Great and Precious Promises

(2 Peter 1:4 NLT)  And because of his glory and excellence, he has given us great and precious promises. These are the promises that enable you to share his divine nature and escape the world’s corruption caused by human desires.

This morning we continue our series, “Grace that is Simply Amazing” by continuing with our new mini-series entitled, “Growing in Grace.”  For the past three days we looked at the first three verses in Peter’s second letter.  Let’s close out the week by taking a look at verse 4.

So what does this mean to you today?  Let’s break down this verse and find out.

1.  God has made us great and precious promises.  Peter said, “And because of his glory and excellence, he has given us great and precious promises.”

a.  When you consider the fact that the God of universe took the time to make promises to you (yes YOU), it is easy to see why Peter considered these promises exceedingly great and precious.

b.  God made the promises to you by His grace.  He was under no obligation to promise anything to his creation.  God chose to make these promise by His unearned and unprompted grace; clearly because He loves us.

c.  The promises of the New Covenant, based on the grace of God, are much better than the promises of the Old Covenant, which were based on the works of men.

d.  A promise made solely by grace is a promise that is free, unconditional, irreversible and unchangeable.

2.  God’s promises, made by His grace, enable you to partake of His divine nature.   Peter said, “These are the promises that enable you to share his divine nature.”

a.  By God’s grace He has called us to be conformed to the image of His Son (Rom 8:29).

b.  The new man, born of God, with God’s Spirit, by God’s grace, is regenerated in his heart and he is shaped into the image and likeness of God from faith to faith, from glory to glory, from experience to experience.

c.  The application of the Gospel in your daily life, and the acceptance of the promises it contains, helps you to become perfected/matured in God and you literally become a partaker of God’s divine nature.

d.  The more you walk with God and experience the manifestation of His promises, the more you will die to self, and the more people will be able to see God’s nature permeate through your very being.

3.  The more you become like God, the more you escape the corruption of this world.  Peter taught us that partaking of God’s divine nature enables us to “escape the world’s corruption caused by human desires.”

a.  When the Gospel and the precious promises of God are received by God’s grace and applied with our faith, the result is a closer and more intimate relationship with our creator.

b.  The closer you get to God the more you will develop purity of heart and the more empowered you will be to resist ungodliness and worldly lusts.

c.  The more you embrace God and His unearned grace, the more divine power you will walk in to live soberly, righteously, and godly in this world.  In other words, the closer you get to your holy God, the more you will find His holiness flowing through you.

d.  Growing in God means growing in grace, and growing in grace means growing in holiness.

Closing Confession:  Father, I thank You for Your Word.  In Your Word I find many great and precious promises.  I don’t take it lightly that the God of the universe took the time to leave promises for me.  You obligated Yourself and You swore by Yourself, because You could not swear by anyone greater.  You are now bound by Your own word towards me.  You did this totally by grace.  I did nothing to prompt it.  You took it upon Yourself to leave documented evidence of Your commitment towards me.  Those great and precious promises mean the world to me.  I read them, believe them, and do my part to receive them by faith, knowing that You made them completely by Your grace.  As I experience the manifestation of Your promises, and as I grow from faith to faith and glory to glory, I become a partaker of Your divine nature.  The closer I get to You, the more I am conformed into the image and likeness of Your Son.  The more I walk with You, the more I die to self, the more You are able to freely flow through me, the more people are able to SEE it, and the more I am able to escape the corruption of this world.  By faith I declare that I am growing in grace as I grow in the knowledge of You, I am getting closer to You daily, and as I do I develop clean hands and a pure heart, to the point where I am able to resist ungodliness and worldly lusts.  Growing in grace means growing in holiness.  You have given me the grace to be holy as You are holy.  I declare this by faith.  In Jesus’ name.  Amen.
This is Today’s Word!  Apply it and Prosper.