Partakers

Aug. 23

Read: 2 Peter 1:1-15

Partakers

“His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness…so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire.” (v. 3,4)

God’s goal for his people is nothing short of “becoming partakers of the divine nature”. (v.4) My friend Kyle said a couple weeks ago that almost every human example we have of someone with authority and power ends in the hoarding that power and authority for themselves. God does the opposite. His power is so great… his glory is so vast… that he is willing to lavish it upon his children. God uses his “divine power” and choses to grant us - his children - “all things that pertain to life and godliness”. This is what we have in Christ!

God works this truth out through the ministry of Jesus. Look at what Jesus says in his final prayer to God the Father in John 17:22,23:

“The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.”

Jesus is sharing the glory that the Father gave to him with us! This is mind-boggling… that the Lord is lifting up his creation through The Son. Jesus’ presence in us comes with his sharing his glory with us. Jesus is so glorified that he is not afraid to share his glory, but rather pours it out on those he is dwelling within. Furthermore, God is making us one with him the same way that Jesus is one with him… it is right there clear as day in John 17.

Anytime we make God’s goal for his redeemed… for his people… for his Children… if we make the goal less than this we are simply mistaken. It is only against the backdrop of this profound truth that we can participate in the Christian life and genuinely “escape the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire.” We so often preach the second half without the first. We create so much doubt around what has been planted in us by God himself that our eyes remain focused outside of ourselves… we miss the “all things as it pertains to life and Godliness”. There is an order… a process! The scriptures tell us the truth of verses 2 and 3 before calling us to the work of verses 5-11. There is no way we can pursue those things without first being given the power, strength, and oneness with God that comes through Christ.

We forget this truth though. Every mistake used by the enemy to breed fear and doubt… to try and put back onto us our old identity. We buy the lie that we have never been set free from our old nature… in other words: “For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins.” (v.9) We forget that we have been cleansed from our sins. We forget that we are partakers of God’s divine nature through Christ. We forget who we are one with. So we need to be reminded… every day!

So I declare to you the same thing as Peter: “Therefore I intend always to remind you of these qualities, though you know them and are established in the truth that you have. I think it right, as long as I am in this body, to stir you up by way of reminder… And I will make every effort so that after my departure you may be able at any time to recall these things.” Remember who you are. Remember what God is doing. The virtuous life of vs. 5-11 is fueled by Christ in us! Love you guys. - JDP