Hello and welcome
to "Books of the Book."
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A program that dives
deep into the word of God,
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I'm Deyvy Rodriguez and
with us is Dr. Tom Shepherd.
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He is a
professor of New Testament
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at the Theological
Seminary at Andrews University.
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We've been talking
about being treated wrongfully
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for doing what's right.
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So join us as we
continue studying together
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the books of 1 and 2 Peter.
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Dr. Shepherd,
welcome. Thank you.
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I've been learning a
little more about you,
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as we study here and I also
learn that you are a musician.
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Is that right? That's true.
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Music was always an
important part of my life.
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As a child, we
played music together,
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played French horn,
learned a little bit piano,
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singing groups
different things like that.
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But it was until
when my-- much later,
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when my daughter said she
wanted to take up the violin,
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my wife and I, so
we were kind of like,
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"Well, I don't know,"
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and finally we
said to her, "look,
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if you raise the money for
it, we will purchase the violin,
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you'll pay for the violin
and we'll pay for lessons."
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And she-- go getter that she is,
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she did that and so
then she'd been playing
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and you know, working
on violin for about a year
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and I said, "I want to do
something with my daughter."
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So I said what--shall I
do, I'll take up the cello
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and I didn't realize
how much fun it would be,
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it would become a passion,
I started string quartets,
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I've been touring
around different places,
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still do music
programs, we have a program
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at the Seminary
called Classical Seminary
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that we put on twice a
year and just a great joy,
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music is a
wonderful blessing from God.
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Wonderful and I'm
sure that's a pastime
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when you're not
teaching? Yes. Okay.
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Well, we're
studying the books of 1 Peter
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and we are picking up on
3:13-22 we're studying today.
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And give us a little review
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on what we've been
studying on previous programs.
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All right, well,
this is very important,
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this whole
passage starts in verse 13
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and it goes through verse 22.
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What we're gonna study
today is verses 18-22, 5 verses
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that have some real challenges
in there for many people.
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And one of the difficulties
is if these verses are separated
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from their context
from what goes before.
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So in verse
13-17 we recall that,
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he talked about the Christians
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being faithful and
giving a faithful witness,
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a defense for their
faith whenever they're asked.
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And that there would
be people around them
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who would not appreciate that,
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and who would
prosecute them as a result.
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But that they should not be
afraid to give their witness
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and they should share
it freely with people,
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keeping in mind being
gentle, being reverent
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and being
conscious of God and of,
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you know, his whole
perspective on life.
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We talked a little bit about
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a little pattern of
witnessing called tagging
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and how it's a very
low key kind of a way.
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I'd like to add one more thing
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on to that actually
that's kind of interesting
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and that is concept that
those aspects of our faith
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that are unique,
that are different,
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are actually God's arrows
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or shall we say God's
windows to open the light,
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to let the light
into other peoples lives.
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I know some young
people who were studying
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at a major
university in the United States.
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And Adventist young people
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but amongst those who were
not of the Adventist faith.
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And these young
people became known for those
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who wouldn't come
to lab on Saturday,
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who would keep the Sabbath
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and this actually
became quite a reference point
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where people
would take note of them.
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Another
Christian talking to them
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it was, kind of,
moaning a little bit.
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They hadn't done enough and
what strikes me about it all
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is that this unique
quality of our faith
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that we keep the Sabbath,
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is an opener,
it's actually a tag.
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When you--they say, "Why do
you go to church on Saturday?"
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Or "Why don't you eat meat?"
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Or "Why don't you
drink alcohol with us?"
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But these are
actually God's doors
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for you to go and
give a witness to them.
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Some people
are-- they kind of shy
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away from our
particular characteristics.
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No, we shouldn't at all.
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The way we dress, the
way we act, the way we speak,
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these are all ways of
sharing our faith with others.
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And that gives
people the curiosity
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to probe
questions on our faith? Yes.
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As you said earlier,
this is a window to share
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and witness to others.
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Why don't we read verse 18 then?
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I think it's a great idea.
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"For Christ also
suffered once for sins,
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the just for the unjust
that He might bring us to God,
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being put to death in the flesh
but made alive by the Spirit."
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Okay, so how did
this-- Keep going.
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Let's read the whole passage,
all the way through verse 22.
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"By whom he went and preached
to the spirits in prison,
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who formerly were disobedient,
when once the divine
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longsuffering
waited in the days of Noah
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while the Ark was being
prepared in which a few,
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that is eight souls
were saved through water.
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There is also antitype
which now saves us baptism,
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not the renewal of
the filth of the flesh,
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but the answer of a
good conscience toward God,
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through the
resurrection of Jesus Christ,
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who has gone into heaven
and is at the right hand of God,
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angels and authorities
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and powers having
been made subject to Him."
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So verse 18, how
does Peter link this verse
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with what is going on before?
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All right. This is a
very crucial question.
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And it's--too many
times, these verses,
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verses 18-22
are not properly set
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within their
setting in verse 13-18
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Verse 13-17 is all
about the faithful witness,
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being faithful
when you're persecuted
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and not giving up,
you know, make sure--
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and that you give the
proper witness to Christ.
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So verse 18 begins
with the word "for."
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"For Christ also
suffered once for sins,
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the righteous for the
unrighteous," all right.
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So verses 18-20, are
a support for the points
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that are made in verses 13-17.
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It's very, very important,
so I want to say it again.
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Verse 18 and
onward are clearly support
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for what the apostle has
been saying in verses 13-17.
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So the point in verses 13-17
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was to be a fearless
witness for Christ, to do good
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and be willing to suffer
for it is as a Christian,
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it's better to do
good and to suffer
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than to do what is wrong.
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So verse 18 now, returns
to the sufferings of Christ,
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to redeem us, the just
for the unjust, it says.
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So up to this
point, we would say
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that we follow in
the steps of Jesus. Okay?
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His righteous
death brought us to God
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and our righteous witness
helps bring others to God.
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We're following
the steps of Jesus.
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This is the pattern that
we've already been seeing
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take place in previous chapters
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where in chapter 2, the
servants are supposed to follow
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in the example of Jesus
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and the wives are
supposed to also follow
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in the same kind of pattern
and they become examples of--
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there's this whole thing about
following the example of Jesus.
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So when you talk about
suffering and then it says,
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"For Christ also
suffered once for sins,
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the righteous
for the unrighteous
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that He might bring us to God."
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That sounds all very fine,
logical, no problem so far.
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All right. It looks good.
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Now, let's read
verses, the following verses,
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verses 8-20-- Let's just
start with just verse 18 and 19.
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Just two, those two verses--
Let's reread those verses.
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"For Christ also
suffered once for sins,
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the just for the unjust
that He might bring us to God,
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be made put to
death in the flesh
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but made alive by the
spirit, by whom also he went
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and preached to
the spirits in prison,
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who formerly were disobedient
when once that divine
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long suffering
waited in the days of Noah,
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while the Ark was being
prepared in which a few,
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that is eight souls were
saved through water." All right.
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Stop right
there. That is enough.
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These three verses,
especially verse 19,
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there's been a lot of
ink spilled in scholarship.
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You know,
describing and discussing
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and talking about
what in the world,
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is this all talking about.
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So we want to, kind
of, go slowly through this
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to get an understanding
of what he's saying.
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The first point we notice
is in verse 18. All right.
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So Christ suffered, and let
me kind of ask this in questions
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and we'll sort
of walk through it.
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Christ suffered,
when did He suffer?
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At the cross.
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At the cross, we
call it His passion
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and so the experience
bringing Him up to cross
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and He suffers on the cross.
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He said "Christ
suffered once for sins,
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the righteous
for the unrighteous."
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Here the words
"Christ suffered for sins,"
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it reminds us of what happened
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and we talked
about in chapter 2,
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we said there was a big
surprise and we said that.
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The big surprise was,
this was the only place
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in the New
Testament that talked about
00:10:36.68\00:10:38.45
"Christ suffered for you,
Christ suffered for sins."
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Actually, when we
gave that presentation,
00:10:42.08\00:10:43.66
I said there were two surprises,
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probably very careful listeners
will say I only mentioned one.
00:10:45.58\00:10:49.44
The other surprise
actually in chapter 2 was that,
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that is the very first
place in the book of 1 Peter
00:10:52.18\00:10:55.11
that talks about
something that Christ did.
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So it kind of like it
really focuses your attention
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to get in there and see
that "Christ suffered for you"
00:11:01.63\00:11:05.22
is the key to this whole
understanding this whole book.
00:11:05.25\00:11:07.77
All right, so he is
coming back to that again.
00:11:07.80\00:11:09.42
"He suffered that He
might bring us to God,"
00:11:09.45\00:11:12.34
all right, "He was put
to death in the flesh,"
00:11:12.37\00:11:16.41
when did that happen?
00:11:16.44\00:11:19.46
At the cross.
At the cross. Okay.
00:11:19.49\00:11:22.34
"But made alive,"
my text says here,
00:11:22.37\00:11:25.11
"but made alive in the
spirit." When did that happen?
00:11:25.14\00:11:29.87
The
resurrection. The resurrection.
00:11:29.90\00:11:31.77
Now yours reads a
little differently.
00:11:31.80\00:11:33.48
It says, "Made alive..."
Made alive by the spirit.
00:11:33.51\00:11:37.52
By the spirit. Yes.
00:11:37.55\00:11:39.44
This could be, now,
00:11:39.47\00:11:40.87
here's two different
ways of thinking of this,
00:11:40.90\00:11:43.63
made alive by the spirit.
00:11:43.66\00:11:45.03
What spirit are we
talking about here?
00:11:45.06\00:11:46.44
The Holy Spirit. The
Holy Spirit. All right.
00:11:46.47\00:11:47.84
So this is God
through the Holy Spirit
00:11:47.87\00:11:49.83
raising Christ to life. Okay.
00:11:49.86\00:11:51.94
If we say, He's
made alive in the spirit.
00:11:51.97\00:11:56.41
No, people start to say,
"what do you mean by that."
00:11:56.44\00:12:00.35
Well, there's two different ways
you could go even in that path.
00:12:00.38\00:12:03.38
You could say,
in the spirit means,
00:12:03.41\00:12:06.27
as a spiritual
being, you know, he was like
00:12:06.30\00:12:09.77
not a physical being anymore,
he was a spiritual being,
00:12:09.80\00:12:13.21
just a spirit or you could
say in the spiritual realm.
00:12:13.24\00:12:18.55
So made alive is in the flesh
00:12:18.58\00:12:21.74
and then he is in
the spiritual realm.
00:12:21.77\00:12:23.25
He is in the world here
and then he is in the world
00:12:23.28\00:12:26.92
of the spiritual
realm afterwards.
00:12:26.95\00:12:28.50
So either way it's-- we
do have lots of testimony
00:12:28.53\00:12:33.78
in the New Testament that
when Jesus rose from the dead,
00:12:33.81\00:12:36.05
He was a physical being.
00:12:36.08\00:12:38.83
He was changed, but
he was a physical being
00:12:38.86\00:12:41.12
and they recognized who He was.
00:12:41.15\00:12:43.35
Thomas didn't believe,
you know, and Jesus says,
00:12:43.38\00:12:45.98
"Come and bring your
finger here and see my hands
00:12:46.01\00:12:49.36
and put your hand in my
side and see that I'm real."
00:12:49.39\00:12:52.25
He ate food in front of them,
00:12:52.28\00:12:53.71
He talked with them,
He was a physical being.
00:12:53.74\00:12:56.46
So to say He was
simply a spiritual being
00:12:56.49\00:12:59.19
probably doesn't
cut it, you know.
00:12:59.22\00:13:00.73
So either we have
to say He's made alive
00:13:00.76\00:13:02.86
by the spirit, that
is by the Holy Spirit.
00:13:02.89\00:13:04.96
Or we have to
say, He's made alive
00:13:04.99\00:13:07.25
in the spiritual
realm, in this spirit world
00:13:07.28\00:13:11.69
where there are spiritual
powers and spiritual forces,
00:13:11.72\00:13:15.04
such as the
Apostle Paul talks about
00:13:15.07\00:13:17.18
our battle that's not
against flesh and blood
00:13:17.21\00:13:19.19
but against spiritual
powers in heavenly places.
00:13:19.22\00:13:22.44
So Christ is
raised from the dead
00:13:22.47\00:13:25.53
and this is the
setting in which he says.
00:13:25.56\00:13:28.61
So we're already--
we can clearly see here,
00:13:28.64\00:13:30.65
we have Christ suffered,
00:13:30.68\00:13:32.89
He died on the
cross and He rose again.
00:13:32.92\00:13:35.54
It sounds like the gospel story,
00:13:35.57\00:13:37.57
just the way that
the pattern has gone on.
00:13:37.60\00:13:39.40
And over and
over, the New Testament
00:13:39.43\00:13:40.82
presents this idea
about the resurrection.
00:13:40.85\00:13:43.10
Well, we're just diving
into verse 18, 19, 20, 21, 22.
00:13:43.13\00:13:49.09
So we'll come back
to this after a break
00:13:49.12\00:13:50.93
and look some more
about these fascinating verses
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and try to decipher
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just exactly what
Peter is trying to tell us.
00:13:55.81\00:13:57.77