Memory – 2 Peter 1.3-4 His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through our knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire.
I know it is the same memory verse as last week; however, focus your attention on the extraordinary statement … you may become partakers of the divine nature … There is much in Scripture that may cause the reader to pause and wonder about the relationship he or she has with the Shepherd of their soul. The psalmist writes: When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him? Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor (Psalm 8.3-5). Again, Philippians 2.13 … For it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure. Again, Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen (Hebrews 13.20-21). The apostle Paul’s concern for the Galatians was simply this: … my little children, for whom I am again in the anguish of childbirth until Christ is formed in you! Finally (though not lastly), Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure (1 John 3.2-3).
This is not a new idea for us. We began our yearlong study with Psalm one Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, or sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. Focus on the promises in the Word of God; they are the foundation upon which the Christian builds their life. From Genesis to Revelation the theme of knowing and adhering to God’s Word is ubiquitously evident. Consequently, it is not surprising that the inner life of the believer rests upon the sure word of God. In John’s Gospel Jesus spoke to the Jews who had believed in him … “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples” (John 8.31). But do not misinterpret this text. Being a Christian is more than an intellectual understanding of biblical doctrines. Indeed, it is not proper to call one a Christian whose only claim to faith is that he has not denied the creeds upon which the church is built? “What is to be said for the man who professes to be a disciple yet neither trembles, nor thrills, nor hopes, nor dreads, nor desires, nor does any single thing because of his belief” (Alexander McClaren. Expositions of Holy Scripture, 10.335). “Faith is not the acceptance merely of Jesus’ Word, but is the reliance of the soul on Him, the flight of the soul towards Him, the dwelling of the soul in Him” (McClaren).
Any true passion for God is based on a true knowledge of God. Jonathan Edwards writes: “Knowledge is the key that first opens the hard heart, and enlarges the affections, and so opens the way for men into the kingdom of heaven; Luke xi. 52, (Religious Affections, p. 192). When the Holy Spirit is at work within you it is impossible not to become more and more like Jesus in character and less and less like the old self-centered person you once were. Ask yourself the question: “What am I now that I would not be were not Christ at work within me?” Paul, the apostle, challenged the church at Corinth: Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you? – unless indeed, you fail to meet the test! (2 Corinthians 13.5).
For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart (Jeremiah 29.11-13).
This is not a new idea for us. We began our yearlong study with Psalm one Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, or sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. Focus on the promises in the Word of God; they are the foundation upon which the Christian builds their life. From Genesis to Revelation the theme of knowing and adhering to God’s Word is ubiquitously evident. Consequently, it is not surprising that the inner life of the believer rests upon the sure word of God. In John’s Gospel Jesus spoke to the Jews who had believed in him … “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples” (John 8.31). But do not misinterpret this text. Being a Christian is more than an intellectual understanding of biblical doctrines. Indeed, it is not proper to call one a Christian whose only claim to faith is that he has not denied the creeds upon which the church is built? “What is to be said for the man who professes to be a disciple yet neither trembles, nor thrills, nor hopes, nor dreads, nor desires, nor does any single thing because of his belief” (Alexander McClaren. Expositions of Holy Scripture, 10.335). “Faith is not the acceptance merely of Jesus’ Word, but is the reliance of the soul on Him, the flight of the soul towards Him, the dwelling of the soul in Him” (McClaren).
Any true passion for God is based on a true knowledge of God. Jonathan Edwards writes: “Knowledge is the key that first opens the hard heart, and enlarges the affections, and so opens the way for men into the kingdom of heaven; Luke xi. 52, (Religious Affections, p. 192). When the Holy Spirit is at work within you it is impossible not to become more and more like Jesus in character and less and less like the old self-centered person you once were. Ask yourself the question: “What am I now that I would not be were not Christ at work within me?” Paul, the apostle, challenged the church at Corinth: Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you? – unless indeed, you fail to meet the test! (2 Corinthians 13.5).
For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart (Jeremiah 29.11-13).
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