OUR NEW LIFE IN CHRIST
II Peter 1:1-2
Each one of us deserves death, judgment, and an eternity in Hell. But thanks to God’s mercy, we have been delivered from that fate. God has lavished His love, mercy, and grace upon us. He sent His Son, Jesus to be our Savior and as a result of our relationship with Him, we have access to innumerable blessings in this life and in the life to come.
Because of Christ, we have a new life; one that is abundant, victorious, and eternal. Because of His finished work, we have a new family. We are children of God, joint heirs with Jesus and brothers and sisters in Christ.
Thanks to Jesus, we are free from the law, delivered from the chains of sin, rescued from condemnation, and we no longer have to endure fear, guilt, shame, death, Hell, or Satan, In Christ we have been redeemed, set free and forgiven.
Furthermore, thanks to our Savior we have an eternal home. A place with walls of jasper, streets of gold, a crystal river, and gates of pearl. We look forward to a glorious reunion and unimaginable celebration in Heaven. One day we will join the Angels of God, the Apostles and Prophets and our loved ones who died in Christ. Greater than all of this, is the fact that we will see our Heavenly Father face to face. We will serve, worship, adore and praise Him throughout eternity. Moreover, there is coming a day when our faith will become sight and we will behold our Savior. We will see the scars on His hands, feet and on His brow. We will feel His arms around us and hear Him say "well done, good and faithful servant". We will bow before Him and cry “Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God almighty! “
On top of the amazing things that will be in that land, we are also assured that several things that will not be in Heaven. When we enter into the presence of the Lord it will be in a place with no more sickness, pain, sadness, grief, death or crying. Never again will we have to endure the presence of sin or the influence of Satan.
We certainly look forward to all that awaits us in Heaven, but we must not lose sight of the truth that the Christian life is a truly wonderful life here and now. As children of God, we enjoy the privilege of prayer. We currently have direct, unhindered access to the Father. We are able to go boldly before the throne of grace and make our requests known. Each and every day we have the privilege of communing with our Savior. He has given us His holy Word and through it He speaks to us. Moreover, the precious Holy Spirit instructs, and guides us through this life.
We also live with the assurance that Jesus is our protector. He protects us from evil, temptation, and harm. He protects us presently and He will protect us eternally. Those who belong to Him are assured of their justification, salvation, and ultimate glorification. We rest in the truth that He will not cast us out and no one is able to pluck us out of His hand.
Jesus is also our provider. He provides us with physical and material necessities. He provides us with strength, joy, and comfort. Christ is our advocate, our source of peace and our burden bearer. Jesus is the propitiation for our sins, our refuge, and our friend. He is Lord, Savior, Master, and King. He has promised that He will never leave us or forsake us, and He has proved that His love will never fail us.
With all of these truths in view, they barely scratch the surface of the many privileges that we enjoy in the Christian life. Though this life is a remarkable life, there is no escaping the reality that at the moment, it is a life lived in human flesh and in the midst of a fallen creation. As a result, there are times when we forget all that God has done for us. The troubles and struggles of daily life often distract us from our true position in Christ Jesus.
Our selected text shows us several of the amazing benefits that belong to every Christian. I would like to examine those benefits and consider “Our New Life In Christ”.
- First of all, we need to be reminded that:
WE HAVE A PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP WITH THE LORD JESUS
v1 Simon Peter, a bondservant and apostle of Jesus Christ
Peter begins his letter by mentioning his close personal relationship with the Savior. At the outset of Jesus’ earthly ministry, He encountered a young man named Andrew. After this encounter, Andrew was convinced that Jesus was the Messiah. Filled with joy and excitement, he immediately went to his brother Simon, and took him to Jesus. Soon, Peter came to the same realization as his brother and responded by leaving behind everything he knew and following Jesus.
Now, as he nears the end of his life, Peter describes himself as a bondservant of Jesus. The word “bondservant” literally means slave, and an “apostle” is one who was chosen by and sent forth by Jesus. From the earliest days of Christ’s earthly ministry, Peter was there following and learning from Him. The latter half of Peter’s life was spent sharing the Gospel of his Savior. Very soon, he would become a martyr because of His faith in Jesus. What a great testimony of the closeness of the relationship between Peter and His Master.
Our relationship with Jesus is very similar to that of Peter and the other Apostles. This relationship begins when we surrender to Jesus as Lord. Through His marvelous grace, Jesus transforms us immediately and eternally. We begin to follow Him, learn about Him, and serve Him by sharing Him with others. Though we are not Apostles, we have been called and sent forth to share the glorious Gospel of Jesus Christ.
There is ample evidence that Peter was an imperfect man, (even after his conversion). But there is also proof that Jesus used him to accomplish great things for the Kingdom. The reason that Peter was so successful in his ministry efforts is that he was merely a willing and obedient vessel. Peter did nothing through his own power, but the Spirit of God moved through him and used to point others to Jesus.
In ourselves we are completely unable to accomplish anything positive for the Lord. However, because of our close relationship with Him, He can work through us and use us to advance His Kingdom.
- Those who have been born again have a personal relationship with Jesus. As we look further into verse 1, we also see the reality that we enjoy a common bond because of Jesus. Notice:
WE ENJOY A COMMON BOND BECAUSE OF JESUS
Peter addresses this letter to, “those who have obtained like precious faith with us by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ”. All Christians have all received the exact same precious faith as the Lord’s original Disciples. The ESV translates this as “a faith of equal standing”. The idea is that all who are saved are saved the same way and to the same extent. Salvation is not obtained by works, ceremonies, rituals, or any other aspect of religion. We have all been saved by God’s grace and through faith in Christ. As a result of this glorious salvation, we now have true fellowship with Christ and with each other.
The Greek word for fellowship is "koinonia". This is a word that means "communion partnership, joint participation, sharing in common”. Though the church is made up of many different kinds of people, we are united by the common bond of Jesus Christ. Men and women from various different backgrounds are able to coexist because we are members of the same family.
We all share a "like precious faith". In spite of our vast personal differences, our salvation was obtained in the exact same way. Though there may be different classes of people, there are no classes of sinners. We were all born into this world as lost sinners destined for condemnation. The only way that we were able to be delivered from the due penalty of our sins is because of the perfect and acceptable sacrifice of Jesus Christ.
- We have a personal relationship with Jesus, we enjoy a common bond in Jesus and as we move on to verse 2 we will see that we experience growth and Christian maturity through Jesus. Notice:
WE EXPERIENCE CHRISTIAN MATURITY BECAUSE OF JESUS
v2 “Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord”
It was Peter’s desire and prayer that the Saints would receive an increasing, more thorough, and intimate knowledge of Jesus Christ. He knew that their faith would increase and mature by knowing and understanding the truth about God. The same is true for us! God has revealed the truth to us in His Word and He shows us this truth through His Holy Spirit. It is God’s will for each of His children to consistently mature in their faith.
The Lord has made a way for us to experience this increase of knowledge and ever maturing faith. Jesus not only gave His life to deliver us from our sins, He also came so that we may enjoy the presence of God. It is His desire for His followers to consistently grow in grace. When this happens, it is pleasing to the Lord.
Paul said in Colossians 1:9-10: “We are asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding, so that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing fruit in every good work and growing in the knowledge of God”
Christian growth is learning about God and responding by doing what pleases Him. The Lord’s Apostles are great examples of what happens when Christians grow in grace. Peter went from denial to devotion. Paul went from the Damascus Road to the Roman Road. John went from being a quick-tempered Son of Thunder to the Apostle of love. Likewise, God has a plan to take you from where you are to where He would have you to be.
Most of us had a very limited knowledge of the things of God when we first encountered Jesus. But now that we have walked with Him, learned from Him, and lived for Him our knowledge has increased considerably and it continues to do so.
The Christian life is not an easy life, but it is a truly remarkable life. We have a personal relationship with Jesus, we enjoy a common bond with each other because of Jesus, and we are able to mature in our walk with Jesus. However, as I mentioned earlier, we cannot escape the reality that this life is lived in a body of flesh and in the midst of a fallen creation. Therefore, there are times when the struggle to live a Christ honoring life is very real. If we are honest, there are times when we just want to give up and walk away. Sometimes it helps to be reminded of where we were before Christ in order to appreciate where we are and what we have in Christ.
Before Jesus we had no hope, no purpose, no peace, and no joy. We did not have access to the great privileges that come as a result of our relationship with God. We had no refuge in the storm and nowhere to turn in the midst of our troubles. We did not have assurance of answered prayers and we received no guidance from the Holy Spirit. Ultimately we were lost sinners, dead in trespasses and sins, and enemies of God. But thanks to Jesus, we have experienced grace, mercy, love, and salvation. We have the hope of eternal life that comes through a personal relationship with the Savior.
If you have never surrendered to the Lord Jesus, you do not possess the many amazing benefits that we have considered in this message. But the wonderful new is that you have the opportunity to “obtain a like precious faith” in the same way as those of us who have been born again. This precious faith is not obtained by anything you can do, it is received by faith in the One who has already done everything necessary to obtain your redemption. His name is Jesus and I encourage you to surrender to Him in faith today. If you will, then you can be assured of a new life in Christ.
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