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Text: 2 Pet 1:3-8
2 Peter 1:3 According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue:
2 Peter 1:4 Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.
Introduction: We struggle daily to serve our Lord because we do not realize the true power that He has given us—His divine power. He has given us everything we need for this life, in Christ, but we must learn how to share in His divine nature in our daily walk. When we do we will develop many Christian virtues, so that we will have a fruitful walk with the Lord.
1. His Divine Power: not our power, but His power. The same power that raised Jesus from the dead dwells in us (Rom 8:11).
A. His Divine Power
1) “divine” this is God’s power, not something we can work up naturally
2) Power--“dunamis”--God’s miracle working power, the power that makes God who He is, there is no lack to this power, it gets the job done.
B. Given unto us
1) Given—“doreomai”--a free gift, not something we can earn, not something we deserve. Our Father has given us many gifts because He loves us, and they are all good. (James 1:17)
a. The gift of righteousness. (Rom 5:17)
b. The gift of grace for salvation. (Eph 2:8)
c. The gift of the Holy Spirit. (Act 2:38)
d. Spiritual gifts (1 Cor 12:1-11)
e. Ministry and motivational gifts (Eph 4:8-11; Rom 12:6-8)
C. All things we need for life & godliness. ALL, everything—nothing is lacking when God gives it. (The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want (lack) Psalm 23:1)
1) Life--“zoe”—the God kind of life. The highest & best which Christ is, the very life of God. A rich, full, abundant life because it comes from the Father. Jesus came to give us life, an abundant life. (Jn 10:10)
2) Godliness—“eusebia”—true devotion and doing what pleases God. Practical religion of worship and praise, not just theory or theology. A life lived in the awe and reverence of our wonderful Lord. There is nothing more worshipful than to do what pleases God. He desires our obedience more than anything else. (1 Sam 15:22)
D. Through the knowledge of Him
1) Knowledge—“epignosis”—precise, exact clear knowledge. Experiential knowledge, not just head knowledge. An intimate relationship with Him that affects our daily life. God does not want us to be confused as to how to live for Him. He has revealed His will and ways through His Word, and He has given us His Holy Spirit to teach us and guide us in His ways (Jn16:13). Through the revelation of the Holy Spirit about Christ we receive the faith we need to live for God.
E. Who called us to glory & virtue
1) Called—“kaleo”—invited, summoned, and called by the Good Shepherd. God is the one who extended His divine invitation to us to come to Him. He is the one who initiated it. We could not come to Him without His divine summons because of our sin; but thank God He loved us enough to pay the price for our sin, so we could answer His call.
2) Glory—“doxa”—honor, renown, splendor, brightness, excellence, inner glory outwardly manifested. Like a mirror, we are reflectors of the glory of God. God has honored us by placing His glory in our life. Therefore, we should shine with the brightness of His glory so that others can see Christ.
a. “The present invisible glory of the believer through his union with Christ by the Spirit is greater than the visible glory recorded in the OT (2 Cor.3:7-11)” Zodhiates, The Complete Word Study Dictionary New Testament, p.480d
b. When Moses came down from Mt. Sinai, his faced shined from the glory of God. (Ex 34:29-35)
c. In the OT, the glory “kabod” of God was hidden--seen only by the High Priest in the Holy of Holies—one time a year—on the Day of Atonement.
d. We are the depositories of God’s glory on the earth today—it is not hidden unless we hide it—we are the Holy of Holies where His glory dwells everyday for all men to see. (1 Cor 3:16; 6:19)
3) Virtue—“arete”—excellency, being pleasing to God, force or energy of the Holy Spirit accompanying the preaching of the gospel. Not only are we to display God’s glory, but also His excellency of character. Our lives are to be pleasing to God in all that we do. When we walk in His divine power, our preaching of the gospel will be with excellency and the Holy Spirit will give it the force necessary to change lives. His Word will not return void, but will accomplish all that God desires for it to do (Isa 55:11)
F. Through which we have been given exceeding great & precious promises
1) Precious—“timios”—costly, valuable, dear, prized, worthy. God’s power gives us promises that are very valuable because of their high cost—the blood of Jesus Christ.
2) Promises—epagglema”—declarations, proclamations, assurances. These promises are another gift from God. He gives us His assurance of salvation. He declares to all that we belong to Him—we are His sons/daughters (children). (Rom 8:14-16)
Ø Bridge: God has not only given us His Divine Power, but He has also given us a commandment to be Holy as He is Holy (1 Pet 1:15-16). We cannot fulfill this command without His Divine Nature in us! Praise God He has given us ALL things that pertain to life and godliness, even the ability to be holy as He is holy through His Divine Nature in us.
2. His Divine Nature: not our human nature, but His nature. His nature gives us the ability to grow in holiness.
A. He has made us to be Partakers of this nature
1) Be—ginesthe”—made from nothing, exist, place, change of state. We are made to be new creations (2 Cor 5:18), a brand new being that did not exist before, when we accept Christ as our Savior. The old is gone, God has placed us into a new order of life. He has recreated us by His Divine Power so He can fill us with His Divine Nature.
2) Partakers—koinonos”—joint participator, sharer, partner. We become a sharer of the very nature of God. We are in common with Him in His nature. The old nature is gone, replaced by His very nature. We are now in a partnership to see His kingdom built on this earth. He can use us to do this valuable work, because He has given us everything we need through sharing His Divine Nature with us.
3) Nature—“phusis”—essence, attributes, divine qualities, distinctive native peculiarities. His Holy Spirit places not just His glory and virtue, but His very life force in us. This makes us as much like Him as we can be—His children. Children have the attributes of their father and mother given to them at conception. We also are given God’s attributes at the new birth and then we grow in them day by day in our walk with Him.
B. Through it we have escaped the corruption of the world that is through lust.
1) Corruption—“phthora”--destruction, seduction to evil, ruining, moral decay. Thank God that His Divine Nature gives us the ability to escape the destruction of this world. We are sharers of a new nature that has no part in the seducing power of this world.
2) World—“kosmos”—order, earthy things that seduce from God and are obstacles to the cause of Christ. The Divine Nature in us gives us power over the things that would try to seduce us and become obstacles to the kingdom of God.
3) Lust—“epithumia”—diseased condition of the soul, desire for the forbidden. As believers full of His Divine Power and His Divine Nature we have escaped from the disease that destroys the soul of man. Instead of a craving for the things of this world, we have a hunger and thirst after righteousness.
C. The Divine Nature of God has distinct characteristics to it that separate it from those of this world. As we grow in our walk with the Lord we will grow in holiness. We must add (develop) the characteristics of this Divine Nature to our life so that we can shine brightly for Him.
1. Diligence—spoude”—earnestness, zeal, care, attention. This is the first thing we must establish—what we do for Christ, we will not do sloppily, but with earnestness, zeal, great care, and attention. We are in the King’s business and He deserves our diligence. If we do not have the zeal of the Lord, we will be careless in our walk and not strive after holiness.
2. Faith—pistis”—persuaded, belief, confidence, assurance, conviction, confirmation. “Add to your faith . . .” Faith is the foundation on which all the other characteristics are built upon. This confidence comes from our being indwelt by His Divine Nature. “Without Faith it is impossible to please Him” (Heb 11:6), therefore, we must be sure we have a solid foundation to add all the other characteristics to.
a. If we look at our life as a building, our faith in God is the bedrock upon which everything else is built. Without a solid assurance or conviction, we will be shaken when the storms of life blow. But with this confidence in our life we can stand any test or trial because our faith is built upon our assurance that our God loves us and will never leave us or forsake us (Heb 13:5). (Draw a building as it is built below if a board or overhead is available—also could be done in Microsoft Powerpoint)
b. We are to add “virtue” to our faith. This is the first floor--that is, the excellency and desire to please God. We must always strive to do what is pleasing to the Lord because of our faith in Him.
3. Knowledge—gnosis—fragmentary knowledge, enquiry, investigation, doctrine. The second floor is that we must always be seeking to know the truth. Because we are living our life pleasing to the Lord, we will seek His ways and learn to walk in His truth. Our enquiry into the things of God will be enlightened by the Holy Spirit (Eph 1:18-23) as we seek God’s will and learn from Him. We will “know”—“eido”--understand--the hope of His calling, the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe.
4. Temperance—egkrateia”—self-control, contentedness. The next floor shows us that we must put into practice the knowledge that God teaches us. As we exercise self-control, we see that our life is being lead by the Holy Spirit and we gain strength to live this life pleasing to God. He is teaching us to master our passions and desires, so that we can “be holy as God is holy.”
5. Patience—hupomone”—endurance, persistence, perseverance, steadfastness. This endurance and perseverance is based on all that has been laid previously.
a. If we are to persevere through the trials, we must have faith. Faith that God loves us and is in control of our life.
b. If we are to persevere through our trials, we must know that our life is pleasing to God—i.e. we are serving Him to the best of our ability—otherwise we will see these trials as punishments for our failures and turn our back on Him.
c. If we are to persevere through the trials, we must know the truth about God. We must know His great love for His children.
d. If we are to persevere through the trials, we must have self-control. Otherwise, we will want to give up when the going gets tough.
6. Godliness—eusebia—practical religion. The next floor adds the fact that this endurance through trials is not just “a grin and bear it” mentality, but one that knows and accepts that God is in control of our lives. Because of His Divine Nature in us, we are aware of His Divine Power and Presence in our life no matter what we go through. Therefore, we can praise and worship Him no matter how hard it gets—“Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials. (James 1:2 NASB)
7. Brotherly kindness—philadelphia—love of the brethren, benevolence. As we go up to the next floor, we see that no matter how difficult life may be, we are able to help others when we are going through our pain and trials. This shows true maturity, that when we are suffering, we can reach out to others that are hurting and comfort them with the same comfort the Lord comforts us with (2 Cor 1:4). As we say at Healing Hearts Ministry, you hurt . . . you heal . . . you help!
8. love—agape—God’s love. The roof to the building is God’s love. It covers everything below it and keeps it protected from the enemy. We can have all these virtues in our life, but without the love of God, the building is not finished. This is the love that reaches out to a lost world and invites them into the kingdom. It doesn’t hoard His Divine Power and His Divine Nature, but gives it freely to all men so they can share in what God has freely given to us.
Ø Bridge: With His Divine Power filling us, and His Divine Nature in us, we are able to live a life full of His Divine Life.
3. His Divine Life: not our life, but His life. His life in us gives us the ability to truly know (experience) God. Now that the house is built, we must live in it. God does not want us to just exist, but He wants our lives to be full to overflowing.
A. Makes us abound
1) Abound—pleonazo—abundance, multiplied, more than enough, have a surplus. Jesus said, give and it shall be given to you, pressed down, shaken together and running over (Lk 6:38). This is not just talking about money (in fact the context has nothing to do with money), but should exemplify our lifestyle. From our abundance comes the surplus that we need to give to others. If we have multiplied peace—give it away. If we have multiplied joy—give it away. What God has taught us by His Spirit—give it away. All these virtues that God has given to us—give them away.
B. Makes us productive
1) Make—kathistemi—place or set, appoint, conduct, and bring to pass. The characteristics of God in us will bring to pass in our life what God wants us to be. They will set us in the place God has for our life.
2) Barren—“Argos”--idle, inactive, unprofitable. God does not want our lives to be unproductive, instead, He wants our lives to be productive. We will be doing His work for His kingdom, instead of sitting around being idle, when we know that His Divine Power and His Divine Nature have been given to us. He has given us EVERYTHING that we need to be productive in His kingdom and our lives.
C. Makes us fruitful
1) Unfruitful—“Karpos”—unprofitable, not having the evidence of the character of the power producing it, useless. God does not want our lives to be unprofitable either, instead, He wants them to be profitable. What a shame it is for Christians to not show outwardly the character that God has placed in them. But, as we display the character of God, His Divine Power is seen to all.
Conclusion: “Knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.” The reason that God fills us with His Divine Power and His Divine Nature and gives us His Divine Life is that God does not want us to be unproductive or unprofitable in the knowledge of our Lord. This is the goal for which all these virtues are given to us. This is the reason He has built this house; that we might be doing His will, and become more like Christ in our thoughts and actions. That His Divine Power working mightily in us, through His Divine Nature helping us to grow in holiness, will give us His Divine Life full of abundance and fruitfulness, and all the world will see it and glorify God!
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