Knowing God - 2 Peter 1:3b Series

2 Peter 1:1 Simon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those equal to us in the faith they have received in the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ: 2 Grace and peace be yours in abundance through knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.

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 excellence.

Introduction

What the Readers Already Knew

So far in 2 Peter we’ve learned that knowing God is the key to getting divine power, the key to getting more and more grace, the key to having peace in your life, and the key to godliness. In fact, it’s the key to everything—everything we need for life and godliness comes through knowledge of God. Peter has said all that and we’re only in v.3. And the theme of knowing God continues all through the book, and it’s the last thing Peter says at the end of the book—grow in knowledge of God.

So if we’re going to understand 2 Peter, it’s crucial we get a really good handle on what Peter means by “knowing God.” And remember, Peter is writing to them about things they already knew. 2 Peter 1:12 I will always remind you of these things, even though you know them. So what had Peter’s readers already heard about knowing God? To answer that, we have to look at the rest of Scripture so we know what Peter’s readers knew when he said, “You already know this.”

A Matter of Eternal Life or Death

No doubt they remembered what Jesus said about Judgment Day. If you don’t know God, then on Judgment Day Jesus will say, “Depart from me, I never knew you” (Matthew 7:23). Whether or not you know God determines whether you go to heaven or hell.

Deepening Knowledge

So the first question is, “Do you know God?” and the next question is, “How well do you know him?” because healthy relationships grow. That’s why Peter ends his book by saying

2 Peter 3:18 Grow … in knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

It’s great that you know God as well as you do right now, but I hope your relationship isn’t still at that level a year from now. The whole purpose of 2 Peter is to help you get to know God much better than you already do. Just like Paul’s prayer for the Ephesians.

Ephesians 1:17 I keep asking that … the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better.

Paul prayed that because the whole measure of your life is determined by how well you know God. Your knowledge of God is what gives meaning to everything else you do in life—your job, your family, your ministry—everything.

Your Only Boast

One of the most famous OT passages about knowing God is in Jeremiah 9. It’s famous enough that Paul quoted it twice in his writings.

Jeremiah 9:23 This is what the LORD says: "Let not the wise man boast of his wisdom or the strong man boast of his strength or the rich man boast of his riches, 24 but let him who boasts boast about this: that he understands and knows me.”

So one thing Peter’s readers already understood about knowing God is that it’s the only legitimate boast in life. The biblical term “boast” does not mean “brag.” It refers to whatever you hold as a measure of success.

Everyone has a boast. We all have something in life that is our measure of success. We might not admit to it, but most of us have something that, if we fail at that, we feel like a failure. For a woman with kids, it’s usually being a good mom. That’s the one thing she has to succeed at. Other things—if it turns out she’s a lousy artist, oh well. She’s not so great at sports—she can live with that. But if something happens that seems to indicate she’s failed as a mom, it feels like someone rammed a knife right into her stomach. Your boast is that area in your life where you must succeed or life loses its meaning.

For a man, maybe it’s his career. Your area of expertise, that you’ve devoted your life to. You have to be a success in that. If you find out you’re not as good a singer as you thought you were—oh well. Maybe you’re terrible at math. Fine. But you fail in the area of your boast, and you go into depression. And you think, “What am even doing in life? What’s the point of even being here—I’m worthless.”

Everyone has at least one boast—that’s how God designed us. We all have something that we lean on to justify our existence. And Jeremiah gives examples of some common boasts and warns us not to have those as a boast. The first one is wisdom.