The Final Word | Week 1
Donna Gaines kicks off Week 1 of "The Final Word," our latest Bellevue Women study, which focuses on the book of 2 Peter. Our first session is titled "Standing Firm in the Last Days."
The Final Word
Week 1 - 2 Peter 1:1-4
I. Simon Peter – a bondservant and apostle – (v. 1)
II. Precious
“kind” - extremely valuable, honored, esteemed – Because we have received a “faith of the same kind as” we all have equal access to God the Father. (v.1)
- Precious faith (2 Peter 1:1; 1 Peter 1:7)
- Precious promises (2 Peter 1:4)
- Precious blood (1 Peter 1:19)
- Precious stone (1 Peter 2:4; 6)
- Precious Savior (1 Peter 2:7)
III. Righteous
Just, upright, right, correct, lawful, as justified and vindicated by God – (v. 1) (from Strong’s).
Matthew 25:37 & 46
IV. Grace and peace be multiplied in or through the “knowledge” of God
Experiential, used for knowledge of the divine. (v. 2)
The word know or knowledge is used 13 times in this short epistle.
V. Divine power
Used in the archaic sense of ‘army’
2 Chronicles 32:9
“Sennacherib...laid siege against Lachish, and all his power with him.” (v. 3)
God’s response to Hezekiah and Isaiah’s prayer – 2 Chronicles 32:20-21
The power that spoke all creation into existence
The power that delivered Hezekiah and the people of Judah from Sennacherib
The power that delivered Elijah and his servant
The power that raised Jesus Christ from the dead
The power that will make all things new
VI. Life (earthly life) and godliness (holy living) – (v. 3)
It is through experiential knowledge that we experience God’s grace and peace which leads us to appropriate the abundant life (absolute fullness of life) and godliness (holy living, reverence, piety toward God) we have in Christ.
1 Timothy 4:7-8
VII. Precious and magnificent (exceedingly great) promises – (v. 4)
Do you know who you are in Christ? It is only after our identity is in Christ that we are able to claim His promises and literally build our lives upon them.
Do you know His promises? Are you believing and standing on them?
VIII. Partakers of the divine nature – (v. 4)
“Thus, in coming to know God through Christ, the believer escapes the corruption of sin; and Christ renews and restores the image of God in him” (The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, p. 268).
“Make every effort means that the Christian is to work diligently at the task of conforming his practice to his nature. To supplement means to add to that which one already has. The word introduces a series of desirable qualities for the Christian life. With His faith as the foundation, the Christian is to add these qualities one upon the other, in an ascending scale until love crowns the whole” (The Broadman Bible Commentary, p. 176).
As we “know” Christ, He becomes our life. This is why when Christ was asked what the greatest command was, He answered, “to love the Lord your God with all of your heart, soul, mind and strength” (Mark 12:30). This all-consuming love is what enables us to turn our back on the world and gain an eternal perspective.
Peter’s call – (Luke 5:1-11) after fishing all night, a carpenter Rabbi tells him to cast his nets in the deep. There was apparently a moment of hesitation, because Peter said, “Master, we’ve worked hard all night and caught nothing, but I will do as You say and let down the nets” (v. 5).
“Christ must be Master. Rabbi must give place to Lord....”(F. B. Meyer).
Do you love the Lord with your whole being? Is he preeminent? Do you love Him more than your longing for a good marriage, a spouse, children, a career path, success, followers on social media? Is He your life?
Love leads to obedience – John 14:21. Obedience is proof of love. “Obedience leads to the Deep. Directly the Lord takes control, He steers towards the Deep. We no loner coast along the shallows, but begin to do business in great waters...The Deep of the Eternal Council-Chamber, where we were chosen in Christ before the world began, The Deep of the Eternal love, which loved us when we were yet sinners The Deep of Fellowship and Unity with God, like that between the Father and the Son” (F. B. Meyer, Vol. 1, Loc. 18634).
Once you are “in Christ” nothing can separate you from Him – Romans 8:35-39
“If I want His promises, I have to trust His process. I have to trust that first comes the dust, and then comes the making of something even better with us. God isn’t ever going to forsake you, but He will go to great lengths to remake you. What if disappointment is really the exact appointment our soul needs to radically encounter God?” (p. 28). Lysa Terkeust’s book, It’s Not Supposed to Be This Way
“And let’s be honest, if we weren’t ever disappointed, we’d settle for the shallow pleasures of this world rather than addressing the spiritual desperation of our souls.” (Lysa Terkeurst)
God’s Word is true! Allow His Word to expose the lies of the evil one. The lies that have held you captive. The lies that you have rehearsed more than His Word. The lies that have kept you in the shallows and from experiencing the abundant life and holy living that His Spirit was given to fulfill in you. Let His Word begin to shape your life and write your story.
Are you in the shallows or in the deep? Who are you listening to and whom do you believe?