As followers of Jesus, we need to be reminded of the rescue we have obtained through Jesus...

This weekend we found ourselves in the first weekend of November. And for many of us, it is the month of November where we begin to anticipate the upcoming holiday season. In a few weeks, we will pause to celebrate Thanksgiving. However, even before we celebrate Thanksgiving, for many of us, Christmas is already on our mind.

And as we approach the holiday season, our minds often wander back to memories of the past. Our minds wander back to the past as the holiday season reminds us of special times in the past. And we celebrate these holidays because these holidays are designed to remind us of significant events in history.

For example, Thanksgiving reminds us of a time in history when native Americans helped the early settlers survive after a brutal start to their time here on this continent. We celebrate Christmas to remind us of an event from history when Jesus entered into humanity as a baby born to a teenage girl that was placed in a feeding trough for animals.  We celebrate holidays because these holidays serve as a reminder that helps us to remember significant events in history. Because without reminders we have a tendency to forget, don’t we?

And what is true for us when it comes to history is also true for us spiritually. This morning, we celebrated communion as a reminder of what Jesus did for us to rescue us from the selfishness and rebellion that separated us from God so that we could experience forgiveness and the relationship with God that we were created for. And when Jesus instituted communion, one of the things that He said was “Do this in remembrance of Me”.  You see, Jesus knew what we all have a tendency to do, which is that we have a tendency to forget.

And because of our tendency to forget, we need reminders to help us to not forget. So, for the month of November, we are going to spend our time together in a sermon series entitled reminder. During this series, we are going to look at a letter that has been preserved and recorded for us in the New Testament of the Bible called the book of 2 Peter. The book of 2 Peter was written by the same man who wrote the book of 1 Peter, who was none other than the Apostle Peter. And as we will discover during this series, the Apostle Peter wanted to make sure that the readers of his letter, and followers of Jesus throughout history, would not forget the timeless truths about the claims of Christ and the message of the gospel that he had written and that are contained in the book of 1 Peter.

The Apostle Peter was concerned that the readers of his previous letter would end up forgetting what he had communicated to them in his previous letter as a result of the passage of time and the influence of false teachers in their lives. And because of the danger that false teachers and the passage of time presented to the readers of his first letter, the Apostle Peter sat down and wrote this letter that we know today as the book of 2 Peter to remind the readers of his letter of several truths about Jesus and the message and teachings of Jesus that were to always be at the forefront of their lives.  

And just as it was for the Apostle Peter, as we go through this series, our hope and our prayer is that God would move by the power of the Holy Spirit in our heads, hearts, and minds to remind us of several timeless truths about Jesus and the message and teachings of Jesus that we are to always have at the forefront of our lives in a way that results in us living out those truths so as to reveal and reflect Jesus to those around us. So let’s begin where the letter of 2 Peter begins, which is in 2 Peter 1:1-2:

Simon Peter, a bond-servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who have received a faith of the same kind as ours, by the righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ: ² Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord;

The book of 2 Peter begins by introducing its author, the Apostle Peter. Peter was the undisputed leader of the twelve closest followers of Jesus. Peter describes himself as a bond servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ. Now a bond-servant was one who is solely committed to the service of another. Peter wanted to remind the reader of his letter that he was solely committed to serving the Lord and the kingdom mission that he had been given by the Lord.

In addition, an Apostle was someone who had seen Jesus after He had been raised from the dead and had been given the unique role and gifting by Jesus to be a foundational leader in the early church and a primary messenger that would deliver a new message from God to the world. And in His role as an Apostle, Peter was inspired by the Holy Spirit to write this letter that has been preserved and recorded for us in the Bible as the book of 2 Peter. 

After introducing himself as the author of this letter, Peter introduces us to the recipients of this letter. When Peter refers to the recipients of this letter as those who have received a faith of the same kind as ours, by the righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ, he is referring to those who had responded God’s right actions in the world that provided humanity the opportunity to be rescued from the selfishness and rebellion that separated them from God through Jesus life, death, and resurrection by placing their confident trust in Jesus.

After describing these early followers of Jesus who were the recipients of his letter, Peter extended a traditional greeting of grace and peace. Peter hoped that these early followers of Jesus would experience God's divine favor in their lives and a state of well being with God that was continually increasing in their lives as a result of their knowledge of God and God’s activity in the lives through Jesus. After extending an opening greeting, Peter begins his letter to these early followers of Jesus with a powerful statement that reveals for us a timeless reminder regarding our relationship with Jesus. So let’s look at that statement together, beginning in 1 Peter 1:3-4:

 seeing that 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. ⁴ For by 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 by lust.

Now when Peter uses the word seeing here, this word, in the language that this letter was originally written in, literally means because. So Peter is basically saying “I hope that you would experience God's divine favor in your lives and a state of well being with God that is continually increasing in your life as a result of you knowledge of God and His activity in your life through Jesus because 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.”

What is so interesting is that the word for everything here literally means everything. In addition, the word granted here means to present something as a gift or a benefit. Peter’s point is that God has presented followers of Jesus a gift according to His supernatural power. And that gift is everything pertaining to life and godliness. When Peter refers to life here, he is referring to transcendent and eternal life with God in the relationship with God that we were created for. When Peter uses the word godliness here, this word refers to an awesome respect that is accorded to God that results in a life that looks like God. In other words, God has given followers of Jesus throughout history everything we need to experience eternal life with Jesus and to live a life that that looks like Jesus.

Now a natural question that could arise here is “Well Dave, how did followers of Jesus get everything we need to experience eternal life with Jesus and to live a life that that looks like Jesus?” Peter provides the answer to that question with the phrase through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence. Peter’s point is that God, in His splendor and radiance; God, in a demonstration of His miraculous and Divine power; graciously chose to make Himself known and to rescue followers of Jesus through Jesus. But not only did God graciously choose to make Himself known and to rescue followers of Jesus through Jesus.

In addition, in verse 4, Peter explains that by His splendor and radiance; God, in a demonstration of His miraculous and Divine power has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises. When Peter refers to His precious and magnificent promises, he is referring to God’ promises that are contained in the letters that make up the Bible. In other words, God has given followers of Jesus the gift of His extremely valuable and extraordinary promises. Peter then explained that God gave followers of Jesus the gift of His extremely valuable and extraordinary promises so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature. But this morning, what does that even mean?

The word partaker simple means to take part in something with someone. When Peter refers to the Divine nature, he is referring to the Divine characteristics of God. Peter here is revealing for us the reality that, as followers of Jesus, we take part with the Trinity in Divinity. Right now, in a mystical and spiritual way, as followers of Jesus, we are in Christ, in Heaven. As followers of Jesus we are part of the church, which is the body of Christ here on earth. But even now, we are mystically and spiritually a part of the body of Christ in Heaven.

Now doesn’t that make your head hurt? And at the end of God’s story here on earth, when Jesus returns to defeat selfishness, sin, and death and ushers in the kingdom of Heaven in its fullest sense, followers of Jesus will spend all eternity sharing in divinity with the Trinity. We will spend all eternity sharing in divinity with the Trinity because, as a result of God’s gracious gift of rescue through Jesus, followers of Jesus have escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust. In other words, God’s gracious gift of rescue through Jesus has enables us to escape the inward depravity that is the result of our old nature apart from Jesus that is dominated by selfishness and rebellion and that is in opposition to God and that desires what is forbidden by God.

And it is here, in this opening section of this letter, that we see Peter reveal for us a timeless reminder about Jesus and the message and teachings of Jesus that we are to always have at the forefront of our lives. And that timeless reminder is this: We need to be reminded of the rescue we have obtained through Jesus. Just as it was for these early followers of Jesus; just as it has been for followers of Jesus throughout history, we need to be reminded of the rescue we have obtained through Jesus.

And in 2 Peter 1:1-11, we see Peter reveal three aspects of the rescue that we have obtained by Jesus that we need to be reminded of. First, in 2 Peter 1:1-4, we see that the rescue we have obtained through Jesus provides us everything we need spiritually to live a life that represents Jesus well.

As followers of Jesus, we have obtained a rescue that produces a state of confident trust in Jesus as a result of God’s right actions through Jesus life, death, and resurrection. As followers of Jesus, we have obtained a rescue that provides God’s Divine favor and a state of well being with God. And as followers of Jesus, we have obtained a rescue that provides the opportunity to experience eternal life with Jesus and to live a life that looks like Jesus.

This opportunity is based on God graciously choosing to give us the gift of a true knowledge of Himself. And this opportunity is based on God graciously choosing to give us the gift of His miraculous promises. God’s miraculous promises are precious and extraordinary in nature. And God’s miraculous promises result in us taking part in His nature. As followers of Jesus, we will participate in Divinity with the Trinity. And as followers of Jesus, we have escaped the inward depravity that desires what is forbidden by God.

Tomorrow, we will see Peter reveal a second aspect of the rescue that we have obtained by Jesus that we need to be reminded of…