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Pastor Vic's Message
“We Are in a Garden of Grace”
November 2, 2008
2 Peter 1:1-4
In 1 Peter the focus was on our great God. He is the all knowing, the One
worthy of praise, the holy, and the One in control of all things. Peter kept
our eyes on God and described our salvation and our Christian living from
God's point of view.
Now in 2 Peter there are changes and Peter's focus is more on Jesus. In the
first letter one of his purposes in writing was to encourage those who were
suffering and He focuses on God. Now in this letter he writes to warn them
about false teachers who try to divide the church and he focuses on Christ,
the head of the Church. The problems causing suffering were coming from
outside the church. Now the problems are coming from inside the church.
Unity is being threatened.
So in the first letter the plural pronoun “our” is used 4/5 times with sin and
suffering. But in the second letter the word “our” is used 8/10 times with
Jesus, Lord and Saviour.
Peter’s second letter is unique. He uses 57 words that are not found anywhere
else in the N.T. In the first letter, he grouped words and phrases in 3’s.
In this letter he uses pairs. It seems that the book of Daniel influenced
Peter in his first letter. And in this letter there is a Greek influence. In
the first few verses he uses proper Greek terminology to define our
salvation. The words have double meanings. Later in this letter he clearly
distinguishes our salvation from Greek religion.
He does not refer to any office holders or church organization. The terms he
uses for Christianity include: the way, the holy commandment, the knowledge,
and the truth you have.
His critics at this time were teachers who did not believe in the Second
Coming of Christ. They were teaching that there was no coming judgement.
What you see is what you get. This is all of life there is. They were saying
the apostles invented the resurrection.
Peter says stop and think. Remember what God is doing for you. For Adam and
Eve He planted a garden. For us God in Jesus created a new spiritual garden.
We can walk in God’s orchard of grace. It is nice shade, but you need to take
care of it to benefit from it. You can sit under an apple tree a long time
but an apple will never bounce into your mouth. God has made available to you
many good things, but you need to pick them off the tree of life. You need to
receive them. Jesus has done a great work and made available for us
everything we need for life and godliness.
If you are getting frustrated with some circumstances around you, pick a bit
of grace. If you find yourself growing cold and apathetic, get out and take
care of your garden. When people misunderstand you, remember the promises.
When travelling teachers tell you plastic stories that they have made up,
remember what is really important. Jesus did everything God required for our
salvation. He told us everything we need to know. His life was our example.
His words are everything we need for life and godliness. He is everything we
need. There is no lack in Jesus.
Peter also calls himself a slave. This is the same word he used in 2:16, but
different from 2:18. This slave is the one who is possessed by his Master
with no rights of his own, unquestioning obedience, continual service, and no
time off. Here is a term that meant the lowest of the low, but Peter takes it
as an honor. When he attended a conference, the credential after the name on
his nametag was slave, not co-founder of the church, not one of the three, or
chairman of the Jerusalem council.
The Greek prided himself in his status and freedom; he was a slave of no one.
This title would be repulsive to a Greek mind. But in Christ there is a
paradox of freedom in submission. We are free as slaves of God.
He did not call himself a steward or a trustee, which is another word for
slave.
Adam had complete freedom within
the garden, the sphere of faith and obedience in God. When he used his
freedom to disobey he lost his freedom. Now in Jesus we can again be free
from the guilt of sin. We can again become servants of Jesus Christ. Like
the butterfly that flies through the flames of sin, we can be forgiven and be
given new wings in Christ.
Peter calls himself an apostle of Jesus Christ, an ambassador or envoy. He
felt that the apostles had been entrusted with the living Word of God in Jesus
(2 Peter 3:2). The purpose he wrote this was to remind us not to trust the
words of man no matter how pretty they are, but trust the words of God as
spoken by the prophets and Jesus, which we've been proclaiming. The prophets
spoke real truth and God has not changed.
So Peter calls himself Symeon, one who believes in
equality, a slave of Jesus and an apostle of Jesus, entrusted with the Word of
God. Who are you? How do you introduce yourself?
He writes to all that have received a faith like his. We are his equals. In
the sphere of righteousness I received faith and I am equal to Peter because
of our God and Savior Jesus Christ.
Equality to the Greek was important because only equals can enter into legal
relationships. Peter is suggesting an equal relationship in the family of
God. We are all born again of the same Spirit. Peter is emphasizing
equality.
We have all been graced. We did not acquire it on our own or buy it. It was
the impartial grace of God. The gracing is not of my effort but is like being
given a vegetable garden and fruit orchard. It is God's gift to reconcile us
to Himself. We all stand in need under God's tree of grace.
Our faith is received. Our faith is equally precious. All Christians have
received a package of faith in the sphere of the righteousness of our God and
Savior Jesus Christ.
Plato talked of a Utopia grounded on the concept of righteousness; the same
word as used here. For him the ideal world would be righteous. Every man
would do right according to the standard of society.
For Christians the ideal world would be righteous. But God is our standard,
not society. If we live holy lives, our world will be ideal as God intended.
Through holiness or righteousness we received faith and in verse 2, through
knowledge we receive grace and peace.
So who are we?
We are equals with Peter.
We are servants and ambassadors of Jesus.
We are receivers of faith, grace, and peace.
Verse 1 literally reads: Symeon
Peter, slave and apostle of Jesus Christ, to the ones who, equally precious
with us, have received by lot, faith in the sphere of the righteousness of our
God and Savior Jesus Christ.
If this letter had been intercepted and censored by any non-Christian Roman,
he would dismiss it as a worthless for 2 reasons. First, no slave could say
anything worth reading. Second, Jesus was a criminal or dead savior; Caesar
was alive. Why worship Jesus?
Grace is a big idea with Peter. He begins his letter here with a wish for our
grace to be multiplied and he ends this letter by commanding us to grow in
grace. Grace is the beginning and the end. It's all because of God's amazing
grace.
The primitive idea of the word grace suggests that which delights, expressed
by joy or kindness. It has the element of reciprocity, which leads to
thankfulness. We give thanks at our meals or say grace because of the food
available. Because we’ve received, we give grace. It is reciprocal.
Then grace came to mean the favor of the gods evidenced by a gift. I receive
a gift because I'm important or the gods think I deserve it.
But the Christian meaning loses the reciprocal idea. God's graces are not
deserved, but are a reflection of His nature. He is grace. He is making our
nature grace. We know God’s grace is growing in our heart when we give thanks
even when there is no food.
So to the Christian to grow in grace means our hearts become more like the
heart of God. We express kindness and love to others because of our nature,
not because of the other person; that is grace. To do good because someone
deserves it is justice, not grace. To suffer for doing evil is justice. To
suffer for doing good is grace. It’s a beauty of character, the beauty of
holiness.
Literally verse 2 reads, "Grace be to you and peace be multiplied in the
sphere of a personal knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord."
Let the beauty of Jesus be seen in me.
Peace is a result of grace. It was a common greeting, but Peter lifts it out
of the routine adding the following descriptive words. He seems to be
choosing big words carefully.
Peace is harmony, the result of two warring factions being reconciled. Let
all the pieces fit together. Peace is the result of forsaking my
double-mindedness. There is no longer separation or division. We are one in
the Spirit. We serve the God of peace. Jew and Gentile are equal heirs of
God's grace. There is peace through a personal knowledge of God. Where grace
is beauty, peace is a song.
The more you know Jesus, the more you will see beauty and sing. Grace and
peace are multiplied in and through intimate heart knowledge of Jesus Christ.
This is not the knowledge of facts but a growing relationship.
Five times in this chapter Peter identifies Jesus as Lord. He is Lord!
Nothing else can be. He is Lord of all or nothing at all.
SO WHO ARE WE? We are learners living in the sphere of God, a new garden of
grace. In this garden is peace. All the pieces fit together.
Through Jesus we have received a precious faith and lack nothing because we
have received everything.
Consider the lilies! What do they need? They have received everything they
need to fulfill the nature within them. They were created to grow, withstand
the storms, find nourishment, and reflect their beauty. And God cares more
for us. The natural world should teach us about the spiritual.
The words divine power are a Greek religious term. The 2 words are not
used anywhere else in early Christian literature. The word divine is also
used in Acts 17:29 to refer to polytheistic or pantheistic gods. Divine is a
flexible term that would not be offensive in the Greek culture. The Divine
power of Jesus has given us and still gives us all things. The nature of
Jesus is Almighty. He is competent. He is God. The Divine power of Christ
cannot be defeated, frustrated, or inhibited. This is a power that He has
because of His nature, not because of His money, education, or status. God
has given all power to Him. This is not the power of an idea, as Plato said,
but the power of a personal relationship.
When we decide to worship God, He gives us more reasons to worship. What we
receive is for the purpose of abundant life in Christ and reverence toward
God. We have been created with the ability to wonder and sing, but our
scientific age has killed the child within us. All things stand given still
today. Christ is the complete revelation of God's grace. We can receive no
more than what is already available in Jesus. Science has divided creation
into pieces and real meaning is in the relationships.
If I am not enjoying abundant life, if my worship lacks reverence and wonder,
my knowledge of God is fading. I need to renew a right spirit within me. I
need to put some pieces together.
In Jesus we have everything we need for life and godliness. Fred Meyer has
everything we need to fill our houses for Christmas. Jesus has everything we
need to fill our hearts for abundant living. The cost is a personal intimate
knowledge of Him. Philippians 3:10-11 should be our constant prayer, "That I
may know Him." We have to take and eat. In Genesis 2 we are commanded to eat
and in Revelation 22 we are commanded to drink. Everything in between is a
banquet.
In the garden with God and Jesus we receive grace, peace, and everything we
need.
Christ has called all of us, not by His voice, but by his example. He has
called us by His own private or unique glory and intrinsic goodness. Glory
being the visibility of God and goodness being the nature of moral strength.
His very nature was virtue and by His nature He draws all men to Himself.
The emphasis is on Jesus, His Divine power, His greatness, His fullness, His
glory and excellence. He is the focus of the promises of God. We can
participate in His nature. We can live in Him. In Him we can live and move
and have our being.
What do I have? Everything I need. This world says you never have enough.
The Bible says you have everything you need. Godliness with contentment is
great gain. How can that be?
Verse 4
is packed with meaning and
answers that question. "Through these things we've
received, the super-great promises stand given in order that through these
promises you all may become at a point in time sharers of the divine nature
having run away from and escaped the corruption in this transitory world, in
the sphere of lust."
We were not created to be consumers in this world. We are grace dispensers.
We can share the divine nature. We can be part of God’s family. I can really
call God my Father. The Greeks agreed that we can have a divine nature, but
they felt that our humanness was still corrupt. Peter says it is sin that
caused the corruption, not the body.
In Christ the promises of God are fulfilled. His word can be written in my
heart. I can walk with God. All the promises point to our reconciliation
with God. In Christ we received reconciliation. We can be holy. We can
participate in the divine nature. The word of God promises us we can live
holy lives.
Turn to 2 Corinthians 6:16 and read through 7:1. What are the promises? It
seems like the main promise is that God will be our Father. The promise is
that we can be part of God’s family not just an individual piece of flesh.
Now turn to 1 Peter 1:17. Peter reminds us that if we call God "Father", the
promises have been fulfilled. If I claim to be God's child, then the promises
have been fulfilled. I know I am His child because I have the strength and
desire to obey His commands.
1 John 2:15-17 says we can choose to love this world and die or love God and
live. We can escape corruption if our desires are focused on the eternal and
not the temporal.
The fact is that you have received everything you need for life and
godliness. Now compare this fact from Peter to Joshua 18:3. "So Joshua said
to the sons of Israel, How long will you put off entering to take possession
of the land which the Lord, the God of your fathers, has given you?"
I think the story of Joshua dramatically illustrates God's plan for Christian
living. It is interesting that the Hebrew word for Joshua is the word 'Jesus'
when translated to Greek. Joshua was the leader who took the people into the
Promised Land in the O.T. Jesus leads us into the promises of God today.
Let's review the story of Joshua briefly. It begins with God's promise to
Abraham. 600 years before Joshua entered the Promised Land, Abraham was
already living here. However, Genesis 15:16 says that God would not help
Abraham conquer the land "because the iniquity of the Amorite was not yet
complete." Abraham's descendants lived in the Promised Land until the great
famine when Joseph saved Egypt and his family. They all moved to Egypt and
when the people forgot what Joseph had done, his relatives became slaves of
the Egyptians until Moses delivered them.
The book of Deuteronomy is a record of Moses' last words to the people before
he turned the leadership over to Joshua. Then the book of Joshua begins with
the crossing of the Jordan River and the battle of Jericho. From Jericho they
marched throughout the land and defeated over 35 kings and many big cities.
Much history and archaeology have been written about these battles.
It is interesting that at the same place where Joshua crossed the Jordan River
to begin his conquest of the Promised Land, Jesus was baptized 1400 years
later as He began His ministry and His conquest of Satan. Jesus’ kingdom has
come. He rules in the hearts of believers.
God's message for us has not changed. He has given us everything we need. We
must enter and take possession. I want to highlight some verses in
Deuteronomy, Joshua, and Judges and then return to Peter.
Deut. 1:6 - Moses is reviewing the acts of God over the past 40 years. They
had seen God working in their lives. The people were really pretty content.
Things were pretty good. This would be a nice place to stay. Let's keep
everything just like it is.
This verse is for all the Christians who have been in one spot too long. You
have gotten comfortable and God says, "You have stayed long enough at this
mountain." This verse could also be applied to all the Americans who think
they are Christian, but have been in one spot too long.
Deut. 1:8 – The promise of God is available. You need to go in. You need to
possess it.
Deut. 1:21
Deut. 4:8 - You have received everything you need for life and godliness.
Deut. 7:2-6 God is going to deliver your enemies before you. You are to
destroy your enemies and their religious customs. Why? Because their sin
must now be punished and you are to be holy. God knew how hard it would be to
be holy in the midst of a culture that worshiped sex. The Canaanites
worshiped fertility. They used the babies of prostitutes for sacrifices, stem
cell research, and religious rituals. When they built a new home they buried
a baby in the foundation so the home would be fruitful.
Deut. 7:22 - To possess the Promised Land, you must do it in God's time and as
He leads. You cannot get rid of all the bad habits in your life quickly. As
you remove the bad you must replace it with the good. We will see that in 1
Peter 2:1, 2 Peter 1:5-11, and Matt. 12:43.
Deut. 9:4 - It sounds like a contradiction, because Jesus said to love your
enemies and do good to them that use you wrongly. God has not changed. If
you read the whole story you will find several people who believed God and
were not destroyed by Joshua. If you confess your sin, God will forgive your
sin. But the soul that sins will die.
I think this verse is a reminder to all who have conquered bad habits.
Remember it is God's grace working in you to make you holy.
Deut. 30:15-20 - You can chose life or death today.
Deut. 32:46-47 This is your life. Cross over and possess.
Joshua 1:11 - You have received everything. Now go in and possess.
Joshua 3:5
Joshua 7:13 It could be a guilty conscience or disobedience like Achan.
Deut. 26:12-13 says you will never be satisfied until you remove what is God's
from your possession. Don't take what belongs to the Lord. The NT says you
are the Lord’s. Don’t save it for yourself. If you think your body is yours,
you are wrong. You are the Lord’s.
Joshua 11:23 They had entered the land. The next chapter lists some of the
kings they conquered. The land was conquered as a whole, but many groups
remained. New kings took over when old kings were defeated.
I think this verse could symbolize our Christian life. We have entered the
promised life by obedience to God and following Jesus, our leader.
Joshua 13:1 The land was theirs. They had entered, but much remained to be
possessed.
Joshua 16:10 But they did not drive out the Canaanites.
Joshua 17:12 If you do not possess the land, the evil in it becomes a snare
to you so your life will be miserable.
Judges 1:21,27,29,30,31,33
Judges 2:20-23
It was not good enough to just enter the land. They had to possess it. You
cannot be a casual Christian and enjoy all that God wants to give you. The
promised life with an eternal inheritance is available to all. You need to
believe in Jesus to enter the land and you need to possess the land through
the power of His Spirit. We can compare Egypt to slavery in sin. We can
compare Jordan to Pentecost. We can compare possessing the land to Christian
living.
1 Peter 1 tells you what it means to be a Christian. We were recipients of
salvation. God acted and we received the action. We have been born again
because we have received redemption from God. But now there is something for
us to do. We must posses the land.
There are some things you must put off. Some things should not be part of
your lifestyle. You have some old rags on, some old patterns of thinking,
some bad habits, some excuses that need to be laid aside. You need to dress
like a child of God. Put on the fruit of the Spirit. Get rid of your rags
and check out God's wardrobe. It is time to possess the land.
If you keep doing what you have always done. You’ll get what you already have.
2 Peter 1:3-5 is written to Christians. You have entered the land. You are
disciplining yourself to get rid of those things that hinder your spiritual
walk. By the power of Christ that is at work within you, you are claiming the
promises of God.
"So for this very reason make every effort to lavishly outfit your faith."
The word for 'lavishly outfit' or 'add' or 'supply' is literally translated 'superchoreograph'.
Originally it meant to sponsor a drama group or chorus. It meant to pay all
the expenses for the training and production. No expenses were spared by the
Greeks.
Now Peter is saying you should pay all the expenses for the training and
production of your faith. As a Christian you have faith, but you need to fill
your faith. You do not add to your faith, you fill it up with God's grace.
You expand it to receive more of God. You throw out your bad habits so more
of God's grace can fill your land or life.
This is a command, "Make every effort". That is God's message for Christians
today. "You have stayed on this mountain long enough. I have made available
to you everything you need for life and godliness. Enter into the promise and
take possession of God’s best for you."
In 1 John 2:8, the Christian life is a process. As we walk in the light, the
darkness passes away. "The Lord will clear away these nations before you
little by little;" (Deut. 7:22).
It seems
common for Christians to settle for less of God's grace than they have
available. It feels safer and easier to avoid battles. We don't like to work
at getting rid of old habits and attitudes, but the more we get rid of the old
enemies, the less trouble we will have in the future. Now is the time to
possess the land. Be completely filled with the Spirit. Let the fullness of
God be yours. Honor Jesus as Lord of your life. Purify your hearts by
obedience and grow in the knowledge that God really is in control. And He
cares for you.
Sunday
Morning Family Worship -- 9:00 a.m.
Vic Dunton,
Chaplain
Phone: (503) 829-8591
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