"According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue: 4 Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust." 2 Peter1:3-4
I am completely amazed by the idea that human beings can as human beings partake of the divine nature of God. Think about it! God has given us such enormous and profound promises that seem so extravagant, it's hard to wrap our minds around them. So, in our human way of thinking we try to reduce them to being merely symbolic and not intended to be apprehended, understood, and accepted fully as they are given on face value. Here are a few to contemplate.
"And Jesus answered and said, Verily I say unto you, There is no man that hath left house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my sake, and the gospel’s, 30 But he shall receive an hundredfold now in this time, houses, and brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands, with persecutions; and in the world to come eternal life. Mark 10:29-30
and this...
"Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us..." Eph. 3:20
and this...
"And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you." Matthew 17:20
"For with God nothing shall be impossible." Luke 1:37
Or this...
"And in that day ye shall ask me nothing. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you." John 16:23
Or these, the first of the covenant promises to all of us through Moses...
"And all these blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God. 3 Blessed shalt thou be in the city, and blessed shalt thou be in the field. 4 Blessed shall be the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy ground, and the fruit of thy cattle, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep. 5 Blessed shall be thy basket and thy store. 6 Blessed shalt thou be when thou comest in, and blessed shalt thou be when thou goest out. 7 The LORD shall cause thine enemies that rise up against thee to be smitten before thy face: they shall come out against thee one way, and flee before thee seven ways. 8 The LORD shall command the blessing upon thee in thy storehouses, and in all that thou settest thine hand unto; and he shall bless thee in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee. 9 The LORD shall establish thee an holy people unto himself, as he hath sworn unto thee, if thou shalt keep the commandments of the LORD thy God, and walk in his ways. 10 And all people of the earth shall see that thou art called by the name of the LORD; and they shall be afraid of thee. 11 And the LORD shall make thee plenteous in goods, in the fruit of thy body, and in the fruit of thy cattle, and in the fruit of thy ground, in the land which the LORD sware unto thy fathers to give thee. 12 The LORD shall open unto thee his good treasure, the heaven to give the rain unto thy land in his season, and to bless all the work of thine hand: and thou shalt lend unto many nations, and thou shalt not borrow. 13 And the LORD shall make thee the head, and not the tail; and thou shalt be above only, and thou shalt not be beneath; if that thou hearken unto the commandments of the LORD thy God, which I command thee this day, to observe and to do them: 14 And thou shalt not go aside from any of the words which I command thee this day, to the right hand, or to the left, to go after other gods to serve them. Deuteronomy 28:2-14
Now the promises are given with two simple conditions, that we believe what God has said and that we follow Jesus.
As frail, fallen, vulnerable, conceived in sin people who have been redeemed by the blood of Jesus Christ our Lord, YES, we can even now be partakers of the divine nature of God. We can be of the same substance and nature of God our Father. It's His will for us.
He wants us to command the forces of nature. Did He not speak to wind and the sea, "Peace! Be still!" And did he not rebuke the disciples because they did not exercise the same authority? The heavens and the earth are ours to command, just as He does. He gave us dominion over the earth in Adam, but He has now given us dominion over all creation in Jesus Christ. Not to order or to reorder it, nor to be responsible for its function or holding it in place, in balance with all of the universe. No. He is upholding all these things by the word of His power (Hebrews 1:2). Rather, we are given authority to enjoy and participate in the existence and use of all things. The angels are all ministering spirits sent forth to minister for us as God's and Jesus' heirs of salvation.
As we speak the Word of God, in prayer, in prophecy, in petition, in healing and deliverance, in binding and losing, in declaration of our faith, at our utterance, angels move to perform what we have spoken, when we speak the Word of God.
"Bless the LORD, ye his angels, that excel in strength, that do his commandments, hearkening unto the voice of his word." Psalm 103:20
The greatest, most priceless, most precious, and most Holy gift was given to us in the person of Jesus Christ. So now having given us the vey pinnacle of all the riches of Heaven and Earth, God is also freely giving us all things to enjoy. (1 Timothy 6:17)
"What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? Romans 8:31
The birth of our Lord Jesus Christ closed the chapter on men groping in darkness to find the light and living in the death of sin. Light came into the world in Jesus Christ. The resurrection began a new chapter in the Book of life that opened a pathway for everyone who will believe, into eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Now in Him we have and are given full access to live in the fullness of the divine nature of God our Father.
These three passages sum it up beautifully.
"And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, 23 which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all." Ephesians 1:22
"And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins..." Ephesians 2:1
"Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ. 9 For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily; 10 and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power." Colossians 2:8
Jesus is the full expression of the divine nature of God and we are in Him made new creations now being fully transformed into that divine nature which is already complete in Him in us.
Beloved your reborn nature is God's divine nature and nothing will snatch you out of His hand. The work He has begun in you He will complete. More and more each day we are becoming an exact image of our Lord Jesus Christ until the day we are indistinguishably one with His divine nature. One with Jesus, one with God the Father and one with the Holy Spirit!!!
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