Stages of Growth | 2 Corinthians 3:18 | 2 Peter 1:1-11

INTRODUCTION

What a joy it is for us to have you at church and online this morning. I am so thankful to God for this New Year. I am grateful to God for you. Each of your lives is a singular story of God’s abounding grace and God’s provision in our growth toward Christ,

The theme I have been preaching for this new year is the theme – GROW.

2 Corinthians 3:18

And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.

This is the message from different epistles.

2 Peter 1:5

For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness.; and to goodness, knowledge; ⁶and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; ⁷and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love.

2 Peter 3:18

But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

1 Timothy 4:7-8

⁷Have nothing to do with godless myths and old wives’ tales; rather, train yourself to be godly. ⁸For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.

Hebrews 6:1

Therefore let us move beyond the elementary teachings about Christ and be taken forward to maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance from acts that lead to death, and of faith in God….

The Christian life is a life of contrast (close association) and one of continuity.

ILLUSTRATION

Picture of family. God has blessed us with a wonderful family. When we got the news some 19 and 15 years back that we are expecting with our children, we were so excited. I remember going to the hospital and getting the first scan done. Our child was our child lying supine in the womb. When I got the scan copy, that was the best thing I had had at that time. It was not long after that the children were born. By the time grace was born in 2007, I had a mobile phone. I took a lot of pictures of Grace. I showed them to all our relatives and friends.

Later we had her first birthday, second birthday, the fifth birthday and we kept on taking pictures and the latest ones became more appealing for us. The scan or the pictures of her birth did not do much justice because things have changed so drastically.

All scan reports and the birthday pictures are wonderful, but nothing compared to the latest picture of a person. It was never bad, it was great, children are always good, but it is greater now, it is the best now.

Spiritual Journey

I use this to show you about our spiritual growth. When we are saved, we are born again, we starts our spiritual journey. But that is not enough. God wants us to grow and mature into his image and likeness. That is a lifelong pursuit.

Paul uses in the 2 Corinthians 3 uses the history of the scriptures in the covenantal relationships under Moses and now under Christ. The difference between the law and the Spirit to talk about contrast, yet continuity. The law was not bad, it was great for its time. But it is greater now than it has ever been. You and I in this side of the cross with all that God has given to us, this is the best time in human history to be in a right relationship with God. You are in a privileged position as I am.

In this passage, Paul is going to contrast the old covenant that changes to the new covenant through the blood of Jesus Christ. See how God chose to use the continuity of the old Hebrew Bible to the NT.

Contrast and Continuity of the Old Covenant and the New Covenant

John 1:17

For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

2 Corinthians 3:3

You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.

2 Corinthians 3:9

If the ministry that brought condemnation was glorious, how much more glorious is the ministry that brings righteousness!

2 Corinthians 3:10

For what was glorious has no glory now in comparison with the surpassing glory

2 Corinthians 3:11

And if what was transitory came with glory, how much greater is the glory of that which lasts.

2 Corinthians 3:12-13

¹²Therefore, since we have such a hope, we are very bold. ¹³We are not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face to prevent the Israelites from seeing the end of what was passing away.

2 Corinthians 3:14

But their minds were made dull, for to this day the same veil remains when the old covenant is read. It has not been removed, because only in Christ is it taken away.

Grace and truth was true with Moses, it just got escalated, personified, made possible by Christ. Great continuity, but great contrast, not from bad to good but from great to greater, from glory to more glorious and in comparison this is the best it has ever been. It is not the end of the story. One day it will be better than it is today when Jesus returns and we will see him and we will be like him for we will see him as he is.

See what Paul says further:

2 Corinthians 3:16-18

¹⁶But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. ¹⁷Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. ¹⁸And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.

We Are Being Transformed.

Are being transformed – It is a present tense. It is a constant exercise of being changed, transformed. This is a process of growth.

ILLUSTRATION

This is a picture of a butterfly. Butterflies are unique and fragile creatures with lifespans that range from a brief 3 days to 6 months, with 2 weeks being the common average. God has created the beautiful butterflies for a 2-week average window. Their complete lifecycle is a process involving 4 stages: The egg, the caterpillar, the pupa or the chrysalis, and then the full-blown butterfly.

The butterfly egg is about the size of a pinhead and it is deposited by the female on the underside of the leaf. Not just any leaf will do, the caterpillar will emerge from the egg to become a voracious eater and it will only eat from the leaves of specific species of plants. Once the caterpillar is born and eats and grows, it enters the pupa stage, housing itself in the home of its very own making called a chrysalis. With many butterfly species, the chrysalis itself is a joy to behold, sparkling in the sun like a precious jewel, as it clings to the vegetation.

Metamorphosis

But inside the chrysalis one of the most astounding phenomena of nature takes place. Scientists call it the metamorphosis from a homely caterpillar to a resplendent butterfly. According to researchers there are 18000 species of butterflies in the world. What a great community of variety! And they each have specific food sources and environmental requirements.

As they go through that egg and then the caterpillar stage and over to the chrysalis stage and over to the butterfly stage, something happens dramatically. The word metamorphosis that is used in science comes from the Greek word “metamorphoumetha” which is the very word Paul uses here. It is a miracle of supernatural occurrence in a believer’s life like it is in God’s supernatural creation in the physical world. It is a joy to behold.

The importance of every stage in metamorphosis

The worst thing we can do, and some have done it as children, is to take a pair of scissors and cut through the chrysalis to find out what is going on inside, this aborts the process. The amazing thing is, if left alone the way God has designed it, it is slow but progressive. There is contrast between the 4 stages but there is obviously a continuity.

There is no stagnancy in the life of a caterpillar. Caterpillars are growth stage on the way to a butterfly. It is not the end product.

One of the great things that we enjoy is that Paul says that we are being transformed with ever-increasing glory. We go on from glory to glory. We grow from one stage of glory to another stage of glory.

Transformation and metamorphosis are never from death to life.

Transformation is always from one stage of life to another stage of life. This is not used for the word born again. Being born again is being changed out of death into life. Transformation and metamorphosis is always used for a believer. This word is also used for the transfiguration of Christ which is not obviously out of death into life. It is that change on the outside from an inside nature that Christ displayed on the mount of transfiguration, that the same word is used.

It is used in Romans 12 and 2 Corinthians 3:18 for this grant process of God changing you and changing me from the inside out by a miraculous work of the Spirit. From glory to glory, these are the stages of growth.

How Does The Growth Happen?

Community Life

V18 Paul says, “We all.”

The spiritual life is not an isolated journey. It is not a solo expedition. It is a community occasion.

Paul says to the

Ephesians 5:19

..speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit.

And we all, who with unveiled faces…

He uses the term “we all” with an unveiled face. This means in the context whenever a person turns to the Lord, the veil is removed, so he comes back to a face veiling which is the illustration from Moses. And now that we have turned to the Lord, the veil is removed. So “we all,” is not a community of people but a community of believers whose face veil has been removed because we have turned by faith to Christ. It is a community of like-minded people.

The Church

That is a part of the equipping environment for God’s people, You and I have the privilege to be a part of a learning community at City Harvest We have the unbelievable privilege of Bible scholars come to us and we get to hear from them. We have the great privilege of watching God work in other people’s lives while God works in our lives. Don’t miss that and don’t fail to take advantage of that.

You and I do not create the unity that we share in Christ. God has made that unity and we discover that. When other people come to Christ and when the veil has been removed, we are one body. We have access alike through the Spirit to the person of God because of the finished work of Christ.

So if you are wondering if you can get along with other believers, you might as well get used to it. Eternity is going to be full of them. There is going to be unique and variety. Every tongue, nation, and people. India is a great place to experience the variety of people in the Kingdom. City Harvest is a great place to be. We have a multi-ethnic, multilinguistic, and multicultural church.

How to have grow?

Word of God

2 Corinthians 3:18 And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate^[ the Lord’s glory

KJV But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord,

This is a reference to the word of God. Beholding and reflecting as in a mirror. The glory of the Lord (this is the person of Christ).

James 1:23-24

²³Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror ²⁴and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like.

The Holy Spirit Enables The Growth.

It is the third person of Trinity that gets highlighted here.

2 Corinthians 3:18

And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate ^the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.

It happens from the Lord, who is the Spirit. He is the agent of change, the source of the power.

One verse, don’t miss the components.

It is a community of believers. They give attention to the word of God in which they see the glory of the person of Christ, then the growth takes place, something dramatic takes place.

Peter writing his 2^nd epistle talks about the qualities of a growing believer.

Qualities Of A Growing Believer

2 Peter 1:5-8 ⁵For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; ⁶and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; ⁷and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love. ⁸For 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.

ILLUSTRATION

Someone asked a boy how old he was. He said, “I am 12, going to be 13, soon will be 14.” This boy wanted to grow up.

Most Christians want growth especially when they are new in the faith. But often as time goes on, the enthusiasm to grow begins to wane and begins to fade. So many settle into a dull Christian routine and they grow spiritually complacent and lethargic. That is not good.

ILLUSTRATION

We are like an old farmer who explained his Christian experience by saying, “Well I am not making much progress, but I am established.”

He would say that over and over again and one spiring when he was carrying some logs, his tractor got stuck in the mud and stopped. A neighbor Christian who knew about the farmer’s wornout testimony came by. He called out, “Brother, I see that you are not making much progress but you must be content because you are well-established.”

Well, it was telling him, you are stuck in the mud but you are also stuck spiritually speaking. I want to say to you this morning, “If you are stuck spiritually, God want you to grow.” God is not satisfied with a life of mediocrity. He wants you to grow and even if you have been a Christian for many years, the New Year should be a year that you grow in the Lord. Until you are perfected like Jesus Christ which will not happen until you see him at His coming, you still have room to grow and so do I. I made a profession of Christ when I was a boy and I am still striving to grow.

In our text, Peter gives us some wise counsel about growth in the Lord, growing in godliness and the things of God.

You will not grow my friend without deliberate action, deliberate effort and discipline. Peter, the fisherman, a man known in the gospel for his impulsiveness. Here he sets forth under the inspiration of God, he writes to us a deliberate discipline, approach to spiritual growth.

ILLUSTRATION

Have you seen time-lapse photography? It will allow you to see physical growth over a span and period of years. But you know that there are no photographs that will show you your spiritual growth.

We know from the Bible that Spiritual growth happens through little advances, you keep growing little at a time

Qualities Of a Growing Person

1. Have Your Faith And Trust In Jesus Christ.

First of all, if anyone has to grow, you need to make sure that your faith and trust is in the Lord Jesus Christ alone.

You cannot grow in the things of God if you do not know God through Jesus Christ.

1 Peter 1:1-4

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:

²Grace and peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.

Thank God that we have received this gospel. We can grow in the Lord.

2 Corinthians 4:4

The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.

A lot of people do not understand the word of God, but thank God that he has opened our hearts and eyes to who Jesus and we have responded to him in faith. Before God opened our eyes, we were dead in trespasses and in sin, Ephesians 2:1-3.

Spiritually dead

We were spiritually dead, with no spiritual life whatsoever. So if you have trusted Jesus Christ as Saviour and Lord, it is not because of your keen insight, it is merely his grace. Now that you are in Christ, we are called to grow in Christ.

The instant you trust in Jesus, God gives you the key to the unfathomable riches in Christ, (Ephesians 1:7-8, Ephesians 3:8) which supplies you with everything you need for life and for godliness.

In the list of the qualities that follow in 2 Peter 1:5-7

Saving faith is the essential foundation for growing in godliness.

2. Maintain The Right Motivation.

If you want to grow in faith and godliness, you must maintain the right motivation. The right motivation is:

1 Peter 1:3-4

³His 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. ⁴Through 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.

1. Have A Godly Life. V3
2. Participate In The Divine Nature. V4

We can also grow for the wrong motivation.

Wrong Motivation For Spiritual Growth:

• To show off that we are very spiritual.
• To show that we are pious.
• To be successful in your family or business.
• To meet all your wants in life.

It is right to desire God’s blessings on your family and work but the motivation behind that desire should be, “God I want your blessing so that my life will bring glory to your name.”

1 Corinthians 15:10

But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me.

Peter is telling us to grow in godliness which will require some diligence and hard work on our part.

3. You Must Give All Diligence/Effort To Grow.

Growth is a work of God and yet man is responsible.

2 Peter 1:5

For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness.

A lot of people want comfortable Christianity. They want to come in, and worship God when they feel like, and they expect God to bail them out of their troubles. When I look into the Bible, I see the command, make every effort. Christian life takes effort, growth takes effort.

In other words, spiritual growth involves God’s resources as a foundation to faith but also responsible effort on our part in addition. We are responsible. You yourself must make every effort. Spiritual growth involves building upon the faith that God has given you.

Here in this context, effort speaks of eagerness and earnestness, it speaks of having a zeal to honor God with your life and grow in the Lord.

ILLUSTRATION

When India is playing in the world cup finals, we get excited for our team. We take tickets and go to the stadium. We wake up in the middle of the night to watch matches.  but when it comes to the Lord we do not have such enthusiasm.

Peter here gives 7 areas to be growing.

2 Peter 1:5

For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness.; and to goodness, knowledge; ⁶and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; ⁷and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love.

Make every effort to add to these 7 qualities. If you want to have the kind of life that brings blessings to your family, and blessings to those that are around you, if you want to hear, “Well done good and faithful servant,”  when you stand before God, you will have to get after it.

Spurgeon, “God sends every bird its food but he does not throw it in their nest.”

God has provided everything for living a godly life, but I must work to make it happen in my life.

ILLUSTRATION

You can measure your progress in a lot of areas of your life. You can check your weight, blood sugar, blood pressure, pulse, oxygen level, other scans etc. We all have the Fitbit that measures our step each day, heart rate, how many calories we burn, etc.

Yet a few Christians have a significant handle on how to measure their maturity. How do I measure myself in terms of growth as a believer in Christ?

Peter is saying that we should increase our efforts because of the grace of God. Be intentional for growth. We will make every effort in 2022 to grow spiritually?

Colossians 1:29

To this end I strenuously contend with all the energy Christ so powerfully works in me.

Paul works with the energy Christ gives him.

Do you make effort for:

Prayer

Bible study

Read good Books

Study Bible subjects.

Fellowship

Witness

Give

Worship

W Bradford Wilcox, a sociologist says, “When a married couple attends church regularly, they have a 35% chance of their marriage working.”

4. Growth Happens When You Make Progress.

2 Peter 1:5 For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness.; and to goodness, knowledge; ⁶and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; ⁷and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love.

Faith is the foundation. To that we must supply:

Goodness – Moral excellence.

Knowledge – Knowledge of the word of God

Self-control – Discipline yourself based on the word of God.

Perseverance –

Godliness –

Mutual affect

Love

Why did Peter pick these 7 qualities? Why this order?

Paul lists 9 qualities of the fruit of the Spirit.

2 Timothy 2:22

²² Flee the evil desires of youth and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.

4 of those qualities are on Peter’s list here. Peter’s list is not exhaustive, but it is suggestive for starters to grow in the Lord.

Peter chose this because these are the oppositive of the false teachers he will deal with in the next chapter.

Faith is the bedrock, faith if the foundation. Without faith, you are not even Christians.

What Happens When We Grow?

1 Peter 1:8-11

⁸For 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. ⁹But whoever does not have them is near-sighted and blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their past sins. ¹⁰Therefore, my brothers and sisters, make every effort to confirm your calling and election. For if you do these things, you will never stumble, ¹¹and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

ILLUSTRATION

A long time ago I was enrolled in a gym for some cardiac workouts. There used to be guys who would come for muscle building. There were huge mirrors in the gym. Almost everyone would want to look at themselves after the day’s workout to see their fitness level. There was this particular guy who would go to the mirror after every muscle workout. He was about 6 foot 1, well built. He would look and just admire his muscles and say “Wow.”

I don’t know about you, but when I looked into the mirror this morning, I did not say, “Wow.” For me the mirror is not a tool of reinforcement, it is an instrument of conviction, and so is this book.

Bible – Spiritual Mirror

When I look into this book, I see the glory of the Lord. I see the person of God – the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit and I see the glory, I see the image of God. I see revelation. And I see the character. Everything is true about God that he wants us to know.

If I am intent and I don’t leave this book, but I continue in it, my Bible promises that I will get blessed in everything that I do. But if I leave it for getting what I see in the mirror, I am double-minded, I am unstable in all of my ways.

You have the incredible privilege of gazing intently to the word of God. This not only is the portrait of what is true but this is a window through which we can see life and the world. But God also uses this book as a mirror where I am reflected in contrast to the character of God and God says growth and metamorphosis is needed, it is possible by this word.

CONCLUSION

The definition of a dynamic Christian life is God’s transformation of the life of the believer into the image of Christ, through the word of God, by the power of the Spirit of God, in fellowship with the people of God. 6 critical components. If you keep this in mind and if you keep this working together in your life, you will be transformed from being a dark tunnel to a torch light to the people around you and guide you every single day. I commend you to the Lord and I commend this passage to you.

Out of glory into glory. Every day, every year, every month, every conversation, every day, every moment, is a chance to move from one stage of glory toward or into another stage of glory in Christ. What could be more exciting?

See how God chose to use the continuity of the old Hebrew Bible to the NT. The law came through Moses John 1 says but grace and truth came through Christ. Grace and truth was true with Moses, it just got escalated, personified, made possible by Christ. Great continuity, but great contrast, not from bad to good but from great to greater, from glory to more glorious and in comparison this is the best it has ever been. It is not the end of the story. One day it will be better than it is today when Jesus returns and we will see him and we will be like him for we will see him as he is.