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In our pursuit of God’s pleasure, we’ve discovered that this pursuit is not a leisurely endeavor, as though it were over and above the pursuit of His will, but that the two are one and the same. The pursuit of God’s heart, of His pleasure, is the pursuit of His will.

And, we’ve discovered that His will, His heart, is not a mysterious list of questions for which we must get the answers right. Simply put, His will is that we represent Him. That we look like our Father. That we manifest His character.

But, after a moments thought, this doesn’t offer a lot of comfort. Before, the problem was that we weren’t sure what we were supposed to do. Now that we have an idea of what is required, the problem has shifted to a whole new level. We’ve moved from uncertainty to impossibility. If God’s will is that I represent Him, that I manifest His character, well, that requires perfection and seems impossible.

Except it’s not.

The key to grasping this lies in understanding what it means to be a child of God.

Contrary to common usage, “all God’s children” does not refer to every human being. Otherwise, John 1:11-13 is meaningless. There John tells us that “as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name.” Being a child of God is a right granted only to those who receive Him, who believe in His name. In the context of the Gospel of John, this means believing that Jesus is the Christ and leads to life (John 20:30-31).

When we believe, we are regenerated, or “born again” (John 3:1-21), and thus, become part God’s family. There are several benefits of this new birth, including life in place of death, and an inheritance that awaits us (1 Peter 1:3-4). But the benefit critical to our pursuit of God’s pleasure is unfolded in 2 Peter 1:2-4.

• Peter greets the recipients with grace and peace (v. 2), “seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness” (v. 3a).
• This is accomplished through “the knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence” (v. 3b).
• By this glory and excellence, He has granted us His precious and magnificent promises (v. 4a).
• By these promises we have become partakers of the divine nature (v. 4b).

Nothing that we need for life or for godliness is out of our reach. Everything has been provided by the power of God. Including making us partakers of His divine nature. As a result of regeneration, we now have God’s nature. The process of representing God, of reflecting His character is not about someone ungodly learning to act godly, it is about those who are born of God and possess His nature growing into the likeness of their Father.

Does this mean nothing is required of us? Absolutely not. The implications of this truth, laid out in 1:5-11, require the application of all diligence. Not just some diligence, but every bit of diligence possible.

• In the context of our faith (which produced the new birth in us) we are to add moral excellence. From the very beginning of our faith, we can pursue a commitment to live a life characterized by a pursuit of virtue. It is not enough to settle for what we can rationalize, we must strive for moral excellence, even though we will not yet fully appreciate all that means.
• In moral excellence we are to add knowledge. Knowledge does us very little good if we are content to rationalize our conduct. But building on a commitment to moral excellence, we grow in our pursuit of virtue by developing our knowledge of God, His character and His ways. We do this primarily through spending time with Him in His Word.
• In knowledge, we are to add self-control. This growth in knowledge increasingly reveals areas where we will need to willfully restrict our passions and desires.
• In self-control, we are to add perseverance. This process will not be easy. It takes place in the context of difficulties and hardships which can sidetrack us and challenge our commitment. Growing maturity is manifested in the form of perseverance in the face of these obstacles.
• In perseverance, we are to add godliness. To this point, the commitments have been primarily internal; focused on who we are. With the addition of godliness, the focus shifts to manifesting God’s character to those around us.
• In godliness, we are to add brotherly kindness. With this external focus, we begin to see the needs of those around us. If we are to continue to grow, we must choose to show kindness to them.
• In brotherly kindness, we are to add love. Kindness is willing to address the needs of those around us. Love chooses to sacrifice deeply to meet those needs. It is in this commitment that we most perfectly reflect God (1 John 4:7-21).

Now, here is the point as it relates to our discussion of perfection and looking like God. Far from requiring perfection, Peter exhorts us to an ongoing process.  And, as he looks back over the characteristics of verses 5-7, he adds, in verse 8, “For if these qualities are yours and are increasing … .” This is not a process where you master one level, and move on to the next. Peter expects that each of these characteristics should be always increasing in our lives. That is the norm. He expects that you are not who you will become, and that this is ok with God.

See, God is no longer our Judge. That was taken care of when we trusted Jesus as The Christ. At that moment our sin was imputed to Him, and His righteousness to us. From that moment on, when God looks at us, He sees Christ’s righteousness. Now He looks at us as a Father looks at His children.

As our Father, He delights in seeing us grow and mature. Just as I have enjoyed watching my children say their first words, take their first steps, go off to school, and develop into young adults, so God takes pleasure in watching us mature spiritually. He is not frustrated that we are not further down the road, that we haven’t gotten it together yet.

And on the other side, as we spend time with Him and mature, we increasingly start to look like Him. For a brief time, while I was in seminary, my Dad got me a job at the company where he worked for over 25 years. One day, a lady who had worked with Dad for many of those years saw the two of us walking through the warehouse together, and later commented to Dad that it was clear I was his son. I had enough of his mannerisms, his distinct characteristics that the family resemblance was unmistakable.

In the same way, as we move through the maturity process Peter describes, spending time getting to know our Father, we begin to take on His distinct characteristics. When you look at us, you begin to see Him. This is His will, His heart. And, as you would expect from a Father, this brings pleasure to His soul.

But remember that these characteristics are not automatic. This process is dependent on us applying all diligence (v. 5). If these qualities are present in our lives we will be “… neither useless nor unfruitful in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ” (v. 8b). On the other hand, “he who lacks these qualities is blind or short-sighted, having forgotten his purification from his former sins” (v. 9). So, we need to be all the more diligent (v. 10), because “… in this way the entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be abundantly supplied to you” (v. 11). In this last statement, Peter is not threatening loss of salvation. The emphasis is on the nature of our entrance. These characteristics will mark us as those who clearly belong in the Kingdom of The Christ. To pick up the Father/child analogy again, our resemblance to the Father will be unmistakable. Contrast this with Paul’s description of the person whose works are burned up by fire  (1 Corinthians 3:15). He gets into heaven smelling like smoke. The later seems to squeak in over the threshold, while the former, clearly manifesting the Father’s divine nature, easily enters, unchallenged. He has not only been justified. He has been transformed.

This is what it means to manifest God’s character. To represent Him. He has given us everything we need. It is not impossible. It will require diligence, but it is fully available to us.

How do you think God views you when He thinks of you?

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