Grace through the knowledge of God

The message is from 2 Peter ch.1-3. 1) " Simon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jésus Christ, to them that have obtained like precious faith with us through the righteousness of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ: (2) Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord. (3) According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness,through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue:
(4) Whereby, are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in thre world through lust."

These passages begin with greetings from Peter declaring himself as servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ which is a biblical and authentic way in asserting the authority that the Lord has given him. As a servant, he humbled himself in comparing his faith to us of having the same value to the righteousness of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ. But as an apostle, he brings blessings and prayers to all believers in the light of bringing us more closely to the Lord.

In the second verse, he prayed " Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus Christ our Lord".

For me, this is a revelation, this is a divine teaching that made me stop for a moment and meditate on this verse to really grasp its real meaning.

Looking back in the Scripture, the Word teaches us that we are saved by grace. Grace, is receiving something that we did not deserve nor we did not even think or expected that we can have it. The Bible says that we are all sinners and no one is righteous, all have sinned and we are condemned to death. But it say also that " For God so loved the world that He gaved His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn, but that the world through Him might be saved."( John 3: 16, 17).

So, this is grace. We on one hand, people that is condemned to death and who are destined
to perish and God on the other, sending Jesus Christ His Son to save us. To die on the cross and to pay for our sins. He did not have to do it, and we did not deserve it. But through grace, Jesus went to the cross like a lamb to redeem us. This is grace and a miracle of salvation at the same time.

One preacher said " grace has a face, grace is a person, grace is Jesus." When Jesus lives in you His grace is continually working on you until it reach the fullness of its purpose.

Grace is constantly increasing in our lives as our knowledge of God and Jesus Christ grows. It is the work of God manifested in us. It is invisible, but in us, it becomes visible. People will know if you have grace. It reflects on everything you do; It's not only that the Lord is made known through you. But your life will express the presence of the Lord, His glory and His peace.

Peter continued his greetings in saying, "grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God and of Jesus Christ our Lord. This passage tells us that there is knowledge involved. This is important to note that Peter is not talking about intellectual knowledge or a gathering of informations about the Lord. I have known a great deal of persons who have written books about Jesus, telling who he is, telling things about him and pretending to know volumes of informations about him in which some are not even written in the Bible. And yet, these people are not even born again christians and the grace and peace of the Lord seem to elude them.

What Peter is talking about is, knowing Him, knowing Him as a person. What he means to say is, to know Him is to love Him. This is the knowledge that he is talking about. An intimate relationship with the Lord. Being attached to Him. Being in one body with him.

Our first experience with the Lord always begins with an encounter with Him.Having been touched by Him we accepted Him to be our Saviour and Lord. As Christians,we begin our testimony after experiencing His love, our testimony becomes more intense to the point that we invite Him to come into our heart. As we grow in the knowledge of Him, we give our lives to Him and the more we know Him, we begin walking and depending on His love. Knowing Him is being in His presence. Hearing His voice and obeying Him. Through these we receive grace and peace and it multiplies as we know Him.

Knowing Him also implies, knowing that He is a sovereign God and we are completely submitted to His authority. It's Him that who directs our lives. He is the King and He deserves all the praises, all the glory and all the honor. God created us to worship Him and love Him. This is a commandment.

As Peter continues in the third verse " According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him that hath called us to gloty and virtue."

So, grace and peace through knowledge of God has its own purpose, It's not just for us to obtain a favor from God but its purpose is to give us life and godliness. Life and godliness are the fruit of grace.

It is this grace that transforms us and makes us acceptable to God through Jesus Christ because before, we were living a sinful life but now, the knowledge of God leads us to a New Life. Even though we are saved by th blood of Jesus, we still need grace to live a godly life as the Lord planned it for us. This is to say, that the grace of salvation is just the beginning of our long walk with Christ. Jesus reveals himself to the believer each day. So, when the time comes, we will know Him as He revealed Himself.