1inchrist

2 Peter 1: 2-4 Grace and peace be unto you THROUGH THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD AND OF JESUS our LORD, according as HIS DIVINE POWER HATH GIVEN UNTO US ALL THINGS THAT PERTAIN TO LIFE AND GODLINESS THROUGH THE KNOWLEDGE OF HIM THAT HATH CALLED US TO GLORY AND VIRTUE: WHEREBY ARE GIVEN UNTO US EXCEEDING GREAT AND PRECIOUS PROMISES: THAT BY THESE YE MIGHT BE PARTAKERS OF THE DIVINE NATURE 

There is so much just in those 3 verses. First we can see that all the promises of God are “IN HIM” (Christ Jesus). Just as God would never tell you to do something that He hasn’t enabled you to do, neither will He promise you something that is not already completed IN and By The Lord Jesus Christ. Notice 2 Peter tells us we can have grace and peace Through the Knowledge of God and His Christ, and we also have been given all things that pertain to life Through the knowledge of Him.  

Knowledge of God is very important. In John 17:3 Jesus defines Eternal Life as Knowing God and Christ Jesus, Whom He sent! Conversely, God Almighty tells us in Hosea 4:6 My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge… it gets worse from there. He’s not talking about worldly knowledge or wisdom like Bill Gates or Albert Einstien. He is talking about knowing Him, His Word, His Heart. Verse 1 of that same chapter in Hosea says The Lord hath a controversy with the inhabitants of the land because THERE IS NO TRUTH, NOR MERCY, NOR KNOWLEDGE OF GOD in the land. We can all see that in this nation today, but God was talking to His people then and the same can be said for His people now.

I would like to draw you attention to the middle part of 2 Peter 1:4 where it says: “THAT BY THESE (God’s promises) YE MIGHT BE PARTAKERS OF THE DIVINE NATURE”… The reason God Almighty gave us His Promises is so that we could be partakers of His Divine Nature. We are supposed to trust in the Word of GOD despite the circumstances surrounding us. One of the greatest illustrations of being a partaker of God’s Divine nature, by trusting His promise(s) is found in Daniel Chapter 3.

The reason Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were able to tell king Nebuchadnezzar , “If it be so (i.e. if you throw us into the fiery furnace), our God whom we serve IS ABLE to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, AND HE WILL DELIVER US OUT OF THINE HAND O king” is because they had a promise to stand on.

They stepped out in faith and became PARTAKERS OF THE DIVINE NATURE because about 100 to 200 years earlier the prophet Isaiah wrote (in chapter 43:2) WHEN THOU PASSEST THROUGH THE WATERS, I WILL BE WITH THEE; AND THROUGH THE RIVERS, THEY SHALL NOT OVERFLOW THEE: WHEN THOU WALKEST THROUGH THE FIRE, THOU SHA.LL NOT BE BURNED; NEITHER SHALL THE FLAME KINDLE UPON THEE  

These three Hebrew boys not only preached it, but they walked it out. They went into the fiery furnace believing the promise of God. They had chosen to obey The Lord their God even at the expense of their own lives. Daniel 3:22 tells us that the flames were so hot that the fire slew the men who took our three brothers up to the top of the furnace. Next we see that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego fell down BOUND into the fiery furnace.

To all outward appearances, it probably didn’t look to good for these three men of faith, BUT GOD!!! To his amazement, king Nebuchadnezzar rose up and said, didn’t we cast three men Bound into the fire? The obvious answer was yes. Yes we did. The king went on to say, “lo I see four men loose, and they have no hurt; and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God”. Alleluia!!!

So the king called the “servants of the Most High God” to come forth. And just as the Word of God says, they walked through the fire and out of the furnace. What we have here is what Christ Jesus would call a testimony. The only thing that burned in that fire besides the poor slobs that brought our boys to furnace is the bands that the world had put on them to bind them. Isaiah also wrote “no weapon formed against you shall prosper”.

Daniel 3:27-31 says: And the princes, governors, and captains, and the king’s counselors, being gathered together, saw these men, upon whose bodies the fire had no power, nor was a hair of theirs singed, neither were their coats changed, nor the smell of the fire had passed on them. Then Nebuchadnezzar spake, and said, “Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who hath sent His angel, and delivered his servants THAT TRUSTED IN HIM, and have changed the king’s word, AND YIELDED THEIR BODIES (see Romans 12), THAT THEY MIGHT NOT SERVE NOR WORSHIP ANY GOD, EXCEPT THEIR OWN GOD. Therefore I make a decree, that every people, nation, and language, which speak anything amiss against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, shall be cut in pieces, and their houses shall be made a dunghill: BECAUSE THERE IS NO OTHER GOD THAT CAN DELIVER AFTER THIS SORT”.  

Not only do these boys have an incredible testimony, but their uncompromising and selfless faith impacted the world around them. They loved not their lives unto the death as Revelation 12:11b says. They denied themselves, picked up their cross, crucified their flesh, and followed God. They willingly lost their lives for The Lord Jehovah and as Christ said in Matthew 16:25 “they found it (life)”.

Trackback URI | Comments RSS