Day 331

Daniel 4:1-37; 2 Peter 1:1-21; Psalm 119:97-112; Proverbs 28:17-18

All Things in the Knowledge of God

There is a thought hiding in plain sight among many Christians that goes something like this: “Jesus died for my sins and I can’t be perfect anyway, so why try?” There are, of course, many problems with this philosophy as shouted from scriptures such as Romans 6. But I’m convinced that this is not so much a problem as a symptom, and one that the Apostle Peter deals with from the heart in today’s reading of his second epistle. Peter begins by declaring that our faith in Christ apportions to us the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ. So when God looks at us, He sees Jesus. But then notice the theme that weaves through much of the rest of the chapter. He spells out our earthly lives in terms of what we will gain, what we will become “in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.“

In his first letter, Peter reminds us that God has said, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.” Note that there is no assumption from Peter that “we can’t be perfect anyway.” Because God is holy, we will be holy. If you’re like me, your first question is, “HOW?” Here in his second letter, he will make that clear in more detail.

Note firstly that the grace and peace Peter prays for us is “in the knowledge of God.” The idea here is that these are not individual gifts we receive because we are in God’s family like a Christmas present, but they come as part of Who God is when we come to know Him. As we know Him better and come closer to His heart and mind, we will receive grace because that’s part of who He is. Notice next that “all things for life and godliness” also come with knowing the One who made us. And as we see Peter spell out those things such as virtue, knowledge, self-control, etc., we understand that we become more like the One we know, for they are attributes of His character. As we practice the Presence of God, “beholding the glory of the Lord, [we] are being transformed into the same image“ (2 Cor 3:18). This is the testimony: “that God gave us eternal [one might add, abundant] life, and this life is in his Son“ (1 John 5:11).

“The instant cure of most of our religious ills would be to enter the Presence in spiritual experience, to become suddenly aware that we are in God and that God is in us. This would lift us out of our pitiful narrowness and cause our hearts to be enlarged.” (A.W. Tozer)

Kent Madison
Summit Church
Lake Mary, FL