In may of 1883 strange noises were heard over a hundred miles
away coming from the island of Krakatoa between Java and
Sumatra. Some Dutchmen chartered a boat and visited the island to
investigate. They heard rumbling deep in the earth, and saw geysers
of steam shooting up here and there. They left the island, and three
months later this island paradise blew sky high. In the words ofLewis
Dunnington it was, "The most awful, cataclysmic contortion
of the earth's crust that the world had ever experienced." Cracks
opened up again and again, and ocean water poured into Molten
white hot lava until 14 square miles of the island was hurled into the
sky. The Royal Society of London said, "It made the mightiest noise
which, so far as we can ascertain, has ever been heard on the globe.
It was distinctly heard 3000 miles away four hours later. Here is
a mini example of what Peter says in 3:10 will happen on the Day of
the Lord when the heavens will pass away with a loud noise, and the
elements will be dissolved with fire. It was a mini example of
judgement day, but a fantastic demonstration of destructive power.
It created a title wave 50 feet high tearing across the Indian Ocean
at speeds up to three hundred fifty miles per hour. It destroyed 163
villages with all their inhabitants. It reached Cape Horn in 17
hours, and on the way it destroyed 5000 ships. One Dutch ship was
carried 2 miles inland. Dust from the pulverized island rose 20 miles
into the air, and it was carried around the globe. Six months later
the sky over St. Louis, Missouri was green and yellow from that
dust.
Scientists went to visit the island in 1884, and they found no life at
all. Two years later in 1886 they returned, and they found ferns,
four varieties of flowers, two kinds of grass, butterflies, ants,
caterpillars, morning glories, mango and sugar plum. Birds which
carried the seeds of all this vegetation were there in abundance. It
was again a paradise, and again a mini example of God's plan after
the world is destroyed. Peter says in 3:13 that we look for a new
heaven and new earth.
The events on the island of Krakatoa illustrate the events of all
history from paradise lost to paradise regained. It illustrates the
power of life over the power of death even in nature. Nature, of
course, is God's plan, and we see this same fact in the spiritual
realm. Sin blew man's paradise and harmonious relationship to
God all to pieces. But as the birds were God's agents in nature to
restore life to the island, so the Dove of the Holy Spirit brings new
life into the desert of man's soul. When men respond and drink of
the water of life that Jesus offers, the desert blooms as a rose.
The whole point is that the power of life, good, and godliness will
always triumph over the power of death, evil and wickedness,
provided we are in the right relationship to the source of this power.
Peter says in verse 3 that God's divine power has granted to us all
things that pertain to life and godliness through the knowledge of
Him who called us to His glory and virtue. Everything necessary for
the abundant and godly life is potentially ours through the
knowledge of God. Knowledge of God is the means by which we
gain the power of God. From beginning to end the Christian life is a
matter of the power of God working in us. By believing in Christ
and receiving Him as Savior we are given, says John, the power to
become the children of God. The Christian life from that point is a
matter of the energy of God flowing through us.
The English word energy is taken from the Greek word
frequently used by Paul. In Gal. 2:8 he writes, "He who energized
in Peter for the mission to the circumcised energized in me also for
the Gentiles." The Greek is translated in the New Testament as
worketh, wrought mightily, or operated. The idea is God's energy
working in man's life to empower them for service. Here are a few
verses in which we see this word being used. Col. 1:29 says, "I
labor, striving according to His energy which energizes in me in
power." Eph. 3:7 says, "The gift of the grace of God which was
given to me according to the energy of His Power." Phil. 3:13 says,
"It is God who energizes in you both to will and to energize for His
pleasure." I Cor. 12:6 says, "There are diversities of effects of
energy; but it is the same God who energizes all in all."
There are more, but these make it clear that Jesus meant what
He said when He claimed His disciples could do nothing without
Him. He meant nothing that is a part of the spiritual life, for He is
the source of energy. To be without Christ is to be without power.
On the other hand, Paul said, "I can do all things through Christ
who strengthens me." All things is what Peter is saying also. God
has granted us all things by His power that pertain to life and
godliness. Peter does not hesitate to speak boldly about the power of
God, the provision of God, and the purpose of God, in this verse.
Let's consider now-
GOD'S PROVISION.
That which God makes available through His power is what we
are looking at. It is frustrating to read passages like this
superficially because they seem to be so far beyond our experience.
Peter says that God has granted us all things that pertain to life and
godliness. This being so, we should have no lack, but be perfect
Christians. If God has provided everything, what can be lacking?
But he goes on to tell them that they must labor diligently to add all
kinds of things to their faith in order to be effective and fruitful. So
they both have everything, and yet have a great deal yet to acquire.
It is obvious then that we are dealing here with the difference
between potential and actual.
In this verse Peter is saying that God's provision is complete.
There is absolutely nothing that you need in order to be the best
possible Christian that is not available. The potential for everyone
of us to be all that we can be in God's plan is a reality. Any lack and
any failure to attain this ideal is due to inadequacy on our part, and
not God's lack of provision. The raw material is available, but what
is needed is the labor to put it together. Markham captured this
idea in poetry.
We men of earth have here the stuff
Of Paradise-we have enough!
We need no other stones to build
The stairs into the Unfulfilled;
No other ivory for the doors;
No other marble for the floors;
No other cedar for the beam,
And dome of man's immortal dream.
Here on the path of everyday;
Here on the common human way,
Is all the busy God would take
To build a heaven, to mold and make
New Edens. Ours the task sublime
To build Eternity in Time.
The poet has expressed the very thought of Peter. We do not
need anything more, for all is provided to accomplish the ideal. All
that is necessary now is to build. The problem is never supply, but
labor. We must cooperate with God, or all His provision will be of
no benefit. In other words, even the almighty power of God will not
make the Christian life easy, for it costs to make real in life what
God has made potential by His grace. God demands our
cooperation before His provision can become actualized in
experience.
A man purchased a bouquet of American Beauty Roses, and he
exclaimed, "See what God wrought." The florist said, "Wait a
minute." He disappeared into the green house, and he came back
holding a plain common rose, and he said, "See what God wrought."
Then he took the bouquet of beautiful roses and said, "See what God
and man wrought." The florist was right. Some of the finest things
in nature God will not do without man's cooperation. Hybrids with
all their superior quality cannot be raised by depending on the laws
of nature alone. They can only survive, as they came to exist in the
first place, by man's cooperation with the forces of God in a new
venture. They are only potential by God's power, but they become
actual by man's cooperation.
The Christian life is a hybrid life. It is a combination of the
divine and human. If the human element fails to cooperate, the
same things happens which happens to a hybrid plant. It reverts
back to a common plant, and the Christian slips back into the
natural life. This need never be, however, for God has provided all
that is necessary for the commencement, continuation, and
completion of the Christian life.
How do we lay hold on this amazing provision? Peter says it is
through the knowledge of Him who called us to His own glory and
virtue. Peter keeps bringing this back to the knowledge of God as
the means by which we become open to His power, and acquire His
provision of all things. We cannot escape this idea as the key to all
Peter says. R. H. Benson rightly said, "There is but one thing in the
world really worth pursuing-the knowledge of God." Out problem
with this basic truth is that we impose our modern concept of
knowledge on the Scripture, and we limit it in a way that is not
valid.
To know in the biblical sense means that one's mind, heart, and
whole being is involved. To know is used to describe the most
intimate relation of man and wife. Adam knew Eve and she
conceived a child. To know means far more than mere intellectual
acquaintance. To know is to love, and to express that love. The bible
does not divide man up into unrealistic segments as we tend to do.
We disect man into intellect, emotion and will. This is alright for the
sake of study, but we tend to think that real people operate like our
descriptions on paper. In reality they do not do so. They are really
more like the biblical picture. They do all that they do as a whole.
They do not love with the heart apart from their mind and will.
They do not choose with the will apart from their emotions and
intellect. They do not learn with their mind apart from their feelings
and will. Man is a whole, and when the Bible refers to knowing God,
it means as a whole man, and not just the intellect. To know God is
to love Him and to obey Him. Knowing God is a commitment of the
total person.
Jesus will say to some in the day of judgment that "I never knew
you." He is not confessing to a lack of omniscience, but He is saying
that I never had an intimate relationship of love with you. Whatever
knowledge there was involved was only a matter of the head, and the
heart was not included. We need to think with the mind of Christ
when we consider the knowledge of God as the means by which we
gain the power and provision of God. It is through a wise, loving,
intimate, obedient relationship to God that we gain all things
necessary to life and godliness.
Peter tells us God's purpose in calling us. We are called to His
own glory and excellence. Every Christian has the highest possible
calling. No Christian need ever feel insignificant, for he is called to
the glory and excellence of God. Felix Adler wrote, "The object of
religion is to rescue man from his insignificance, and to reveal to
him his eternal self." In Christianity alone man finds this goal
fulfilled, for only the Christian is called to the heights of becoming
Christlike. Only a Christian can become partaker of the divine
nature and display the glory of God. The big question is, are we
answering the call?
Glory is greatness and honor. When we speak of the glory of
Greece, or the glory of Rome, we mean the marvelous greatness,
power, and splendor that characterize them in their golden age. The
glory of any country is her honor. Sir Walter Scott wrote-
Stood for his country's glory fast,
And nailed her colors to the mast.
The glory of America is the greatness in honor of her history, and
the benefits she has bestowed upon mankind. Likewise, the glory
and excellence of God is His majesty, honor, and praise worthiness
for all his benefits given to man through Christ. To be called to the
glory of your country is to be called to participate in the heritage,
honor, and blessedness of her past, and to demonstrate the virtues
that made her great that they might be preserved for the future.
Applying this to the call of God to His glory we see why we lack
so much of the provision of God. We are not fulfilling His purpose.
We are not being good soldiers of Christ aiming to defend His glory
and honor. We are not magnifying His majesty and message of love
in life. The problem always comes back to our failure to cooperate
with God's plan. We break the circuit by our ignorance and
indifference, and so we lose the power of God, and in turn, we lack
the provision of God to fulfill His purpose. The Great Wall of China
was an enormous project costing immense expenditure in labor and
lives. It should have provided them with full security, but it did not
do so because of gatekeepers who were bribed, and the enemy was
able to enter and conquer. It was the human element that failed, and
the same is true in the plan of God. God has provided all that is
necessary for security and victory, but the human element fails to
cooperate and the purpose of God is not fulfilled. Peter goes on to
tell us of the many things that we can add to our lives to cooperate
with God. But the bottom line is that any lack we have in life is not
due to God's lack of provision, but to our lack of cooperation in
using that provision to experience His power.
