The Word for today:
2 Peter 1:12-21
2 Peter 1:12-21
We learned yesterday that Peter knew this would be his last letter:
I know I must soon leave this body, as our Lord Jesus Christ has shown me. (2 Peter 1:14)
I know I must soon leave this body, as our Lord Jesus Christ has shown me. (2 Peter 1:14)
Knowing he would die a martyr's death, he wants us to know that he isn't going to die for a fable. He reminds us that with his own eyes, he had seen Jesus transfigured:
For we were not making up clever stories when we told you about the power of our Lord Jesus Christ and his coming again. We have seen his majestic splendor with our own eyes. And he received honor and glory from God the Father when God's glorious, majestic voice called down from heaven, "This is my beloved Son; I am fully pleased with him." (2 Peter 1:16-17; see Matthew 16:28-17:8)
For we were not making up clever stories when we told you about the power of our Lord Jesus Christ and his coming again. We have seen his majestic splendor with our own eyes. And he received honor and glory from God the Father when God's glorious, majestic voice called down from heaven, "This is my beloved Son; I am fully pleased with him." (2 Peter 1:16-17; see Matthew 16:28-17:8)
But the Word of God, Peter says, is even more tangible than the Transfiguration:
We ourselves heard this very voice borne from heaven, for we were with him on the holy mountain. And we have something more sure, the prophetic word, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. (2 Peter 1:18-19)
We ourselves heard this very voice borne from heaven, for we were with him on the holy mountain. And we have something more sure, the prophetic word, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. (2 Peter 1:18-19)
The writers of the Bible were not giving us their own observations--God told them to speak:
For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. (2 Peter 1:21)
For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. (2 Peter 1:21)
At the same time, God used the personalities and abilities of men -- moved by the Holy Spirit -- and got out His Word. The authors weren’t merely fountain pens. The Word of God is both a God-book and a man-book -- like Jesus, who is both human and divine.
Peter himself is evidence of the power of God's Word.
A great change is seen in the life of Peter from these epistles. He was given the name Simon at birth, but Jesus named him Peter, meaning “rock.”
A great change is seen in the life of Peter from these epistles. He was given the name Simon at birth, but Jesus named him Peter, meaning “rock.”
In the Gospels, Peter was anything but a rock. He had been impulsive and unstable, but in Acts he was a pillar of the early church. Jesus named him not for what he was but for what he would become. The transforming power of the gospel had wrought this change in his life.
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