His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. - 2 Peter 1:3
Our new series, Reminders, is based on the belief that the role of the church and the pastor is to remind believers what the scripture teaches us about our faith and what we believe. You may be new to the faith, but most of us have at least a basic knowledge of the Christian faith. However, that knowledge is so heavily influenced by the common “proverbs” of this world that what the scripture actually teaches often gets lost in the shuffle.
His Divine Power
Peter was speaking to a church that was being influenced by teachers and leaders both in the world and within the church that depended on reason to decide what they believed. Therefore, anything that didn’t make sense to their mind with regard to the faith had to be disregarded. Peter, however, started this reminder with God. Instead of starting with what made sense to his readers, he started with the power of God. When we start with our own strength and understanding, what is possible is very small and limited. However, when we start with the power of God, anything is possible!
Everything We Need
This is the phrase that echoes in my ears ever since I first read it. I often feel so weak and hopeless in the situations and circumstances of my life. However, Peter says that the divine power of God has become a resource for us. Therefore, we have everything we need. Think of what this means for the call of God!
When we start with our own reason, we often respond to God’s call by reminding him that we’re “only human” or that we can’t be what He has called us to be. We can’t put our addiction behind us and we can’t change our attitude. We have come to believe that we can’t really become what God has called us to be, because we are weak. This is the point at which we must remember that Peter started this text with a reference to “His divine power.” It is hard to say “I can’t” to the God who has already given us “everything we need.”
His Glory and Goodness
Many question the goodness of God. We look at his commands and our weakness and our reason tells us that He must be crazy or twisted to call us to such impossible things. However, when we truly know God, we find out that He is good. When we know that he is good. Glory and Goodness are a good combination. It is scary to think of someone with the power of God who would not use it for good. But God has incredible power and majesty combined with incredible goodness. Therefore, he gave us the resources that we need to accomplish his call. All that He called us to do is possible through His divine power!
Looking Forward
The story starts with what God has done. It always does. That is the incredible excitement of the creation story, the amazing truth of Christmas, and the exciting power of Easter. God is the initiator. And this story is the same. Join us as the series continues next week. Next week, we spend more time dealing with our response to what He has done!