Victory Proclaimed - Christ's Prison Announcement

"By whom also He went and preached to the spirits in prison, who formerly were disobedient, when once the Divine longsuffering waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared." - 1 Peter 3:19-20 (NKJV)

This is where the waters get weighty, where we've got to be slow enough to really assimilate what's going on. After Jesus said, "It is finished," and after He said, "Into Your hands I commit My spirit," something important happened in the spirit realm. Jesus went and preached to the spirits in prison.

What does Peter mean by "spirits"? He's not talking about human spirits. "Spirits", in Hebrews 1:14, is talking about angelic beings: "Are they not all ministering spirits sent forth to minister for those who will be heirs of salvation?"

If you know your Bible, you understand that before this earth was formed, there was a war in the heavens where Lucifer (now known as Satan) convinced a third of the angels to follow him, and they were cast down to hell. Those angels are what we refer to as demons.

In Genesis 6:1-7, there's this incredible passage that is very difficult and complex. It describes a situation that led to God's judgment in Noah's day: "Now it came to pass when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, daughters were born to them, that the sons of God saw the daughters of men, that they were beautiful and they took wives for themselves of all whom they chose. The Lord said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for he is indeed flesh, yet his days will be 120 years. And there were giants on the earth in those days and also afterward. Then the sons of God came into the daughters of men, and they bore children to them. They were the mighty men who were of old men of renown. Then the Lord saw the wickedness of man that was great on the earth and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil and evil continually. The Lord was sorry that he made man on the earth and that he was grieved in his heart. So the Lord said, I'll destroy man whom I've created from the face of the earth, both man and beast creeping things and birds of the air for I'm sorry that I have made them, but Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord."

What was going on here? Something happened where demonic spirits possessed men to the point where they would then impregnate women. This was a demonic invasion where fallen angels crossed the line that God had established between the spiritual and physical realms. These demonic beings corrupted the human race in a way that was so perverse, so against God's design, that it grieved the heart of God. The result was a hybrid race of giants and such complete moral corruption that literally every thought of man's heart was evil all the time.

God's judgment on those demons was not just that they would be sent to hell - He locked them up in special prison chains because of the severity of what they had done.

Second Peter 2:4-5 describes how God "did not spare the angels who sinned, but cast them down to hell and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved for judgment, and did not spare the ancient world, but saved Noah, one of eight people, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood on the world of the ungodly."

Jude 1:6 adds: "And the angels who did not keep their proper domain, but left their own abode, He has reserved in everlasting chains under darkness for the judgment of the great day." These demons had left their proper abode and were locked in chains for what they did in Genesis 6. All of this helps us understand that 1 Peter 3:19 is talking about demonic spirits.

The passage continues that Jesus "preached" to the spirits in prison. The word "preached" in 1 Peter 3 isn't "euangelizo"—preaching the gospel, the good news of salvation. The word here is "kerusso," which means to herald or proclaim a statement of victory. Remember Genesis 3:15, when God promised that the seed of the woman would crush Satan's head? The cross was when that prophecy was fulfilled. Colossians 2:15 tells us that Jesus was "having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it."

What was Jesus proclaiming to those imprisoned spirits who had caused such wickedness in Noah's day? "God won. You thought you were going to win, but God won. God is victorious." He was proclaiming judgment upon these demonic spirits who were in prison. Jesus didn't just pay for your sins and my sins—He was victorious over all forms of spiritual demonic activity.

When you were a kid choosing teams for basketball, you'd look for the tallest kid, right? You wanted to be part of the winning team. Peter is saying, "You're on the winning team. It may not look like it right now. You may feel persecuted, squeezed, misunderstood. But just understand—spiritually, you are on the winning team. Don't forget whose side you're on."

Reflection Question: How does knowing that Jesus Christ has already won the spiritual war change how you face spiritual battles in your daily life?

Lord Jesus, I thank You that You proclaimed victory over all spiritual forces of darkness. When I feel overwhelmed by spiritual battles, help me remember that You went to the spirits in prison and declared, "God won." You have already triumphed over principalities and powers. I am on the winning team because I belong to You. Give me courage to stand firm in this victory. In Your Name, amen.

Adapted from "Whose Side Are You On?": https://www.joshfranklin.org/media/gz6wj94/18-whose-side-are-you-on-1-peter-3-18-22