Peter the
apostle told the “scattered” Christians that unbelievers
in Jesus will “give account to him that is ready to judge the
quick and the dead”, and in
chapter four and verse six of his letter, Peter added how
“the gospel” was “preached
also to them that are dead”
where we read:
For for
this cause was the gospel preached also to them that are dead, that
they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live
according to God in the spirit.
The
verse begins, “For for this cause was the gospel preached
also to them that are dead,...”
Peter began with the word, “For” which
means “and, as, because, even, indeed, no doubt, seeing then and
therefore” “for this cause”
or “into, unto, towards and among this same cause or reason” “was
the gospel preached” which
means “good news, announce of glad tidings of the coming kingdom of
God, and of the salvation to be obtained in it through Christ, and of
what relates to this salvation” “also” or
“even, so and likewise” “them that are dead”
which means “one who has breathed his last, lifeless, deceased,
departed, inanimate and destitute of life”.
The
verse goes on to say, “...that they might be judged
according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the
spirit.” Peter continued,
“that they might be judged” or
“separated, put asunder, picked out, selected, chosen, approved,
esteemed and preferred” “according to men”
which means “down from, through out, toward and along” “in
the flesh” or “(the soft
substance of the living body, which covers the bones and is permeated
with blood)”, “but live”
or “those who breathe, are among the living, not dead, active,
blessed and endless in the kingdom of God” “according”
or “down from, through out and
toward” “to God”
which refers to “the Godhead bodily and trinity which is comprised
of God the Father, Christ the Son and the Holy Spirit” “in
the spirit” or “the simple
essence, devoid of all or at least all grosser matter, and possessed
of the power of knowing, desiring, deciding, and acting”. Jesus was
to “judge” those
who “are dead” so
they might “live according to God”
in their spirits.
When
we think through these words of Peter, we understand the significance
of the “judge” of
the universe overseeing and bringing judgment upon both those who are
alive and those who have already died. Before Jesus rose from the
“dead”, people who
died were sent to one of two compartments in “hades”. One of
those compartments held “believers”
in God, and the other held those who did not. Jesus went to visit and
share the “gospel”
to those who had faith in God and were waiting for the Messiah to
come. The “judge”
of “the living and the dead”,
Jesus, shared the way of salvation through His death on the cross for
their sins, and rather than live “according to”
their “flesh”,
they lived according to the “ways of God's Spirit”.
Now this same “gospel”
is available to all who will hear His invitation for a relationship
with Him. May the Lord Jesus help us to know the importance of living
according to His ways and suffering for Him if need be.
Next
time Peter tells the Christians “the end of all things is
at hand”, so read ahead, and
we shall join together then.
Until tomorrow…there is more…
Look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, and the new devotional “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore.
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