Day 134: What Has Father God Granted Us?
Peter 1:3
…His divine power has bestowed on us everything necessary for life and godliness…
This week, we complete our readings in the Fifth Study Unit of MilktoMeat – only 1 more to go! This week, we will focus on the reality that Father God has granted us, gifted us, everything we need to live life “In Christ.” In order to be faithful and fruitful, we need to build on the faith that has been granted to us.
Last week, we focused on The Spiritual Exercises. As you should realize, these Exercises are not ends in themselves. They are things we can do to create space in our souls for the grace of Father God to shape us to be more like Christ. As we grow to be spiritually mature, we will be filled with more and more of the character of Christ, shaped by His goodness and grace.
This week we are going to focus on most of 2 Peter 1. In this helpful but complex passage, Peter gives us some of the most important truths related to spiritual growth and maturity. To get started, carefully read through this whole passage in your bible. Then come back and we will work through it over the course of this week.
WORDwork:
2 Peter 1:1–11
From Simeon Peter, a slave and apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who through the righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ, have been granted a faith just as precious as ours. 1:2 May grace and peace be lavished on you as you grow in the rich knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord!
1:3 I can pray this because His divine power has bestowed on us everything necessary for life and godliness through the rich knowledge of the one who called us by his own glory and excellence.
What has been granted to us through the righteousness of God and Christ?
What does Peter pray that we grow in?
What has been bestowed on us through Father God’s divine power?
In this passage, we see two key “ingredients” of spiritual formation presented: 1) Father God’s grace and provision, and 2) our response. If you know Peter’s story from the Gospels, you will see how what Peter says here comes out of his own experience with the Lord Jesus. First of all, notice how Peter refers to himself as a “slave and apostle of Jesus Christ.” That should get your attentions based on our previous discussions of service and humility.
How Has Our Faith Been Granted?
Peter begins with DEEP TRUTH: “…to those who have been granted a faith just as precious as ours…” What does the phrase “been granted” mean? Remember this is Peter who knew the Lord Jesus personally when he was on the earth. Peter was one of Jesus’ key disciples. This is Peter who made the great confession to Jesus, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the Living God.” And immediately after he said this, Jesus said, “You are blessed, Simon son of Jonah, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but my Father in heaven! (see Matthew 16:17).
God the Father was the one who “opened” Peter’s eyes to be able to see who Jesus truly is. In this sense, it was “granted” or “given” to Peter—He did not come to this truth on his own. Also, Peter did not do anything to earn or deserve this favor; it was simply given to him. This is the essence of Father God’s grace that grants us all that we need.
These ideas show up Paul’s letters as well: “For it has been granted to you not only to believe in Christ but also to suffer for Him,…” (Philippians 1:29). In Ephesians 2, we hear: “For by grace you are saved through faith, and this is not from yourselves, all of this is the gift of God” (Ephesians 2:8). All that we have in terms of our spiritual life (all of our life, in fact) has been given to us by Father God, even our ability to express faith—belief, trust in Christ.
Everything that we have has been given to us.
Notice also that Peter says that our faith is “just as precious” as his and the other Apostles! The word “precious” here means “of equal value or honor.” Peter was set apart for uniquely significant work by the Lord Jesus. But our faith is just as valuable and honorable as his!
What Is Rich Knowledge Of Father God And Christ?
Notice that all of this has been given to us through “the rich knowledge of God and Jesus Christ… the one who called us…” This phrase “rich knowledge” is just one word in Greek but needs to be translated with a couple of words into English. The best way to understand this “knowledge” is that is it not just knowing about someone, it is knowing someone truly, deeply, and personally. This is the way you know someone when you are invited into their “inner circle” of friends or if you were welcomed into their family.
This deep, rich, personal knowledge is of Father God and of Jesus our Lord (see verses 2, 3, 8). They have called us into their fellowship, their “inner circle” and now we can know them personally, intimately! Knowing the Lord God deeply and personally is the means by which He has made and is making His power available to us.
God has called us into this personal relationship with Him. Take note of the end of verse 3: “the One who called us by His own glory and excellence.” We are going to talk more about this over the next couple of days. Just realize that God has called you to take part in His way of life—one that is defined by glory and excellence.
To back track just for a second, look in verse 1 again. There we hear that God granted our faith to us “through the righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ.” Two things to observe here. First, all of these things come to us by way of Christ’s righteousness. We would have none of these things if Christ had not fulfilled His mission here on earth. God has given us what He has given us for Jesus’ sake. Secondly, notice how Jesus is referred to here: “our God and Savior.” The Greek grammar very clearly labels Jesus as God here. This is one of the clearest statements of Jesus being God in the whole New Testament.
What Is Father God’s Divine Power?
Peter also tells us, “His divine power has bestowed (granted/given) on (to) us everything necessary for life and godliness…” By and in His power, God has given us everything that we need both to live life and to be godly. “Godliness” is living our lives in a way that is pleasing to Father God.
Father God has given you everything you need, even your faith, to be the person that He desires for you to be! You really should reflect on that statement for a few minutes. As you face today’s challenges, you already have everything you need! As you face today’s opportunities, you already have everything you need! This is an absolutely amazing truth that we will spend the rest of our lives realizing. All of this is an example of God’s grace—His unearned favor given to us freely in Christ.
As we have already discussed in previous sessions, we have access to the very power that raised our Lord Jesus from the dead that enables us to live a new kind and way of life (see Romans 6:4, Ephesians 1:18-21). Peter is touching on that idea here with the phrase “His divine power.” And don’t miss his key point: His divine power comes to us THROUGH our deep, personal, relationship with Father God in Christ!
Think about all that you have read today. What is your immediate reaction to it all? Do you really believe that Father God has granted you all these things?
*You can find a complete list of all the MilktoMeat readings here.
