Thursday, February 05, 2015

In our study of 2nd Peter we’ve discovered what God provides in our relationship with Him. He’s the one who provides Salvation, which is the foundation for our relationship with Him. He also provides all that’s necessary for our Sanctification, which is the ongoing process of building or developing our relationship. The key to benefiting from both provisions is having a clear, full, experiential knowledge of Jesus Christ our Lord. God the Father sent His Son, Jesus Christ, into the world to be a perfect representation of His person, character and attributes in flesh and blood. Since He lived on earth 2000 years ago we can’t touch Him or sit at His feet and listen to Him share. Peter had that privilege of being an eyewitness of His majesty (1:16). For us to know Him we can go to the record of His earthly pilgrimage, found primarily in the Gospels. There are additional details in the rest of the Bible. We’ve seen that the more we know about Him through reading, studying and learning from others the greater the possibility of experientially knowing Him. That’s the key to experience His power which provides everything we need for life and godliness. Also, it makes appropriating the promises more natural. This enables us to experience the Holy Spirit’s work of enlightening and empowering us to escape the corruption in the world and overcome evil desires. Our part is to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. This is foundational for what Peter encourages us to work at in the verses that follow in 2 Peter 1:5-11.