Easter has a supremely cosmic significance that is utterly profound. I will refer to two passages that reflect this. Here’s the first:
Colossians 2:15 And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.
In Colossians, Paul set the faith of the Colossians in a cosmic setting, in which they (or any other believers) need only Jesus, the Messiah, who is fully sufficient. They and we need loyalty to no lesser beings, visible or invisible (Colossians 1:16-17). The resurrection of Jesus culminated the battle which completely defeated the rebellious and evil spiritual forces in the spiritual/unseen realm. In this context, it seems that by “the cross,” Paul includes Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection as a single event. Why, then, add any of God’s defeated enemies to those to whom you show loyalty? They are the losers on display in God’s triumphal march.
The next passage is one that defies consensus among interpreters, and especially bewilders heirs of the Enlightenment.
1 Peter 3:18 For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive in the Spirit. 19 After being made alive, he went and made proclamation to the imprisoned spirits— 20 to those who were disobedient long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah…
I won’t pretend to know all the answers! Yet, I will suggest something that was part of the worldview of the early Christians who knew of and read the pseudepigraphical book of 1 Enoch. Genesis 6:1-4 referred to, not descendants of Seth, but rebellious angels (1). 2 Peter 2:4, and Jude 6 convey this view. Also, “spirits,” almost always speaks, not of departed humans (“souls” is typically used) but spirit beings.
The point here is not to initiate debate, but to affirm that Jesus, at some point, announced victory for Himself, and, at the same time, doom to God’s enemies. The larger point is to affirm that in the cross and resurrection, Jesus is victorious. This is the central affirmation of the book of Revelation.
Easter is not just about us, but thank God, it includes us! It is far grander than our personal salvation, though it includes this. Did Jesus go to the cross to save me? Yes, but much, much more. His cosmic victory initiates the New Creation and gives us a place in the community of that new creation. We are only saved and victors because He was the supreme Victor! Praise God that we are part of something this grand!
Tim Kelley
(1) The purpose of this brief survey of the interpretive issues presented by Genesis 6:1–4 is simple enough—to demonstrate that familiar non-supernaturalist views of the passage are evasive and unsatisfactory for many reasons. (Heiser, Michael S., Reversing Hermon: Enoch, the Watchers, and the Forgotten Mission of Jesus Christ (p. 31). Kindle Edition.)