's dive into the passage. Number one,

Christ's suffering was substitutionary

and it was final. This is the reason you

can have hope. He died in your place.

And for those who are in Christ, he died

so you don't have to. And we're not

talking about physical death. We're

talking about spiritual death. Something

far, far greater. It's appointed unto

man once to die and then comes the

judgment. Well, what about that

judgment? That's a judgment that either

leads to life in Christ and eternal life

or that's a judgment that leads into

eternal separation from God and

condemnation from God. Notice this in

verse 18 and this is where we get it.

Christ's suffering was substitutionary

and final. Look what it says. For Christ

also suffered once for sins. And then it

describes that suffering. The righteous

put below that Jesus. The righteous for

the unrighteous. Put below that me. And

don't put Andrew there. Put your name

there.

Yes. My name goes there on my sheet.

Your name goes there on your sheet.

Look at the verse again. For Christ also

suffered once for sins the righteous. He

is the righteous for the unrighteous.

And for what purpose? You underlined

this on the front side. That he might

bring us to God.

>> That he may rescue us for eternity.

Peter's reminding us in the midst of

your pain, in the midst of your trouble,

he has overcome these things to bring

you to God. And when you're brought to

God, there's nothing in this world

that can take you from him. There's

nothing in this world that can take his

plan and his joy over your life. So,

let's look at that first phrase, once

for sins. This is final. It's the

sufficient atonement. The word atonement

means to satisfied. So the wrath of God

is satisfied. Your sin [snorts] debt is

satisfied before God because of Jesus

Christ once for sins. Look at Hebrews

Hebrews 9 · chapter mention

chapter 9 in verse 26. Look what it

says. For then he would have to suffer

repeatedly since the foundation of the

world. But as it is, he has appeared

once. Underline that. He has appeared

once for all at the end of the ages to

put away sin by the sacrifice of

himself. I love that. To put away sin.

That means to remove it by the sacrifice

of who? Himself. By the sacrifice of

that's what Christ has done. Hebrews

Hebrews 9 · chapter mention

chapter 9 is talking about the glories

of Christ and the fact that he doesn't

have to come and die over and over again

like the bulls and the goats. Finally,

all the sacrifices of the bulls and the

goats are over. And Christ doesn't have

to die over and over again. He came to

die for all of those before him and he

came to die for all of those who would

come after him.

That's why that cross is behind us right

now this morning behind me in front of

you. The picture is this. This was the

final and and lasting sacrifice by which

we are made holy. So look at me Hebrews

Hebrews 10 · chapter mention

chapter 10 and verse 10. I want you to

read that out loud with me together.

Let's read that. Hebrews 10:10. Are you

Hebrews 10:10

ready? Let's read it. And by that will

we have been sac sanctified through the

offering of the body of Christ once for

all. Underline that. Once for all. And

it's through the body of Jesus Christ.

His bodily crucifixion

was for us. So this is once for sins.

Look at the next one. The righteous for

the unrighteous. We've already talked

about that. You see, we were

substituted. This is called the

substitution.

Jesus didn't just die as an example to

you. Jesus died as a substitute for you.

He died and took the wrath of God so

that those who believe in him could

escape the wrath of God. This is

amazing. This is why it's called good

news.

the gospel that we believe in what is

called the substitutionary atonement of

Christ. These are some of the main

passages that support the doctrine

called the substitutionary

atonement of Christ. He died in our

place.

The righteous for the unrighteous. Look

at the third one here. That he what is

the reason? That he might bring us to

God. And so what's the goal here?

reconciliation

to be brought back to God. God was with

man in the garden. Everything was good.

It was good. It was good. It was good.

If you read the Genesis passage, it was

all beautiful. It was all good. It

wasn't finally finished good until Eve

was made. Our our discipleship groupship

group was talking about that this week.

Have you ever thought about this? That

woman was the last creation in God's

entire created plan. It's beautiful. I

mean ladies, God's plan for you and

God's plan and the specialness of who

you are was that you would be the ex the

last thing and the last thing created in

all of the universe was the idea of God

saying this. And then what did he say

after all of that? It was very good.

Women came to complete the creation

story in this um it's a great thing and

every guy in here ought to go amen.

What a blessing that God would give us

and that you know Adam was incomplete.

Adam could not there there was much he

could not do without Eve. But when Eve

was brought into his life, when when

this was brought together, he was

complete. What a beautiful picture of

God's grace and all of the meaning that

that would eventually come as husband

and wife come together, showing, listen,

the whole picture of husband and wife

coming together was to show us in an

earthly way what God wants between

heaven and earth. that God would be the

great bridegroom and that we would be

the bride, the bride of Christ that God

gets. So God gives us um this earthly

example for a heavenly relationship.

It's a beautiful plan of God. So he

brings us to reconcile us after our sin

has separated us. So it's not merely he

forgives us, but he says, "I forgive you

and I bring you back to me." Um, this is

God's great point. Now, in this sermon

today, I'm I'm making a point underneath

each one of those, and I want you to see

this. Here's Peter's point. Here's

Peter's point in that verse 18a.

As Christ's suffering had great purpose,

and what was it? It secured your access

to God. So, your suffering has great

purpose uh great and promised purposes

too. And James 1 tells us that we can

give thanks for our trials knowing that

the testing of our faith produces some

very wonderful fruit. God has a plan for

our persecution. God has a plan for our

suffering. And uh you're not suff if

you're a believer, you're not suffering

for no reason. Double negative. I

realize that. Um, the other way to say

it is if you're if you're a believer and

you're suffering, you are suffering for

a reason. And God is sovereign over it.

He knows what he's doing. And if we will

listen to him instead of fighting

against him, we can begin to see the

beauty of his goodness and his love for

us and his plan for us even in our pain,

even in our suffering. So your suffering

has great and promised purposes too. Um

second R Roman numeral as we come to

verse 18 the end of that verse um

Christ's death was not defeat but the

path to resurrection life and that's

what Peter is saying to us he said

Christ was being put to death in the

flesh but made alive in the spirit and

so this is the way in which resurrection

life comes to us so clarification is is

it's not just flesh versus spirit or

sinful versus holy, but rather it's

this. It's that we are in the sphere of

death versus in the sphere of

resurrection power. You see, when Jesus

Christ died on the cross and rose again,

he brought, listen, resurrection hope,

resurrection power to a world that was

broken in sin. And so, we would have had

no hope of ever being restored to God.

We would have had no hope for our pain

to ever mean anything, for it to have

any lasting value beyond just the sheer

pain of what it is. When Christ

overcomes our sin and death, he brings a

hope. And that's what Peter wants us to

see. This resurrection power is the

reason that you can have hope over the

people who are persecuting you or over

the troubles of a sinful and fallen

world. This is this is beautiful. We no

longer live in the sphere of death.

Listen, we live in the sphere of

resurrection life. That's what Peter is

trying to say.

Notice the next part here. Jesus truly

died physically and he truly lives

physically by resurrection power. And

you can too. This is a beautiful truth.

Look at Romans chapter 1. At the very

Romans 1 · chapter mention

beginning of Romans, Paul is saying,

"I'm a bondervant of Christ." Um, and

then he goes on speaking of Jesus

Christ. Look at this. He says, "God, um,

concerning verse three, concerning his

son." So, this is the son of God who was

descended from David according to what?

>> The flesh. So, he comes through the line

of King David.

And then look at verse four. And he was

declared to be the son not of David but

the son of God in power according to the

spirit of holiness. And how was he

declared to be God's son? Through his

resurrection.

By his resurrection from the dead, Jesus

Christ our Lord. If Christ was not

raised from the dead, we would have no

hope. Jesus wouldn't be the son of God.

But because Jesus Christ was raised from

the dead, we have resurrection hope.

This is the son of God. And this is the

great proof that he was the son of God

when God raises him from the dead. So

look at this. Peter's point is this.

What looks like loss, that is Christ

being crucified, is actually the doorway

to victory. So what looks like loss is

actually the doorway to victory.

Roman numeral number three. And we find

this in verses 19 and 20. In fact, why

don't you flip the page back over and

look at the box? I want to read verse 19

and 20 together. So you can see them all

together for just a second there. In the

box on the page, look at verse 19.

speaking of Jesus, he was put to um put

to death in the flesh but made alive in

the spirit. Verse 19, in which we went

and proclaimed in which he went and

proclaimed to the spirits in prison.

Verse 20. Because they formerly did not

obey when God's patience

when God's patience waited in the days

of Noah while the ark was being prepared

in which a few that is eight persons

were brought safely through water. Now

at first that can seem confusing. What

is this talking about? But here let's

see what it's talking about. Roman

number three is this. Christ's victory

was proclaimed to spiritual powers.

To spiritual powers. So now we're

looking at there were these spirits that

had been deceiving the earth and had

brought a great deception upon the

earth. And there were people of great

rebellion upon the earth, rebelling

against God, doing all that was evil and

and unholy. And God said, "I will wipe

this out.

I will start over,

but I'm going to have a tiny little

remnant

by which I'm going to start over." And

he le he leads a man of God, Noah, a man

of faith,

and his family to build an ark. And

friends, this isn't just a strange story

from the Old Testament for no reason.

God, this is what is called salvation

history. God is showing us his heart of

salvation toward mankind. And so he has

a plan to show us even with a physical

arc of a of a boat of salvation.

A plan of salvation that involves listen

obedience

of a sinful man. Noah was not sinless.

Noah was a sinner just like you and me.

But he was a man of faith and he heard

from God instructions from God on to

build a boat. He had never seen a boat.

He had never rained on the earth before.

But he did what God told him to do. Go

back and read the early part of Genesis.

And this is a picture for all of

humanity following it to understand that

this is a God of salvation and grace.

And so the great meaning of Noah, the

great meaning of the ark, the great

meaning of this is that he overcomes the

spiritual forces of wickedness

in both inside the heart of man and

outside the heart of man in this. And so

he comes and he proclaims this. So this

Lord Jesus would proclaim the victory

over this. And the word proclaim here,

look what it says here in verse 19 and

20. Here's what Jesus did. And this is

just right under that line there of

Roman numeral number three. In which he

went, this speaking of Jesus,

in which he went and proclaimed

to the spirits in prison. Okay, there's

a few different things that this could

mean, but most scholars would agree that

this is talking about the wicked and

evil spirits deceiving humanity before

the flood and they were put in a prison.

And so Jesus when he dies on the cross,

listen, and rises again from the dead,

we see this that in this moment of his

victorious death that is going to bring

life that Jesus proclaims

judgment to those wicked forces. And

part of what Peter wants us to see here

is that Jesus is reigning over all of

the wickedness that's in the spiritual

heavenlies that is around us. Why would

we say this? Jesus is not going and

preaching

um yugalitzo. That means to declare good

news to captives. To declare good news

to announce, look what it says here. To

announce the good news. That's not the

word. That's not the verb the uh Greek

word that is used but instead the Greek

word that is used is coruso and coruso

is to pronounce judgment

to pronounce judgment. And so Jesus goes

and pronounces judgment to the evil um

spirits that are in prison. Um these

aren't people these aren't the souls of

people that are in prison. These are the

souls of authorities and powers of

perhaps demons that have been that have

been uh part of Satan's army of

deception in the world. And so what we

see and what Peter wants us to see here

is that you can have hope in the midst

of your trouble because not only has

Christ overcome the people of the earth

that are against you, but Christ has

overcome the wicked powers of evil that

are beset upon the earth. That's part of

what we see in this. You see, the

spirits fill this in are disobedient

supernatural beings. And you can go back

and read about them in Genesis

6. And they are now imprisoned and they

are awaiting a judgment. They're

awaiting a judgment. We'll be looking at

that a little bit more on Wednesday

night. What is this? How is this? Who

are these people? What is the timeline

of what is going to happen here? Here we

see that they are awaiting a judgment.

And Jesus goes to them and pronounces to

them in his victory over sin and death.

He pronounces to them judgment. These

are demonic powers that are judged. So

Peter's point, here's Peter's point. No

hostile power, human or spiritual,

escaped Christ's triumph.

And because of this, and this goes with

verse 22, which is the last one we'll

see here um in just a second, we see

Christ fill it in cosmic authority.

That means of all the worlds, of all the

universe, we see Christ's cosmic

authority over all. That's actually what

we sang at the beginning of this

service, that he is high king. He's king

and lord over all. So, praise God that

he wants us to see and experience his

victory. Notice Roman numeral number

four.

And this is on your last page there.

Look at this. We see God's saving

patience, his saving patience in the

past. And it explains salvation in the

present for us. Look at verse 20.

Because they formerly did not obey when

God's what?

>> Patience waited in the days of Noah

while the ark was being prepared in

which a few that is eight persons were

brought safely through the water. Peter

is deep diving down into God's salvation

history. Verse 21, baptism which come

corresponds to this now saves you not as

a removal of dirt from the body but as

an appeal to God for a good conscience.

This is true cleansing. Put below that

true cleansing. That he can fix your

conscience. He can fix your heart

through the resurrection of Jesus

Christ. Not through you doing better.

Not through you trying harder. Not

through you vanquishing your foes in

your life. No, our victory, our hope,

our cleansing, our heart getting be made

being made right is through what? The

resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Because that's what it takes to fix a

broken sinful human heart. And so what

we see in these verses is as he as he

draws on God's patience, this is

interesting. He brings that up. Look at

verse 19. Because they formerly did not

obey when God's patience waited in the

days of Noah while the ark was being

prepared in which a few that is eight

persons would be brought safely through

the water. And so this is a typological

connection. If you become a student of

the Bible, which I hope you are, there

is something called typology.

And in typology, we see this throughout

the Bible that there's types and there's

anti-types. And I want you to see this a

little bit as we look at types and

anti-ypes. Forward the slide. Um, this

is a typological connection. And I want

you to see what it is. Now, a biblical

type is this. Look at the screen in

front of you. This is not on your

outline. A biblical type is a real

person, an event or an institution that

God designed to what?

To foreshadow a later and greater

fulfillment. So there's a type in the

past and then there comes later an

antityype and it's the fulfillment of

that. It's the it's the greater picture

and that antitype does this. It

completes and surpasses the older type.

So look at the next slide.

We see Adam, the first man, but then we

see Christ, the the infinite God man. So

the Bible says that there's the first

Adam, and then there's the second Adam.

And who is the second Adam? Christ.

Christ, the one who wouldn't sin.

Christ, the one who would be perfect.

And then we also see Noah like we see

here. There's Noah who God uses to bring

salvation for a humanity. And what does

that point to? It points to the

salvation of the Messiah of Christ. We

see Moses. What is Moses often called?

The deliverer. He delivers them out of

the the land of Egypt. Delivers them out

of bondage and slavery. And so what is

Moses representing? He's representing

one who delivers us from our sin.

The Passover lamb associated with Noah,

Moses, associated with leaving Egypt.

The Passover lamb, this lamb that would

be offered and its blood would be put

over the doorway of every Hebrew home in

Egypt. And the doorway that had that

death would not come to those homes.

This is a type of Christ. that is just

pointing to the fulfiller, the fulfiller

of it, the greater one of it. How about

the Sabbath? The Sabbath is given to us

so that we might see the greater rest

that we can have in Christ. How about

this? The promised land. The promised

land is promised to the people of Israel

for what purpose? to show us that there

is a promised land that is an eternal

inheritance, not an earthly inheritance.

So when we when we go through the

salvation history of the Bible, Peter

wants us to see that God is at work, he

can be trusted when he says, "Trust me."

When he says, "Trust me," you can trust

in him. Why? because he is the one who

died once and for all, the just for the

unjust to set us free. And he has power.

And he preaches to the resurrection um

and he preaches his proclamation

to not only those who need to be saved,

but to those who are condemned. So

notice this and fill this in. God

pronounced judgment, but waited

120 years for Noah to build the ark. He

was going to destroy everyone and he had

decided to destroy everyone. But he

waited 120 years while Noah worked on

that ark. Go read it for yourself. So

what we see is this this Noah is

pointing to the baptism that we have in

Christ. God used water to judge the

world. It represents death and judgment.

God used water to to judge the world.

Then God used, look at this, the ark to

save the sinners. And what is the ark in

Noah's faith? It is all pointing to

Jesus Christ, the one who would save

God's people. So salvation came through

judgment. It didn't go around it. Think

about this with me. When God decided to

flood the world in the example now that

we're looking at of Noah, God did not

say, "Okay, Noah, I see that you believe

in me. I see that you have faith. I see

that you're willing to obey me. And so,

I'm just going to take you in my hand

and hold you up in the in the heavens

somewhere in the skies above the earth.

And I'm going to let the waters come

from the deep and from the membrane

perhaps around the world. And I'm going

to flood the world. I'm just going to

hold you in my hand and um and then I'm

going to let the after everything dies

that I want died killed so that we can

start over and then I will just set you

down on mount ararat with my hand and do

that. That's not what God did.

God gave instructions to Noah that

listen to this that Noah by faith obeyed

those instructions.

Noah by faith obeyed the instructions

perfectly as God had called him to do.

He put a door in the ark. Everything

went into the ark as God planned. And

then it says that before the rains

started, when everybody was safely in

the ark, you know what it says? Noah

didn't close the door. His sons did not

close the door. You know what it says?

God closed the door.

That means that his plan of all those

who are going to be saved is done. And

you know, they didn't have 3M5200

marine sealant in that day in order to

seal that door so it wouldn't leak. And

I think God miraculously sealed that

door so it would not leak.

And then we come and we see fast forward

a few thousand years and Jesus looks at

the people that are there in the crowd

and he says,

"I'm the door.

I'm the door that leads to life.

Those who come through me have eternal

life. I'm the door." It is a beautiful,

beautiful picture of God's salvation.

self out salvation. It's not that Noah

was taken out of the judgment. Noah went

through the judgment in the ark of

safety.

He was riding on the waters. The waters

lifted up and the waters were around

them and he felt it. But he was saved

through this. And that's part of what we

see here. Look at verse 20 again.

because they formerly did not obey when

God's patients waited upon the days of

Nonah while the ark was being prepared

in which a few that is ate were brought

safely what does it say there through

the water they went through the judgment

Noah went through the judgment those who

are followers of Christ in 2026 are

still we are going through the judgment

of a fallen world that's why there's

pain that's why there's sorrow that's

why there's hardship And that's why

there's still death. That's why there's

war. That's why there's disunityity.

That's why there's our hearts are broken

sometimes. Listen, we are going through

the judgment. But listen, we have a an

arc in which we're in by faith. And it

is Jesus Christ.

He is the ark to safety.

Noah went through the flood. We go

through the judgment, but we are safe in

Christ.

That's what Peter is saying.

Trust in him. I know, I know it's thick.

I know it's a little heavy, but Peter is

saying some great things here for us to

understand this this foundation.

So, the important clarification here we

need to make is that Peter explicitly

rejects baptismal regeneration.

Baptismal regeneration is the idea that

what happened

um this morning in the baptism that that

is not what saved our brother being

baptized today is not what saved him.

What saved him was his faith in Jesus

Christ. And this what we saw today was

simply a statement of obedience of that

which saved him which was faith in

Jesus.

The waters of baptism cannot save you.

But it is being immersed. Listen, being

immersed, that's what the word baptism

means to immerse. Being immersed in in

Jesus is what saves us. And that's what

we see Peter is saying here. Baptism,

which corresponds to this this picture

of going through the flood, going

through the waters, now saves you not as

a removal from dirt from the body, um,

but as an appeal to God for a good

conscience. What did you put below that?

You put below that what?

Say that again.

>> That's right. He comes and he heals your

heart. He gives you righteousness. He

changes your heart through the

resurrection of Jesus Christ. So the

saving power is not the water um or

baptism in water. That's that's not what

saves us. It is the saving power is

being spiritually fill this in being

spiritually immersed in Jesus Christ by

faith his death and resurrection. And

then when you look at Ephesians chapter

Ephesians 1 · chapter mention

1, this is great homework. Put out there

to the side homework. Draw an arrow to

Ephesians 1. This is all about being in

Christ. So your faith is in Christ. And

when you have been made immersed,

listen, immersed in Christ, that is how

we make it through the trouble. So what

is Peter's point in all this? Very

quickly, write it down. Peter's point,

just as Noah was saved through judgment

by trusting God's provision. And what

was God's provision? The ark, so

believers are saved by immersive faith

in Jesus Christ, his death, and his

resurrection. And Peter is reminding us

of this. God saved Noah through his plan

of salvation. And God is going to save

you through his plan of salvation. And

that ark pointed to Jesus. And so we see

in Christ the salvation that God gives

from our enemies and from those who

persecute us and from a fallen world.

The last thing that we see is verse 22.

And I love verse 22. Can we read verse

22 together? It's right there at the

bottom of the page or bottom right

underneath Roman numeral number five

says 22. Let's let's read it. This is

speaking about Jesus. Let's read it

together. Verse 22 says, "Who has gone

into heaven and is at the right hand of

God with angels and authorities and

powers having been subjected to him." So

this is the great climax of this

passage. This is the beautiful climactic

resolution of the whole thing. And I

want you to see it. Because Jesus is

raised from the dead. What does that

lead to? The climactic. You need to

forward the slide, guys. The

resurrection is the ascension is the

ascension. And the ascension leads to

the enthronement. And the enthronement

leads to universal subjection.

Everything is subjected to Christ. And

so this is the great picture of this

that that verse 22 is showing us. Look

what it verse 22 says again. who has

gone into heaven. So Jesus has ascended

to the heavens and he's at the right

hand of God and he's there with angels

and authorities and powers having been

subjected to him. He is the king of

kings and the lord of lords that we sang

about at the beginning of the service in

Philippians chapter 2. It tells us that

Philippians 2 · chapter mention

he became a servant. He died on the

cross. He showed us what love and

humility looked like in that. And then

because of his obedience to the father,

he was raised from the dead. And listen

to this. He was given the name that is

above every name. And that it would be

at that name that every knee shall bow

and every tongue will confess. What does

it say? Of those who are on the earth

and those who are under the earth

that Jesus is Lord to the glory of the

father. And so Peter is reminding us and

he's saying to us, you can have victory

over the trials and over the troubles in

this life because Jesus is the victor

and your hope is in him.

>> Your hope is in him.

This is amazing. This is the final

victory and it is glorious. So what's

Peter's point? Here's Peter's point.

The one you follow is not merely a

suffering savior, but the one you

follow, verse 22 shows us that he is a

reigning Lord. He is the reigning Lord.

So when you're abused,

when you're condemned, when you're

mocked,

maybe when you're led away to the

slaughter, maybe you're like Perpeta or

Felicitya that we studied Wednesday

night. You're thrown in the arena, the

Roman arena in the Lions, or maybe

you're there in South Florida in the

warehouse or over at the medical office

or wherever it is that you work and

whatever it is that you do. Or maybe

you're at the family reunion

and you are really mistreated,

especially on the on the name of Christ

and for the name of Christ. Jesus is

saying, "Have hope."

The Apostle Peter is reminding us, have

hope because your hope is in Jesus, the

one who has overcome all those things.

Now, I hope you didn't put away your

paper.

If you did, pull it back out.

Don't miss Psalm 24:7. Look what it

Psalms 24:7

says. This is so beautiful. I love this.

Verse 7. Lift up your heads, O gates,

and be lifted up, O ancient doors, that

the king of glory may come in. So, this

could be speaking about the city of

Jerusalem, the city of God. But this can

also be think, this could also be

speaking of your life. Okay? The door of

your life,

you in 2026. Look what it says in verse

7. Lift up your heads, O gates, and be

lifted up, O ancient doors, that the

King of glory may come in. Who is this

king of glory? The Lord strong and

mighty. The Lord mighty in battle. Lift

up your heads, O gates, and lift them

up, Octoords, that the King of glory may

come in. Who is this King of glory? The

Lord of hosts. He is the King of glory.

Say, la. Amen.

>> Amen. Let's stand together as we go into

our week. Let's pray.

Father, we thank you that you indeed

have given us the King of glory. The

King of glory who would die in our place

for our foolishness and our sin, our

wickedness, our rebellion.

And Lord, that you would not only come

and wash away our sins and call us your

children, but that you would say to us,

"Have hope." Because in this life,

though you struggle and though you have

hardship, take heart. I have overcome

the world.

If you believe in me, you'll never die.

If you believe in me, you will be

victorious

in all of eternity. Not because of

anything in you, but because of

everything in me. Lord, we thank you for

this kind of salvation plan. Thank you,

Lord, that you saved Noah through the

flood.

Thank you, Lord, that you led him to

build the ark. And by faith,

he obeyed you.

What about us?

By faith, do we believe in you?

You haven't called us to build a boat,

but you've called us to repent of our

sins and to believe in the Messiah.

and you said that you'll save us to the

uttermost.

So Lord, I pray that you would give us

the hope that can only come in Christ.

That we would see that Jesus is the

reason for it. And I pray that when the

trials come, that our hope

will be steadfastly fixed

upon Jesus. It's in his name we pray.

And it's in his name that we sing. Amen.