Reading for Wednesday, Nov 7: 2 Peter 1

In light of reading of Ephesians the last few days, it’s interesting to note how Peter begins this little letter. Speaking of what God has done on our behalf, Peter writes: “His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature,” (v3-4).

Paul told us that we’ve been blessed in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ Jesus (Eph. 1:3). Now Peter uses his own words to describe the same reality. God has given us all that we need for true life, everlasting life. He has shown us, through Christ, the path to godliness. In Jesus, we have the fulfillment of every promise; in fact, as Paul has reminded us, all of these promises culminate in an eternal and glorious “Yes!” in Christ Jesus (2 Cor. 1:20). And through the fulfillment of these promises, we are finally able to partake in the divine nature. The image of God is fully restored in us through Jesus. The foundational concept of our creation — “Let us make man in our own image…” (Gen. 1:27) — has now been achieved. We lack nothing. Indeed, as Jesus prayed on the cross, “It is finished.”

As he says in v5, this is the impetus for us to embrace the blessings he has given us, to adopt these qualities into our character and behavior: virtue, knowledge, self-control, steadfastness, godliness, brotherly affection, love. “For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ,” (v8).

Perhaps our theology of blessing needs to be revisited. As we have seen, we have indeed been blessed in every possible way.