“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.”
through the knowledge of Him
Christ is the source of knowledge mentioned in verse two. God the Father is the source of life and godliness in verse three. To know Christ is to know God; to know God is to know Christ. We can utilize God’s power for life and godliness when we know His power.
Source is the point of emphasis in the phrase “through the knowledge of Him.” By employing knowledge of God in our experience, we come to understand all things that pertain to life and godliness. Engaging with knowing God makes our understanding firm and solid. We learn what God has provided for us as we read and study our Bible. The better we know our Bible, the better we know God.
This word for “knowledge” differs from the standard word for knowledge. There is a prefix in front of this word in the original language, making it an intense term – “full-knowledge.” This term carries more than common knowledge; it is a full-orbed knowledge of God (Col 1:10).
PRINCIPLE:
The better we know God’s Word, the better we can apply God’s principles to life.
APPLICATION:
The better we know God, the better we can appropriate all operating assets God has put at our disposal. What good is an asset if we do not use it? What good is my cell phone if I do not use it? What advantage are the provisions of God if we do not use them?
God catalogs all our assets in the Word of God. The child of God is supposed to read and study the Word to use it efficiently. The better we know the manual, the better we can use the equipment. Where do you start? Too bad babies do not come with a manual!
We should know God better this year than we did last year. Our spiritual development should be further along than it was last year. Are you going forward or falling behind in your Christian walk? Are your spiritual wheels spinning without any progress?
Go forward, get ahead in your Christian walk. Just because you fall, do not let that stop you. Don’t stay there; get up. Don’t let time go by without confessing your sin. Deal with it immediately and move on.
If we do not confess sin immediately, we may develop attitudinal sins such as resentment and bitterness. If we do, we may fill our minds with self-pity. Then we will blame others. Without confession, we are not honest with ourselves. We will operate with a hurt orientation whereby everyone and everything offends us. God may put us on the shelf with this attitude. When we stand before the Judgment Seat of Christ, there will be no doubt that the problem lies with our unwillingness to acknowledge our sin.
Have you lost your spiritual resiliency? Are your spiritual reflexes as quick as they should be? It obtains in God’s economy that we deal with sin quickly. We need to keep short accounts with God.
Are you willing to take stock of your current fellowship with God? What is your spiritual inventory? Do you ever say, “Lord, I have been bitter toward…. I have been mean toward…. What is the matter with me? Why am I so cranky? Why am I so irritable? Why am I wretched? God, I’m ready to blame everyone and anyone. I felt like biting their heads off. What is eating me, Lord?”
