PARTAKERS OF DIVINE NATURE - PART 6

TUESDAY 16 MAY 2023

The great and valuable promises of God are effectively expressed by the cognizance of Christ's presence in us. Why are these promises regarded as great, precious and valuable? Let's find out!

Reference: 2 Peter 1:4 New Living Translation (NLT) "And because of His glory and excellence, He has given us great and precious promises. These are the promises that enable you to share His divine nature and escape the world's corruption caused by human desires."

Today, I want us to be more apt in paying attention to God's will for us concerning His promises. What is His deliberate will for granting us His promises? The above Scripture pointed it out by noting, "These are the promises that enable you to share His divine nature and escape the world's corruption caused by human desires." The Voice translation reads, "...we have received God's great and valuable promises, so we might escape the corruption of worldly desires and share in the divine nature." Got it?

These promise are so powerful that they do not only empower us to display the divine nature, they equally dissuade us from participating in the corruption of worldly desires. When these promises are sufficiently embedded in us (as in fixed awareness) and implemented by our words and actions, they have the ability to produce in us a moral consciousness, which is accepted as partaking of divine nature with every condition of revelation from God and His Word. So they are requisites for escaping the world's corruption caused by human desires. Why does God want us to pay attention to the term, "escaping corruption"? Firstly, this is because although we are not of this world, we are still in the world, where corruption is ubiquitous, popular and rampant (John 17:16 ESV). Secondly, corruption is vast and universal in nature.

In fact, this is why there are many forms of corruption, and it's beyond mere comprehension, compared to the simplicity of the word itself. The forms and synonyms entail cruelty, degeneracy, death, decay, darkness, depravation, depravity, putrefaction, putrescence, putridness, rottenness, subversion, decadence, dissipation, immorality, baseness, turpitude, debauchery, lechery, intemperance, perversion, inhuman treatment, amoral actions, sordid attitude, vice and crime. And in his Petrine epistle, Peter noted that the world's corruption is caused by human desires. In other words, they are fuelled by evil desires due to Adamic nature.

For instance, baseness is lack of moral principles, while turpitude is depraved or wicked behaviour or character, which means that corruption is not something outside the tendency or propensity of the natural man; it exists in themselves because it's their nature, which is sinful or Adamic. Simply put, sinful nature is at work in them, by which they are guided to exert corruption and its evil appearances, bearing in mind that they are under the sentence of condemnation, as considered in Adam.

Those who seriously partake of the benefit of the promises are born again Christians who are the beloved in Christ. So we teach, preach and practise the covenant promises and principles of divine nature which enable us to remain exempt from or function far from the corruption of worldly desires. For instance, Job 22:28 (ABPE) reads, "And you will speak a word and it will happen to you, and upon your ways the light will dawn." In other words, when you obey this principle by observing the dictates, as promised, light will shine where it is required in your life and darkness, (which is a form of corruption), will disappear. Shalom!

Scripture Reading - Genesis 6:11-12; Daniel 6:4; Psalm 14:1-3; 1 Corinthians 15:33; Galatians 6:8; 2 Peter 2:19-20; 1 Peter 5:1.

Guided Prayer: Father in heaven, I thank you for granting me the understanding of the person of the Spirit, the grace of the Spirit, your glory and excellence, the great and precious promises and the divine nature. Your Word and the dictates of your promises have taken up their abode in my spirit, confirming your glory in me and affirming the truth of all that Christ has done for me on the cross, in Jesus' Name, Amen.