Rooted 2 - Seeds of Salvation

God has planted in every single human being a seed of faith, which, when watered by the Word of God, brings forth salvation when it's attached to Jesus. These are exactly the truths that Peter is speaking of in 2 Peter chapter 1. Open with us and follow along as we discover them together.

Now, would you stand and open your Bibles to the New Testament, the book of 2 Peter? It's right near the very end of your Bible. If you do not have a Bible, you can raise your hand, and one of our ushers will bring you one. To find 2 Peter, turn to the book of Revelation, the very last book of the Bible, and turn to the left. Just a little past the little book of Jude, then 1st, 2nd, and 3rd John, and finally, 2nd Peter. We are going to pick it up today at verse 1.

There, the apostle writes, "Simon Peter, a bondservant and apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who have obtained like precious faith with us by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ. Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. As His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue. By which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust."

Lord, we thank You for that great promise that in You we will be partakers of the divine nature. We thank You for the promise that one day we will be freed from the corruption that is in this world, the fallenness of sin. We look forward with hope, anticipation, and expectation of the great things that shall be revealed in us and through us, which will be given to us in eternity, Lord. Until that time, I pray, God, that You would work in our lives, transforming us day by day more and more into the likeness of Your children.

And God, we pray that we would show forth the goodness and the glory of who You are in this world, a world that is in such desperate need of Your glory and Your goodness. Transform us by the renewing of our minds, we pray. We ask this in Jesus' name, and all those that agreed said, Amen. You can be seated.

It is a phenomenal creation. According to the manufacturer, it didn't take more than a day to create. However, it took some 86 scientists more than two years to deconstruct the code of this small little thing. Tens of thousands of man-hours, nearly 100 scientists, and millions of dollars went into deconstructing this tiny little creation. It weighs less than a gram—specifically, seven-tenths of a gram. It has hundreds of millions of lines of code and is only eight millimeters tall. I'm talking about a seed. In this instance, I'm talking about a little apple seed.

From 2008 to 2011, research scientists deconstructed the genome, the genetic code of the apple. This very simple fruit is one of the most consumed fruits in our nation and around the world, with 7,500 different varieties of these little things called apples that people eat all the time, consuming tons and tons of them.

The amazing thing about this little organic compartment of genetic information is that this tiny teardrop-shaped seed, under the right conditions, can grow into a fully mature apple tree, which, over its life, can produce more than 5,000 pounds of apples. In every single one of those apples that it produces, seeds are also found. As many as 10 seeds can be found in each one of those apples that it will produce over its 30-year lifespan. Each one of those seeds has the potential power in its genetic information to also go on and create another apple tree, and another, and another, and another.

This little eight-millimeter tall, seven-tenths of a gram, tiny piece of organic material has the potential of creating thousands upon thousands of orchards. It's a phenomenal thing, this tiny little creation contained in this little seed. Information also begins as a seed, which is exactly what we're going to consider today here in these verses in 2 Peter.

Before we get into that, I think it's important, as we're starting this book, to think for just a moment about who the author of this letter was. This letter was written nearly 2,000 years ago, right around the year 65 or 66 AD, from the city of Rome by a man who introduces himself here as Simon Peter. We know him mostly by the name Peter, but that was not his given name. His given name from his parents was Simon. He was a fisherman from the nation of Israel, likely from a town called Capernaum, located around the Sea of Galilee.

You can actually go and visit the ruins of Capernaum today. There, in the ruins of Capernaum, you will find the synagogue of Capernaum, the very synagogue built upon the foundations where Jesus would have ministered. Just a short walking distance, less than a hundred feet from the opening of that synagogue, is the traditional house of this individual, Simon Peter. There he was doing the trade that was probably passed down to him from his father, from his grandfather, and from his great-grandfather. He was expected, as the likely oldest of the family, to be the one who would continue on the line of fishermen there on the Sea of Galilee.

Simon had a younger brother named Andrew. At some point in Simon's life, Andrew came to him and said, "I have someone you need to meet." Andrew introduced Peter to Jesus, and Simon's entire life was radically transformed by that introduction. In fact, it was in that introduction, as the Gospel of John records, that Jesus looked at Simon and said, "You are Simon, son of Jonah." That was his father, Jonah. "But I'm going to call you something different. I'm giving you a new name." He changed his name to Cephas or Peter, which means a rock or a stone. When you follow the life of Simon Peter, you find that that's actually a good name.

For this guy, Simon Peter's name and life were completely and radically transformed, which informs us of something very important. You never know what that little introduction you might share with a family member, introducing them to Jesus, might bring in their life and in the lives of countless others. Recognize that you, like Andrew, may need to be that person who introduces a family member or a friend to Jesus.

Simon’s life was radically altered, and he became a follower of Jesus, a learner of the teachings of this rabbi from Nazareth. He watched as Jesus healed those who were sick, cast demons out of those who were possessed, and fed the multitudes with just fragments of food. He was there when Jesus walked on water and when Jesus turned water into wine. He heard Jesus preach the message, the gospel of the kingdom of God. Ultimately, he was trained among the other disciples to do the very same thing: to preach the gospel of the kingdom, to go forth and heal those who were sick, and to do all the marvelous things that they had seen Jesus do and heard him teach.

Simon Peter was there when Jesus was arrested. He watched at a distance as Jesus was falsely accused of all kinds of seditious things. He observed as Jesus was condemned to die and stood afar off watching as Jesus was crucified. He saw Him die, and three days later, he saw Him rise from the dead. It was this guy, Peter, who received a commission with the other disciples to go into all the world and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. For the rest of his life, that’s exactly what he did.

This book was written about 36 years after that commission was given. Through all of those decades, that’s exactly what Peter did. He went to every part of the known world of his day, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, healing those who were sick, and making disciples of all nations. Now, as he nears the end of his life, surveying all the things that have taken place through him and in the ministry that had been given to him, knowing that his time was probably short, he wanted to leave something of a discipleship legacy behind. So, he wrote this short letter to be an encouragement and a strength to those who would believe.

I'm absolutely certain that Peter had no idea that 2,000 years later, there would be people in a place called California who would be reading this letter, studying it, and learning from it, growing in their faith as well. He writes this letter to strengthen and encourage the believers of his day. He begins with, "Simon Peter, a bondservant and an apostle of Jesus Christ."

An apostle—what exactly is an apostle? At the basest level, an apostle is simply one who is sent with a message. The Greek word "apostolos" means one who is sent with a message. In modern terms, we would say that a missionary, someone sent from one place to another to carry the message of the gospel, is, in one sense, an apostle. However, Peter sits among a select group of those who were called apostles, those who had been commissioned not just by a local church but by Jesus Himself. He received the commission to go from the risen Lord Jesus Himself. He was a witness of the risen Lord Jesus and had a certain level of authority within the early church that has not been passed down or extended to others.

Peter was one of the lowest level sent with a message, and he had fulfilled that commission to go. That's why he could call himself, at this later stage of his life, an apostle, as he was well into his 60s by this time. But not only that, he calls himself a bondservant. Interestingly, just about every one of the New Testament writers refers to themselves with this very same word. They were slaves of Jesus Christ, but not slaves who were sold into that slavery or forced into it. They were servants who, by choice, determined that this is what they wanted to commit themselves to.

Jesus gave Peter that option when He commissioned him. It's found in the Gospel of John, chapter 21, where Jesus asks him, "Peter, do you love me?" Peter replies, "Yes, Lord, you know I love you." Jesus then says, "All right, go and feed my sheep, tend my lambs, take care of my flock, my people." But Peter must know that if he does this, there will be great things required of him.

In that conversation, some 36 years before the writing of this letter, Jesus told Peter that if he followed Him and served Him, he would ultimately lose his life because of it. It would be a very short time after he wrote this letter, in the late 60s AD, that the emperor of Rome at that time, Nero, would select Peter to be put to death.

To death. He would die in the same manner that his Lord Jesus would die, crucified. However, tradition holds that Peter did not feel worthy to be crucified as Jesus was. So, he asked those who would execute him to crucify him upside down. Thus, tradition holds that the upside-down cross is Peter's cross, crucified head down.

Knowing that his time was near and that the end of his life was approaching, Peter was not fearful. He was not filled with anxiety or afraid. Instead, he was filled with hope and joy, knowing that he would soon stand before the Lord. The only thing that did concern him was looking out at the church and recognizing that there were problems that could arise within it. He wanted there to be something, some way by which he could encourage and strengthen the church. So, he wrote this letter: Simon Peter, a bondservant and apostle of Jesus Christ. He writes to those who have obtained like precious faith with us by the righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ.

He is writing to those who have obtained like precious faith, which brings us to point number one. Point number one on your outline is the first seed of salvation, if you will. Salvation grows from God-given faith. Peter is writing to those who have obtained a like precious faith with us.

In 2008, researchers at Oxford University received a $4 million grant to study faith and belief in the world. Over the next three years, 40 research studies were conducted in 20 different nations to explore the concept of faith and belief among human beings. At the end of those three years, when all $4 million had been used, they reached this conclusion: belief is deeply rooted in human nature.

I think there are probably many of you who are nodding in agreement, saying, "Okay, I agree with that." We probably didn't need $4 million to conclude that. However, the scientific research concluded that belief and faith are deeply rooted in human beings across every continent and culture. Every human being has, if you will, a seed of belief and faith within them. We are all bent towards, we all have a tendency towards, a proclivity towards faith.

We see this in every culture and on every continent. Every person has a tendency towards faith and belief. The object of their faith may be different, and the focus of their faith may vary, but every single person has faith.

Now, I know there are people, especially in our day and in our nation here in the West, who will say, "I am not a person of faith. I have no faith. I have no belief. I believe in nothing. I am an atheist." But the reality is that when you start to deconstruct atheism and talk with people who are avowed atheists, you find that they have faith. The things they hold as true regarding the origins of the universe and all that is cannot be proven in a lab. They have to be taken on faith, and those individuals hold those beliefs according to faith. In fact, I think it takes more faith to be an atheist, personally, when looking at the evidence.

Researchers have concluded that belief is deeply rooted in human nature. I think most of us nod when we hear a proposition like that. It seems almost as if we were created to have faith. In fact, we were. The Apostle Paul alludes to this when he writes in Romans chapter 12. You can jot it down if you like: Romans chapter 12, verse 3. He says there, "God has dealt to each one a measure of faith." God has given each and every one a measure of faith. You might call it a seed of faith. Every single human being born has been created by God with a seed of faith within them.

That faith may grow up and latch onto something other than the God of the Bible, but every single person has that seed of faith within them. Ultimately, all faith must eventually attach to something. Just having faith for the sake of faith is meaningless. Sometimes you'll hear people say, "Well, you just gotta have faith." Well, faith in what? That's a foolish statement. You just gotta have faith. And yet, we have songs that say it. Faith must ultimately attach to an object, and we live in a world with all kinds of different objects upon which people's faith is attached.

People believe in all kinds of different things or individuals. They put their trust and faith in various figures. Some put their faith in Buddha, while others may trust in Confucius or Muhammad. There are those who place their faith in Bahá'u'lláh, which is a fun word to say. For some people, faith in these various figures may bring about an experiential good. They may find an increase in well-being or an existential good that comes from their faith in that object.

However, the issue is whether the object upon which your faith attaches can actually save you. It is not a question of whether that faith provides an existential experience of good or joy in your life. The real question is, can that thing save you? Ultimately, there is only one individual upon whom our faith can attach that will bring salvation, as Peter states here.

Look at verse one again. He says, "Simon Peter, a bondservant, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who have obtained a like precious faith with us by the righteousness of God and our Savior, Jesus Christ." A precious faith, a saving faith, is one that is attached to God, our Savior, Jesus Christ.

The author of this letter, Peter, spoke in a message that is recorded in Acts chapter four. He said, "Let it be known to all of you, to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by Him this man stands before you whole." Peter was being questioned about a man who had been lame and was never able to move fully. Yet, by the power of God, this lame man had been healed at the word of Peter. When people asked how this lame man was healed, Peter responded, "Let it be known to all of you that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, that's how this man stands before you."

You are whole. And then he says this in verse 12 of Acts chapter four: "Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which they must be saved." Yes, there are many things that people believe in and trust in. There are many individuals upon whom people put their faith. But there is only one name given among men whereby they must be saved. That is what the Scriptures declare, and that is Jesus of Nazareth, crucified 2,000 years ago and raised from the dead by God in heaven. He is the only one who brings salvation.

Now, I get it. Those words of Peter are not politically correct in 21st century America. I don't know if you've noticed, but the one thing that you are not allowed to be in American culture today is exclusive. Probably the number one argument of many people in our day and age against the gospel, the Bible, and Jesus Christ is the exclusivity claims of the Bible. When Jesus says, "I am the way, the truth, and the life, and no one comes to the Father but by me," there are people who get all riled up and say, "Well, you just can't say that. What about other religions? What about other faiths?"

Listen, all those things may be well and good at an existential level to make people feel good, but those individuals upon whom they believe cannot save. Oh, that's so exclusive, pastor! I didn't make it up; I'm merely reading what the Scriptures say.

Now, if all of us were on a sinking boat and we all went onto the deck of that boat, and I said, "Listen, the only way to be saved is this life raft here. This is the only way for us to be saved," are you going to stand there and say, "Well, that's just so exclusive. How dare you? So narrow-minded"? Fine, stay on board the boat. I'm good with it. But if you want to be saved, get into the life raft. There's no harm in speaking the truth if that's the truth.

So let it be known to all of you and all the people in America that Jesus Christ is the only name given under heaven among men whereby they must be saved. Because it is salvation according to, as Peter says here, his righteousness. Do you see it there in verse one?

To those who have obtained like precious faith with us by the righteousness of God, we recognize that it is by His righteousness and not ours. Lesson number two on your outline is that fruitful saving faith is rooted in the righteousness of Jesus.

If you look at any other faith, and there are many of them, you will find that they focus on the merits of man and what you can accomplish to achieve enlightenment, heaven, or paradise. The question is, what can you do to get there? Christianity is unique among them all because it teaches that you can do nothing. It is a like precious faith in the righteousness of God, our Savior, Jesus Christ. He did the works for righteousness. He who knew no sin became sin for us so that we might receive His righteousness, not be clothed in our own righteousness.

The Old Testament prophet Isaiah, in Isaiah chapter 64, states that all of our righteousness is like filthy rags before God. It is insufficient. It may be a payment, but it is not a sufficient payment. Perhaps you have paid a credit card bill before and noticed the minimum payment. It is not enough. It might satisfy for a moment, but in 30 days, you will receive another bill reminding you to pay up because you didn’t pay enough. That is your righteousness and mine; it is never enough.

Now, if you have been a churchgoer for a while and have participated in these Bible discussions, you might think, "I know this. I've heard all this before. Let’s move on to something I have never heard before." This is exactly why we are discussing this. We need to be reminded.

Look at what Peter says. We examined it last week, but let’s look at it again. In 2 Peter 1, verse 12, he writes, "For this reason, I will not be negligent to remind you always of these things, though you know them and are established in the present truth. Yes, I think it is right, as long as I am in this tent, this body, to stir you up by way of reminder, knowing that shortly I must put off this tent; I am going to die just as our Lord Jesus Christ showed me. Moreover, I will be careful to ensure that you always have a reminder of these things after my decease."

These things are important, especially since we are living in a day where there is a lot of confusion.

Of word against what the Bible says as it relates to Jesus being the only way, there are a lot of people, Christians, who are made to feel like they are the wrongest wrong people that could ever live because they say and believe such things. Well, this is what the Bible declares. If it is true that there's only one way, there's only one life raft, wouldn't you want to know that? I expect that you would.

Peter continues in Second Peter, chapter one, verse two: "Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord." As I said previously, there are many different things or many different individuals upon which people put their trust and faith. But Jesus alone is able to multiply grace and peace to you through faith. He alone is the only one who can extend and multiply grace and peace to you. No other individual, no other head of some faith or religion can give you grace and peace in a multiplied fashion.

Now, Peter gives what is kind of the standard New Testament salutation. Just about every New Testament writer in their letters begins with something like this. Paul, who wrote thirteen letters in the New Testament, almost always begins his letters by saying, "Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ." Peter here has a very slight variation on what Paul would normally say, but this variation highlights what I think is a really important truth that I hope we grasp.

Point number three on your outline: Our experience of grace and peace increases as our knowledge of God and Christ grows. Let me say that again. Our experience of grace and peace increases as our knowledge of God and Christ grows. Just as a single seed, this tiny little seed that you can probably hardly see, has all the genetic material needed to produce a fully grown, mature, apple-producing apple tree, in the same way, when the seed of your faith attaches roots upon Jesus Christ, you have...

All the grace and peace you will ever need from the Lord is already yours. You have it all—everything that you could ever need. There will never be a time when you come to the store of God's grace and hear, "I'm really, really sorry, but Kevin took it all. He was here five minutes ago and he got it all. There's not enough for you." The grace and peace of God is unfathomable; you cannot drain all of it.

In fact, one of the Old Testament writers, speaking of God's compassion, grace, and mercy, says, "The mercies of the Lord fail not. They are new every morning. Great is His faithfulness." What a wonderful joy it is to know that there will never be a time when God's grace and peace are completely exhausted by us, who so desperately need His grace and peace constantly. We have all the grace and peace from God that we will ever need.

To the Apostle Paul, God said, as recorded in 2 Corinthians 12:9, "My grace is sufficient for you." That is true for you and for me. His grace that He has in store is sufficient for us; it is all we will ever need. Yet, our experience of God's grace can increase. Our comprehension and grasp of His peace can also increase. How does it increase? By the knowledge of God. "Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus Christ our Lord."

I think this is why Peter ends this short letter with his final exhortation in the very last verse. You can turn just two pages over to the right to find it in 2 Peter 3:18. He says, "But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ." His final exhortation to his readers is, "Oh, I pray, I hope that you will grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ."

When I meet and talk with a person who is lacking peace in their life or desiring grace, I often ask them a question. I say, "Let me ask you, how much time do you spend devotionally reading the Bible?" Invariably, when I find a person who is lacking peace and grace in their life, and I ask them...

That question, their answer will be, "Well, I go to church on Sunday." That's great! I'm glad you're here, and I hope that you do go to church on Sunday. But that's not enough for spending time devotionally in the Word of God.

If you're experiencing a lack of peace or a lack of grace in your life today, might I suggest that you begin by getting to know the Lord more? The best place to get to know God is through His Word, where He has revealed Himself. Simply reading devotionally through the Scriptures every single day can make a significant difference.

I challenge you to take seven days and begin every morning with ten minutes of reading through the Scriptures devotionally. You can start wherever you want, but I encourage you to begin with a book like Ephesians or Philippians, one of the New Testament letters. Please don't start with Revelation, because you'll send me an email saying, "I don't get it," and I'll say, "Yeah, neither do I. God bless you."

But I challenge you to take ten minutes a day and see if your experience of God's grace and His peace in your life does not increase. Additionally, spend a few minutes every day praying. The Scriptures say, "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication. Let your requests be made known to God, and the peace of God will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus."

God has revealed Himself to us in the Scriptures, and the more you get to know God, the more your experience of His grace and peace will increase in your life.

Peter continues in verse 3. He says, "As His divine power, or according to His divine power, has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness." Notice this, "through the knowledge," there it is again, "of Him who called us by glory and virtue." This is a pretty awesome truth revealed here in verse 3. Not only do you, as a Christian—if you are a Christian today—have everything of God's grace and peace that you could ever need in this life, but additionally, when the seed of faith that God created you with puts down roots and attaches itself to Jesus Christ,

You therein also have everything that you could ever need to live this life in a godly manner. Another way to read verse 3 is like this: According to God's great power, He has given us everything we need to live this life in a godly way. This is, if you will, the saving faith genome, the saving faith DNA. As you are rooted in Christ, you have everything you will ever need to live this life in a godly manner.

Point number 4 on your outline: The seed of saving faith contains all the code for godly fruit. The production of that good godly fruit increases as it is fertilized by a knowledge of God. As you get to know God more, through the knowledge of Him, your godliness will increase. The fruit of godliness in your life will increase.

When I meet a person who says, "I'm struggling with this sin or that. I can't seem to get over this thing, this sin that does so easily ensnare me. I've struggled with this for years, for many decades maybe even, and now I thought when I became a Christian it would go away," I remind them that God has given you everything in Christ that you could need to live this life in a godly manner. I suggest to you that by getting to know Him through the knowledge of Him, you will be stirred by His Spirit and the work of His Word in you to begin to live in a godly manner.

Now, that doesn't mean that it won't require some effort. As Paul told the church at Philippi, he said, "Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling." It takes work; it takes energy on our part to live this life in a godly manner. But the resources needed to do it are all there. The very next verse, Philippians chapter 2, verse 13, says, "For it is God who works in you to will and to do His good pleasure." So you work, and He works. It's God's sovereignty and man's responsibility; they go together.

If you want to bifurcate them and separate them, saying it's all God's sovereignty or it's all man's responsibility, you're not according to the Bible. You're according to man's wisdom and his view on things. It might be a systematic theology, but it's not the Bible. Because God works, and I work, but He enables my work. You see, God has commanded godliness. If you're a Christian, God commanded you, "Be holy, for I am holy."

That's a heavy command. Every single one of us will fail at that, and thank God that He is forgiving and gracious. However, He wants to grow us more and more into His likeness. With His commands, He gives us the enabling power to accomplish those things.

It's like that synagogue in Capernaum, the same town that Peter grew up in. There's a story told in the Gospels where Jesus went in there on the Sabbath day, and there was a man with a withered hand. Jesus, looking at this man, said to him, "Stretch forth your hand." It's a command. We can certainly say that there were many times in that man's life when he would have wanted to try and stretch forth his hand. He may have even tried hundreds of times but never succeeded. Yet, there Jesus commands him, "Stretch forth your hand." In that moment, he could have argued, "Oh, you don't understand, man. I've tried." And yet, he heeded the command of Jesus. He obeyed. With the command of Jesus came the enabling power to do what he could never do on his own. He stretched forth his hand, and it became whole like the other.

According to His divine power, He has given us everything we need to live this life in a godly manner. By His glory and virtue, He has done this through the knowledge of Him. Verse four states that by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises. Through these, we may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lusts.

By what? By the knowledge of God, by His glory, by His virtue, He has given us not just precious promises, but great and precious promises. Not just great and precious promises, but exceedingly great and precious promises. I love that Peter added the adverb "exceedingly." He's trying to give us a picture of how awesome the promises of God are, and they are innumerable.

You might ask, "What are the promises of God?" Listen, I have three minutes and 41 seconds. I can't even begin to talk about the promises of God. You need to read the Scriptures and find out on your own what promises God has given to you. There are thousands of them. You might start with Ephesians chapter one and see there that He has given us every...

Spiritual blessings in heavenly places include redemption, forgiveness of sins, adoption, and all the great things that He has given and promised to us. According to the knowledge of Him and His glory and virtue, He has given us exceedingly great and precious promises. However, Peter is not focusing on the specificity of these individual promises; rather, he emphasizes the result of these promises.

What is the result of these promises? Through these precious promises, you may be partakers of the divine nature and escape the corruption that is in this world through lust and sin.

Point number five on your outline is "Precious Faith." In verse one, he talks about this precious faith. Precious faith yields precious promises, resulting in eternal salvation. Where do I get that? Well, verse four in the New Living Translation reads: "And because of God's 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 desire."

These precious promises enable us to experience eternal salvation, where we shed this corruption. This corruption puts on incorruption, and this mortality puts on immortality. When we see Him, John says in 1 John 3:2, we don't know what we shall be like exactly, but we know this: when we see Him, we shall be like Him.

Wasn't that the desire of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil back in Genesis chapter three? When you eat of it, you shall be like God, knowing good and evil. They took and ate at the wrong time and in the wrong way. In doing so, something was transmitted—some genetic mutation, some DNA, if you will—that caused sin to spread throughout all humanity.

But when you take in the divine nature of God in Christ Jesus, there's a new...

Transformation takes place, and one day you'll escape the corruption of this world and be given something of the divine nature—a new body, not like this body, a body that is referred to in the Scriptures as a glorified body. How many of you think that sounds pretty good? Just saying, it sounds pretty good.

Where do these precious promises, these exceedingly great and precious promises come from? They come from the knowledge of God. They come from a life rooted in Christ, where that seed of faith puts down roots and attaches to Him, enabling you, through these great and precious promises, to escape the corruption that is in this world and to be a partaker of the divine nature. I think that sounds like the gospel, good news. Amen?

Would you stand with me as we close in prayer? Father, I thank you for your exceedingly great and precious promises. I pray, God, that we would be partakers of those things, that we would put our trust and our faith in You, because You alone are able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through You, Jesus.

We thank You for Your grace. We thank You that it is according to Your righteousness and not ours that we are afforded this grace, mercy, peace, forgiveness, and redemption. I pray, God, that we would not only be the recipients of that, but that we would also give it out to others, because we live in a world that is in need of Your grace, mercy, and peace. We praise You, Jesus. We thank You.

Now, it may be, as we're standing here this morning in prayer, that you've never put your trust in Jesus for salvation, but you want His grace and desire His peace. You would like to experience these great and precious promises. I want to encourage you today. Jesus came and died on the cross 2,000 years ago to make that possible. He rose from the dead so that we could receive His grace and forgiveness. If you've never received that by putting your trust in Jesus today, I want to ask you to do that.

If that's you today and you've never put your faith in Christ, but you'd like to, as we're in an attitude of prayer, just lift up your hand wherever you are. Is there anyone here today? Once you receive the grace and forgiveness of God, be rooted in Him.

Praise the Lord. I'm going to take that as a sign that everyone here knows Him.

So God, would You pour out Your Spirit upon this group as we prepare to go from this place? Help us to be ambassadors of Your grace to a world that is in desperate need. We ask this in Jesus' name. And all those that agree said, "Let's sing to the Lord."