What does it benefit man to know of God?
Simon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who though the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ have received a faith as precious as ours. Grace and peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. 2 Peter 1:1-2
Just the introduction of 2 Peter is life altering and revealing. In the opening prayer he releases grace and peace…through the knowledge of God and Jesus. The Prince of Peace. Just knowing of God and Jesus brings grace and peace.
It strikes me in this moment that maybe this is why so many churches are filled with those who still don’t have Jesus in their hearts…yet we think they do because they are there all the time. Maybe, just maybe, it’s because they have been in relationship with so many of those who have the knowledge of God and Jesus that they are experiencing a measure of the grace and peace.
Have you ever been around a group of really steadfast and holy people? I have, and when I am around them, I feel the peace they carry. I feel the grace.
Fortunately, I too carry the Prince of Peace inside…but even before I did, I gravitated toward those people because they made me feel so comforted. People with the Spirit of God inside are very attractive. They are attractive because of that peace and assurance. We can feel the grace they carry inside…the knowledge of grace.
Those who obey His commands live in Him, and He in them. And this is how we know that He lives in us: We know it by the Spirit He gave us. 1 John 3:24
If you are a believer, you carry that too. Whether you feel like you do or not.
We carry the answer inside.
We have been given the opportunity to share grace and peace with a lost and dying world. We are to be ambassadors of His grace and peace, through sharing the knowledge of Him. Through sharing the gospel.
I know we keep circling around to the gospel of Christ…but is there any more important thing?
How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know Him. Dear friend, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when He appears, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. Everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure. Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness. But you know that He appeared so that He might take away our sins. And in Him is no sins. No one who continues to sin has either seen Him or known Him. 1 John 3:1-6
And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. 1 John 5:11-12
365 Days in the Presence 