Are you drawn more to a clever story or a true story? It doesn’t have to be only one or the other.
There’s no doubt the Harry Potter books are clever, whatever other opinions you might have about them. That’s a big reason they’ve sold millions of copies. You can even learn some life lessons about friendship and courage and the struggle between good and evil from them. Yet they aren’t the account of people who saw God in the world. They’re fiction, not eyewitness records.
Peter wants us to see the difference. He would not base his ministry and hope and endurance in persecution on a made-up story, no matter how clever it was. His whole life was guided by personally knowing and believing in his Savior.
One of the most impactful events he saw with his own eyes was the Transfiguration, when Christ revealed his glory as . . . . God on the mountaintop a short time before his death and resurrection. Some thirty years later, writing under the Holy Spirit’s inspiration, he goes back to that moment. “We were there.” “We saw it.” “We know Jesus is truly God and able to give the only sacrifice for sin and then rise again.”
Your eternal hope in Christ, your whole reason for living, your persistence in trials, and your guide for morality are all in the Word. The authors tell us what they saw and heard from God himself. The greatest story is the one that is true in every letter – the account of Jesus Christ, our Savior. That’s a story you can build your life around.
16For we did not follow cleverly devised stories when we told you about the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ in power, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. 17He received honor and glory from God the Father when the voice came to him from the Majestic Glory, saying, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.” 18We ourselves heard this voice that came from heaven when we were with him on the sacred mountain. (2 Peter 1:16-18)