God’s Image Study • God of the Living—Christ as Lord of the Dead and the Living
We have examined the Father drawing people to the Son, the Son giving life and revealing the Father, and the Spirit giving life.
First Peter 3 brings another part of this relationship into focus: the purpose of Christ’s suffering and what follows his death.
The purpose is stated
Peter describes Christ suffering for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, with this purpose:
“so that He might bring you to God”
— 1 Peter 3:18, LSB, excerpt
Keep the direction before us. Christ acts on behalf of others to bring them to God.
Put to death—made alive
The same verse continues:
“having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit”
— 1 Peter 3:18, LSB, excerpt
Peter then describes proclamation to spirits in prison, identifying their former disobedience with Noah’s days. He follows with the ark, eight persons brought safely through water, and baptism in relation to Christ’s resurrection.
The details belong together and deserve attention as we examine the passage. Read 1 Peter 3:18–21.
At God’s right hand
Verse 22 identifies Jesus Christ as having gone into heaven and being at God’s right hand, with angels, authorities, and powers subjected to him.
Peter’s account brings suffering, life, resurrection, and exalted authority into the same discussion. Read 1 Peter 3:22.
God anoints, raises, and appoints
Acts 10 supplies another account from Peter.
He describes God anointing Jesus with the Holy Spirit and power. Jesus does good and heals those oppressed by the devil because God is with him.
Peter then recounts Jesus’ death and God raising him on the third day. He identifies Jesus as the one appointed by God to judge the living and the dead. Read Acts 10:38–42.
Notice the actions and their subjects:
God anoints Jesus. God raises him. God appoints him.
Jesus’ authority is substantial, and the passage identifies its source. Preserving that relationship helps us understand his work without losing sight of the Father.
Lord of the dead and the living
Romans 14:9 connects Christ’s death and renewed life with his lordship over both the dead and the living.
Read beside Acts 10, we have both lordship and appointed judgment to consider. These passages explain why we must attend to what Christ does and to the authority God has entrusted to him. Read Romans 14:7–12.
Paul also connects belonging to the Lord with our treatment of others. His explanation challenges contempt toward a brother and reminds each person of accountability to God.
Our study of authority must remain connected to how we live.
Through the Son, in one Spirit, to the Father
Ephesians 2:18 describes access through Christ, in one Spirit, to the Father. The following verses develop the language of God’s household and a dwelling of God in the Spirit. Read Ephesians 2:18–22.
This brings us back to the direction stated in Peter: Christ brings people to God.
We should allow these passages to shape our understanding of coming to Jesus. Do I follow the relationship he reveals? Do I recognize the Father who sends and gives, the Son through whom access is provided, and the Spirit within this work?
As we continue examining God of the living and Christ as Lord of both, we carry this purpose forward: the life and authority we are studying belong to the work of bringing people to God.
Threads to Follow
The Last Adam: Examine the life-giving spirit in 1 Corinthians 15:45.
Receiving the heavenly image: Follow the natural and spiritual comparison through 1 Corinthians 15:42–49.
Life and witness: Keep hearing, believing, and receiving life alongside the testimony concerning Jesus.
The books were opened…
🌿 By Maria Emilia
Comments
Post a Comment