Jesus: The Ultimate Victor
1 Peter 3:18-22
1. Jesus Conquered Sin and Death! (Vs. 18, 1 Tim 3:16)
a. 1 Timothy 3:16, “And most certainly, the mystery of godliness is great: He was manifested in the flesh, vindicated in the Spirit, seen by angels, preached among the nations, believed on in the world, taken up in glory.”
2. Jesus Proclaimed and Proclaims Victory:
a. Which is Witnessed in Water! (Vs. 20-21, Rom 6:3-5)
i. Romans 6:3-5, “Or are you unaware that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? Therefore we were buried with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too may walk in newness of life. For if we have been united with him in the likeness of his death, we will certainly also be in the likeness of his resurrection.”
b. Without Exception! (Vs. 19, Rev 20:7, Gen 6:1-4, Jude 6, 2 Pet 2:4-5, Col 2:15)
i. Revelation 20:7, “When the thousand years are completed, Satan will be released from his prison.”
ii. Genesis 6:1-4, “When mankind began to multiply on the earth and daughters were born to them, the sons of God saw that the daughters of mankind were beautiful, and they took any they chose as wives for themselves. And the Lord said, “My Spirit will not remain with mankind forever, because they are corrupt. Their days will be 120 years.” The Nephilim were on the earth both in those days and afterward, when the sons of God came to the daughters of mankind, who bore children to them. They were the powerful men of old, the famous men.”
iii. Jude 6, “and the angels who did not keep their own position but abandoned their proper dwelling, he has kept in eternal chains in deep darkness for the judgment on the great day.”
iv. 2 Peter 2:4-5, “For if God didn’t spare the angels who sinned but cast them into hell and delivered them in chains of utter darkness to be kept for judgment; and if he didn’t spare the ancient world, but protected Noah, a preacher of righteousness, and seven others, when he brought the flood on the world of the ungodly.”
v. 1 Enoch 12:4-6, “‘Enoch, thou scribe of righteousness, go, [declare] to the Watchers of the heaven who have left the high heaven, the holy eternal place, and have defiled themselves with women, and have done as the children of earth do, and have taken unto themselves wives: “Ye have wrought great destruction on the earth: And ye shall have no peace nor forgiveness of sin: and inasmuch as [they] delight themselves in [their] children, The murder of [their] beloved ones shall [they] see, and over the destruction of [their] children shall [they] lament, and shall make supplication unto eternity, but mercy and peace shall ye not attain.”’
vi. Other Extra-Biblical References: 1 Enoch 6–19, 21, 86–88; 106:13–17; The Book of Jubilees. 4:15, 22; 5:1; CD 2:17–19 (Dead Sea Scrolls); 1QapGen 2:1 (Dead Sea Scrolls); Testament of Reuben 5:6–7; Testament of Naphtali 3:5; 2 Baruch 56:10–14; Josephus, “Antiquities” 1.73)
vii. Colossians 2:15, “He disarmed the rulers and authorities and disgraced them publicly; he triumphed over them in him.”
c. With Supremacy! (Vs. 22, Phil 2:9-11)
i. Philippians 2:9-11, “For this reason God highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow—in heaven and on earth and under the earth—and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”