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. 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 the 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, who has gone into heaven and is at God’s right hand-with angels, authorities and powers in submission to Him.
1 Peter 3: 18-22
Alive in the Spirit. This is the phrase that struck me when I first studied these verses: Christ was put to death in the body, but made alive in the Spirit. After being made alive, Christ brought that same Spirit to those who came before us, those who are here with us, and those who will come after us. We all share in the Spirit because Christ, the righteous, died and was resurrected for us, the unrighteous.
Jeremy Camp has a beautiful song titled Same Power that talks of our being made alive in this same Spirit.
“The same power that rose Jesus from the grave, the same power that commands the dead to wake, lives in us, lives in us. The same power that moves mountains when he speaks, the same power that can calm a raging sea, lives in us, lives in us, He lives in us, he lives in us.”
Wow! If only we knew how much power we have in Christ Jesus, think how we could change this world. This Spirit is in us now, and we can change our world by sharing that Spirit with everyone around us, not in our own power, but only through Christ can we and those around us be alive in the spirit.
Father, thank you for sending Jesus to suffer our punishment. Without his sacrifice, we couldn’t even apporach you, but you loved us enough to send Jesus to be our example, and the Holy Spirit to be our constant companion. Help us to share that same Spirit with all who will listen. Encourage us to do all we can to further your kingdom. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
