2 Peter 1:3 His divine power has given us everything we
need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his
own glory and goodness. NIV
In 2nd Peter, chapter 1, beginning with verse 5, Peter strongly encourages
his readers to add some virtues to their faith. These virtues are characteristics of
behavior, that should be seen in the life of any believer in Jesus. He speaks
of goodness, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly
kindness and love. He even says that if a Christian does not have those
qualities, he or she is blind and has forgotten about the forgiveness and
cleansing that has taken place in their life.
When you read that statement does it encourage you or does it make you feel like you could never live
up to the demands of this “Christian” life? I know that for many, it would do
the latter. It seems impossible to be the kind of person described in those
verses. Try as we may, we continually fall short. As much as we would desire to
live this way, we just do not have the power within us to do it.
If you fall into that latter category, there is great news for you in our key verse. Verse 3 reveals
to us, that we do not have to rely on our own power to acquire these characteristics.
Instead, the necessary power is given to
us by Jesus our Lord! The verse also informs us, that this power supplies everything we need to live the life we are called to live.This is a staggering revelation and it should free any believer from the bondage
of “trying to be a good Christian” by the strength of their own will.
Notice that the power
spoken of in verse 3 is described as “divine.” What does that mean and why is
it important? The Greek word used here for divine is theios, meaning “godlike.” A non-believer, at the time this was
written, would most likely have understood this word as a reference to the kind
of supernatural power that the Greek gods possessed. It would speak to them of
powers a mortal being would not have. It is certainly not without reason that Peter
uses this specific word. Peter is telling the believers that it is Jesus
Himself, who gives us a supernatural
ability, to do anything that He requires of us. In fact, he says that the power
has already been given to us!
If anyone would
doubt the veracity of this statement of Peter, all they need do is look at the life of the man who wrote the words. Peter, when relying on his own
abilities, failed miserably to represent His master. This is especially evident
when he denied Jesus three times during His trial and crucifixion. But follow
his life after the Holy Spirit (who delivers that supernatural power to all
believers), begins to work in Acts, chapter 2. Peter becomes the leader
of the church in Jerusalem, preaching the word, healing the sick, being used by
God to do amazing things! Contemplate the fact that Peter spent most of his
life as a fisherman, not a biblical scholar or theologian, yet he wrote this
chapter as well as many others, full of deep doctrine and theology! It would be
impossible for him to do this without the supernatural power of the Holy Spirit
working within him.
If this is all
true, why then does it seem that we still fail so often to reflect that power
in our daily lives? Well, it is not because the power is not there. It’s that
we fail to appropriate that which God has already given to us. Jesus, when
teaching His disciples how to pray, told them that they should ask daily for
the provision of God. “Give us this day, our daily bread,” means more than just
physical sustenance. Remember how Jesus responded to Satan’s temptation to turn
stones into bread to relieve His hunger (see Mt 4:4)? He said that man does not
live on bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God. We
need to come daily before the Lord, confessing that we do not have it in our
flesh to accomplish anything of spiritual value. We need to ask Him every day for
the provision of His divine power to be manifest in us, so that we may accomplish
His will and purpose for us.
The list that
Peter gives us in this chapter, is almost identical to the fruit of the Spirit
in Galatians 5. That informs us, that when we ask for the power of the Spirit
to work in us, we can rest in the fact that He will work in us. It is not a matter of us striving, but a matter of
us surrendering. Surrendering our will to His work. When we do, we will see
this amazing, divine power working in and through us.
Now, there is
one requirement for all of this to work. Notice in the key verse it says, “through
our knowledge of Him.” In other words, in order to receive this divine power,
you must know Jesus Christ in a personal way. The Greek word for knowledge here
has the implication of being “fully acquainted” with something or someone. Are
you fully acquainted with Jesus? It starts with acknowledging Him as your
Savior and Lord, but it is more than that. It means that you spend time with
Him, in study of His word and prayer, so that you may know Him more fully. You
cannot get to know anyone without spending time with them, right?
The more time
you spend with Jesus, the more your desire to obey Him will grow. As that desire
grows, the more you will yearn for that divine power and thus, ask for it. 1
John 5:14-15 says, “this is the
confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his
will, he hears us. 15 And if we know that he hears us — whatever we ask — we
know that we have what we asked of him.” NIV
If you desire to
see God’s divine power working in your life, so that you may live the way He has
called you to, then spend time with Him daily. Ask for that power to be
manifest in your life and you will have everything
you need for a life of effectiveness and productivity in your walk with
Christ!
God bless you,
Coach
