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.
B. Through Prayer
-Most of us would agree that a good relationship requires good communication. Prayer is communication with God. We cry out to Him when we need help. We listen and wait for Him to speak to our hearts by His Holy Spirit. We surrender ourselves to Him and try to describe the thoughts and feelings that are awakened by His presence within us. We speak and God listens. God speaks and we listen. It is through this exchange of heart and soul that we get to know our God.
-The problem here is not that we don’t know what prayer is, it is just that we need to practice it more. If this is an area of failure for you, start somewhere. At the very least, we can do more tomorrow than we did today.
C. Through Praise & Worship
-We use our voices, musical instruments, and other means to declare God’s goodness. We sing about His grace and mercy. We may clap our hands or dance before Him or shout to the LORD. We express our love, our thanks, and our devotion to the One who loves us more than we know. This helps us get to know Him better, spending time with Him, loving Him with our words, our songs, and our lives.
D. Through Experience
-One of the best ways to get to know God involves all of these things, plus time. Over time, as we trust God, learn about Him in His word, communicate with Him in prayer, and give Him glory through praise and worship, we will get to know Him better. He reveals Himself in a variety of ways to us. Sometimes He uses other people. Never underestimate what you can learn about God by interacting with His people. Other believers can teach you things about God and model a relationship with Him that will help you gain a fuller sense of who He is. Even children can teach us about God. Jesus used a child as an example of the kinds of people He wants in His kingdom. That shows us what He values: innocence, lack of malice, complete trust, joy and laughter, unbridled excitement, quick forgiveness, acceptance, and so on.
Illustration: I have learned a lot more about myself and about God since becoming a parent. I know something about the strength and tenderness of a Father’s love. I know what it is like to weep tears of joy and wonder at the first sight of your child. I know what it is to hear them cry out at night and then go running to see how I can help. I know what it is to rush home from work so I can see them and hold them and make sure everything is okay. I also know something of what it takes to keep them clothed, fed, warm, dry, safe, healthy, and happy. My experience as a Daddy has given me some small sense of how our heavenly Father feels about us. He treasures each of us in a unique & special way, because we belong to Him. He created us in His image, and longs for interaction & fellowship w/ us.
Application: So we see that we can find all that we need to live the way God wants us to live by getting to know Him better. I encourage you to evaluate your life and see if there are some things you could be doing differently that would help you get to know the Lord better than you do now. How can you improve your relationship with the Lord? Ask Him, then take a step in that direction.
Transition: As we get to know Him better, we also find hope and comfort in the promises He has given to all believers.
II. We Can Find All We Need By Embracing God’s Promises (v.4)
“He has given us his very great and precious promises….” Here are 5 BIG ones!
A. Promise of His Pardon (1 Jn. 1:9) “I will forgive you…”
-Jeremiah 31:34 "For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more." This was God’s promise to those under the New Covenant.
-1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
B. Presence (Heb. 13:5) “I will be with you.”
-Joshua 1:5 “As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you.” This must have been encouraging to Joshua, but guess what. The writer of Hebrews applies this to all those who trust in Christ.
Hebrews 13:5 God has said, "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you."
C. Provision (Phil. 4:19) “I will take care of you.”
-Psalm 37:25 I was young and now I am old, yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken or their children begging bread.
-Philippians 4:19 And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.
-We could linger on all the promises we have regarding God’s promises & provision for healing. God has done so much for us and He is willing to do so much more when we call on Him. Please understand that God’s grace is sufficient to take care of us!
D. Power (Acts 1:8) “I will empower you.”
-Joel 2:28 “I will pour out My Spirit on you….”
-Acts 1:8 “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."
E. Promise of His Coming (2 Pet. 3:4, 9) “I will come for you.”
-One of the famous verses that shows the promise of Christ’s coming is in John 14:3 “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.” Peter heard this promise 1st hand. He was there when Jesus said it.
-Peter was also there when Jesus ascended, and the angels reaffirmed the promise that Jesus would return: Acts 1:11 "Men of Galilee," they said, "why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven."
-Now, Peter warns in ch.3 that people who lack faith will doubt and ridicule the promise Jesus made to return for His people.
2 Peter 3:4 4 They will say, "Where is this
