Partaking of the Divine Nature

1  Simon Peter, a bondservant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who have obtained like precious faith with us by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ: 2  Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, 3  as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, 4  by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. 2 Peter 1:1-4 (NKJV)

Peter provides us with some wisdom here. The focus of 2 Peter is a warning against false teachers. In the first chapter Peter seeks to inoculate his readers from false teaching by getting them to focus on drawing on the grace of Jesus.

So what do we learn here? The closer we draw to Jesus in intimacy the more we can receive of His grace and peace. The catch is we need to believe and draw on His promises. Peter says that drawing on these promises is the way to partake of the Godhead and the way to escape the corruption that is in the world as a result of lust (here Peter points us back to what happened in the garden in Genesis 3).

The natural state of the world is downward toward corruption. Observation and scripture teach us this. I am dealing with a medical issue with one of my feet and as part of the process had an x-ray on my foot. In going over the x-ray results with the Dr. she read a part that referenced signs of ‘degenerative osteoarthritis’ in one of my toes. While it sounds terrible that is not the part of my foot I am rehabilitating and in fact is simply fancy language for the process of life and aging, the corruption that Peter referenced.

While I pray for and believe in healing and restoration, no matter how long I live I, like everyone else, will eventually die unless Jesus returns first. This body will wear out. So how does this square with what Peter said about partaking of the divine nature to escape this corruption and degeneration? If we are believers, we are in the world but not of the world. Though our bodies may wear out our spirits never will. If we know Jesus at some point we will step from time into eternity and receive a new glorified body.

During our time here on earth we are called to grow in our relationship with Jesus and have our spirits grow and be strengthened. While we may lament the effects of aging and cannot control them, we can rejoice in and grow stronger in our spirits. It is not automatic, it requires believing and partaking but it is available. We can experience what Jesus and John the Baptist walked in.

40  And the Child grew and became strong in spirit, filled with wisdom; and the grace of God was upon Him. Luke 2:40 (NKJV)

80  So the child grew and became strong in spirit, and was in the deserts till the day of his manifestation to Israel. Luke 1:80 (NKJV)

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Randy

I have been walking with Jesus since 1985. I am currently retired from my career in the helping professions but still focused on ministering to others. I completed a Doctorate of Philosophy in Apologetics in September 2020.

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