Our Power For Our Pursuit

A missionary named Herbert Jackson got a car that wouldn’t start without a push. So, for two years, whenever he needed the car, he would ask people to push it so that it would start. During his rounds, he would park it on a hill or leave the engine running. When Jackson retired, he turned over the car to the new missionary. While he was explaining how he would get the car started, the new missionary looked under the hood. Then, he said, “I believe the only trouble is this loose cable.” After securing the cable, when he started the car, lo and behold the engine roared to life, much to the surprise of Jackson! For two years, Jackson endured unnecessary trouble. The power was there all the time. Only a loose connection kept Jackson from putting that power to work.[1]

I think that happens to many believers also. God’s power is there all along but we fail to tap into His power. That’s why we live lives that do not please Him. This morning we will talk about “Our Power for Our Pursuit.” Let us pray…

We already saw the reasons why we should grow spiritually in 2 Peter 1:8-11. “For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins. Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to make your calling and election sure, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall. For in this way there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”[2] We saw that when we grow spiritually we become fruitful and effective, we become focused and not forgetful, we have a firm footing and we will finish well.

This morning we will look into the resources for our spiritual growth. Let us read 2 Peter 1:3-4. “His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire.” God gave us everything we need so we can live a godly life when we believed in the Lord Jesus as Savior.

Verse 3 tells us, “His divine power has granted to us”. If we look up to verse 2 we will see that the pronoun “His” refers to “Jesus our Lord.” Here we see the SUFFICIENCY of our resources for spiritual growth because it came from our Lord Himself. When God calls, He empowers. The power was there all the time. We just need to tap into that power. Note that the verse says “has granted”. In the Greek, the word means, “to give as a gift”.[3] God gave because of His grace, not because of any merit on our part. Also, Peter did not say “His divine power will grant it.” It is in the perfect tense, which “emphasizes the continuing nature of what was given.”[4] At one point in our lives, God gave us “all things that pertain to life and godliness” and we will never be the same again because it has a continuing effect. What His power gave us is already in our possession and it is permanently ours.

Verse 3 continues: “His divine power has granted to us all things”. Look at the phrase “all things”. This is the SCOPE of the resources that God gave us. Ephesians 1:3 tell us, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places”. See the word “every”? All means all. It means everything included and nothing excluded. That’s why Paul can declare, “…and in Him you have been made complete”.[5] One famous vitamin commercial says, “I want to be complete.” We are already complete in Christ Jesus. Someone wrote, “Nothing has to be added. Nothing could be added.” When a child was born, he was already complete and he just needed to grow. When we are born again spiritually, we are already complete. We have the potential for growth. So we all need is to focus on growing.

Now, how do we know what God gave us? Look at verse 4: “by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises”. The phrase “has granted” here is the same verb used in “has granted” in verse 3. The word “carries with it the idea of the worth of the gift.”[6] That’s why Peter called them God’s “precious and very great promises”. Through these promises, we could know the things that God gave us. It’s like God giving us manager checks that are good as cash because they already have funds backing them up. They are not post-dated checks. These promises are not empty promises because they are backed up by God’s power.