EVERYTHING WE NEED!
"Simon Peter, a bond-servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who have received a faith of the same kind as ours, by the righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ: Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord; seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence. For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust" (2 Peter 1:1-4 NASV).
This past week my wife and I had the opportunity to counsel someone who wanted to get my take on whether or not a certain behavior was okay. Since they considered themselves a Christian, my first question was, “Would Jesus do it?” After thinking for a minute, they reacted with, “Well, I’m not Jesus!”
Sadly, their response reminded me of the game show “Family Feud,” where, no matter how silly or nonsensical the answer, the other family members always say, “Good Answer!” even though they know it’s not a good answer. “I’m not Jesus” is not a good answer for a believer. First of all, it’s an attempt at justifying one’s behavior, and, secondly, it shows a profound ignorance of what we are in Christ and how we are to live.
When a person is born again (John 3:3), they become a partaker of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust (2 Pet. 1:4). The Apostle Paul confirms that truth when he says in Ephesians 4:22 that we “lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit”…and that we put on the new self which is created in the image of God. In other words, we take on the identity of Jesus. We’re given His righteousness (2 Cor. 5:21) and the characteristics of His Spirit (fruit of the Spirit) take root in our personalities (Gal. 5:22f).
But, sadly, not understanding that leaves too many people who claim to be a Christian, susceptible to living an ineffective and unproductive life (2 Pet. 1:8).
Which leads us to our study of 2 Peter. In this letter to believers, Peter reminds them/us that through the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ, we have received a faith that is worth knowing more fully and worth guarding against error. So, let me start by pointing out that Peter mentions the word “knowing” and “knowledge” a total of ten times throughout his letter. He mentions “knowledge” five times in the first eight verses:
• Grace and peace are multiplied to us in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord (vs. 2)
• His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of Him (vs. 3)
• We are to add to our moral excellence, knowledge (vs. 5)
• To our knowledge we are to add self-control (vs. 6)
• As we grow in the qualities of His divine nature, our knowledge of Jesus stays real and productive (vs. 8)
Thus, it would be an understatement to say that “knowing” is essential to our spiritual well-being. If we learn anything from our forefathers in the Old Testament, it is that when God’s people neglect or reject the word of the Lord, ruination follows. Remember Hosea’s admonition to the children of Israel: "…Because there is no truth or loyalty or knowledge of God in the land. There is swearing, deception, murder, stealing and adultery. They employ violence, so that bloodshed follows bloodshed. Therefore the land mourns, and everyone who lives in it languishes…My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge…" (Hos. 4:2, 3, 6 NASV).
Now, brethren, we understand we’re not talking about simply knowing Bible facts – right?! Let me give you an example. How many times is the phrase “greet one another” used in the New Testament? (The answer is 4). But, that’s a worthless piece of information until we place it in the context of loving one another. We “know” we are to greet one another because it is an act of God’s love. He has “greeted” us in the person of Jesus. But until those facts result in a relational change, then they are useless. And the danger of instruction that does not have love as its goal (1 Tim. 1:5), results in an attitude of superiority and self-righteousness. The Apostle Paul warned against that when he wrote: “...Knowledge makes arrogant, but love edifies. If anyone supposes that he knows anything, he has not yet known as he ought to know; but if anyone loves God, he is known by Him" (1 Cor. 8:1-3 NASV).
God knows we’ve had enough of that kind of “knowledge” in our fellowship!
This is about knowing the Person of Jesus Christ: His character, His heart, His life. There’s a huge difference in head-knowing and heart-knowing Jesus. I can know that He ate with tax collectors and sinners, but until I accept the fact that I am one of those sinners and that Jesus was, in effect, eating with me, then I don’t know Him.
So right out of the gate, Peter reminds us that “grace” (what He did, He did for me because of who He is) and “peace” (the product of that grace) are ours in abundance through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.
Here’s how the Amplified Version conveys those two gifts: "May grace (God’s favor) and peace (which is perfect well-being, all necessary good, all spiritual prosperity, and freedom from fears and agitating passions and moral conflicts) be multiplied to you in [the full, personal, precise, and correct] knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord" (2 Pet. 1:2).
What more do we need when we have abundant grace and peace? In verse 3 the Apostle Peter says we don’t need anything else because we have “everything we need”:
"His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness" (2 Pet. 1:3 NIV).
“Everything” – what a great word!
Think of all the things that would change for the better if more people knew that Jesus has given them everything they need to live a life that pleases God. Then they wouldn’t have to experiment with sex, drugs and rock and roll to be happy. If only they “knew” that living for pleasure ends in a madding cycle of diminishing returns. If only they “knew” that striving after status never satisfies. If only they “knew” that achieving and acquiring things results in having to call 1-800-GotJunk (Eccl. 1). If only they “knew” that everything they need for a life of meaning, purpose and enjoyment comes from knowing Jesus in all His glory and goodness.
CONCLUSION:
He lived among the tombs half naked and destitute. No one could help him. People had tried to restrain him but nothing could hold him. He was a man possessed of many demons.
But when he saw Jesus get out of a boat, he ran up to Him and bowed down before Him. The demons knew who Jesus was and so they asked Him to send them into the pigs – who hurled themselves over a cliff.
With the demons gone, the man humbled himself before Jesus, begging Him that he might accompany Him, but Jesus told him: “Return to your house and describe what great things God has done for you” (Mark 8:39).
Brethren, the world heads over a cliff because they refuse to accept what only Jesus can provide; the world heads over a cliff because they don’t know that He has given us everything we need!
As people who have been granted everything we need through the knowledge of our Savior, Jesus Christ, let us tell that world what great things God had done!
