2 Peter - Preparing for What’s Next: Through Jesus you can start living a heavenly life now (2 Peter 1:5-11)
Jordan Byrd
One summer in college, a roommate of mine got married in Denver, Colorado. To get there, I had to drive from Ohio to Missouri, and then, along with a fellow college classmate, we drove from Missouri to Denver. I had flown over Colorado before, but I’d never seen the landscape from the ground. I already knew about the majesty of the Rocky Mountains, so when we crossed the border from Kansas into Colorado, I expected the mountains to suddenly appear on the horizon. Well, I was very wrong. We drove and drove for hours, passing through endless fields of golden wheat. Still, no mountains in sight. Every now and then, I thought I saw a peak in the distance, but it was always just a cloud hovering on the horizon. If I were an old-time settler on this trip, and someone had told me about the mountains in Colorado, I probably would have given up and thought the whole state was just flat, endless fields. But, thanks to modern technology—maps and GPS—I could see the bigger picture. I had the long view of the journey, and that gave me perspective. From where I stood, at the eastern border of Colorado, all I could see was a desolate expanse of wheat fields. But with the right tools, I could see that there was something much greater ahead—a majestic mountain range waiting for me to see if I would just keep moving toward it.
When we can’t see past our current situation, we’re tempted to believe that our current reality is all there is.
In everyday life, when we can’t see past our current situation, we’re tempted to believe: that our current reality is all there is – that our current options are all there is. When we only see evil. When we only encounter human knowledge. When we only encounter unrestrained indulgence and impulses. When we only encounter apathy, fear, and pessimism. When we only encounter deception and destruction. When we only encounter selfish desires. When we only encounter hatred, hostility, and exclusion – when this is the kind of life that we’re constantly surrounded by – when these are the responses that we’re constantly faced with – we’re tempted to deceptively believe that this kind of life is effective and productive – that this kind of life leads to fulfillment – that this kind of life leads to the ideal life we long for.
And it’s a distorted temptation: we know the negatives that come from personal experience of evil, limited human knowledge, deception, selfishness, and hatred. Yet, we’re still tempted to align and participate in these habits and practices to realize an ideal life for ourselves. Distorting truth to manipulate situations for personal gain, whether through exaggerating facts, misrepresenting our motives, or twisting narratives to fit our agendas – to create the illusion of having it all together. Overcoming challenges through self-reliance, leaning on our own knowledge, power, and resources – believing we have the ability to conquer everything on our own. Tearing others down to lift ourselves up, using gossip, criticism, or even social media shaming – to feel noticed, validated, or heard. Prioritizing our own needs, desires, and ambitions – overworking, overindulging, or hoarding resources at the expense of relationship with — your friends, family, or spouse. Resorting to intimidation, anger, or violent language, whether in person, online, or in our communities – to assert dominance or get our way. These habits and practices are tempting because they promise a quick fix or the illusion of control, but in reality, they only lead us further away from the life we desire.
We’re constantly tempted to be nearsighted when it comes to living. We’re tempted to have a myopic view of life – viewing only what’s in front of us, or based on what we already know, or have experienced. In short, we’re tempted to live life with blinders – or poor eyesight – unable to see past our current situation – to a different way of living. This is the kind of life we’re left to prepare for. We’re tempted to pursue these habits and practices to prepare for and live the ideal life we long for.
The audience of 2 Peter was faced with a similar temptation. Peter, one of Jesus’ first disciples – and an eye-witness to the earthly life of Jesus – writes to remind followers of Jesus that Jesus provides a different way to view life. That Jesus provides a way to look beyond our current circumstances. That Jesus provides a different way to live. That Jesus provides the means and power to live the ideal life we long for.
We sometimes use the phrase “that person is in heaven” to describe that person being in their ideal environment or "happy place" on earth. While biblically, heaven is the realm of God, the term heavenly, even in a secular context, still conveys the idea of: perfection, bliss, happiness – an idyllic reality. In a lot of ways in a very generic sense, heavenly captures the ideal sense of life that we all long for. It captures a sense of life the way it’s supposed to be – life in its most correct or right form – life in its truest form. But who’s version of the right, good life, right?
The context of 2 Peter’s audience was filled with people – with philosophers, teachers, and leaders – advocating for a version of the good life – for a version of what a right and ideal life looks like. For the Hellenistic, or Greek culture of 2 Peter’s day, certain virtues, or morals or internal dispositions, or desires led to heroic acts. Greek heroes were most often: self-sufficient, rational, male citizens – heroes, as in our day, were to be looked up to – they embodied an ideal life. In established Greek philosophical thinking, the development of virtues, or moral habits led to this ideal life – a life oriented toward: goodness, learning (or acquiring knowledge), self-control, perseverance, respect, and a sense of duty or loyalty. Pursuing a virtuous or moral life, and avoiding vices like: malice, ignorance, self-indulgence, impulsiveness, laziness, disrespect, contempt, disloyalty, and irresponsibility is what led to a well-rounded life – is what led to a full life – is what led to the ideal, most-developed life.
In a general sense, this ideal life is what 2 Peter’s audience was aiming toward – giving every effort to avoid vices and live a virtuous, heavenly life on earth. In our day and age, we have a similar view of life that we’re tempted to aim toward: giving every effort to follow self-improvement tactics, habits, or practices, and avoiding the vices that counter these pursuits, as an autonomous self – to attain the ideal life – doing everything we can to live our version of heavenly life on earth on our own.
But 2 Peter’s audience was also tempted toward a new, progressive worldview, compared to the virtuous lifestyle of ancient Greek Philosophy that was established as normative in their day. 2 Peter’s audience was being tempted toward a worldview that claims that the ideal, enlightened, right, and good life is not the virtuous life, but one that does whatever one wants – that a life of indulging in vices is actually what will lead to a good life and freedom – that a life of virtue was restrained and keeping a person from experiencing all of life – that seeking pleasure and whatever one desires is what leads to an ideal life – is what leads to heaven on earth. But Peter’s testimony in 2 Peter 1:5-11 points to the deception of either of these worldviews. God’s word in 2 Peter 1:5-11 is a warning that both of these paths are short-sighted – that both of these paths will lead a person short of the ideal life they long for.
In 2 Peter 1:5-11, we encounter the good news of God that Jesus is all we need to start living the heavenly life we desire. Without Jesus, we’ll pursue a virtuous, moral life – on our own, and find that we’re unable to be a good, wise, self-controlled, never-giving-up, respectful, caring, and unselfish person – on our own; and find ourselves still living a lesser life – a corrupt life. We’ll find that we need Jesus to empower and transform us to be able to be that kind of person – the kind of person who can be moral in immoral surroundings – the kind of person who can become better than we began – the kind of person who becomes more like Jesus who lived this way to the fullest. Also, without Jesus, we’ll pursue an anything-goes life of self-indulgence, leading to our own destruction – deceptively leading us away from the full life of God.
Good news of 2 Peter 1:5-11 is that through Jesus, we can escape self-destructive desires and live a virtuous, abundant life. Through Jesus, we can actively become people who are good, wise, self-controlled, persevering, humble, caring, and unselfish, because we aren’t pursuing that life on our own, but in light of the knowledge of God and example of Jesus, and the life and power of the Holy Spirit. We can most fully live a virtuous, moral, well-rounded life – through Jesus. Through Jesus, we can start living a heavenly life now.
Make every effort to live a heavenly life now.
2 Peter 1:5-11 calls us to respond to this good news by making every effort to live a heavenly life now, through Jesus. Through Jesus, you can see the long view of life – that life with Jesus is the destination, the goal, and the purpose of the life we’ve been given. Through Jesus, you can start preparing now to live the eternal, heavenly life in the present. Through Jesus, you can start living a heavenly life now.
In WNY, we’re familiar with the Buffalo Naval Park, specifically, the USS Sullivans ships and the USS Croaker submarine. A few years ago, one of the ships began to sink and had emergency repairs to get it back afloat. Now, the ships need more extensive care to be preserved. So far: Overall millions of federal and state money, as well as a couple million from the county and city, and a couple hundred thousand dollars of community donations has been allocated to this project. In a lot of ways, the heavy lifting of the project has been done in securing the funding. The current state of the project is vetting companies to perform the actual work. The preservation of these ships is not a one-organization operation. Rather, the actual work of preserving the ships will be coming alongside the funding from multiple places.
2 Peter 1:5, make every effort to add to your faith
This concept of coming alongside is what is happening In 2 Peter 1:5, with the phrase, “make every effort to add to your faith.” The language used here borrows from the world of theater and drama in the ancient world, where a wealthy patron would put up funds for a show, and the actors and production crew came alongside the funding to actually bring the play to life.
The idea here is that the entire production was a collaborative effort. In a similar way, Peter is describing how God’s transformation of our lives, through Jesus, is a collaborative effort as well.
God has entered into human life, redeemed it from death, and renewed and perfected it for an eternal existence. Through the life of Jesus, God has made a connection point for us to enter into this transformed life. But just because God made it possible for our lives to be transformed, doesn’t mean it just happens – doesn’t mean it happens without our cooperation. Correct, there is nothing we could ever do, on our own, to rescue us from sin and death. We are incapable of doing that. We are completely dependent on Jesus – to bring us through death, and into a perfect life in eternity. But what is also correct is that Jesus’ redemption and transformation of our lives is not a passive reality – it’s not an otherworldly transformation. Rather, Jesus’ transformation of our lives happens within the bodily life God has given us – within the active, embodied lives God has given us.
There is a difference between earning salvation and participating in salvation. Earning salvation is about achieving it, while participating in salvation is about receiving it and living it out. Which means, it is something we put effort toward. Anything we do in life takes effort. But effort doesn’t have to mean making something happen on our own.
Power steering is something we receive from the automobile maker. It’s not something we make happen on our own. But power steering is something that requires our effort to use. It requires our actual steering of the steering wheel. We’d think it foolish to believe that power steering just automatically steers the car. Instead, we understand that power steering makes turning the car more possible. And in a sense, that is an example of what Peter is saying in 2 Peter 1:5-11: make every effort to add to your faith in Jesus. Jesus has already done the heavy lifting of showing how to live life to the fullest and overcome the obstacles to doing so. Jesus is inviting us to come alongside his accomplished work – so he can assist us in living like he did.
Notice that Peter states to add to your faith. Peter is highlighting that any effort added will be pointless if it’s not made through Jesus. Jesus is the linchpin of everything Peter says here. The virtuous life that Peter highlights in verses 5-7 is not possible, if not lived through the lens of Jesus. Peter is highlighting here that the virtuous, moral life that he’s describing starts at a very different place than the moral philosophy of Greek culture. The moral life Peter is describing starts with Jesus. Any sense of goodness, wisdom, self-control, perseverance, humility before God, care for others, and unselfish behavior will be understood and pursued through the lens of Jesus’ life. The pursuit of a virtuous life begins with faith in Jesus.
While Peter highlights that a heavenly life starts with Jesus, he also highlights that it also ends with Jesus. Peter’s list of virtues begins with faith in Jesus and concludes with the love of Jesus. The love referenced at the conclusion of Peter’s list of virtues is agape love, which is different than the mutual affection, or brotherly love he mentions right before it. There is a difference between showing goodwill toward a family member then there is showing goodwill toward a stranger, or better yet, someone you don’t like. This habit or practice is only possible through the God who gave of himself for the world who despised him – through Jesus who gave up his life to overcome death for us who didn’t think we needed him.
The heavenly life that Peter describes is one that benefits more than the person practicing it. It’s a life that benefits beyond the person practicing it. The end result of a virtuous life in the background of 2 Peter was mostly about bettering one’s self. The end result of Peter’s vision of a virtuous life is about becoming like Jesus – about becoming selfless, like Jesus in how one lives with others. So often, our pursuit of an ideal, good life is just about us. But the pursuit of an ideal, good life through Jesus is about getting away from ourselves so that we can love others well. The pursuit of a virtuous life leads to loving like Jesus.
Between the birth of two of my children and Towns being admitted a couple of times, I’ve spent my fair share of time at Oishei Children's Hospital. Part of going to Children’s is parking in the parking garage. To get into the parking garage, you take a ticket. But to get out of the garage, you have to have already paid for parking. And, to get out of the garage, you have to scan a validated parking ticket. A validated parking ticket shows that I have already paid at the pay booth. The validation of the paid parking at the exit just demonstrates what has already been done, and that I’m prepared to leave the garage.
In a similar sense, making every effort to add the virtues that Peter lists – to your faith in Jesus – functions as a demonstration of starting to live in God’s heavenly life on earth now. When these virtues shape your life, it shows you're living God's heavenly life on earth – it demonstrates that you’re preparing to live now how you’ll live in eternity when Jesus makes things right.
But it does so much more than just show that you’re connected to Jesus, it also shows that you’ve started experiencing the life of Jesus in your own life – that you’re becoming good, wise, self-controlled, persevering, humble, caring, and selfless – that you’re living the abundant life of God – into the ideal, right, and good life of God now. It demonstrates God’s power to do what we pray in the Lord’s prayer, For our heavenly Father’s will to be done on earth as it is in heaven –
God’s life lived out on earth now, as it will be for all eternity.
For God’s life to be lived out by you on earth now, as it will be for all eternity when Jesus makes all things right. Through Jesus, you can start living a heavenly life now.
The difficulty that we encounter today is that without the long view in mind pursuing goodness, wisdom, self-control, perseverance, humility, care, and selflessness can seem pointless – can seem ineffective in living the life we long for. It can be difficult to see how being patient with a difficult neighbor is living a heavenly life now. It can be difficult to see how being selfless with your spouse is living a heavenly life now. It can be difficult to see how self-control with various substances or activities is living a heavenly life now. It’s difficult to see if we’re not looking through Jesus and with the long view of living how we’ll live in eternity.
Without Jesus, we’ll strive to pursue a heavenly life on our own.
Without Jesus, we’ll strive to pursue a heavenly life on our own, or we’ll become passive, and see Jesus, but never come alongside him, to allow him to transform us into something better.
If we become passive or ignore Jesus, we'll focus on the present and be tempted toward a lesser or destructive path.
And if we allow ourselves to become passive or disregard Jesus altogether, we’ll look away from the long view and focus on what’s right around us, and be tempted toward a lesser or destructive way of life. We’ll become nearsighted, or at worst, blind.
2 Peter is inviting us to keep the long view in mind. See life through Jesus. Make every effort to become like Jesus. And anticipate becoming like Jesus, with his transforming power. The end result is that we can start living a heavenly life now. And you can look forward to Jesus bringing that life to perfection when he makes everything right. Through Jesus, you can start living a heavenly life now.
If you’re honest, are you living the life you desire? If not, God’s word invites you to taste and see, that Jesus’ life is what you’re longing for. God’s word calls you to follow Jesus and live an abundant life through Him. God’s word invites you to turn to Jesus and see life through his life, and have faith that he can transform you to live the best and most abundant life possible. Please find me or another trusted follower of Jesus, and we’d be glad to help you start having faith in Jesus, and allow him to help you start living a heavenly life now.
What virtue is God’s Spirit urging you to add to your faith in Jesus?
If you’re already trying to live life through Jesus, what quality of 2 Peter 1:5-11, is God’s Spirit calling you to make every effort to add to your faith in Jesus? How is God’s Spirit calling you to pursue goodness, wisdom, self-control, perseverance, humility, care, and selflessness through Jesus, and with Jesus’ guidance? How might you be pursuing those qualities, without Jesus? How might you be doubting one or more of these qualities as being the true, good, heavenly life that you’ve been called to? Trust that coming alongside Jesus is what will truly lead you to the life you long for. Through Jesus, you can start living a heavenly life now.