"God and Savior," the Divine implication

The other night, my Greek professor helped to establish by an exceptionless rule, that Jesus Christ is our God and Savior.  (Two posts back).  

Why is this so important?  

Because the "great and precious promises" that follow upon that very truth.  

As God would have it, that very next day, our youth leader in Bible study picked up where the Holy Spirit left off with me, at II Peter 1:3-4:  

Simon Peter, a bondservant and apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who have obtained like precious faith with us by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ:  

Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge (epignosis) of God and Jesus our Lord, as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life (zoe) and godliness, through the knowledge (epignosis) of Him who called us by glory and virtue, by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.  

Wow.  Let's unpack these verses to understand their meaning.  I believe that they hold some of the most fundamental truths of the Christian faith.  

"...to those who have obtained like precious faith with us by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ."

This phrase is more than a theological statement; it establishes the theme of the letter.  Any epistle opens with a greeting that identifies not only the author and audience, but the thrust of writing.  Galatians opens with a blessing of Christ's deliverance from sin, which the Galatian church had forgotten in their legalism.  Philippians opens rejoicing that the Christians are still growing strong in the gospel, as its body focuses on encouragement to run the race and keep the faith, hope, and joy that they have despite threats of death and suffering.  I Peter addresses right off the election for sanctification and obedience that will be the theme of his first epistle.  

And II Peter sets the tone by explicitly stating Christ's deity, in a letter warning against false doctrines that separate Christians from the source of life (zoe), which is Christ.   

"Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge (epignosis) of God and Jesus our Lord..."

(An interesting question for Dr. Granville-Sharp would be whether "our Lord" would be modifying "God and Jesus," or only "Jesus."  However, based on my current knowledge of Greek, I'll have to leave that question for a rainy day.  Based on a correct understanding of the Trinity's separation of persons, either way is adequate.)  

Instead, I want to focus on that word, "epignosis."  There are two Greek roots meaning knowledge: gnosis, and episto*.  They correspond roughly to the Spanish conocer and saber.  Gnosis pertains to experiential knowledge, the way one "knows" a person or loved one, as opposed to knowledge of information about a person.  Verse 4 emphasizes that our receipt of life and godliness come through "the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue."  

How do we know God through Jesus?  Colossians 1:15 states that He is the image of the invisible God, and according to John 1:14, He has proclaimed God or made Him known through His incarnation.  When Philip asks Jesus to "show us the Father," He chides him that "Anyone who has seen Me has seen the Father, so how can you say, 'Show us the Father'?" (John 14:9).  

Anyone who has read the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7) can testify that these words were not spoken by a mere man.  My own pastor came to believe Christ was God, even under an atheist regime, simply by reading these words of Jesus Christ scrawled in an old notebook.  Not only His teachings, but His responses to the questions and challenges of the Pharisees astounded His audience (Luke 20).  Not only His words, but also His actions spoke of God's love for us.  

People knew this instictively, and were drawn to Him.  The leper in Mark 2 approached Him seeking His favor: "Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean."  Although the religious leaders rejected Him out of political and financial motive, not theological, the dregs of society approached Him with a purity that assumed His identity.  Even non-Jews, such as the Syro-Phonecian woman and the Roman centurian, recognized Jesus' identity as the source of food for the children:  

"First let the children eat all they want," He told her.  "It is not right to take the children's bread and toss it to their dogs."  

"Yes, Lord," she said, "But even the dogs under the table eat the children's crumbs."  -Mark 7:27-28

For her faith, he healed her daughter.  What faith was that, except faith that He, Jesus Christ, was the Father of Israel and head of the symbolic household in which the children were the Jews and she, a mere "dog" of a Gentile, could only beg for a few crumbs that His children had overlooked?  

We know God because Jesus showed Him to us.  Not in likeness, but in truth.  

Second point...

Jesus Christ equips the church with divine gifts--gifts directly from God and related to His own nature that we can receive because we have fellowship with the fully divine Jesus Christ.  

"His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness 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 and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires."

His divine power has given us everything that we need for life and godliness, through our knowledge of Him.  You can read that two different ways--either "divine power" and "knowledge" is really God's power and knowing Him personally through the person of the Son... OR, it's just a god-like power that assists us in daily living... okay, we could all use a little divine power.  Our exegesis of the opening line, "God and Savior, Jesus Christ," helps us to know which one is correct.  

But the deeper significance of Christ's deity becomes clear through these verses.  

God's goal for our lives is that we know Him, and that through knowing Him--and using HIS power--we will become like Him.  Not like Him in His God-ness, His omnipotent, omnipresent, omniscient, etc., being.  No, no, no.  

We become like Him in his character.  That perfect, Divine Love that exists within the Trinity.  That humility, unselfishness, gentleness, patience, and truth... which is our God and Savior!  

That is what it means to become "partakers in the Divine nature"!  We are regenerated into the image of God in which man was originally created, before the fall.  Jesus' creative power is once again at work in us as we are reunited with Him, as we know Him in the power of His resurrection.  Jesus works in us to make us holy... a righteousness that is not of ourselves, but is a gift from God.  

If Jesus is not God, then none of this applies.  If He is a creation, He cannot show us the Father.  

You cannot perceive the Creator through the creation.  The Creator must reveal Himself to you.  God first inspired the Prophets to speak divine revelation in the form of His holy word.  He sent messages verbatim by means of created angels.  But in these last times, as the writer of Hebrews says, He has spoke to us directly by means of the Son, 

"through whom also He made the world.  And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power." -Hebrews 1:2-3

May our God and Savior, Jesus Christ, be praised forever, and "let all the angels of God worship Him." (Heb. 1:6)  Amen.