I have a question for you…"If you knew you were going to die, what would you talk about?" You see, one thing that really jumps out at me when I read the book of 2 Peter is that Peter knew that he was about to die. Peter wrote this letter in 66 AD. He died, at the hands of the Romans, one year later. And it seems that Peter knew, as he set out to write this letter, that his time was very short. Look at what he wrote near the start of his letter -
(2 Peter 1:13-15) I think it is right to refresh your memory as long as I live in the tent of this body, because I know that I will soon put it aside, as our Lord Jesus Christ has made clear to me. And I will make every effort to see that after my departure you will always be able to remember these things.
So let me ask you again… if you knew you were about to die, what would you want to pass on? What would you consider the most important truth to pass on? Hopefully it would concern the things that actually matter… the truth of the Lord Jesus, salvation by grace and eternal matters. Well, anyway, thankfully for us Peter had time to write about the things that mattered to him. So with that as an introduction, let’s look at the things that mattered to the Apostle Peter.
(2 Peter 1:1) Simon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who through the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ have received a faith as precious as ours.
Now, I can imagine Peter, knowing that the time of his death is at hand, looking back over his whole life… where he has come from, and where he has come to. And so he starts by calling himself Simon Peter. On the one hand, he’s still Simon – A simple fisherman with a mouth big enough to fit a foot in! And yet, on the other hand, he is Peter – an Apostle of Jesus Christ, a shepherd of God’s sheep and fisher of men.
It is crucial that you see and understand these two natures within you as well. On the one hand, there is who you are in the natural - the old Simon… someone very capable to say, and do, the wrong thing! And yet, there is also who you are in the new creation (if you have been born again) – the new Peter!... a spotless, righteous, dearly loved child of God. It is important that we see both!
Peter then wants to remind his readers that there are no 2nd class citizens in Christianity. He writes ‘to those who through the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ have received a faith as precious as ours.’ While we all have a tendency to place certain people on a pedestal, Peter was quick to point out that all Christians have obtained the same precious faith, the same precious privileges. Peter will pick this theme up in greater detail in verse 4 so we’ll leave it at the moment.
Here's the main point! (2nd Peter 1:2) "Grace and peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord."
How much do we need God's grace in our life? How much do we need his favor and enabling to be present with us? We struggle and strive, lacking peace, yet this verse tells us that God's grace and peace can be multiplied... It can be increased! But look at how Peter says it can be multiplied-it is in the knowledge of God. Peter emphasizes this a lot! But that is where the problem comes in.
You see, there's been a “dumbing down” of Christianity in our generation. And it is causing all sorts of problems, because as Peter says above, God's grace and peace is directly linked to the knowledge of God. As D. L. Moody once said ‘I prayed for faith and thought it would strike me like lightning. But faith did not come. Then one day, I read – “Now faith comes by hearing. And hearing the word of God.” I had closed my Bible and prayed for faith. I now began to study my Bible and faith has been growing ever since.’
Therefore, the main point that Peter wants to address first and foremost, is this topic of true knowledge. This enabling and grace of God is activated in our life through a true, Biblical, knowledge of the Almighty God. And yet, let us not think that this knowledge is merely knowing or understanding facts. As we shall now see, this knowledge is not just factual, it is practical. True knowledge cannot be divorced from it’s outworking in our lives.
(2 Peter 1:3) His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.
As Peter makes clear in verse three, we’re not just talking about knowing ‘things’. We’re talking about knowing the Lord, and the practical outworking of his life in us. Someone has once said, ‘the Bible was not given for our information, but for our transformation.’ Peter would wholeheartedly agree. For him, the knowledge of God relates directly to ‘things pertaining to life and godliness.’
This true knowledge of God is to have an impact on our mundane everyday lives. So right about now, you are hopefully asking yourself, ‘then what is the link between the knowledge of God and outworking of his divine nature with in us?’ And that, my friend, is a very good question! I'm glad you asked it.
(2 Peter 1:4) Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.
Verse four above, gives us the link between the knowledge of God and the outworking of his nature within us. The link is His precious promises in the word of God. Peter says it is through these promises that the divine nature can free us from the corruption that is in the world.
So what do we do with the promises of God? Have you faced the situation lately, were you have had to count and trust in the promises of God? You might remember in Pilgrims Progress, when Christian is trapped by Giant Despair in the dungeon of doubting castle, that he finally frees himself after he finds in his pocket a key called ‘promise’!
The promises of God have always been the key to escaping from doubting castle. You see, it is by meditating on God's promises that frees the Holy Spirit to work His life, His peace, His joy, and His enabling, into your life. It is what King David instructed us to do in Psalm thirty seven when he wrote ‘Dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness.’
In conclusion, even in the first four verses of second Peter, that we have looked at today, we see an entirely different Peter from the one presented to us in the Gospels. The young rash, self dependent fisherman of the Gospels has been transformed by the Holy Spirit and his dependence upon the divine nature. The lack of understanding, so prevalent in his youth, has been replaced by a true knowledge of the workings of God in a believer’s life.
And, as he approaches the end of his life, Peter has written to us to remind us of that which is most important in these last days. Can I ask you whether that which was important to Peter, is important to you? Where does the knowledge of God rank in your life? Where does the outworking of his divine nature through your life sit in your priorities? How precious is the word of God, and the promises of God, to you? These things that we've seen today in the first four verses of 2nd Peter lay the foundation for not only the rest of the book, but for our lives as well!
Scripture: Philippians 4:19; John 15:7-8; 2 Corinthians 1:20; Romans 8:28; Psalm 37:4; John 3:3; 2 John 1:2
-special thanks to I. Gordon
Prayer: Father in heaven, lead me from death to life, from falsehood to truth. Lead me from despair to hope, from fear to trust. Lead me from hate to love, from war to peace. Let peace fill my heart, my world, my universe. Amen.
Bless you always!
Marilyn
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