2 Peter 1:3-4

NASB	NLT	VOICE
3 for His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence.	3 By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence.	3 His divine power has given us everything we need to experience life and to reflect God’s true nature through the knowledge of the One who called by His glory and virtue.
4 Through these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world on account of lust.	4 And because of his glory and excellence, he has given us great and precious promises. These are the promises that enable you to share his divine nature and escape the world’s corruption caused by human desires.	4 Through these things, we have received God’s great and valuable promises, so we might escape the corruption of worldly desires and share in the divine nature.

Understanding the Power of God

The divine power that Peter describes is a reminder of God’s power and constant presence. God has the power to completely and sufficiently given us everything we need in life. The Greek word for “given” describes a generous and gracious bestowal. It’s a comprehensive provision that covers all parts of a spiritual life. We receive these things for life and godliness. Life includes both physical and spiritual life. Godliness describes living a life that reflect God’s character. These things focus on the holistic foundation of God’s provision. These are obtained through the knowledge God is. Not just an intellectual experience, but a relational and experiential once also. It involves a deep, personal relationship with God through Jesus. It transforms all people that accept the invitation to a relationship. God invites us into a relationship with Him, through the act of salvation. He calls us through His glory and excellence. His glory reflects His majestic presence and divine nature. God’s excellence reflects moral virtue and perfection.

REFLECTION CHECKPOINT: God is a provisional god, giving us all the resources we need to live a life according to His plan for us. What is one thing you feel like He has provided? What is one thing you feel like you have an overabundance of that you can share with others?

Learning is a Great Starting Point

We need to prioritize growing in the knowledge of God. “Now Marc, you said that it’s not about being intellectually knowledgeable about God?” Not completely. We have to create a foundation. We have to obtain a base of who God is and what God is about. This act happens in three ways: prayer, studying Scripture, and fellowship with other Christians. Prayer is about having a conversation with God. God wants to hear from us, through both our prayers and our petitions. Share it all with God. It doesn’t have to be a formal conversation or follow a specific script. It just needs to be from the heart. Talk to Him like He’s a friend, a mentor, a father, and your Savior. Studying scripture can be overwhelming depending upon which book you’re reading. I recommend starting with the Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) in the New Testament (the second part of the Bible) to learn about the ministry of Jesus. When you begin with Jesus as the foundation, everything else may start to make sense. Starting with Genesis can be a little overwhelming because of its historical and poetic imagery. I recommend using the BibleProject to help understand some overviews of the books of the Bible and learning about key themes that show in the Bible. They are a wonderful resource that I have used in my studies for years. I also recommend using a concordance or a study Bible as well, to help supplement additional information about certain people, terms, and symbols in the biblical narrative. Having a group of Christians to do life with is a blessing and a half. Celebrating the highs and coming together in the lows can help remind us that we are not alone in everything we do. We can come together to help encourage each other, keep each other in check, and have conversations about the Scriptures. We learn better together. We were not created to do life alone.

REFLECTION CHECKPOINT: Prayer, studying Scripture, and fellowship are great tools for living a Christian life. Which of these three do you want to see improved for your walk and why?

The Promises and Assurance of God

The “great and precious promises” that Peter refers to here is the different assurances that are given by God through Scripture, such as the promise of eternal life and the Holy Spirit residing in us. The promises are rooted all the back in the Old Testament, with the covenant God gave to Abraham (see Genesis 12:1-3.) These promises are invaluable, and we can receive them to become partakers in who God is. Being a partaker in this context reflects sharing in God’s moral attributes, done through the work of the Holy Spirit. It also echoes the Genesis ideal, where humans are created in the image of God and will find restoration of that image through Christ. Our salvation through God is our rescue from the corruption of the world. The corruption escribes the pervasive sin and moral degradation resulting of humanity’s rebellion against God. The escape is made possible through faith in Jesus Christ. He delivers us from the darkness and grants us new life. The corruption is caused by evil desires. The “evil desires” are the sinful inclinations and lusts that leads to moral corruption and separates us from God. The desires are founded in the fallen human nature and are opposite of the desires of the Spirit. The teachings of the New Testament warns us against succumbing to these desires, urging us to live by the Spirit and put to death the desires of the flesh. This transformation involves a daily battle against these desires and are empowered by the Holy Spirit and guided by the Word found in scripture.

REFLECTION CHECKPOINT: God gifts us many assurances in our relationship with Him, based on our faith in Him. How has your faith affected your daily behaviors in life?

A Fruitful Escape

Christians are called to escape the corruption caused by the evil desires. Paul actually gives us a great summary of what these desires are: “sexual immorality, impurity, indecent behavior, idolatry, witch craft, hostilities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions, envy, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these…” (Galatians 5:19-21a) There are a lot of things that world allows and supports that God doesn’t. Some of these are going to be natural, human reactions (strife, jealousy, anger, etc.) but how we respond to it will be the important factor. Will we respond to it as the world wants, or will we respond to it as God wants? We must submit these feelings to God and allow His guidance and plan for us to take precedence. We may not like what He tells us, but that’s because we are growing up in a world that is of the world. When we start to replace the mindsets off the world with the mindsets of God, we start to become a true reflection of God’s character, and a true beacon of light to the darkness that surrounds us. We need to focus on the desires of God, the fruit of the Spirit: “joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control…” (Galatians 5:22-23a)

REFLECTION CHECKPOINT: What is one of the evil desires that you find yourself struggling with? How can the fruit of the Spirit help you overcome that desire?

Above all, remember: I am a partaker of his Divine Nature.

PRAY Action

Praise God for the gifts that He gives us freely, through our relationship with Him.

Read Ephesians 4:24

Ask God where you can become more like Him. Ask God to search your heart and call out anything from your old self that needs to be put to death.

You are a wonderful creation of Christ. You are trying your best in a fallen world. May your remember that your Heavenly Father is with you every step of the way.

Next part: Worship Beyond Borders || Who Am I Again? || Part 19