http://www.ephraimbible.org/Sermons/20091206_character-personality_of_jesus.mp3

12/6/09 – the character & personality of Jesus

Last week we looked at who Jesus claimed to be, who his apostles testified that he was, and who the Old Testament prophets predicted he would be. We saw that Jesus claimed to be the eternal all glorious pre-existent self existent one, sent from the Father, equal to and one with his Father yet distinct from the Father and worthy of the same honor as the Father; this dearly loved eternal companion of the Father was sent to be born, sent to live a perfect life in our place, sent to be beaten and bruised and abused, sent to die in our place so that we could be given the infinitely valuable gift of eternal life – life that consists in knowing this all glorious God, knowing this Jesus!

Today we will look at Jesus the man. If it is true as it says in…

Hebrews 1:3 He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, …

If it is true, as it says in…

Colossians 1:15 He is the image of the invisible God… 19 For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell,

If it is true that the good news is all about…

2Corinthians 4:4, 6 …seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. …6…to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

Then the best way to get to know God better is to look closely at Jesus. This is what John gives us as the purpose of the incarnation:

John 1:14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. …18 No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known.

So one of the main purposes of Jesus’ coming was to make God known. And Jesus himself tells us that eternal life consists in knowing God and knowing Jesus:

John 17:3 And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.

In our pursuit of knowing God better, we will look this morning at the character and personality of Jesus in the New Testament writings, as well as some pointers in the Old Testament prophecies about Jesus. We want to see Jesus for who he is and give him the worship that is his due. Jesus said…

John 5:22-23 The Father… has given all judgment to the Son, 23 that all may honor the Son, just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him.

So we don’t want simply to learn more stuff about Jesus today. We want to honor the Father and the Son by seeing what Jesus is like and standing in awe of him; to have our hearts respond with joy and worship of him.

Before we dig into the gospels, lets go back to Moses’ request to see the glory of God.

Exodus 33:18 Moses said, “Please show me your glory.” 19 And he said, “I will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you my name ‘The LORD.’ And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy. 20 But,” he said, “you cannot see my face, for man shall not see me and live.” 21 And the LORD said, “Behold, there is a place by me where you shall stand on the rock, 22 and while my glory passes by I will put you in a cleft of the rock, and I will cover you with my hand until I have passed by. 23 Then I will take away my hand, and you shall see my back, but my face shall not be seen.”

It is interesting that Moses asks to be shown the glory of God, and God’s response is to display his goodness and proclaim his name. In the next chapter, we see the answer to Moses’ request:

Exodus 34: 5 The LORD descended in the cloud and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the LORD. 6 The LORD passed before him and proclaimed, “The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, 7 keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation.”

The answer does not come in a visual manifestation, but in words. The glory of the Lord is not sound and lights and special effects. The glory of the Lord is the reputation of his name and the glory of his character – merciful, gracious, slow to anger, overflowing in steadfast love and faithfulness, forgiving, yet absolutely just. The display of the glory of God is what Jesus came to do.

John 1:14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

And John sums up the glory of God that he saw in the face of Jesus Christ this way: ‘full of grace and truth’. We don’t get a description of what Jesus in his humanity looked like, and all the pictures that have been painted are wrong – because they can’t portray the fullness of grace and truth which is what we most need to see. In fact those that had seen him said in a passage dealing with:

2 Corinthians 5:12 …those who boast about outward appearance and not about what is in the heart… 16 From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer.

The Beauty of Jesus: The beauty of Jesus is not in outward appearance. Did you ever wonder how Jesus was able to disappear in a crowd and escape arrest so many times?

Luke 4:29 And they rose up and drove him out of the town and brought him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, so that they could throw him down the cliff. 30 But passing through their midst, he went away.

It certainly may have been supernatural, but is it possible that he looked so ordinary that he easily blended in with the crowds of Jewish men? Did you ever consider that Jesus might have been short? Remember, he was the promised Messiah, destined to sit on David’s throne – David, who was the youngest and shortest of his brothers – the runt of the litter (1 Samuel 16). Zacchaeus had to climb a tree to get a glimpse of Jesus because he was short – but do you know how difficult it is for a short guy to find another short guy in a crowd? Even John the Baptist claims that the Spirit had to point Jesus out to him:

John 1:33 I myself did not know him, but he who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’

And did you ever wonder why Judas betrayed Jesus with a kiss?

Matthew 26:48 Now the betrayer had given them a sign, saying, “The one I will kiss is the man; seize him.”

Wouldn’t it have been easier for Judas to say “He’s the tall one with the flowing blonde hair and piercing blue eyes – you know, the one with the glowing halo hovering over his head.” But it is the prophet Isaiah that removes all doubt about the unimpressive physical appearance of Jesus:

Isaiah 53:2 For he grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground; he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him.

The Humanness of Jesus

Part of what made it so difficult for the religious leaders to take Jesus’ claims seriously was that Jesus was unmistakably human. The conception of Jesus was miraculous, but his birth was marked not by the supernatural, but by poverty and disgrace. Yes, there was an angelic announcement, but it was made to the least respected, the least trustworthy members of society at that time – shepherds. He was born to an unwed mother away from home – in a stable. The Jews were aware of his questionable background

John 8:41 You are doing what your father did.” They said to him, “We were not born of sexual immorality. We have one Father–even God.”

John 6:41 So the Jews grumbled about him, because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” 42 They said, “Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How does he now say, ‘I have come down from heaven’?”

Mark 6:3 Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon? And are not his sisters here with us?” And they took offense at him.

Mark 2:6 Now some of the scribes were sitting there, questioning in their hearts, 7 “Why does this man speak like that? He is blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?”

John 10:33 The Jews answered him, “It is not for a good work that we are going to stone you but for blasphemy, because you, being a man, make yourself God.”

There was no question about the genuineness of the humanity of Jesus to those who knew him. He became hungry and thirsty and weary and he ate and drank and slept. He experienced grief and anger and pain and frustration and joy. He stumbled and wept and sweat and bled and died. It is interesting that the first heresies did not deny the fact that Jesus was God; they denied the fact that Jesus was really human. That’s why John focused on the tangible nature of his eye witness account in his first letter:

1 John 1:1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life– 2 the life was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was made manifest to us– 3 that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ.

John had leaned against Jesus’ breast and felt his heart beating. He had watched him being tortured and he watched him die. So he writes:

1 John 4:2 By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, 3 and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already.

2 John 1:7 For many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not confess the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh. Such a one is the deceiver and the antichrist.

It was essential that Jesus be authentically human. If Jesus were not truly human, he could not substitute himself and stand in our place and die for our sins. In order to mediate between God and man, he must be the man Christ Jesus. [1 Timothy 2:5]

So what was it about Jesus that displayed the glory of God?

The Royalty of Jesus

Luke 1:32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David,

Matthew 2:2 saying, “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.”

Jesus is indeed Messiah, king of the Jews, but his is an upside-down kingdom.

Mark 10:45 For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

Acts 17:24 The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, 25 nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything.

Jesus displays that God is indeed King of kings and Lord of lord, but he rules as a servant king who needs nothing and rules by serving sacrificially for the good of his subjects.

The Wisdom of Jesus

Luke 2:46 After three days they found him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. 47 And all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers.

Mark 1:22 And they were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as one who had authority, and not as the scribes.

Mark 6:2 And on the Sabbath he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were astonished, saying, “Where did this man get these things? What is the wisdom given to him? How are such mighty works done by his hands?

John 7:15 The Jews therefore marveled, saying, “How is it that this man has learning, when he has never studied?” …46 The officers answered, “No one ever spoke like this man!”

The wisdom of Jesus astonished all who heard, but his wisdom was upside-down wisdom. It was not the wisdom of the academy and he was not seeking the approval of the religious establishment, in fact it was a wisdom that was hidden tot he wise:

Mark 4:10 And when he was alone, those around him with the twelve asked him about the parables. 11 And he said to them, “To you has been given the secret of the kingdom of God, but for those outside everything is in parables, 12 so that “they may indeed see but not perceive, and may indeed hear but not understand, lest they should turn and be forgiven.”

Luke 10:21 In that same hour he rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will.

Jesus said some very hard things, offensive things that seem to be designed to turn people away, things like:

John 6:53 So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. …60 When many of his disciples heard it, they said, “This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?” 61 But Jesus, knowing in himself that his disciples were grumbling about this, said to them, “Do you take offense at this? 62 Then what if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before? 63 It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is of no avail. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life. 64 But there are some of you who do not believe.” (For Jesus knew from the beginning who those were who did not believe, and who it was who would betray him.) 65 And he said, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father.” 66 After this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him. 67 So Jesus said to the Twelve, “Do you want to go away as well?” 68 Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, 69 and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God.”

Paul in 1 Corinthians declares that the glory of God is seen in the upside-down nature of God’s wisdom

1 Corinthians 1:17 For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel, and not with words of eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power. 18 For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 19 For it is written, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.” 20 Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? 21 For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe. 22 For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, 23 but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, 24 but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25 For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.

The glory of God is seen in The Authority of Jesus

Mark 4:39 And he awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. 41 And they were filled with great fear and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even wind and sea obey him?”

Luke 4:36 And they were all amazed and said to one another, “What is this word? For with authority and power he commands the unclean spirits, and they come out!”

Luke 7:49 Then those who were at table with him began to say among themselves, “Who is this, who even forgives sins?”

John 19:10 So Pilate said to him, “You will not speak to me? Do you not know that I have authority to release you and authority to crucify you?” 11 Jesus answered him, “You would have no authority over me at all unless it had been given you from above…

John 10:18 No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.”

And look how Jesus used his authority – he laid down his life for his sheep. [Jn10:15]. In his authority, he invites:

Matthew 11:28 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

Matthew 19:14 but Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven.”

Mark 1:40 And a leper came to him, imploring him, and kneeling said to him, “If you will, you can make me clean.” 41 Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand and touched him and said to him, “I will; be clean.” 42 And immediately the leprosy left him, and he was made clean.

He uses his authority to forgive sins with the woman caught in the act of adultery – he convicts her accusers of their sin and sends her away forgiven [John 8:3-11]. Isaiah puts it this way

Isaiah 42:3 a bruised reed he will not break, and a faintly burning wick he will not quench; he will faithfully bring forth justice.

And yet this is how he speaks to the proud self-righteous Pharisees:

John 8:44 You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and has nothing to do with the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.

Matthew 23:15 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel across sea and land to make a single proselyte, and when he becomes a proselyte, you make him twice as much a child of hell as yourselves. …27 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people’s bones and all uncleanness. … 31 Thus you witness against yourselves that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets. 32 Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers. 33 You serpents, you brood of vipers, how are you to escape being sentenced to hell?

The Passion of Jesus

John 2:14 In the temple he found those who were selling oxen and sheep and pigeons, and the money-changers sitting there. 15 And making a whip of cords, he drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and oxen. And he poured out the coins of the money-changers and overturned their tables. 16 And he told those who sold the pigeons, “Take these things away; do not make my Father’s house a house of trade.” 17 His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for your house will consume me.”

Jesus was passionate about truth and righteousness, and yet his passion found expression this way:

Luke 19:41 And when he drew near and saw the city, he wept over it, 42 saying, “Would that you, even you, had known on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes.

As the soldiers crucified him, he extended forgiveness to them.

Luke 23:34 And Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” And they cast lots to divide his garments.

Jesus accurately and fully put the glory of God on display

Exodus 34:6 …“The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, 7 keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation.”

Through Jesus we come to know God better

John 1:14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. … 16 And from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. 17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18 No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known.

Thank you Jesus, for faithfully putting God on display. Thank you that you are full of grace and truth, and out of your fullness we receive. Thank you for pouring out grace upon grace upon grace – undeserved kindness. Thank you for extending kindness and forgiveness even to your enemies. And thank you that you are truth – absolute righteousness and unswerving holiness. Thank you that you did not sweep my sin under the carpet of eternity, but that you decisively dealt with in in your own human body on the tree.

Pastor Rodney Zedicher ~ Ephraim Church of the Bible ~ www.ephraimbible.org

http://www.ephraimbible.org/Sermons/20091129_pre-identity_of_jesus.mp3

11/29/09 – the pre-identity of Jesus

We are in the weeks leading up to Christmas. Christmas is a time we use to celebrate and honor the birth of Jesus the Christ. Of course, honoring Jesus is what we seek to do every week, and we should be honoring and celebrating Jesus every moment of every day throughout the year, but there is nothing wrong with using this season to focus our attention collectively on Jesus. So I would like to take the next several Sundays and reflect together on who it is that we gather together every week to worship and honor. I would like to take some time to look at the character and personality of Jesus, to gaze into the wonder of the incarnation, and to meditate on the appropriate response to this man who claimed to be God, who was born in a stable. But today I want to begin our meditation on Christ by going back; way back; all the way back to the beginning. The Bible starts this way: ‘in the beginning God…’ and I want to go back at least that far, to stand together on the brink of eternity, to peer back into eternity past and see if we can get a glimpse of who Jesus is.

We have Jesus’ own warrant for asking who he was before he was born, because he is the one who said things like ‘the Father has sent me’ and ‘before Abraham was I AM’ and ‘I and the Father are one’ and ‘Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed.’ We’ll start with some of these statements that Jesus made about himself, and then we’ll look at the testimony of the apostles about the identity of Jesus, and we’ll take just a moment to look back into Old Testament prophecy to see confirmation about who this child is. We’ll be looking at large chunks of several texts and I want God’s word to speak for itself, so I’d like you to follow along in your bibles.

Let’s begin by looking at some of Jesus ‘ own words in the Gospel of John:

John 5:16-19 And this was why the Jews were persecuting Jesus, because he was doing these things on the Sabbath. 17 But Jesus answered them, “My Father is working until now, and I am working.”

God created the world in 6 days, “And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done.” [Gen.2:2]. God rested from his work of creating the world, but he has never taken a break from maintaining and sustaining the universe that he had made. That’s what Jesus is referring to when he says “My Father is working until now”, and then he adds, as justification for why he was doing mighty works on the Sabbath “and I am working.” If we are ever confused by what Jesus says, the Jews let us know exactly how we should understand him:

18 This was why the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him, because not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God. 19 So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise… 21 For as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom he will.

Jesus claims to do everything the Father does. Whatever God the Father does, I can do too. And to clarify what kinds of things he’s talking about, he gives a concrete example: giving life. Jesus here claims to be the life giver. Jesus can grant life according to his own sovereign will. But he goes on:

…23 that all may honor the Son, just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him.

Jesus claims to deserve the same honor that the Father deserves. This is a stunning claim! Not secondary honor, not even slightly less honor, but the very same honor. In fact, Jesus says that if you don’t honor the Son with the very same level of honor that the Father deserves, you are dishonoring the Father. Jesus demands the worship that the Father deserves, and when we read the gospels, we see on several occasions that he gladly receives worship as God.

John 8:14-24 Jesus answered “Even if I do bear witness about myself, my testimony is true, for I know where I came from and where I am going, but you do not know where I come from or where I am going… 18 I am the one who bears witness about myself, and the Father who sent me bears witness about me. 23 He said to then, “You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world. 24 I told you that you would die in your sins, for unless you believe that I AM he you will die in your sins (cf.13:9; 14:10)

Jesus claims to know where he came from and where he is going. I know where I came from – I was born in Minnesota and I came from my mother and father. I had no existence before God knit me together in my mother’s womb. Jesus claims to have been sent from the Father – to be from above. As it says in Luke 1:35 …”The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy – the Son of God.”

John 8:53-59 Are you greater than our father Abraham, who died? And the prophets died! Who do you make yourself out to be?” 54 Jesus answered, “If I glorify myself, my glory is nothing. It is my Father who glorifies me, of whom you say, He is our God.’ …56 Your father Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day. He saw it and was glad.” 57 So the Jews said to him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?” 58 Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.” 59 So they picked up stones to throw at him, but Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple.

Jesus again claims to receive glory or honor – this time glory from God his Father. The question of the Jews is the question we should be asking – who do you make yourself out to be? And we should receive Jesus’ testimony about himself and the Father’s testimony about Jesus – ‘before Abraham was I AM.’ Here Jesus clearly claims to predate Abraham – in fact he identifies himself as the self-existent one – YHWH – the great I AM. The Jews got it – they picked up stones to throw at him. Any mere man making the claims that Jesus made would be blaspheming and worthy of immediate execution.

John 10:27-33 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. 28 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. 30 I and the Father are one.” 31 The Jews picked up stones again to stone him. 32 Jesus answered them, “I have shown you many good works from the Father; for which of them are you going to stone me?” 33 The Jews answered him, “It is not for a good work that we are going to stone you but for blasphemy, because you, being a man, make yourself God.”

Jesus here claims again to be the life-giver. And he claimed to be one with the Father. The Jews again clarify what Jesus was claiming – ‘you, being a man, make yourself God.’

John 17:3-5,24 And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. 4 I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do. 5 And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed. …24 Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world.

Here, in Jesus’ prayer to his Father, he claims that eternal life consists in knowing the only true God and Jesus Christ. Eternal life isn’t a place, and it isn’t defined by length, but by being in the presence of the Holy One. And Jesus puts himself right beside the only true God – eternal life is knowing the only true God and knowing Jesus Christ. Then Jesus requests that his pre-existent glory be restored. “Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed.” Jesus is the glorious one that will satisfy our deepest longings.

Revelation 1:4-8 …Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before his throne, 5 and from Jesus Christ the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth. To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood 6 and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. 7 Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all tribes of the earth will wail on account of him. Even so, Amen. 8 “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”

Here we probably have a reference to the triune God – The Father, the Spirit and the Son. Eternal glory and dominion are here attributed to Jesus, and the Lord God claims to be the Alpha and Omega – the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet – ‘who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.’ Then, down in verse 17, Jesus claims to be the first and the last when he says:

Revelation 1:17 …”Fear not, I am the first and the last, and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades. ‘

In chapter 3, Jesus claims to be victorious and seated on his Father’s throne in glory.

Revelation 3:21-22 “The one who conquers, I will grant him to sit with me on my throne, as I also conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne. 22 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”

Then in Revelation 22, Jesus says:

Revelation 22:12-13, 16 “Behold, I am coming soon, bringing my recompense with me, to repay everyone for what he has done. 13 I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.” …16 “I, Jesus, have sent my angel to testify to you about these things for the churches. I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright and morning star.”

Here, Jesus clearly claims to be the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end. And he claims to be not only the descendant of David, but the root of David – the source from which David came – predating David.

So Jesus claimed to be the eternal all glorious pre-existent self existent one, sent from the Father, equal to and one with his Father and worthy of the same honor as the Father. Let’s look now at the Apostolic testimony about Jesus. We’ll start back at the beginning of the gospel of John.

John 1:1-5 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it. ..9-10 The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world. he was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. …14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John bore witness about him, and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.’ “) …18 No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known.

The Word is identified in verse 14 as the one who became flesh and dwelt among us – Jesus, the only Son from the Father. This verse begins the same way Genesis 1:1 does – ‘in the beginning…God’ but it draws our attention backward. Genesis starts at the beginning and moves forward with what God did in creation. John brings us to the beginning and points us to who was already there. The Word, Jesus was in the beginning. It doesn’t say that he came to be – he simply was – he existed. He is the self-existent one.

And he was with God in the beginning. Here is the distinction between Jesus and the Father. Jesus is not the Father and the Father is not Jesus. Jesus was with his Father. They are two distinct persons each with his own mind, emotions and will; two centers of consciousness. It is because of this truth that we can say God is love. There can be real communication, real affection, real relationship, real enjoyment of one another, true intimacy. And this is before God said ‘let us create’.

In the beginning the Word was, and the the Word was with God, and the Word was God. Here is the unity of the trinity – there is only one God. Three distinct persons or centers of consciousness, one self-existent uncreated creator of all things. God, the ultimate existence or being has for all eternity existed as the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

John here claims that Jesus, the Word, is the Word that spoke all things into existence, and he is the source and origination of life and light. This passage, like the others we are glancing at, are worthy of a hundred sermons, but today we will keep moving.

Colossians 1:13-20 …to the kingdom of his beloved Son, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. 15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. 16 For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities – all things were created through him and for him. 17 And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18 And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead that in everything he might be preeminent. 19 For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.

Here Paul says that Jesus is the image of the invisible God. If we want to know what God is like, we can look to Jesus, who is God with flesh and blood on. Firstborn of all creation does not mean that Jesus was the first created thing – the rest of the verse prevents us from drawing that conclusion. Jesus is the creator of all things – both the visible and invisible, in fact every authority that exists. In fact not only is he the creator of all things physical and all things spiritual, but he gives meaning to all things – all things exist ‘for him’. All creation, visible and invisible exist for the pleasure of Jesus. All things that exist exist to bring him praise. But he goes on – he is before all things. So he cannot be the first thing created among many – before anything existed he existed – he is the self-existent one. Firstborn points more to the position of primacy or preeminence than it does to the event of birth. And the concept of birth in the word sets him apart from creation. The relation of Jesus to God is more like that of a son to his father; not creature to creator. The Father and Spirit and Son together created all things. And these verses tell us that it is Jesus who is holding all things together. When Jesus told the Pharisees that “my Father is working until now and I am working”, there was more to what he said than simply that he was doing mighty works on the Sabbath day. The Pharisees had no idea that it was Jesus who was at that very moment holding together the protons, neutrons and electrons that made up every atom of their bodies. The point is that in everything he might be preeminent. In him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell. This is human language groping for other ways to express this great truth – Jesus was not partial deity; he did not become God; he was not a human that had deity grudgingly granted to him. Jesus is all the fullness of God pleased to dwell in a human body.

Hebrews 1:1-4 Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, 2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. 3 He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, 4 having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs.

Jesus receives honor from his Father. He is the crowning act of God’s communication to us, and everything is for Jesus – he is appointed heir of all things. It is through Jesus that God created the world. It is Jesus that displays the glory and nature of God to us, so that if we want to understand what God is like, we can look to Jesus for an accurate display of his character. Oh, and by the way, Jesus is upholding the universe by the word of his own power. That’s who Jesus is!

There’s so much more that could be said, but let’s conclude by looking at just two Old Testament prophesies that point to the identity of who the Christ was before he was born.

Isaiah 7:14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.

The virgin birth – that Jesus did not have a physical human father – is essential to Christianity. Jesus was conceived in the womb of the virgin by the Holy Spirit. The name he was to be given displayed his true identity – Immanuel means ‘God with us’.

Isaiah 9:6 For unto us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

A child is born – that’s part of the truth of Christmas – but we must understand the other part – to us a son is given. ‘For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son’. His Son given – Mighty God, one with the Father, the eternal all glorious self-existent one, who is worthy of all the glory that the Father is worthy of, this dearly loved eternal companion of the Father was sent to be born, sent to live a perfect life in our place. Sent to be beaten and bruised and abused. Sent to die in our place so that we could be given the infinitely valuable gift of eternal life – life that consists in knowing this all glorious God, knowing this Jesus!

Pastor Rodney Zedicher ~ Ephraim Church of the Bible ~ www.ephraimbible.org

http://www.ephraimbible.org/Sermons/20091115_2peter1_19-21.mp3

11/15 2 Peter 1:19-21 Pay Attention to the Prophetic Word

12 Therefore I intend always to remind you of these qualities, though you know them and are established in the truth that you have. 13 I think it right, as long as I am in this body, to stir you up by way of reminder, 14 since I know that the putting off of my body will be soon, as our Lord Jesus Christ made clear to me. 15 And I will make every effort so that after my departure you may be able at any time to recall these things. 16 For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. 17 For when he received honor and glory from God the Father, and the voice was borne to him by the Majestic Glory, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased,” 18 we ourselves heard this very voice borne from heaven, for we were with him on the holy mountain. 19 And we have something more sure, the prophetic word, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts, 20 knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone’s own interpretation. 21 For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.

Peter is writing into a situation where false teachers were denying the future literal coming of Jesus as judge and king to rule and reign. They were advocating a disregard of moral restraint because this talk of a king coming on a white horse with a sword is mere fairy tale, and we are much to sophisticated to believe that sort of thing. They would reject as myth things like 2 Thessalonians 1:7-10, where Paul says:

2 Thessalonians 1:7 … when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels 8 in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. 9 They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might, 10 when he comes on that day to be glorified in his saints, and to be marveled at among all who have believed, because our testimony to you was believed.

That’s just the sort of thing that someone would make up to scare you into listening to them and doing what they tell you to do.

Peter is arguing that a life lived in earnest pursuit of holiness really does matter; and it should be motivated by the expectation of the return of Jesus and the hope of entrance into his eternal kingdom. His first line of argument went like this: ‘No, Jesus really is coming again as judge and king, we can say this with confidence because we were eyewitnesses of the transfiguration; where God the Father installed Jesus as that coming messianic King who will rule and judge the nations. We were at his coronation ceremony. We were there for his inauguration. God himself sealed it with his own words.’

In verses 19-21, Peter lays out his second line of reasoning why we know for sure that Jesus really is coming back and living a life of godliness really does matter. We have the prophetic word – the Old Testament – that all points to Jesus the coming King, and that word is ratified by the installation of Jesus as king on the mount of transfiguration. Peter says that we do well to pay attention to it – it is a lamp to light our way until Jesus comes back. We must pay close heed because the word is not the product of human invention but rather it is divine communication. Peter points us here to our bibles. He wants us to keep our noses in them and to base our lives on them. He gives us great insight into the origin and intention of our bibles. Let’s look at what he has to say.

19 And we have something more sure, the prophetic word, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts, 20 knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone’s own interpretation. 21 For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.

The prophetic word; We have clarification on what this phrase means in verse 20, where the ‘prophetic word’ is referred to as ‘prophecy of Scripture’ or ‘prophetic writing’. For Jesus, ‘It is written’ was decisive in any argument. In Judaism, all of Scripture was considered prophetic. The singular refers to all Old Testament writings as a unity pointing to the coming Messiah.

More sure; The NASB has “So we have the prophetic word made more sure” and the NIV has “And we have the word of the prophets made more certain”; The ESV has “And we have something more sure, the prophetic word”. There is a subtle difference in the understanding of the original phrase that is represented by the different translations. What is clear is that the prophetic word is absolutely sure. The question is; does the transfiguration make the prophetic word more certain, or is the prophetic word said to be more certain than even the eyewitness accounts of the transfiguration? If you have a healthy respect for the scriptures you might opt for the second choice and ask ‘how can the scriptures be made more sure by any experience? – they are absolutely sure in themselves’. And I think Peter would agree, but his grammar points to the idea that the prophetic word is made more certain or confirmed by the transfiguration event. Not that scripture cannot stand without external testimony; it can. The scriptures are trustworthy because of what they are and who they come from, as Peter will make explicit in the next verses. But here he is saying that they are demonstrated trustworthy in that we actually saw the fulfillment of the prophecies unfold before our eyes. This is not the first time Peter has used this word ‘made more sure’. In verse 10, he tells us to “be all the more diligent to make your calling and election sure” – and in that context it raises some of the same questions.. We cannot change what was done in the hidden councils of God before time began, but we can validate that decision and demonstrate that we are elect by doing what elect people do (and that starts by embracing Jesus). Just as my life demonstrates what (or whose) I am, the unfolding of prophetic events does not make the bible more trustworthy, but it demonstrates and puts on display what it inherently is.

19 And we have something more sure, the prophetic word, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts,

And here Peter gets to his main instruction for us. Pay attention! Pay attention to the prophetic word! Pay attention to your bibles! There is a note of encouragement here – you do well to pay attention – so keep it up! Don’t waylaid by false teachers who would turn you aside from studying and believing and obeying your bibles.

Peter compares the word of God to a lamp shining in a dark place. The word is compared to a light in Psalms and Proverbs:

Psalm 119:105 Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.

Proverbs 6:23 For the commandment is a lamp and the teaching a light, and the reproofs of discipline are the way of life,

If you’ve ever been in a really dark place you understand the importance of a reliable light. There was a system of caves a few blocks from our college campus that I and some of my friends enjoyed exploring. I got to be relatively familiar with the small winding passageways. There was a tight entrance that opened into a large room with the ceiling covered in bats. Then there was a low crawl-way that led to another large room with many small tunnels leading in different directions. Once past the crawl-way there was no natural light that filtered in. Turn off your flashlight and there was absolute darkness. We would inch along on our bellies through these tight tunnels. On one expedition, we took some novice classmates in to explore, and half our little group lost interest and decided to turn around and head out while I and a friend wanted to continue. After the novices were out of earshot, I suggested that we hurry and take a turn in the tunnel we were in which I knew led back to the first room, where we would wait in the dark to terrify our novice friends. But in the rush to beat them out, we missed the critical turn and several hours later realized our little joke was on us. We had brought extra lights, but it was still sobering to see our flashlight beams dim as the batteries wore down. I enjoy the challenge of exploration, but the thought of trying to find our way groping in the pitch blackness was somehow not appealing. Our lights held up and we were able to eventually find our way out. But once we climbed out in broad daylight, our trusty lights that had served us so well in the winding little passageways were now completely irrelevant. Their weak beams were drowned out in the overwhelming light of the sun.

Peter tells us ‘pay attention to the prophetic word – it is a lamp shining in a dark place. But Peter has the end firmly in view. He uses that hope-filled word ‘until‘. As Isaiah predicted:

Isaiah 9:2 The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shined. (c.f. Matthew 4:16)

We dwell in a land of deep darkness. The word of God lights our path. But one glorious day, the light will dawn.

Isaiah 60:1Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD has risen upon you. 2 For behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples; but the LORD will arise upon you, and his glory will be seen upon you.

Revelation 21:23 And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb.

Revelation 22:5 And night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever.

But until – until that day when we look up from our bibles to see Jesus face to face. Until then ‘your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path (Ps.119:105); I find my delight in your commandments, which I love (Ps.119:47); Every word of God proves true (Prov.30:5); All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable (2Tim.3:16); whatever was written in former times was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. (Rom.15:4). Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture (1Tim.4:13).

19 And we have something more sure, the prophetic word, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts, 20 knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone’s own interpretation. 21 For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.

Peter wants us to know something that is of critical importance. In a day when false teachers are undermining the word of God, it is essential that we understand the nature of the Scriptures. It is somewhat ironic to me that in a verse that says ‘no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone’s own interpretation, there is a great variety of interpretation as to what exactly Peter meant by the words he chose. The two main views are represented in these different translations:

20 knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, (NKJV)

20 Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation. (NIV)

The King James Version represents the standard Roman Catholic interpretation, and the NIV represents the standard Protestant understanding. The Catholic church would say that this verse refers to the interpretation by Christians of the written word. The scriptures are not to be put into the hands of the common people, because they are not authorized to interpret them correctly. The scriptures must be interpreted by the Church, not private individuals.

The historic Protestant response was to say that this verse has nothing to do with modern day biblical interpretation; what this verse is talking about is the process of writing the Scriptures; the prophet’s interpretation of historical events or his dreams or visions was not his own invention.

Some modern day Evangelicals (Schreiner, Piper) have taken the first interpretation that this refers to present day biblical interpretation and taken this to mean not that the scriptures can only be handled correctly by the Pope, but that the scriptures are not open to any personal whim of interpretation. You can’t make a verse mean whatever you want it to mean. It has a definite meaning intended by its Author.

Although there is not a shred of evidence in these verses to point to the church as the official interpreter of Scripture, both of the evangelical views have been defended by good men. And both represent a correct understanding of Scripture. The bible did not originate by the prophet’s own invention, and the bible does not leave its meaning open to every reader to be manipulated into whatever shape they fancy. Words mean things and there is one right and many wrong interpretations. But in the flow of this passage, the focus is on the origin and authenticity of the prophetic word, not on its current interpretation. When the prophets spoke of the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, they were not throwing around their own opinions of what their visions and dreams meant. He goes on to explain:

21 For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.

Genuine prophecy was never borne along by the human will. This is where false prophecies came from:

Jeremiah 23: 16 Thus says the LORD of hosts: “Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you, filling you with vain hopes. They speak visions of their own minds, not from the mouth of the LORD. 17 They say continually to those who despise the word of the LORD, ‘It shall be well with you’; and to everyone who stubbornly follows his own heart, they say, ‘No disaster shall come upon you.”’ …26 How long shall there be lies in the heart of the prophets who prophesy lies, and who prophesy the deceit of their own heart, 27 who think to make my people forget my name by their dreams that they tell one another, even as their fathers forgot my name for Baal?

Notice there is a moral (or immoral)aspect to prophecy – they say ‘it will be well with you’ to those who despise the word of the Lord. This is exactly what the false teachers were doing in Peter’s day, and this is why Peter highlighted the moral responsibility of genuine believers.

No prophecy was carried along by the will of man; instead, men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. This is why you do well to pay careful attention to the prophetic word – because it has its origin in God. Yes, men spoke – there was a human element to the prophetic word. Moses and Jeremiah and Isaiah and Daniel and David were all unique individuals with distinct personalities and styles that come through in their respective writings, but they spoke from God. And they spoke as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. The word ‘carried along’ is also used in Acts of a ship being driven by the wind:

Acts 27: 15 And when the ship was caught and could not face the wind, we gave way to it and were driven along. … 17 …Then, fearing that they would run aground on the Syrtis, they lowered the gear, and thus they were driven along.

This is also the word used in verses 17-18 of the voice carried or borne from heaven to bestow honor and glory on the Son.

17 For when he received honor and glory from God the Father, and the voice was carried to him by the Majestic Glory, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased,” 18 we ourselves heard this very voice carried from heaven, for we were with him on the holy mountain. …19 And we have something more sure, the prophetic word, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts, 20 knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone’s own interpretation. 21 For no prophecy was ever carried out by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit blows men along to speak from God in such a way that the author of Hebrews can quote Psalm 95 and say:

Hebrews 3:7 Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says, “Today, if you hear his voice,

And then again quoting the same passage, he can say:

Hebrews 4:7 again he [God] appoints a certain day, “Today,” saying through David so long afterward, in the words already quoted, “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts.”

So the mighty coming of the Lord Jesus Christ was attested by the voice of God the Father himself when he installed Jesus as King on his holy mountain; and his powerful coming is attested by all of Scripture which originated in God as he impelled men to write by his Holy Spirit. So pay attention! Jesus is coming back! Pay attention to the prophetic word! Pay attention so that there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ (1:11). Pay attention when the prophetic word commands that you make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, knowledge, self-control, steadfastness, godliness, brotherly affection, and love. You will do well to pay attention to God’s word which is a lamp shining in a very dark place. Pay attention, because the day is ready to break!

http://www.ephraimbible.org/Sermons/20091108_2peter1_16-18.mp3

11/08 2 Peter 1:16-18 Eyewitnesses of His Majesty

10 Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to make your calling and election sure, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall. 11 For in this way there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. 12 Therefore I intend always to remind you of these qualities, though you know them and are established in the truth that you have. 13 I think it right, as long as I am in this body, to stir you up by way of reminder, 14 since I know that the putting off of my body will be soon, as our Lord Jesus Christ made clear to me. 15 And I will make every effort so that after my departure you may be able at any time to recall these things. 16 For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. 17 For when he received honor and glory from God the Father, and the voice was borne to him by the Majestic Glory, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased,” 18 we ourselves heard this very voice borne from heaven, for we were with him on the holy mountain.

Peter is holding out to us precious and very great promises as incentive to make every effort to grow in godly character. He insists that we be all the more diligent to make our calling and election sure by practicing these qualities. He tells us that if we lack these qualities we are so focused on the present that we are blind – having forgotten that we have been cleansed from our former sins. Peter is making every effort to put down a permanent record before he dies that will serve as an enduring reminder to stir us up to a pursuit of godly living. He tells us that if we practice these qualities we will never fall, and in this way there will be richly provided for us entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Peter is warning us that if we don’t grow in holiness, we may have no part in the promises, we demonstrate that we are not part of his elect, called out people, we will ultimately fall, and we will not gain entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Peter knows that the false teachers would scoff at this motivation for holy living.. The false teachers were denying Jesus and following their own sensuality. They were saying things like

“Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation.” [3:4].

They would argue that the ‘eternal kingdom’ is simply a fairy tale invented to control people with fear and manipulate behavior. There is no eternal kingdom and there is no coming judgment. Jesus is not coming back and you will not have to answer to him. You have been set free by his grace, so you are free to pursue your desires and live in whatever way that you see fit.

Peter has said that God has provided everything we need for life and godliness. Eternal life and godliness are a package deal. You can’t have one without the other. The false teachers would argue that eternal life is a fairy tale so there is no need for a godly life. Peter’s first defense of a life in earnest pursuit of holiness motivated by the hope of entrance into the eternal kingdom goes like this: ‘No, Jesus really is coming again as judge and king, we can say this with confidence because we were eyewitnesses of the transfiguration’. This may sound like strange logic at first, but lets look at what he says and we will see how it fits together.

Peter says that he is making every effort to put down in writing for future generations the apostolic testimony to the truth of the life-transforming good news of our God and Savior Jesus Christ. Peter feels urgency to make a written record because he is one of a small group of eye-witnesses, and he will shortly be putting away his tent. Peter says ‘we did not follow cleverly devised myths’. This is a response to the accusation of the false teachers. The apostles were just followers of fables and fairy tales. These are crafty cunning myths, because they are designed to manipulate behavior and subject people to their authority. If you can get people to believe that Jesus is coming back and everyone will stand before him as judge and ‘give an account of every careless word’ [Matt.12:36] that has compelling power to control behavior. Peter flatly denies that the apostles were followers of myth. Instead, they were eyewitnesses of his majesty. The facts were not manipulated and handed down to them; they saw with their own eyes and heard with their own ears the historic event. False teacher seek to undermine the gospel message by attempting to disprove the historicity of the bible. So-called ‘Christian’ liberals who are educated beyond their intelligence have attempted to deny the historicity of some of the biblical narrative, while holding on to the religious teaching. The stories of the Old Testament and of Jesus are fables designed to teach truth. They are not meant to be believed as literal historical events. They are simply a literary device used to communicate morals. If that were true, the bible would be teaching by example that lying is a great virtue. The problem for the liberal is that the historical narrative and the theological truths are inextricably woven together. And the bible has over and over and over again proven itself to be the most reliable historical document that exists.

Peter says we were not following myths; we were eyewitnesses. The content of the message that is in dispute is ‘the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ’. ‘Coming’ when used of Jesus in the New Testament is a term that is used exclusively for the future coming of Jesus in power and glory:

Matthew 24:3 As he sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the close of the age?”

These two words ‘power and coming’ could be translated ‘the powerful coming’ or ‘the mighty coming’; his ‘coming in power’.

2 Thessalonians 1:7 … when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels 8 in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. 9 They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might, 10 when he comes on that day to be glorified in his saints, and to be marveled at among all who have believed, because our testimony to you was believed.

Notice Peter says ‘we’. Peter identifies himself with the rest of the apostles. We all teach the same message. When we were teaching you about the future return of Christ in power and glory, we were not passing on myths; we were passing on what we had observed first hand. He stands shoulder to shoulder with the others who were also eyewitnesses together with him. And they were eyewitnesses of his majesty; his power and coming. If we look at the account of the transfiguration in all the synoptic gospels, we see that in each one, the promise that they would not ‘taste death until they had seen the kingdom of God after it has come with power’ (Mk.9:1) comes directly before the fulfillment on the mountain.

Matthew 16:27 For the Son of Man is going to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay each person according to what he has done. 28 Truly, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.”

Matthew 17:1 And after six days Jesus took with him Peter and James, and John his brother, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. 2 And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became white as light. 3 And behold, there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with him.

So the transfiguration of Jesus was the fulfillment of the promise that these disciples would see the Son of Man coming in power and glory.

…we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. 17 For when he received honor and glory from God the Father, and the voice was borne to him by the Majestic Glory, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased,”

Here’s how Matthew records it:

Matthew 17:4 And Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good that we are here. If you wish, I will make three tents here, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah.” 5 He was still speaking when, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.” 6 When the disciples heard this, they fell on their faces and were terrified. 7 But Jesus came and touched them, saying, “Rise, and have no fear.” 8 And when they lifted up their eyes, they saw no one but Jesus only. 9 And as they were coming down the mountain, Jesus commanded them, “Tell no one the vision, until the Son of Man is raised from the dead.” [c.f. Mk. 8:38-9:9; Lk. 9:26-36]

Peter and James and John were eyewitnesses of his divine majesty. And they were ear-witnesses of the honor given him by the Father. Peter doesn’t bother to mention here that the voice of the Majestic Glory interrupted his own blubbering. This was no deep resonant James Earl Jones movie voice. This was the voice of God himself that caused these three grown men to be terrified and fall on their faces. And what the Father said was ‘This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased’. If we are unfamiliar with the Old Testament, we might miss the significance of these words. God is using the words of Psalm 2:

Psalm 2:1 Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? 2 The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD and against his anointed, saying, 3 “Let us burst their bonds apart and cast away their cords from us.” 4 He who sits in the heavens laughs; the Lord holds them in derision. 5 Then he will speak to them in his wrath, and terrify them in his fury, saying, 6 “As for me, I have set my King on Zion, my holy hill.” 7 I will tell of the decree: The LORD said to me, “You are my Son; today I have begotten you. 8 Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession. 9 You shall break them with a rod of iron and dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.” 10 Now therefore, O kings, be wise; be warned, O rulers of the earth. 11 Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling. 12 Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and you perish in the way, for his wrath is quickly kindled. Blessed are all who take refuge in him.

This is a Psalm describing the installation of the messianic king on his royal and judicial throne. Jesus is the one whom God set on his holy mountain and declared to be his Son and King. We can also see a connection to Isaiah 42:

Isaiah 42:1 Behold my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights; I have put my Spirit upon him; he will bring forth justice to the nations.

Jesus is the only begotten Son and King, as well as the servant (in Isaiah, the suffering servant, who will be wounded for our transgressions and crushed for our iniquities [Is.53:5]); the chosen servant in whom my soul delights. “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased”. Jesus received honor and glory from God the Father – this is yet another indication that Jesus is indeed one with the Father –very God of very God; because just a few verses later in Isaiah, God says:

Isaiah 42:8 I am the LORD; that is my name; my glory I give to no other, nor my praise to carved idols.

And yet Jesus receives glory and honor from God the Father. His Majesty received glory and honor from the Majestic Glory.

Peter takes this historical event that he personally witnessed, and says that the future coming in power of Jesus is not a fairy tale or myth, because God the Father has already installed Jesus as that coming messianic King who will rule and judge the nations. We were at his coronation ceremony. We were there for his inauguration. God himself sealed it with his own words. The authority for the certainty of the future coming of Jesus to reign and judge is the authority of the very voice of God the Father. We didn’t make this stuff up. ‘we ourselves heard this very voice borne from heaven, for we were with him on the holy mountain’. You false teachers can set yourselves against the Lord and against his anointed, but God is laughing at you, and he will speak to you in his wrath and terrify you in his fury, because he has established his King on his holy mountain. Jesus is King and he is coming and he will inflict vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.

16 For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. 17 For when he received honor and glory from God the Father, and the voice was borne to him by the Majestic Glory, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased,” 18 we ourselves heard this very voice borne from heaven, for we were with him on the holy mountain.

Pastor Rodney Zedicher ~ Ephraim Church of the Bible ~ www.ephraimbible.org

http://www.ephraimbible.org/Sermons/20091101_2peter1_12-15.mp3

11/01 2 Peter 1:12-15 Reminding the Established

2Peter 1:1 Simeon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who have obtained a faith of equal standing with ours by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ: 2 May grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. 3 His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, 4 by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire. 5 For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, 6 and knowledge with self–control, and self–control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, 7 and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. 8 For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins. 10 Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to make your calling and election sure, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall. 11 For in this way there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. 12 Therefore I intend always to remind you of these qualities, though you know them and are established in the truth that you have. 13 I think it right, as long as I am in this body, to stir you up by way of reminder, 14 since I know that the putting off of my body will be soon, as our Lord Jesus Christ made clear to me. 15 And I will make every effort so that after my departure you may be able at any time to recall these things.

Intro:

Peter knows he is going to die soon. Jesus told Peter:

John 21:18 Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were young, you used to dress yourself and walk wherever you wanted, but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will dress you and carry you where you do not want to go.” 19 (This he said to show by what kind of death he was to glorify God.) And after saying this he said to him, “Follow me.”

Peter, now an old man (60’s), is in prison in Rome under the maniacal emperor Nero, awaiting his execution. Peter knows he has little time left in this world, so he evaluates how best to spend his remaining days to the glory of God. It’s interesting what Peter doesn’t do – he doesn’t pick a new pope or call a council to appoint a new apostle. He doesn’t say ‘I’ve worked long and hard and now I am going to rest and retire, take a break and enjoy my last few moments. Instead he takes pen and parchment and drafts the document that we now today, 2000 years later hold in our hands. And we can say ‘thank you Peter for running the race with endurance to the very end and leaving us a legacy that we can learn from and be blessed and encouraged by’.

Purpose:

Us studying this letter 2000 years later is no accident. This is exactly what Peter intended to do; he says ‘I intend always to remind you of these qualities; to stir you up by way of reminder; I will make every effort so that after my departure you may be able at any time to recall these things.’ Peter intended that this document be a reminder long after he was gone to stir us up and to keep us from straying. And the issue is urgent. Peter’s concern was not peripheral. Peter doesn’t waste his last words on some side issue of the Christian faith. He is talking about the main thing – entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ; and the alternative of non-entrance or access denied. As Jesus taught:

Matthew 7:21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ 23 And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’

The issue on Peter’s heart is our final rescue from God’s righteous wrath forever. He wants to remind us and stir us up by way of reminder. At the end of his letter he expresses his concern:

2 Peter 3:17 You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, take care that you are not carried away with the error of lawless people and lose your own stability.

Paul said the same thing about his writings:

Philippians 3:1 Finally, my brothers, rejoice in the Lord. To write the same things to you is no trouble to me and is safe for you.

The apostle John also talks this way in his writings:

1 John 2:21 I write to you, not because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, …24 Let what you heard from the beginning abide in you. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, then you too will abide in the Son and in the Father. 25 And this is the promise that he made to us – eternal life. 26 I write these things to you about those who are trying to deceive you.

I write, not because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, to encourage you to abide in it and to warn you about those who are trying to deceive you. To write the same things to you is safe for you. We need to be reminded so that we will stand firm and not stray.

Paul wanted to preach the gospel to the believers in Rome:

Romans 1:15 So I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome. …for it is the power of God for salvation to believers.

Romans 1:12 that is, that we may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith, both yours and mine.

Who, Me?

Notice who Peter is addressing so you don’t tune this out and think ‘I don’t need this’. He is not writing only to brand new believers that do not yet have their feet firmly planted in the truth of the gospel. He is not writing to flaky Christians who don’t have a firm grasp of basic bible doctrine. He says ‘though you know them and are established in the truth that you have’. Peter thinks that established people, people with a good understanding of theology and biblical truth need to be reminded. I can think of a few people that really need to hear this message. My inclination is to think that these truths are great for people who are immature in the faith and don’t yet know all the things that I know. I was in a good Christian church the week after I was born and attended bible camp before I was one year old. I learned to read out of the King James Bible. My parents taught me the truths of the bible from day one. I was learning bible stories from the flannel-graph every Sunday of my life. I embraced Jesus as my Savior when I was seven years old. I went on a mission trip to Europe and I’ve done lots of evangelism. I went to bible college. I’ve served in churches for some 15 years. I even pastor this church! Certainly I of all people am established in the truth that I have and don’t need any reminders. Peter says, ‘No, you’re the one I’m talking to. You who are established in the truth you already have – you need to be stirred up by way of reminder so that you don’t lose your stability and make shipwreck of your faith. You must make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, knowledge, self-control, steadfastness, godliness, brotherly affection and love. You must be all the more diligent to make your calling and election sure. IF you practice these qualities you will never fall. You must never become so blind that you forget that you were cleansed from your former sins.’ This is why we gather as the church every Sunday. This is why we must stay connected throughout each week. This is why every one of us must be daily reading and studying our bibles, spending time in meditation and prayer. ‘Yeah, but I’ve heard it all before.’ If I have any degree of spiritual maturity, I will recognize that I need regular reminders from my brothers and sisters to spur me on in my walk with Jesus. To say that I can do it on my own is evidence of arrogance, foolishness, rebellion and immaturity. John says ‘I write to you …because you know the truth’ Paul says ‘to write the same things.. is safe for you’. That means that it would be unsafe to live without constant reminders. None of us have outgrown the need for reminders.

Salvation by Works?

Peter reminds us to make every effort; to supplement our faith with virtue, knowledge, self-control, steadfastness, godliness, brotherly affection and love; to constantly increase in these qualities; to be all the more diligent; to never forget; to be effective and fruitful; to practice these qualities; to make your calling and election sure. How is this not salvation by works? That all sounds like we are the ones making it happen. If we fail to do all this work, we don’t gain entrance into the eternal kingdom. That certainly sounds like we are earning our own salvation.

But it only sounds that way if we dislodge these verses from their context. In the context of the chapter, our effort is the required response to what God has already done. He granted us the faith, he poured out grace and peace on us, he has given us everything we need for life and godliness, he called us and he has given us great and precious promises that he must fulfill. We have in this chapter a beautiful interplay between divine sovereignty and human responsibility. God is the main actor and the initiator, we are the recipient and the responder, but our response is not optional. He calls; we must answer that call. He creates new life in us, but we must walk in the newness of that life. He overcomes our hard rebellious hearts and gives us a new heart that is inclined toward God, but we must love God with that heart. He removes our blindness and gives us eyes to see him for who he is, but we must look with amazement and affection on him who loved us and gave himself up for us. He gives us everything we need for life and godliness and we must make every effort to live a godly life. In this way, our response, our effort, is essential, but it is not to our credit. I can’t do what is required of me and then say ‘there, I did it.’ That’s not how the bible talks. Here’s how Paul puts it:

Colossians 1:29 For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me.

1 Corinthians 15:10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me.

We do not work in order to earn God’s favor; we work because we have been given God’s favor. We do not attempt to reflect God’s nature so that he will want to adopt us; he has caused us to be born again so that we naturally reflect his character. I must make every effort with all diligence, but I am only able to make that effort because he has already given me everything I need for life and godliness. I must supplement faith with fruit, because God’s Spirit is bearing his fruit in my life. I must toil; I must struggle; I must work, yet it is not I, but the grace of God that he powerfully works within me.

We are to make our calling and election sure, but it is

1 Peter 5:10 …the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. 11 To him be the dominion for ever and ever. Amen.

Peter’s departure

Peter knew what it meant to be a recipient of undeserved grace and to have his faith upheld by the sovereign hand of God:

Luke 22:32 but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.”

So Peter is at the end of his life, and he pictures his body as a tent – a temporary dwelling place that he is about to take off like an old winter coat and put away. Peter is practicing what he preaches. He has told us to make every effort to supplement our faith with love, and now he is making every effort to do what he knows is right, what he knows to be the highest good for us whom he loves – to stir us up, to slap us awake by way of reminder. And he will make every effort to put down a permanent record so that even long after his departure, or literally his exodus, we today may be able to recall with accuracy these things.

The Truth

He refers to the content of the message as ‘the truth that you have’. Peter believes that there is such a thing as truth – real objective factual information – true truth – that we must know, and that we must embrace and remember. The truth is simply the gospel message

Ephesians 1:13 In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit,

Colossians 1:5 because of the hope laid up for you in heaven. Of this you have heard before in the word of the truth, the gospel, 6 which has come to you, as indeed in the whole world it is bearing fruit and growing–as it also does among you, since the day you heard it and understood the grace of God in truth,

The truth of the gospel is not only to be known and understood, but obeyed:

Galatians 5:7 You were running well. Who hindered you from obeying the truth?

The truth is not only to be believed and obeyed, but loved and embraced

2 Thessalonians 2:10 and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. …12 in order that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness. 13 But we ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers beloved by the Lord, because God chose you as the firstfruits to be saved, through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth.

Our manner of life is to be shaped by what we believe; the truth of the gospel must transform our attitudes and actions:

2 John 1:4 I rejoiced greatly to find some of your children walking in the truth, just as we were commanded by the Father.

What is the word of truth, the gospel?

1 Corinthians 1:18 For the word of the cross …is the power of God.

1 John 4:10 In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

Romans 5:8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

1 Peter 3:18 For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit,

2 Corinthians 5:21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

1 Corinthians 15:3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures

And this is what Peter is devoted to seeing in us. He wants us to remember what we know and be what we are. He wants us to see and remember and love and embrace and reflect on and live out the truth of the gospel.

12 Therefore I intend always to remind you of these qualities, though you know them and are established in the truth that you have. 13 I think it right, as long as I am in this body, to stir you up by way of reminder, 14 since I know that the putting off of my body will be soon, as our Lord Jesus Christ made clear to me. 15 And I will make every effort so that after my departure you may be able at any time to recall these things.

Pastor Rodney Zedicher ~ Ephraim Church of the Bible ~ www.ephraimbible.org

]]> http://pastorrodney.wordpress.com/2009/11/01/2peter1_12-15/feed/ 0 pastorrodney http://pastorrodney.wordpress.com/2009/10/25/2peter1_10-11/ http://pastorrodney.wordpress.com/2009/10/25/2peter1_10-11/#comments Sun, 25 Oct 2009 06:59:52 +0000 pastorrodney http://pastorrodney.wordpress.com/?p=241 ]]>

http://www.ephraimbible.org/Sermons/20091025_2peter1_10-11.mp3

10/25 2 Peter 1:10-11 Certainty of Entrance

2Peter 1:1 Simeon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who have obtained a faith of equal standing with ours by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ: 2 May grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. 3 His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, 4 by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire. 5 For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, 6 and knowledge with self–control, and self–control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, 7 and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. 8 For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins. 10 Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to make your calling and election sure, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall. 11 For in this way there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Intro:

Peter is combating the destructive heresies of false teachers who were attempting to lead the believers astray. So Peter begins by laying again for them (and for us) the foundation of God’s undeserved grace in salvation and the necessity of an appropriate response from us. He starts with the fact that we have received a faith of equal worth; that it comes to us by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ; that grace and peace are multiplied in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. He continues that the divine power of Jesus has richly provided everything necessary for life and godliness. Out of the excellence and glory of Jesus we have been richly provided with promises – promises that secure our escape from corruption and make us partakers of the divine nature.

Then Peter takes us from the divine initiative to the human response; in light of all that God has done, we must respond. For this very reason make every effort. An understanding of God’s sovereign power at work in us and his divine provision supplied to us must not cause us to coast; rather, he says, because of this we are to make every effort. God has taken the initiative, given us the tools, supplied us with the strength, and promised us success. Now we must make every effort to supplement the faith that he has given us with virtue, knowledge, self-control, steadfastness, brotherly affection, and love. Many of these qualities that Peter tells us to bring in alongside our faith are qualities that Paul tells us are the fruit of the Spirit – something that the Spirit produces in our lives. So which is it? Do we make every effort to abound in these qualities, or are these qualities produced in our lives by the Spirit of God? For instance, self-control is something we are to bring in alongside our faith, and self-control is the fruit of the Spirit. Self-control indicates that there is a self that is out of control and needs to be reined in; that we have desires that we must not gratify. By our faith in God we must fight to replace sinful, treacherous desires with the superior pleasures of knowing God. That is work and it takes discipline and diligent effort on our part. Yet it stems from faith and we have been abundantly supplied with everything we need for life and godliness through the knowledge of him who called us. We have the divine promise that we will be ultimately successful in defeating the desires of the flesh, escaping corruption and participating in the characteristics of God. We fight the fight of faith not in our own strength, but ‘by the strength that God supplies, in order that in everything God may be glorified…’ [1Peter 4:11].

Augustine of Hippo, who lived from 354 – 430 said

‘…I can do all things in Him who strengthens me. Strengthen me, that I may be able, grant what Thou dost command and command what Thou wilt. …when what you command is done, it is You who give the power. [Augustine, Confessions, x. 31, cf.29, 37]

Spurgeon quotes the vicar of Everton, John Berridge:

‘Run, John, and work, the law commands, But finds me neither feet nor hands; But sweeter news the gospel brings, It bids me fly and lends me wings. [John Berridge 1716-1793, The Salt-Cellars, Being a Collection of Proverbs, Together with Homely Notes Theron p.200 by C.H.Spurgeon; (often attributed to John Bunyan)]

So are self-control and all these other characteristics fruit of the Spirit? Yes! But then why does Peter tell us to make every effort to see them abound in our life? Because we must! The gospel demands that we fly and gives us wings. God demands that we love and ‘God’s love is poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us’ [Rom.5:5]! Paul helps us out here:

Colossians 1:29 For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me.

Peter even ties these characteristics to the concept of ‘fruit’ in verse 8 – they keep you from being unfruitful. And whoever lacks these qualities, Peter says, is blind has forgotten their own salvation. Peter is calling us to know and to remember, and warns against forgetting. A Christian by definition is one who has been forgiven. For a Christian to forget that – that I am a sinner saved from God’s wrath by God’s gracious provision of his own Son – is far worse than forgetting your own name, forgetting your own identity!

Peter continues in these verses to spur us on to sanctified diligence, and then he encourages us with the divine certainty of the hope set before us.

10 Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to make your calling and election sure, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall. 11 For in this way there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

He starts with the word ‘therefore’, and he calls us his brothers. In light of all this – in light of God’s grace in initiating faith, in giving us the tools, supplying us with the strength, and promising us success;

in light of the fact that God demands a transformed life and God gives what he commands, Peter says ‘be all the more diligent’. This speaks of conscientious activity to fulfill obligations and pursue something we deeply care about. We are to be eager, zealous, strive, make every effort, expend energy. ‘God’s grace should not lead to moral relaxation but intense effort’ [Schriener, p.304]

What are we to be all the more diligent to do? This is surprising! Peter tells us to make your calling and election sure. What is calling and what is election and how do we make them sure? First, lets look at the word ’sure’ and see what the expected outcome is, then we will look at what it is that we are to make sure.

To make sure has a legal sense of being ratified or confirmed; guaranteed. We are to confirm or make certain our calling and election. Let’s start with a dictionary definition:

CALLING, n. 1. A naming, or inviting; a reading over or reciting in order, or a call of names with a view to obtain an answer, as in legislative bodies. 2. Vocation; profession; trade; usual occupation, or employment. 3. Class of persons engaged in any profession or employment. 4. Divine summons, vocation, or invitation. Give all diligence to make your calling and election sure. 2 Pet. 1. [1828 Webster's Dictionary; http://1828.mshaffer.com]

Jesus described his calling this way:

John 10:3 …The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. …27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. 28 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.

Calling is clearly to eternal life. Paul says to Timothy:

1 Timothy 6:12 Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and about which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.

2 Timothy 1:9 …God, who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began,

In 1 Corinthians, Paul says that he was sent to preach the gospel; the word of the cross of Christ which is powerful. Notice how he describes us as ‘who are being saved’ in contrast to ‘those who are perishing’ in verse 18; ‘those who believe’ in verse 21; and ‘those who are called’ in verse 24. He goes on:

1 Corinthians 1:18 For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 21 For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe. 24 but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. 26 For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. 27 But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; 28 God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, 29 so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. 30 He is the source of your life in Christ Jesus, whom God made our wisdom and our righteousness and sanctification and redemption.

This call is the call of a God who:

Romans 4:17 …who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist.

Peter has described this calling as

1 Peter 2:9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

This call is what overcomes the satanic darkness and blindness of our hearts.

2 Corinthians 4:6 For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

Peter tells us to ratify or make firm our calling.

What about election? Election is something that freaks a lot of people out. Peter here tells us to be diligent to make our election sure. Here’s what Webster’s dictionary says about election:

ELEC’TION, n. [L. electio.] The act of choosing; choice; the act of selecting one or more from others. Hence appropriately, 1. The act of choosing a person to fill an office or employment, by any manifestation of preference, as by ballot, uplifted hands or viva voce; as the election of a king, of a president, or a mayor. 2. Choice; voluntary preference; free will; liberty to act or not. 3. Power of choosing or selecting. 4. Discernment; discrimination; distinction. [1828 Webster's Dictionary; http://1828.mshaffer.com]

The teaching of the bible on election is meant to encourage and comfort us, to lead us to worship and thanksgiving. Jesus said:

Matthew 24:24 For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect.

I think he means to encourage us by this verse – that it is not possible to lead astray the elect. Paul points us to some of our most comprehensive and precious promises that come in connection with our election:

Romans 8:28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. 29 For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. 30 And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified. 31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? 33 Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect?

All things work together for our good! He will complete his saving work justifying us and glorifying us. We will be conformed to the image of his Son! If God is for us who can be against us! He did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all – how will he not with him graciously give us all things! We are more than conquerors through him who loved us. Nothing will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Sweet and precious promises!

Paul saw election as a motive and encouragement for evangelism:

Acts 13:48 And when the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord, and as many as were appointed to eternal life believed.

Acts 18:9 And the Lord said to Paul one night in a vision, “Do not be afraid, but go on speaking and do not be silent, 10 for I am with you, and no one will attack you to harm you, for I have many in this city who are my people.”

2 Timothy 2:10 Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they also may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory.

Paul thanks God because of the election of the believers in Thessalonika

2 Thessalonians 2:13 But we ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers beloved by the Lord, because God chose you as the firstfruits to be saved, through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth. 14 To this he called you through our gospel, so that you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. 15 So then, brothers, stand firm and hold to the traditions that you were taught by us, either by our spoken word or by our letter.

He sees their faith and growth as evidence of their election, and he thanks God for it.

1 Thessalonians 1:2 We give thanks to God always for all of you, …4 For we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you, 5 because our gospel came to you not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction…6 And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you received the word in much affliction, with the joy of the Holy Spirit,

Election and calling are things that God does [or did in eternity past]. Peter commands us to be diligent to confirm or make them certain. How can we be expected to be diligent to make them sure? Paul said we were predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son. So we take up the wings of grace that God supplies and make every effort to soar with excellent character that reflects his glory. If we are being conformed to the image of Jesus; if these qualities are ours and are abounding in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ, that displays that our calling and election were genuine and not imagined. Calling and election are known only by their fruit – so if we show the fruit, we can be sure that the hidden root is there.

10 Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to make your calling and election sure, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall. 11 For in this way there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Peter gives us a great promise here. If you practice these qualities you will never fall. If we are diligent to supplement faith with virtue, knowledge, self-control, steadfastness, godliness, brotherly affection, and love, if we are growing in our Christ-likeness, then we will never completely and permanently fall. We may stumble on the way, but he will pick us up. This is what Jude says:

Jude 1:24 Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, 25 to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.

Peter now, having laid out our responsibility to respond to God’s initiation and utilize the resources that he puts at our disposal, now returns to where he began – God’s rich provision of everything we need. Through us taking up the tools and fighting the good fight of faith, God is richly providing entrance into the eternal kingdom. Our entrance is a lavishly generous gift. God gives us everything we need. God grants us promises that he is obligated to fulfill. And God lavishly provides for us entrance into the eternal kingdom. God does this ‘in this way’; by ensuring that we make every effort; ensuring that the fruit of the Spirit is increasing in our lives; by ensuring that we are all the more diligent to practice these qualities. Notice that Peter doesn’t say anything about rewards here. He is simply talking about entrance. The false teachers would say that you are saved by grace, so you can relax. You are safe. You don’t have to live any certain way. Peter says that entrance comes through God securing our holiness. And it is entrance into the kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. He is not talking about some happy heavenly place. He is talking about a Person! The Kingdom is the reign of the King! There is no such thing as heaven without Jesus. Jesus is heaven! He richly provides for our entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. It’s all about Jesus! It will be all about Jesus forever!

Jesus is absolutely central. In verse 1, Peter calls himself a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ. He calls Jesus ‘our God and Savior’ and refers to his righteousness. In verse 2, he says that grace and peace come in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. In verse 3, he refers to the divine power of Jesus; Jesus is the one who called us; we are called to the glory and excellence of Jesus. In verse 4, Jesus gives us precious and very great promises. We participate in the divine nature of Jesus, which is described in verses 5-7. In verse 8 we are to be fruitful and useful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. Verse 9 refers to the cleansing from sin, which comes through the cross of Jesus. Verse 11 points us to the gift of entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. It is truly all about Jesus forever.

Pastor Rodney Zedicher ~ Ephraim Church of the Bible ~ www.ephraimbible.org

http://www.ephraimbible.org/Sermons/20091018_2peter1_5-9.mp3

10/18 2 Peter 1:5-9 The Fruitful Life of Divine Effort

2Peter 1:1 Simeon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who have obtained a faith of equal standing with ours by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ: 2 May grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. 3 His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, 4 by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire.

5 ¶ For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, 6 and knowledge with self–control, and self–control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, 7 and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. 8 For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins. 10 Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to make your calling and election sure, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall. 11 For in this way there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Intro/connection:

Peter is going to lay out for us a description of the fruitful Christian life, and the dangerous consequences of a fruitless life. But first, he’s taken great care to lay for us the theological foundation for our good works. Faith is a precious gift originating in the righteousness of God. Grace and peace are multiplied to us as gifts of divine favor. The omnipotent power of Jesus richly imparts to us everything we need for life and godliness. We have been called to enjoy his own glory and excellence. Very great and precious promises have been richly supplied to us. It is through promises, not effort, that we become participants in the divine nature and escape from the sinful desires that lead to moral decay.

For this very reason

Peter now goes on to draw the connection between the root of God’s unmerited grace and the fruit of our transformed lives. He is going to call on us to exert every effort. But this effort is not conjured up from the recesses of our own resourcefulness. This effort is ‘for this very reason’; because of this; our effort comes because we are the recipients of his very great and precious promises, recipients of his grace, recipients of faith, recipients of knowledge, recipients of the divine nature, recipients of everything we need. Because we have escaped from corruption, because we participate in the divine nature; because we have been given promises yet to be fulfilled, we must grow in these graces. It is essential that we see the connection between verses 5-7 and verses 1-4. We sin greatly if we hack down the tree from its theological root structure in the rich soil of divine grace and expect a dead tree to bear good fruit. The life that Peter describes is produced ‘for this very reason’.

Make every effort

Some have falsely taught that because God by his grace has done everything to secure for us our eternal salvation, we can stop swimming and drift with the currents of life and still reach the goal. Not so! Peter commands us to ‘make every effort’. ‘We cannot expect to escape the consequences due to sin unless we avoid sin and make moral progress using the spiritual resources that are available to every Christian through the knowledge of Christ’ [Baucham, p.184]. We are called to make every effort – our diligence must not be half-hearted or selective.

God created the bird with wings. He supplies the bird with life and wings and food and metabolism and energy and atmosphere and wind currents. But that bird must will to move its wings in order to lift off the ground and soar.

God created the eye. He gave us the optic nerve and the cerebral cortex and the capacity to translate patterns of light into visual perceptions of our surroundings. God gave us a visually stimulating world of shapes and textures and colors, mountain ranges and oceans and sunrises, but we must choose to open our eyes and enjoy it.

make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue

Faith is not the first virtue in the list. Faith is the starting point without which we have no Christian life. And we learned from verse 1 our faith is allotted to us by God. In verse 3 he said that we have been given everything we need for a godly life through the knowledge of him who called us, and that knowledge of Christ is received by faith. Trust in God is the root from which the Christian life grows. Those who rely on God begin to live life in a new way.

We are to take the faith that we have been given, and by God’s divine power we are to supplement it with virtue. Literally, the original reads something like ‘make abundant provision with all effort, bringing in alongside, ‘ The abundant provision is usually attributed to God as it is in verse 11. Here we are called to reflect the character of God in making great investments in moral virtue [G.Green, p.190]. We are called to great expense and effort in the pursuit of these graces. We must contribute what God rightly demands of us. But what we contribute is brought in alongside what God has already done, and is subordinate and dependent on it.

‘Virtue’ means excellence – the proper fulfillment of anything. The excellence of a knife is to cut; the excellence of a horse is to run; the excellence of a man is to reflect the attractive character of his Creator. [M.Green, p.67]. In verse 3, we have been called to his own glory and excellence’; that does not only mean that we are to admire his excellence. We are also called to display his glory and excellence in our own lives [G.Green, p.189];

Virtue does not merely refer to the inner character of the heart; virtue will be demonstrated socially in excellence of character, in generosity toward others, surpassing the normal constraints of what duty demands [Danker, cited G.Green, p.192];

And virtue with knowledge

This knowledge is not the theoretical knowledge of philosophers nor the esoteric knowledge of hidden mysteries; it is the personal knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ which results in salvation. This will contrast with the ignorance and irrationality of the heretics, whose error led to immorality (2:12, 3:16). The cure for false knowledge is not less knowledge but a knowledge characterized by moral insight. ‘Knowing right does not mean doing right, but knowing God results in righteous conduct’ [G.Green, p.193]

6 And knowledge with self-control

Self-control is the grace whereby passions and affections are held under the dominion of sanctified reason. This refers specifically to self-control in the consumption of food, in sexual desire, and in the use of the tongue. Self control is the grace, guided by knowledge, which disciplines desire to make it the servant instead of the master of life. [Barnett, in Hiebert, p.53]

The false teachers that Peter writes against were characterized by sensuality (2:2), inflamed by sinful desires (2:10), they never stop thinking of adultery (2:14), and are enslaved to corruption (2:19). Self-control was clearly not something they indulged in.

and self-control with steadfastness

Steadfastness is the ability to hold out or bear up in the face of difficulty. This is a military virtue – endurance in battle; but in this context it refers to moral endurance amid the pressures of temptation. The heretics were seeking to draw the church in to their error and immorality, This is the grace needed to stand firm in one’s commitment to Jesus over the long haul in the face of the enticements of the false teachers. Steadfastness is rooted in the believer’s trust in God and hope for fulfillment of God’s promises, in the knowledge of Christ and experience of his divine power. Peter warns that some who began in the way of the gospel had since abandoned it (2:2, 20-22)

and steadfastness with godliness

Godliness is a demonstration of due reverence and loyalty to God; an attitude of reverence that seeks to please God in all things. It is a practical awareness of God in all of life. Verse 3 told us that everything necessary for godliness has been provided to us by God’s grace.

7 and godliness with brotherly affection

Brotherly affection stresses solidarity and collaboration between siblings. Families share goods, bear one another’s burdens, and forgive shortcomings and failures. We have become siblings through the new birth;

1 Peter 1:22-23 Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart, 23 since you have been born again,…

So this exclusive family love is now extended to the whole Christian family.

and brotherly affection with love

Love is the climax of all Christian virtue. Christian love finds its source and model in the love that God demonstrated to humanity, even in their hostility against him;

Matthew 5:43-45 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven…

Romans 5:6-8 For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For one will scarcely die for a righteous person––though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die–– 8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

1 John 4:19 We love because he first loved us.

This kind of love has its origin not in the desirability of the object but in the character of the one who loves. God’s agape is evoked not by what we are but by what he is. It is not that we are loveable, but that he is love. This love is a deliberate desire for the highest good of the one loved, which shows itself in sacrificial action for that person’s good [M.Green, p.71]

8 For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

We should have these graces evident in our lives. Virtue, knowledge, self-control, steadfastness, godliness, brotherly affection, and love. They should be there, and they should be abounding; increasing to a point of excess. The assumption is that they are ours and they are abounding in our lives.

A reason for desiring to pursue these qualities is preventative. They keep us from being ineffective or unfruitful. ‘Ineffective’ or ‘idle’ refers to those who are lazy and do not work. In James 2:20 it describes faith without works as without effect or useless.

James 2:20 Do you want to be shown, you foolish person, that faith apart from works is useless?

‘Unfruitful’ is uselessness in an agricultural metaphor – the tree that does not bear fruit is cursed or cut down.

John 15: 5 I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. 6 If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned.

We must abide in Jesus in order to bear fruit; apart from him we can do nothing. Peter tells us that grace comes to us in the knowledge of God. Power for life and godliness comes through the knowledge of him. A personal relationship with Christ is the foundation of salvation, and this results in a participation in the moral character of God; But here Peter tells us that pursuit of moral virtue results in an increasing knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

9 For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins.

‘whoever lacks’ stands in contrast to ‘are yours and are increasing’ in verse 8. If possession and abundance of these characteristics cause effectiveness and fruitfulness, a lack of these qualities is evidence of blindness. Those who reject Christian virtue become spiritually blind. The cause is the disease and the effect is blindness. Someone who is shortsighted is so focused on the present and their present desires that they cannot see the past and are blind to future judgment. They are blind in that they fail to see what they should see. They have forgotten the most important reality of all. They have forgotten that they have been cleansed from former sins. This is a reference to baptism as a picture of the cleansing that we receive when we place our trust in Jesus. Baptism is a decisive and public identification with Jesus, a commitment to follow Jesus, and a picture of our cleansing from sin. It should be a memorable event – not that it accomplishes anything itself, but that it points to what Jesus does when we come to him. Someone who has forgotten their forgiveness has forgotten that they are sinners in need of God’s grace. They have forgotten the main thing, and if they no longer feel the need for God’s grace in forgiveness, they will not pursue God’s grace to supply what they need for a godly life. Peter is as clear as he can be here. If you are not growing in virtue, in knowledge, self-control, steadfastness, godliness, brotherly affection, and love, then your faith was a sham and you are still in your sins. Growth in these qualities is evidence of a genuine God-given faith that is alive and effective.

Conclusion:

Peter commands us to make every effort to abound in the godly life. Is Peter teaching salvation by works? He concludes this section by saying that in this way we will have entrance into the eternal kingdom. Peter is definitely talking about salvation and our eternal destiny, and he is telling us that it is necessary that we make every effort. But Peter is not telling us to make every effort in order to merit eternal life. Instead he is telling us to make every effort because God has already multiplied undeserved grace to us and granted to us divine power and unalterable promises. We have been given grace; we must be active and diligent to utilize and exercise that grace. The difference is that of a husband who is unsure of his wife’s love for him and does everything within his power to try to earn and win her love compared with a husband who is confident of his wife’s unconditional love for him and does everything within his power to act consistently with that love. We cannot earn God’s love. It is freely given. But we must stand confidently in that love and strive to act in a manner consistent with that unconditional love.

Philippians 2:12 Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, 13 for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.

We must cling to his promises like:

Philippians 1:6 And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.

And take up the life giving divine resurrection power that has been richly provided for us:

Romans 8:11 If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.

And we must:

1Timothy 6:12 Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and about which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.

Pastor Rodney Zedicher ~ Ephraim Church of the Bible ~ www.ephraimbible.org

http://www.ephraimbible.org/Sermons/20091011_2peter1_4.mp3

10/11 2Peter 1:4 Precious and Very Great Promises

2Peter 1:1 Simeon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who have obtained a faith of equal standing with ours by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ: 2 May grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. 3 His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, 4 by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire.

Intro

Peter is writing to strengthen believers in churches who are in danger of being led astray by false teachers. He writes to ground us in the truth of the gospel, to ’stir us up by way of reminder’ [1:13]. ‘Knowing this beforehand, we are to take care that we are not carried away with the error of lawless people and lose our own stability’ [3:17]. Peter knows if we are to stand our ground, we must ‘grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ’ [3:18]. So he begins his letter pointing us to the riches of God’s grace toward us and the truth of who Jesus is. He draws our attention to the great value of our faith – our faith was not our great accomplishment, it was allotted to us by God. And he points us to the source of our faith – it comes to us through the righteousness of God. God’s love for what is right is expressed not only in the just condemnation of unrepentant sinners, but overflows in the gracious justifying of sinners on the basis of our trust in the finished work of Jesus for us. Peter describes Jesus as both our God and our Savior. Peter prays that God’s grace and the resulting peace would be multiplied to us by means of our relationship with the Father and with Jesus. Jesus, in a supreme act of heavenly generosity, freely gave us everything – everything – everything that connects us to eternal life; a life of holiness, because we cannot enjoy the presence of a holy God without ourselves becoming godly. Peter tells that every necessary resource and ability has been freely given to us by the one who called us to this eternal life of holiness. Nothing short of his divine power is at work for us securing our eternal salvation. This gracious divine power comes through the knowledge of him who called us. John speaks of the transforming power of knowing Jesus when he says, ‘when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is’ [1Jn.3:2]. It is the excellence and glory of Jesus that is inviting and breathtaking and compelling.

Peter goes on in verse 4 to tell us that it is through the excellence of Jesus that we are freely given promises – great and precious promises – promises that bring us participation in the divine nature and escape from the corruption of this world.

4 by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire.

The first words of this verse express the means by which we receive the promises. The promises come to us through ‘his own glory and excellence’. It is the manifestation of Jesus’ divine nature and his inner moral beauty that secure for us the promises.

4 by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire.

The promises are not presented as a reward for good behavior. The promises are bestowed as a royal gift. This word only appears three times in the New Testament. This is a royal act of lavish generosity that staggers the imagination. In verse 3, his divine power has freely given to us all things pertaining to life and godliness. Now on top of that, he has freely given the promises to us.

4 by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire.

Peter again uses a word unique in the New Testament for ‘promises’, a word that occurs only here and at the end of this letter in 3:13, where it refers to the end times promise of a new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.

These are no ordinary promises. They are ‘precious’ and ‘very great’ promises. The word ‘precious’ carries the idea of value, worth, or honor. In 1 Peter 1:7, he called our genuine faith ‘more precious than gold’ and in 2 Peter 1:1 he calls our faith equally precious or honorable to that of the apostles. In 1 Peter 1:19, he refers to the blood of Christ that ransoms us as ‘precious’, and here he refers to the promises as ‘precious’ or valuable. Not only are the promises valuable, but they are ‘very great’. Peter is stacking adjectives to communicate to us the magnificence of his subject. He uses grand language to relay to us the grand nature of the promises that have been regally furnished for us.

What promises would Peter have in mind? Possibly the promises of the new covenant that Jesus referenced when he said ‘this cup is the new covenant in my blood’ [Lk.22:20; 1Cor.11:25]; promises like:

Jeremiah 31:31 “Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah,… ³³ But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

Ezekiel 11:19 And I will give them one heart, and a new spirit I will put within them. I will remove the heart of stone from their flesh and give them a heart of flesh, ²⁰ that they may walk in my statutes and keep my rules and obey them. And they shall be my people, and I will be their God.

Ezekiel 36:26 And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. ²⁷ And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.

He could have had in mind promises of Jesus like:

John 3:15 …whoever believes in him may have eternal life

John 4:14 but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty forever. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.

John 5:24 Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment but has passed from death to life.

John 6:35 …I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.

John 6:37 All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out.

John 6:47 Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life.

John 8:12 …I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.

John 8:31 …If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, ³² and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.

John 8:51 Truly, truly, I say to you, if anyone keeps my word, he will never see death.

John 10:9 I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture…. ¹⁰ I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.

John 10:27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. ²⁸ I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.

John 11:25 …I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, ²⁶ and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die.

John 14:2 …I go to prepare a place for you. ³ And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.

John 14:16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, ¹⁷ even the Spirit of truth…

John 14:18 I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you… ¹⁹ Because I live, you also will live.

John 16:22 …I will see you again and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you.

Precious promises! Very great promises! Promises worth memorizing and meditating on. But Peter’s focus is not on the promises themselves. He expects that the mere mention of promises will bring to mind some of these valuable and immeasurably great promises. Peter’s focus is on what the promises accomplish for us:

4 by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire.

Peter’s focus is on the goal of the promises, the benefits gained through the promises. And he states that through the promises we may become partakers in the divine nature. In Greek thought, there was much discussion about the divine nature. The philosophers would say that there is a divine spark within us all that simply needs to be recognized. Or it is locked inside each of us and just needs to be let out. Or we can attain to the divine nature and immortality by great effort. Peter says no, we are not innately divine, but we become partakers of the divine nature through the promises freely given to us in Christ. The word is to partner, participate or share, to fellowship or have in common. Peter is not blurring the distinction between the uncreated creator and his creatures; he is not embracing pantheism suggesting that we are absorbed into the divine or polytheism saying that we become little gods. He is using the vocabulary of the philosophers to describe what he described in his first letter as being ‘born again… of imperishable seed’ [1:23]. John in his gospel says that Jesus gave the right to become children of God, to those who were born…of God [Jn1:12-13]. Paul tells us to ‘put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness [Eph.4:24]. Through the new birth, we are returned to a condition where we can more accurately bear the image of God that we were created to display, an image that was badly marred at the fall by rebellion and sin. By his divine power we are enabled to be godly, to exhibit holiness and purity and goodness and love.

That’s the positive result of the promises – we become participants in the divine nature. The negative is expressed by the next phrase:

4 by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire.

The world is morally bankrupt. Greek philosophers concluded that it is because the world is material and the material is evil. To escape from corruption is to transcend the material. Peter’s view is different. He says the world is messed up because we’re a bunch of selfish sinners. God created the material universe and said it was good – very good. We, by our rebellious self will did a very good job of messing things up. Paul says it this way:

Romans 5:12 Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned

Romans 8:20 For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope ²¹ that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God.

It is this moral and spiritual decay that is at the root of the external physical and societal decay. “It is a degenerative power that pervades all of unredeemed life and exercises a tyranny from which human effort knows no effective escape” [Hiebert, p.49]. And it is this that we have escaped through the precious and very great promises of the gospel. Through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord we receive unmerited grace. We have obtained a faith of equal standing, we have been freely given all things that pertain to life and godliness, and we have been granted very great and valuable promises. We were called out of darkness and into his marvelous light so that we would proclaim the excellencies of him who called us [1Pet.2:9].

Three things are at work in us who believe; the promises, the power and the person of our Lord Jesus Christ. In verse three it is ‘his divine power’ that gives us everything we need. That comes ‘through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence’. And it is by his own personal excellence that he gives us the very great and precious promises. The person of Christ attracts us, his divine power enables us to respond, and his promises secure for us participation in his divine nature.

How do we respond to all of this?

1. We must seek to know Jesus better. Peter says that the promises come to us through his own glory and excellence. I want to indulge myself in an exploration of the excellence of his character and the glory of his nature.

2. We must get to know his promises. Life transforming power comes through the promises, so I want to know what these promises are and bank on them day by day, cash them in and use them in my battle with my own corruption and sinful desire.

3. We must never turn it around. Peter lays for us the theological foundation for godly living in the gracious gift of our God. He goes on in the subsequent verses to describe what that life looks like. I never want to be guilty of turning the bible on its head and using it as a list of moral commands to keep in order to gain favor with God and merit eternal life. Rather, the power for a godly life comes as a gift through knowledge of Jesus – his finished work on the cross – and from the divine promises that are freely given to me.

Pastor Rodney Zedicher ~ Ephraim Church of the Bible ~ www.ephraimbible.org