Sermon Nuggets: Thu., July 24, 2025. - Burial. - 1 Peter 3:19-21
The Christian message is also about the Burial.
1 Peter 3:19-21
" 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. In it only a few people, eight in all, were saved through water, 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, "
Proclamation is not evangelism - it is heralding an announcement. These verses bring about many interesting interpretations. There is the emphasis on the interpretation of the Spirit of Christ who was with Noah preaching repentance to the people before the flood came. They rejected the gracious message of God even then. Now they are doomed to destruction.
There is another interpretation indicating, even in the Apostles Creed, which says when Jesus died His Spirit went to the place where dead souls are kept and preached to those who didn't have a chance to hear Noah's message before destruction came. Now they could know the truth and respond to the message.
There is also the interpretation that the word spirit doesn't refer to the human dead. It is used for angels. So that, when Jesus was in the spirit, He went to the fallen angels and proclaimed victory and new life in Him. He defeated Satan. Fallen angels or demons were the recipient of Christ message and Jesus proclaimed their eternal doom. They lost the war. It is now too late.
Which interpretation do you think is right? I can say this - the followers of Jesus put His body in the tomb, Jesus was not resting. He was proclaiming victory! There is a spiritual consciousness after death. Already there are eternal souls of those who are of faith and those who are not.
When we are buried, we do not lose consciousness, but rather expand our consciousness in new dimensions. Whoever Jesus was preaching to, He was busy while the rest of His followers were grieving. He had won the victory. Nothing remained but the triumph. It was a burial of sadness to those who were left behind and didn't yet know, but the spiritual activity of those dead in the Lord and those condemned by the Lord was undeniable.
Peter pictures for us salvation by the type of Noah and the ark. Judgement came. Water destroyed the earth. It was buried in water. God graciously provided an ark to save some of His creation. Eight people were saved through the water by the ark. Before the burial there was preaching but many did not believe the message.
Peter takes this picture to the new Testament believers and brings home an analogy of salvation. There is preaching and still many do not respond. As Noah was saved through water by the safety of the ark, so the baptized are passed through the water or made safe through Jesus Christ. Water didn't save them, the ark did. Water doesn't cleanse us; it is the clear conscious. How do we get clear conscious? We have all our guilt taken away. There is only One that makes this happen and that is by the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus. It is trusting in His works, not ours, and committing ourselves to Him. Confess to Him your sin, make a pledge, promise to obey and follow Him.
We are baptized by immersion, which is the ordinance testifying of our salvation. We symbolize, by going under the water, the death and the burial and the resurrection of the Lord. Going under the water is the symbol of the burial and coming up symbolizes His resurrection. We go through the water to symbolize life when we come out. It isn't the literal water that makes the difference, it is the reason we want to be baptized. We want to identify with Jesus and commit ourselves to following Him. He gives us a new Spirit and makes us alive to God our Father.
