“For Christ also suffered for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, in order to bring you to God. He was put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit, ¹⁹ in which also he went and made a proclamation to the spirits in prison, ²⁰ who in former times did not obey, when God waited patiently in the days of Noah, during the building of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were saved through water. ²¹ And baptism, which this prefigured, now saves you—not as a removal of dirt from the body, but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, ²² who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers made subject to him.” 1 Peter 3:18-22

“In the Christian story God descends to reascend. He comes down; down from the heights of absolute being into time and space, down into humanity; down further still, if embryologists are right, to recapitulate in the womb ancient and pre-human phases of life; down to the very roots and seabed of the Nature He has created. But He goes down to come up again and bring the whole ruined world up with Him. One has the picture of a strong man stooping lower and lower to get himself underneath some great complicated burden. He must stoop in order to lift, he must almost disappear under the load before he incredibly straightens his back and marches off with the whole mass swaying on his shoulders. The doctrine of the Incarnation, if accepted, puts this principle even more emphatically at the centre. The pattern is there in Nature because it was first there in God.” (“The Promise of Rebirth”, “MIRACLES”, “The Grand Miracle”, from Preparing For Easter; Fifty Devotional Readings from C.S. Lewis)

It is because of texts like that of 1 Peter 3:18-19 that we profess our belief that Christ died, was buried, descended into Hell, and on the third day was raised and ascended into heaven. There are other references in the canon that suggest his descending into Hell, but here we believe the teaching that Christ went into the underworld to preach to those who died before the coming of the Messiah. Christ not only descended to earth from Heaven, he descended below the earth to the depths of Hell to preach to the long, forgotten dead – but not forgotten by G-d.

Do you think G-d has forgotten about you? Are you sure G-d does not care? My friends, if G-d did not forget the thousands, millions who had died throughout all time, how could you believe G-d would forget about you? G-d does not forget us nor does G-d forsake us – G-d goes to great, eternal and mysterious depths to get our attention – and remind us of His love.

Pastor Dave

“Blessed be the Lord, for he has wondrously shown his steadfast love to me
when I was beset as a city under siege. ²² I had said in my alarm, “I am driven far from your sight.” But you heard my supplications when I cried out to you for help. ²³ Love the Lord, all you his saints. The Lord preserves the faithful, but abundantly repays the one who acts haughtily. ²⁴ Be strong, and let your heart take courage, all you who wait for the Lord.” Psalm 31:21-24

“Either something or nothing must depend on individual choices. A stone may determine the course of a river. He was that stone at this horrible moment which had become the centre of the whole universe. Then came blessed relief. He suddenly realized that he did not know what he COULD do. He almost laughed with joy. All this horror had been premature. No definite task was before him. All that was being demanded of him was a general and preliminary resolution to oppose the Enemy in any mode which circumstances might show to be desirable—or rather to go on doing his best, for he had really been doing that all along.” (“The Joy of Genesis”, “PERELANDRA”, chapter 11, from Preparing For Easter; Fifty Devotional Readings from C.S. Lewis) 

“Be strong, and let your heart take courage, all you who wait for the Lord.” Thus says the Psalmist. We often come to problems and tribulations thinking “I must be able to resolve this situation and persevere on without anyone’s help”. How short-sided this thinking is — for we always have a helper just a breath away – one which the Psalmist knew “Heard his supplications when he cried out to the Lord for help”. (transliteration of verse 22) This is the realization the character comes to in the quote from C.S. Lewis. PERELANDRA is the second book in the Space Trilogy by Lewis, set on the planet of Perelandra, or Venus. It was first published in 1943. The main character seems to be beset with a problem Lewis equates with Constantine deciding whether to follow Christianity or not – in other words, it must be an earth-shattering, spiritual decision. But when he realizes that his most important battle is not whether he decides his next move rightly – but instead precisely and steadily fighting his battle with “The Enemy” – well, then he experiences the most profound joy. Why? Because he comes to realize that his most important battle is to oppose evil – to oppose Satan. This becomes not only a physical battle, but a profound spiritual one for us every day. But it is a battle we cannot fight alone. “The Lord preserves the faithful, but abundantly repays the one who acts haughtily. Be strong, and let your heart take courage, all you who wait for the Lord.” When we are weak, then we need to remember that our faith makes us strong in the Lord – and when we are strong in the Lord, the Devil will never win the day.

Pastor Dave