“Beloved, this is now the second letter I am writing to you in which I am stirring up your sincere mind by way of a reminder. To remember the words spoken beforehand by the holy prophets and the commandment of the Lord and Savior spoken by your apostles” – 2 Peter 3:1-2
We finished 1 Peter and now we have opened up 2 Peter on Sunday mornings and it has struck me how different and how similar these 2 books are in relation to each other.
Peter writes in his 1st letter about suffering and pain from persecution and how to live in the midst of it. He reminded us that we are to live for Christ no matter what others do to us. Pain is not an excuse to fall away, and it is not a justifiable reason to forsake the call God has given to us to follow Him in all of our relationships.
In his second letter, the message is first and foremost about knowing Jesus. This is not the Jesus you think you know, or the Jesus others have made Him out to be but the historical Jesus we see and read about in the Scriptures. The reason this is so important is because there will always be some people who will try to redefine Jesus to make Him more “acceptable” to the world today. Or they will reshape Him to make Him more like how they wish He was and not exactly the way He was and is.
This warning is for those who are on the inside of the church. So, let me take this opportunity to remind you of something very important. Do NOT ever take my word, or Pastor Matt’s word, or anyone else’s word without testing it with the Scriptures to make sure that it is true and right. I always welcome questions and discussion on what I say. Sometimes I may not have clearly communicated what I was actually trying to say, or maybe I just got it wrong. I am human. I make mistakes.
Peter is reminding us of that fact over and over again in this book as we go from learning to know Jesus, to recognizing false teachers, to remembering there is coming a day of judgment. This day of the Lord is coming for all. Therefore it is important we are ready and prepared for it. How do we get prepared for it? Knowing Jesus Christ.
I would encourage you to read the whole book soon in order to have a complete and full picture of the message of Peter to us and so you are better prepared to dig deeper into it each Sunday Morning.
Following Him,
Pastor Jeff