Through the Knowledge Of HIM – Eternal Life

Through the Knowledge Of HIM, we can experience Eternal Life.

After speaking with His disciples, Jesus prayed to the Father for His disciples. In His prayers he mentioned Eternal life – John 17:3 (NIV)

Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.

Emphasis Mine

We are looking at the benefits we experience through the knowledge of God and Jesus our LORD or benefits we experience as a result of our knowledge of God and Jesus our LORD.

Jesus is praying for His disciples (we can choose to be His disciples) that they should know God as the only true God and Jesus Christ whom He has sent. Therefore, we experience eternal life through our knowledge of God and Jesus our LORD. And because we have the ability and access to that knowledge while still living on earth, we can begin experiencing eternal life on earth.

Eternal life is not reserved only for the death in Christ. It can be experienced and lived by the living in Christ. Amen.

The disconnect with eternal Life occurs when

a)     We do not believe there is God (…that they know you…)

b)     We believe in many gods (…the only true God…)

c)     We believe there is God, however, he is not the only one and true God (…the only true God…)

d)     We do not understand why Jesus was sent (agreeing that God the Father gave Him to die on the cross for our sins) – (…and Jesus Christ whom you have sent).

e)     We do not believe in God the Father and God the Son (…that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ…).

How else can these truths be made known to us if we are void of HIS knowledge?

Through the Knowledge of HIM – Godly Life

2 Peter 1:3 (NIV)

His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.

Emphasis Mine

What is a godly life? A godly life is a Spirit – led life.

To live a godly life will mean to live a Spirit-led life. God is Spirit according to John 4:24a (NIV).  We are His offspring, therefore, we are Spirit beings. So, in order to be “godly” – we need to be led by the Holy Spirit.

Our knowledge of Him is the permission/access through which we can experience a godly life. Living a godly life will therefore mean living a life that God will live if in our position. Therefore, we have the responsibility to live like Him (represent HIM) through a godly life and through godly actions.

How can you know that an act is godly without the knowledge of HIM?

Only the Word of God tells us what is godly. So without the knowledge of Him, how can you possibly know that an act is godly?

A “goodly life” is not a “godly life”. God is most pleased when we are Spirit – led.

Through the knowledge of HIM, we get to understand that there are certain actions/behaviors that when we engage in, increases ungodliness. A knowledge of these actions will propel us in the right directions, to start engaging in godly actions.

2 Timothy 2:16 (NIV)

Avoid godless chatter, because those who indulge in it will become more and more ungodly.

                                                            Emphasis Mine

Through the Knowledge Of HIM – Introduction

The book of 2 Peter was written by Peter. Peter was one of the disciples of Jesus Christ. The purpose of the book is to warn Christians everywhere and the church about false teachers; also to exhort Christians to grow in their faith in the knowledge of Christ.

The foundational scriptures for this teaching will be based on 2 Peter 1:1-11 (NIV)

Simon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ,

To those who through the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ have received a faith as precious as ours:

Grace and peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.

Confirming One’s Calling and Election

His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.

For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But whoever does not have them is nearsighted and blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their past sins.

Therefore, my brothers and sisters, make every effort to confirm your calling and election. For if you do these things, you will never stumble,   and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Through the knowledge of HIM – the HIM being referred to in this context is God and Jesus our LORD”. Can you picture a life, better still, your life, governed, directed, influenced totally by the knowledge of God and Jesus our LORD? Beautiful right?

There are many benefits of knowing God and Jesus our LORD. This knowledge is only obtained through studying the WORD of God for yourself and doing the Word. The enemy will do everything in his power to rob you of spending time with the Word and by this relentless effort of his, we are placed in positions to make excuses - giving reasons why we cannot study the word. Guess what? Whether or not we agree, we will never function at our full potential because we have cooperated with the enemy to live at a level in life whereby we are perpetually being shortchanged.

·       What will it take for you to re-structure your schedule such that you spend some time of your day studying the WORD?

·       What will it take for you to identify that where you are right now is not God’s best for you? There is more to be discovered through the knowledge of HIM.

·       What will it take to say “NO” to the tricks of the enemy and “Yes” to God?

·       What will it take to say goodbye to living a “good life” and welcome a “godly life”?

Let’s delve deeper into this series and rediscover the benefits of living through the knowledge of God and Jesus our LORD. Amen.

Prayer For You

Loving Father, we thank you for teaching us from Paul’s Epistle to Philemon on how to be excellent Brother’s Keepers – a selfless journey worth pursuing and staying on. Father, as we desire to reflect Christ more and more and to establish the kingdom of heaven here on earth, we choose not to stop pursuing wisdom from the word because it is the only sure way to do so.

So far we have learned that in order to be a brother’s keeper, we will work as a team, live accountable lifestyles, remain prayerful, praise and rejoice with and for one another. Reconcile. We will be considerate, we will encourage and forgive. We will keep likeminded companionships and develop trustworthy character traits and more.

We take authority over any and every desire to live mediocre lifestyles and settle for the status quo. We refuse to be shortchanged in life. We choose to experience victory in every relationship we engage in. We will not barely make it in life; we will live excellently and prevail in every situation because we are knowledgeable about what your word says concerning that situation.

We are so grateful that you love us so much not to live us in the dark. We do not take this for granted. We receive the grace, ability, and willingness to do as expected. In Jesus Name. Amen.

Know Your Place

Something very outstanding is revealed to us in this epistle that should not go unnoticed. We are taught to be knowledgeable about our place in the lives of the people we associate with. Let’s look at this together – Paul related with several people in this Epistle and I want us to see the progression and differences of the relationships.

When Paul related with Timothy, he referred to him as my brother/our brother (Philemon 1:1b)

When Paul related with Philemon, he referred to him as a good friend and companion (fellow laborer/worker, co-worker (Philemon 1:1c)

When Paul related with Onesimus, he referred to him as his spiritual child (Philemon 1:10a)

As you practice to become an effective and excellent brother’s keeper, your success will become even more evident when you do so skillfully and knowledgeably - by knowing your place in the life of the person you relate with and also knowing their place in your life. It will save you so much confusion and lack of direction. It will create a healthy platform for discussions and interactions. It will completely eliminate vain living.

Knowing your place will also increase your influence in the life of the person. Do not be quick to relate with others without vision and purpose. It is possible to influence and impact relationships. This can only happen when you prayerfully know your place in the life of the person and their place in your life. Amen.

Trustworthy

A trustworthy person is a reliable person. It is commonly said that trust is built or developed over time. Trust is earned through a series of exchanges and occurrences of character traits exhibited by a person. When we trust God, we are simply saying that in the absence of any trace of Him, when the occurrences around us do not seem to reflect Him, we can depend and trust in His never changing character over time. Amen!

The Epistle of Paul to Philemon communicates an aspect of trust between Paul and Philemon. After encouraging Philemon to receive Onesimus no longer as a slave but as a brother in the Lord, Paul further tells Philemon to credit His account on anything that Onesimus owes him. Then he says

Philemon 1:21 (NKJV)

Having confidence in your obedience, I write to you, knowing that you will do even more than I say.

Emphasis Mine

I call that a statement of trust – having confidence in your obedience. In the absence of Philemon’s presence, Paul could still rely on his character. This is what I call a true brother’s keeper relationship. He trusted and could count on his character.

Now, examine yourself as you improve on becoming an outstanding brother’s keeper. Has your character overtime been that which has built trust between you and your fellow brethren in the Lord? If not, all hope is not lost. Carefully and intentionally work on yourself so that you offer nothing but the best of you in your relationships.

Like-Minded Companionship

Companionship is not limited to a tangible company. By this, I specifically mean, company that can be touched physically. The thoughts we meditate on, the books we read, the social media exposure, the television shows we watch are all different ways we can choose to keep company with something or someone. As we read through Paul’s epistle to Philemon, one thing is very obvious; Paul and Philemon were not in the same location, however, thoughts of Philemon kept running through the mind of Paul as he penned this epistle to Philemon.

Paul refers to Philemon as …my good friend and companion in this work (Philemon 1:1a MSG). When we refer to like-minded companionship, we simply mean keeping company with someone who has similar goals and interests as you. This is very obvious in Paul’s statement… my good friend and companion in this work (Philemon 1:1a MSG). By implication, they were together for a reason – they worked together and in this case, for kingdom purposes. One of Paul’s responsibilities was to plant churches and one of the churches planted was in Philemon’s house (…and to the church in your house (Philemon 1:2b (NKJV)).

By implication, it was not idle companionship. The goals were clear, there was a vision and possibly a mission. When they met, they had a platform for communication. I believe it was almost unlikely for Paul and Philemon to have a conversation and not mention the well-being of the church in terms of problem-solving, goal setting and how to make changes in order to benefit the church, etc.

There are great benefits in like-minded companionship because the returns are even greater. Purposefully keep company with like-minded people. The question that may arise is this, if indeed I am a brother’s keeper, should I not care about the well-being of my brethren who are perishing? Yes, indeed you should care and there are skillful approaches you can all use to make that companionship beneficial to both of you. Relate with knowledge and by so doing, you will know which skill should be implemented.

There are many, and I will mention a few as seen in the book of Jude 1:22-23 (NIV)

Be merciful to those who doubt; save others by snatching them from the fire; to others show mercy, mixed with fear-hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh.

It was on the basis of Christlike mindedness that Paul was calling on Philemon to accept Onesimus. Amen!