1 Peter 3:18-22.                                Repent – for Christ brings you to God            22/2/15

¹⁸ For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive in the Spirit. ¹⁹ After being made alive, he went and made proclamation to the imprisoned spirits— ²⁰ to those who were disobedient long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built. In it only a few people, eight in all, were saved through water, ²¹ and this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also—not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a clear conscience toward God. It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ, ²² who has gone into heaven and is at God’s right hand—with angels, authorities and powers in submission to him.

As we enter another Lenten season we are called by Jesus himself to repent and believe the good news. This is what this season is all about. As much as this is something that we need to be doing constantly throughout the year; at this time we make it a particular focus so that that it highlights Easter and Jesus death and resurrection for the forgiveness of our sins and the assurance of eternal life in heaven.

Yet this is something that does not come easy to us as sinful human beings. We want to be in charge of our own lives and do what we want to do. We want ourselves to be the centre of our lives – even our spiritual lives – so to turn to Christ and the fact that he is where it is all at, is something that we struggle to do. So we need to be challenged in this regard, year in year out.

At the same time we struggle to see that this is a big deal, as we are basically good people; not as God’s Word tells us that we are sinners to the core and that without God’s help we can do no good thing. We all too often refuse to accept that as sinners we are enemies of God. Our pride and arrogance does not want to acknowledge these things.

Along with this we see this repentance and believing as something that is hard for us to do and to achieve. It goes against what we think is good, and our nature wants to fight it over and over again. So this call to repentance and faith is not something that comes naturally for us.

So with this mind we find this reading full of encouragement for us as we start out on this Lenten journey. We have much reason to repent and believe the good news. We are also reminded of all the help that God gives us to enable us to do it. So we can keep our focus on that call of Jesus to repent and believe the good news.

So turning to this reading now, we find that God himself is at work, making it possible for us to be with God now and for all eternity, despite our sin and weaknesses. The text begins by saying that: For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God.

Now this is a most amazing statement. For Christ – God’s Son – is bringing sinners to God. We know from God’s Word that sinners cannot come into and be in God’s presence without being destroyed. So we are told again why Easter is so important for us as Christians. God’s Son comes and takes our sin and thereby the suffering that we deserve, on himself: the righteous for the unrighteous.

He was put to death so that we do not suffer eternal death and separation from God. Absolutely amazing! Here is something that surely turns our whole thinking and life around. Surely we will repent and grab hold of all that God offers us here. Surely we want to take God and what he has to say seriously.

But of course Easter, and our reading here also, reminds us that Jesus not only died for our sin but that he was also made alive once again after he had completed the work of salvation that was necessary for us to be acceptable to God. So this one who died on cross truly is of God and his being made alive again is confirmation that all of this is good and according to what God has in mind for our salvation. So this issue of sin and forgiveness is vital to us and our lives.

Then we are told that: After being made alive, he went and made proclamation to the imprisoned spirits—to those who were disobedient long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built. Now we don’t know what was said or why, but the clear implication is that Jesus is alive and that he has a message for those who have died before this time, that he has defeated the power of sin and death.

So Jesus Christ has done everything necessary for us to be brought to God. There is nothing now that stands in our way from being able to stand in God’s presence. That is of course unless we turn our backs on Jesus and what he has done for us and reject what he offers us. Then unfortunately he has to leave us to accept the consequences of that decision – an eternity in hell.

However for those who turn to him and believe this good news can do so without the worry of being good enough, doing enough or having enough knowledge or any such thing. Jesus Christ has done all that needs to be done in order for us to now be in God’s presence. All we are called to do is believe it and live in light of it.

The text then moves on to say that Noah and his family were saved through the waters of the flood:  and this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also—not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a clear conscience toward God.  Here then we are given further assurance and help for us in the call for us to repent and believe the good news.

Baptism plays a very important part in a Christian’s life.  Here we are reminded that baptism now saves you also. Now as we have previously said Jesus has done all that is needed for us to be acceptable to God. However baptism joins us to Jesus and all that he has done for us through his death and resurrection. In baptism we have died with Christ and have been raised to life to live with him for all eternity. We have been washed clean of our sin and have been connected to God’s family. All guaranteed.

So it is more than the washing of the dirt of sin from our lives but is also the pledge of a clear conscience toward God. With that we can go forward with hope and confidence, knowing for certain that we are acceptable to God for we are connected to Jesus Christ at our baptism. Because we are forgiven we can face God confidently, knowing that he loves us and accepts us for Jesus sake.

 So daily we can rise from our pillow and have the full assurance that in Christ we have the certainty of forgiveness of sins, life and salvation. With that we can face whatever is before us knowing that as we look to Christ he will take care of all things for us.

But he goes on further in this reading saying that he saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at God’s right hand—with angels, authorities and powers in submission to him. With Jesus dying and rising again and his ascending into heaven he now is at the right hand of God. Yes, our saviour and Lord is right there in the heavens seeing to it that everything works out for the good of those who love him.

He has the angels, authorities and powers in submission to him, so they will all be in obedience to his commands and wishes; and so the workings of God for our good are even further assured.  With that we can know that even in the worst of situations that we are facing our Lord is allowing and working all things for good –our good and the good of his kingdom.

So with all of this we have every encouragement to repent and believe the good news.  We have every help that we need in order to turn away from a focus on ourselves and our world, to a God who has done everything that is needed for our forgiveness, life and salvation. We can trust in him knowing that since he has died and risen again for us everything will work out for good.  

So this Lenten season may we all be encouraged to look realistically at our sinfulness and thereby our need for a saviour. Remember that we are all conceived in sin and even though we are connected to Jesus Christ we still sin much and so need to constantly seek to be in a state of repentance – recognising our sinfulness and selfishness and so turning to God and the help that he has extended to us through Jesus Christ.

In that may his Holy Spirit lead us to believe and trust in all the Jesus Christ and his life, death and resurrection has made possible for us. May we truly believe this good news that he has extended to us. And then may we daily cling to all the promises that he has given to us in and through our baptisms.  May we go back to our baptisms and know for sure that we truly have been brought to God and all the good that he has in mind for us.

Then may this season then be a time when all glory and honour does go to our great God for all that he is and has done for us through our Lord Jesus Christ.

AMEN.

Pastor Roger Atze

Glandore/Underdale Lutheran Parish