Set For Life

2 Peter 1:1-11 NIV 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: 2 Grace and peace be yours in abundance through the 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 goodness.

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. 5 For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; 6 and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; 7 and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. 8 For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 But if anyone does not have them, he is nearsighted and blind, and has forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins. 10 Therefore, my brothers, be all the more eager to make your calling and election sure. For if you do these things, you will never fall, 11 and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Introduction: Several years ago, a man shared with His church family how he had come back to the Lord. He said, “I got off at the Pennsylvania depot as a tramp, and for a year I begged on the streets for a living. One day I touched a man on the shoulder and said, ‘Mister, could you spare me some change?’ As soon as I saw his face, I recognized my father. ‘Father, don’t you know me,’ I asked. Throwing his arms around me, he cried, ‘I have found you; all I have is yours.’ Men, think of it, that I, a tramp, stood begging my father for some change, when for 18 years he had been looking for me so he could give me all he was worth!” (Tan 1990, 518)

-Like this man, sometimes we too settle for a life of begging, trying to do things our own way, hoping for some spare change so we can satisfy our hunger. All the while, our heavenly Father is looking for us, wanting us to realize that He has already given us everything we need for this life and the next. Even as Christians, it is amazing how we sometimes survive on so little in the way of spiritual nourishment. But God does not want us to beg for the spare change that this world has to offer. He offers us a wealth of provision that will help us live our lives to the full!

Proposition: The main idea I want to share today is this: Christ followers have everything they need to live Godly lives.

Interrogative Sentence: If that is true, then how can we access it? How can we find what we need for a full life?

Transitional Sentence: Our Bibles show us some important principles that will help us find the life that is worth living.

I. We Can Find What We Need By Getting to Know God Better (v.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.”

-We have all we need “through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.”

-This is not general knowledge, but is knowledge directed toward a particular object or person, namely God. The word used here implies a more detailed or fuller knowledge. It is typically used of relationship.

-How can we get to know God? Surely He is too powerful and vast to be known.

A. Through His Word

-God the Father revealed Himself through His Son, Jesus. We can get to know God by getting to know Jesus. How can we get to know Jesus? The Gospels are a good place to start. We find out about His character, compassion, concern for those who did not seem to really belong- misfits/castoffs from society. Jesus crossed all sorts of boundaries to show His love to those who needed it most.

-We can also look back through the pages of the Old Testament and get to know the character and heart of God. If God never changes, then we can get to know Him through the Older Testament as well as the Newer one. We find out that He is the Creator, and as such is powerful and sovereign. He loves mankind, and wants to fellowship with us. He is totally just and judges what is wrong. He is compassionate and cares for the poor and needy.