2 Peter

2 Peter 1: Christ supplies life and godliness

Begin in prayer

Before hearing Peter remind the churches of everything Christ gives for life and godliness, ask God to help your family listen. Ask Him to turn your eyes to His beloved Son and make His Word a light for you.

The secret things belong to Yahweh our God; but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.

Deuteronomy 29:29

Father in heaven, please open our eyes as we read Your Word. Show us that Your power has given Your people all things for life and godliness. Help us to know Jesus Christ and to become more like Him. And please bless our family as we worship You together. In Jesus' name, Amen.

See where we're going

Peter writes to believers whose faith is as precious as an apostle’s because it rests on Jesus Christ. Christ has supplied everything needed for life and godliness, so Peter urges them to grow in the qualities that mark fruitful faith. Knowing his death is near, he wants the churches to remember these truths after his departure. His message about Christ’s power and coming rests on the majesty he saw and the Father’s voice he heard. He directs the churches to the prophetic word, spoken by men moved by the Holy Spirit.

As you read 2 Peter 1, look for the answers:

Reflect together

Key truth

Jesus Christ supplies everything His people need for life and godliness, and His Word is sure.

Peter calls Jesus God and Savior, so the power that gives life belongs to the One believers know. Their faith has the same worth as an apostle’s because its Savior is the same. Sharing the divine nature means growing like God in holiness, never becoming God. His promises answer the corrupt desires that false teachers will later encourage. Because Christ supplies life, diligence grows from His gift, and goodness, self-control, endurance and love belong together. These qualities confirm God’s calling and election through the fruit they bear, while Christ supplies the entrance into His eternal Kingdom. Peter calls his body a tent because death means leaving a temporary dwelling. His written reminder outlasts that tent and carries eyewitness testimony to Christ’s majesty. The prophetic word shines like a lamp because its speakers were moved by the Holy Spirit, rather than their own will.

How does 2 Peter 1 show us that Jesus Christ supplies everything His people need for life and godliness, and that His Word is sure?

Christ gives precious faith and power for a holy life.

Peter calls Jesus “our God and Savior” and speaks of faith as a gift received (verse 1). Even an apostle needs the same Savior as every other believer. Christ’s promises bring His people out of corrupt desires into likeness to God (verses 3 and 4). Sharing His nature means becoming holy, never becoming God.

Christ’s gifts bear fruit in those who know Him.

Because Christ supplies life, Peter commands diligent growth in goodness, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly affection and love (verses 5 to 7). These graces belong together and make knowing Christ fruitful. The person who lacks them is blind and has forgotten the cleansing from old sins (verses 8 and 9). Growing fruit makes calling and election sure, while the entrance into Christ’s eternal Kingdom is richly supplied (verses 10 and 11).

Peter’s reminder rests on Christ’s majesty seen and heard.

Peter knows he will soon lay aside his body, which he calls a tent (verses 13 and 14). He wants the churches to remember the truth after his death. His message about Christ’s power and coming rests on eyewitness testimony, rather than an invented story. He heard the Father honor Jesus as His beloved Son on the holy mountain (verses 16 to 18).

The Holy Spirit gave the sure word that points to Christ.

Peter tells the churches to heed the prophetic word as a lamp in a dark place (verse 19). The lamp serves until the day dawns, keeping their hope directed toward Christ. Prophecy did not arise from the speaker’s own will or private invention (verses 20 and 21). Men spoke as the Holy Spirit moved them, so the church must receive God’s words rather than invent another Christ.

Memorise

his divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and virtue

2 Peter 1:3

Looking to Jesus in my life

Ask yourself in your heart, have I come to know Jesus Christ, who cleanses sin and gives life?

The Father honored Jesus with the words, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” Peter heard that voice himself. The Savior who gives life and godliness is God’s beloved Son, worthy of trust.

Yet Peter also describes someone who has “forgotten the cleansing from his old sins.” We need more than improved habits. Sin makes us guilty before God. The beloved Son died for His people, bearing the judgment their sins deserved. His sacrifice is enough to cleanse every sin. He rose victorious over death. The entrance into His eternal Kingdom is His gift.

Come to this glorious Savior. Turn from your sin and trust Jesus, rather than your own efforts to appear holy. Everyone who rests in Him receives forgiveness. His power gives life, and that life begins to bear the fruit Peter describes.

Parent's note

Tell your children that God has given His people all things for life and godliness in Jesus Christ. Call each child to turn from sin and trust Jesus, and pray that God would give them a new heart. Please do not tell them they are saved just because they grew up in a Christian home. Please also keep reminding them of these truths, as Peter does.

Pray together

Now please close your time together in prayer. Thank God for the gifts He gives in Jesus Christ, and bring the heart question to Him. Every child can pray, so let each one say a short prayer if they want to.

Therefore, as for you, let that remain in you which you heard from the beginning. If that which you heard from the beginning remains in you, you also will remain in the Son, and in the Father.

1 John 2:24

Lord Jesus, thank You for the life and power You give through knowing You. Bring us to repent and trust You for cleansing. Help us to heed Your Word and grow in self-control, perseverance and love this week. Keep us looking toward Your eternal Kingdom. Amen.