To Know What Is Coming ...

Peter is concerned for the state of the early church.  He has opened his second letter and introduced the idea that following the path of Grace requires daily renewal, that to hold back any part of ourselves from God introduces the possibility of a fall from grace.  While our God longs to save us from ourselves, He cannot force Himself upon us and still call it love.  Peter is concerned, for he can see the early warning signs of those who would deny the power of the gospel.  Forgiveness being so easy, and reform looking so difficult, could the church decay into just another ideology with flowery words, and no real meaning to them?  Perhaps his concern is amplified, because while he is not thought of as a prophet, yet Peter reveals he knows what is to come.  And to make his point, and offer counsel to the church, he reveals to us what he already knows about the future in his own day.

Peter begins in chapter 1 of His second letter starting in verse 12 … “Wherefore I will not be negligent to put you always in remembrance of these things, though ye know them, and be established in the present truth.”  Peter is aware that he has shared the truth of the gospel before with those to whom he writes.  And he even realizes that what he says now could be seen as ‘nagging’ or repeating himself again and again.  But he is compelled to say it once more.  To have believers “established” in the “present” truth must supersede all other concerns about how he might be perceived by those he offers counsel to.  They must remember that the gospel is “present” truth.  The term present does not refer to immediacy of the Lord’s return, but to the immediacy of the Lord’s ability to save us from our slavery to self, and bid us entry into the Kingdom of God – which Christ had said was “already” come.  For truth to be “present” it must be here and now, in our reality, in our day-to-day.  The gospel is not some distant future message of hope, it is a present message meant for us now.  No matter how it looks, or how often he must repeat it, Peter will remind us and his readers of this fact.

He then continues in verse 13 … “Yea, I think it meet, as long as I am in this tabernacle, to stir you up by putting you in remembrance; [verse 14] Knowing that shortly I must put off this my tabernacle, even as our Lord Jesus Christ hath shewed me.”  Peter is going to die.  He will be killed.  He will be crucified by the Romans for his passion to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ.  At his own request he will be hung upside down thinking it too great an honor to die exactly as his Lord did.  And ALL of this he has been shown AHEAD of it happening to him.  As long as Peter occupies his body in this world, that is to say his tabernacle, he will consider it his duty to remind us of the present truth of our gospel.  His concern and desire for us compounded by the imminent knowledge of his death, He must remind us once again.  Notice that knowledge of his death is not something he rebels against.  He does not ask for prayer to change the fate he will suffer.  He does not beg the Lord to extend his life in this world.  Instead Peter has reached such an absolute point of trust in Jesus, that if Jesus says it is time to die, Peter is OK with that.  The vision of Peter’s physical fate is not offered to him to scare him, but instead to remove all fear from him when it occurs.  Peter can meet his end boldly, and preach Jesus Christ boldly throughout his coming ordeal, for his death is known by himself and His Lord.

Peter then understands, SO much better than we do, our earthly existence, no matter how long or short it is, is nothing in comparison with our larger destiny.  Our lives, our existence, are meant to be eternal in a place where death, pain, and slavery to self, exist no more.  We all fear for our lives.  We do everything we can to extend them.  Peter did to.  But despite our reservation and reluctance to accept it, death comes to us all.  Peter could accept his own pending demise, not because he wanted to die, but because he wanted to live – like our God intended that he live.  He no longer wished to be bound to the shackles of this world, but instead be free to be wholly remade, including in the tabernacle of his body, the way the Lord always intended.  His only regret now, his only remaining concern, is that the church does NOT forget, the source of love and salvation they have been introduced to.  The foreknowledge of his death has helped Peter get his priorities in order, and laser focused.  Peter will soon sleep the sleep of death until his Lord returns, the centuries between himself and us are a blink of an eye to him.

Peter continues in verse 15 … “Moreover I will endeavour that ye may be able after my decease to have these things always in remembrance. [verse 16] For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty.”  The foreknowledge of his demise, causes Peter to want to make sure the church will have certainty once he has gone and is deceased.  Peter does not intend to accomplish this reminder after he is gone, by returning as a ghost or spirit.  There is no opportunity for Peter to continue to testify to the church once he is dead and gone.  He knows this.  There is no consciousness after the grave, until the day of resurrection.  So whatever Peter is going to say, he must say now.  Peter is not looking for believers to repeat the mistakes of Saul and attempt to conjure what will only be a demon in human form after he is gone.  Peter instead will say what he has to say now, while he is alive and able to say it.  When he is dead, no more will follow from him.

He reminds the church that the gospel is NOT a set of wisely devised lies, and a set of tall-tales, or fairy tales, or a story of moral interpretation and not a real one.  Jesus Christ was a real man, of that not even Atheists question.  But for those who never met Him, for those who never looked into the eyes of God made man incarnate, there may be a lingering doubt if Jesus was truly more than a man.  Peter stands as a personal witness, one of many, who can personally attest to the “power” of the Lord Jesus Christ.  Peter can attest personally to the “majesty” of our Lord Jesus Christ.  The power of our Lord, was not in His armies, for He had none.  So Peter was not describing the greatest military leader of all time.  Military and political power belonged to others.  The Power of our Lord, was in his ability to love us.  Through that love He was able to heal what choice, sin, inheritance, and the malice of others had broken in us.  He cast out demons, whose power exceeded our own will and allowed them to inhabit their victims.  But their supernatural power was NO match for the power of Love.  He healed the lame and blind, not just straightening what was crooked, but recreating what was missing.  In the same way, He frees us from our brokenness in sin.

The Majesty of our Lord, was not defined in His earthy kingship, for He had no crown other than the one made of thorns thrust upon His head.  He had no robes of state other than the ones the Romans used to mock Him with.  He owned no gold.  He owned no lands, not even a single house.  He was homeless His entire adult life.  He accepted no earthy inheritance from his family.  Instead He gave everything He owned to the poor, the downtrodden, the less fortunate, and to anyone He saw in need.  He not only kept a bag (which Judas held) for the poor with means of coin in it, He gave them the physical, mental, and spiritual healing they needed so desperately more than that.  His majesty would not be defined in traditional terms, but to Peter and ALL those who met our Lord, His majesty exceeded any other king that had ever, or would ever rise to power.  The church needed to remember this.

Peter continues in verse 17 … “For he received from God the Father honour and glory, when there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. [verse 18] And this voice which came from heaven we heard, when we were with him in the holy mount.”  At the baptism of Jesus, the voice from God the Father was heard as the Spirit descended upon Him as a dove.  Andrew and John were there to see this, Peter was not.  But Peter was present at the end of the ministry of Christ where in the mount of Olives, Christ was transfigured as He communed with Moses and Elijah and received divine strength to uphold Him for the horror that was to come.  It was at this place, where Peter heard for himself, that affirmation that God the Father said of His only beloved Son.  Peter was an eye-witness to the voice of God the Father with respect to Jesus Christ, His only Son.

This was the ultimate witness to the divinity of Christ, that is an affirmation by His Father God.  God would not have done this, for just anybody.  Peter knew that.  He knew this could be done for only one, for only the Messiah.  And he Peter, had seen it, had heard it, had experienced it in the here and now as one who was there.  It was more than just a vision, more than just a dream, it was a real world experience in 3D and with every sense filled to capacity.  It does not get more real than that.  For Peter it does not get more certain than that.  This is the testimony he is trying to convey to the early church.  This gospel is real.  Jesus Christ is real.  And He is really the Son of God.  Jesus is not just a good man, a good Rabbi, a good teacher, or an accurate prophet.  Jesus Christ is not just a healer with power blessed by God.  He is the Son of God, as God Himself has testified to audibly, for the benefit of Peter, James, and John.  This is not even some delusion Peter might have concocted on his own, there were 2 other witnesses there for the same event.  This is the certainty Peter wants to convey before the foreknowledge of his own death catches up with him.

 Peter then moves father in verse 19 … “We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts:”  Peter now adds to the already heavy weight of his impassioned argument, to all that he has seen and bore witness to, he adds a “more sure word of prophecy”.  This is not only a reference to all the men of old who foretold the coming of the Messiah, since the first promise of Him that Moses recorded of the Genesis experience between Christ and Adam and Eve.  It is also a reference to the contemporary servants of Jesus Christ alive in the days of Peter and in the early church.  Jesus Christ had offered prophecy and foretold the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple within it.  As such not a single Christian died in that horrific Roman siege.  Instead, when they saw the signs, they did not return to their homes to gather supplies, but left immediately and were gone with the Roman legions arrived.

John too, would now add his own Revelations of Jesus Christ, to the growing volumes of prophecy in guiding the early church.  Peter was confident that all prophecies inspired of God, would NOT lead away from Jesus Christ, but instead would lead to Jesus Christ.  Peter was absolutely certain of this.  The Truth of Jesus Christ would be a consistent truth, and would find no other interpretation, or alternative path to God.  The Father had given us His Son, it was everything He had to give, there would be no greater gift He could offer.  And it would be the only means by which we could be remade and come back into the presence of our God.  Peter knew he was worshipping the right God, and the only God.  Peter knew His Son was His only Son, and Peter would stipulate that all true prophecy could only have one author, therefore only have one outcome.  There would be no prophecies inspired by God that would point to Mohammed, or Buddha, or any other purported deity.  The only prophecies inspired by God would always and only point to Jesus Christ.

But Peter here too offers us a glimpse of what the goal of the gospel is to be in our lives … ‘until the day star arise in our hearts’.  The goal of prophecy and of accepting the gospel, is not to make us scholars in the Word.  We are not to be oracles of the future where men come to gain advice of how to obtain their next desire.  We are to allow prophecy and the acceptance of the gospel, to enable Jesus Christ the day star, to arise in our hearts.  We are to live the messages of prophecy.  We are to live the love of the gospel.  We are to reflect Jesus Christ as the source of light in our lives, not believe we have become the source of its origin.  To become like Jesus, because we allow Jesus to remake us to love others like God loves others is the entire point of both the gospel and the sure word of prophecy.  Any other use or goal is meaningless.

Peter does not attempt to use the knowledge of his own death to alter that outcome.  He does not beg God to change it.  Instead he uses his foreknowledge to remind and reinforce in the minds of his readers, the importance of living the salvation experience.  He reminds them at risk of looking like an old man who cannot stop repeating himself, that this gospel is the most important thing on planet earth.  It is more important than life and death, even when that life and death is your own.  Many of his readers will die in Roman stadiums to the blood thirsty cheers of the crowd and the roar of lions starved into a demonic rage.  They will face this fate singing hymns of praise to Jesus Christ.  They will die like sheep following their shepherd, not because they do not value life, but because they value the life their Lord intends for them far more.  Peter’s example will be remembered when they face their own horrific end.  Peter’s foreknowledge of what would happen to him, did not deter him from the gospel, instead it deepened him in the gospel.  His impassioned pleas to the Romans who would put him to death, carried even more weight because he knew the Truth of Jesus Christ, and because he trusted both his life and his death into the hands of Jesus Christ.

Peter knew he would die.  In your own heart, you know you will to.  Peter hoped for the Lord return before he died, as do you.  But Peter met his end, with the certainty of the truth of our Lord Jesus Christ.  That Truth caused Peter to live every moment before his death with the priority of the gospel as front and center.  Will we do the same?  Can we learn to re-measure the quality of our lives not by how long they last, but by how much love we show to others before they end?  Can we allow Christ to so remake us, that every moment is a brand new opportunity to do something for someone else?  It is in showing love to others that we most resemble our Lord.  To live this way, is to truly live.  When once we embrace this path, our death will only be a brief interruption in a lifestyle we will carry into a perfect world, where all lingering chains and weakness will once and for all be removed.  In that world, what we started here by loving others, will be amplified by the perfection He will have completed in us.  In that world, our experience will be something we can hardly imagine in this one.  This was the goal of prophecy, and of the gospel, to see us live a life like this, that begins in the here and the now, and sees only a completion in the next one.

And Peter had more yet to say …