I want to take a second to think on the text in 2 Peter 1:3-15. I’m planning to write several posts on this short passage, so bear with me as I work my way through. In this first post, I want to think about verses 3-5. If you haven’t already, take a second to read those verses.
God has desired that we should be partakers of the divine nature. Just take a moment to think about that – that God would want to bring us that close to Himself! As those who are united with Christ, we are thereby drawn into this relationship. But we cannot be brought into this close relationship if we are corrupted by sin, and are living in darkness. God’s holy character cannot allow this.
God had to do something for us, and so he granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness. We were dead and sinful. Our nature was in a dead and corrupt state in original sin, and we need his divine power to give to us all things that pertain to life and godliness: the two things we so desperately need. Because God wanted us, he took it upon himself to do what was necessary to bring us to himself.
Next, we are immediately instructed about what all these things are. It is not a bunch of random things that God put in a gift basket and left on our doorstep. Rather, it is the knowledge of – or relationship with – Christ himself. We need Christ to call us to himself. This call is not a dinner bell that you can ignore if you don’t feel hungry. It’s not a recommendation that you can take or leave. When Christ calls his sheep to himself, they come to him. We come to him and find rest and joy.
Furthermore, as those who have been called, we have been granted what Peter calls “precious and very great” promises. This has an echo of 2 Corinthians 1:20 where Paul says that God’s promises find their “Yes” in Christ. God has united us to his Son, and we benefit from the wonderful promise of God to save those that are in Christ. Bringing us into close relationship with himself. And so we see that it is precisely because of these promises, that we are made to become partakers of the divine nature.
And then, the last phrase we will consider today. I find such joy in this truth: we will escape the corruption and sinful desires of this world. How amazing is that! I am so ready to put off this sinful flesh. I cannot wait to experience the full reality of the blessing Christ has bestowed on me. While I long for that day, I also take such comfort in this life because when I do fall, Christ is by my side ready to restore me. Ready to strengthen me through the Spirit within. I can actually please God in this life, as the Spirit grants righteousness in me. It’s a wonderful thing to experience!