II Peter 1:1-2

image source: http://www.mystudios.com/art/bar/rembrandt/rembrandt-apostle-kneeling.html

Moving ahead now to 2 Peter.

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.

What is my identity?

Simon Peter described himself as a servant.

That is certainly one of the top virtues emphasized by Jesus.

Mark 9:35, Sitting down, Jesus called the Twelve and said, "If anyone wants to be first, he must be the very last, and the servant of all."

Peter also recognized that he did have a particular role as one of the original 12 and thus rightly claimed the title of Apostle.

Yet, in the very next breath, he diminished that distinction by saying that the faith of his readers was just as precious as his and his fellow apostles.

The reason: that faith was made possible by "the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ."

On top of the faith, grace and peace comes along because his readers know God and Jesus.

Christianity isn't just a collection of intellectual ideas, it is transformative of lives and a relationship with God.

In I Peter, this was emphasized in the context of the suffering that the believers faced. In II Peter, we will be seeing a different challenge that believers then and now, face.

Lord, it is all grace. Without what Jesus did, I'm lost. Without your preserving the faith and the faithful through the generations, I would not have heard of the message of Jesus. May more people in our cold-hearted and warring world come to know you and thus experience peace and grace. Strengthen those who follow you in difficult places. Amen.