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In this message we will continue to consider aspects of the experience and enjoyment of Christ as our God and Savior.
Second Peter 1:3 says, “Seeing that His divine power has granted to us all things which relate to life and godliness, through the full knowledge of Him who has called us by His own glory and virtue.”
In verse 3 the word divine denotes the eternal, unlimited, and almighty divinity of God. Hence, divine power is the power of the divine life, which is related to the divine nature. God has given us the marvelous and mysterious divine power. God as the divine power passed through creation, redemption, and resurrection to become the life-giving Spirit (1 Cor. 15:45b). This divine power is nothing less than the life-giving Spirit, who is God Himself as life to us in resurrection. The visible things of the creation came into being through God’s power. Redemption was also accomplished by the divine power. The one man Jesus could die on behalf of all men to accomplish an eternal redemption (Heb. 9:12) because of the divine power. Today as the life-giving Spirit, He offers Himself to us as the divine power in resurrection. When we receive the Lord Jesus, the Triune God enters into us as life in resurrection. This life in resurrection is the divine power, which is God Himself as the life-giving Spirit.
The divine power in 2 Peter 1:3 is the power of the divine life, and this divine life power has given us all things that relate to life and godliness. The things that relate to life are inexhaustible. They include the law of life (Rom. 8:2; Heb. 8:10), humility, wisdom, rejoicing, love, joy, hope, submission, goodness, meekness, kindness, longsuffering, and peace. Everything related to life has been given to us. The life power within the seed of a certain plant includes everything related to the plant — the stem, branches, leaves, blossoms, flowers, and fruit of the plant. Within the power of the divine life as the seed in us are all the things necessary for the growth of the divine life. In the divine power there are virtues such as love, patience, humility, kindness, and longsuffering. The divine power, the power of life, includes all things needed not only for life inwardly but also for godliness outwardly.
The divine power in 2 Peter 1:3 is the power of the divine life related to the divine nature. It is beyond our ability to measure this divine power. In the realm of human power we are impressed by the kind of power that it took to land a man on the moon. But how much more power was necessary to raise Christ to the third heaven, to the center and height of the universe!
Paul speaks clearly of this divine power in Ephesians 1 when he prays that we would know “what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the operation of the might of His strength, which He caused to operate in Christ in raising Him from the dead and seating Him at His right hand in the heavenlies” (vv. 19-20). This divine power has exalted Christ over all and has put everything under His feet. Now Christ is seated on the highest peak of the universe, far above everything on earth and “far above all rule and authority and power and lordship and every name that is named” (v. 21). In Ephesians 1 Paul goes on to indicate that the divine power that raised Christ from the dead and seated Him at God’s right hand in the heavenlies, far above all, has been applied to us (v. 22).
In 2 Peter 1:3, Peter says that this divine power has granted to us all things which relate to life and godliness. The word granted here means “imparted, infused, or planted.” All things which relate to life and godliness have been imparted into us, infused into us, by the all-inclusive life-giving Spirit, who regenerates us and indwells us (2 Cor. 3:6, 17; John 3:6; Rom. 8:11).
“All things which relate to life and godliness” in 2 Peter 1:3 are the various aspects of the divine life, typified by the riches of the produce of the good land in the Old Testament. They are the substance of our faith’s substantiation allotted to us by God as our portion for our inheritance. Life is within, enabling us to live, and godliness is without as the outward expression of the inward life. Life is the inward energy, the inward strength, to bring forth the outward godliness, which leads to and results in glory.
The “all things” in verse 3 pertain to the divine life, to zoe, not to the life that is for our pleasure. All things have been given, imparted, and infused into us so that we may live the divine life and also live out this life. The life is inward, but godliness is outward, for it is God Himself expressed. In all our living we should express God. We should testify of God and speak about Him. When God becomes our expression, this is godliness. In our conversation we should express God. If we are expressing God, surely we could not engage in gossip. We should have God in our being and also in our living. Our mind should be filled with Him, and the fiber of our being should be constituted of Him. Then we will have godliness, the outward expression of the inward life.
The imparting into us of all the things of life is through the full knowledge of God, which is conveyed and revealed to us through His word. This becomes the faith (objective), in which our faith (subjective) is produced.
In verse 3 Peter says that the divine power has granted to us all things which relate to life and godliness “through the full knowledge of Him.” This full knowledge is a deep, thorough, experiential knowledge.
The preposition through used in relation to full knowledge indicates that we need to pass through a process. If we have the practice of gossiping, this practice is an indication that we have not yet passed through the process leading to the full knowledge of the One who has called us. If we have the full knowledge of the One who has called us to His glory and virtue, we will not waste our time gossiping.
The divine power has infused us with all things pertaining to life and godliness. However, this infusion, this impartation, requires that we have the full knowledge of God. If we do not pass through the process to gain the full knowledge, it will seem that what the divine power has planted in us has been in vain. The divine power is operating, but there is the need for us to cooperate with this operation. There is the need for us to be trained by the Lord so that we may gain the full knowledge of the One who has called us.
In verse 3 Peter does not speak of the knowledge of God nor of the knowledge of the Father, Son, and Spirit. Instead, he speaks of the full knowledge of the One who has called us to His glory and virtue. Here Peter does not say that God has called us to heaven, nor even that He has called us to redemption or sanctification. In this verse Peter says that God has called us to His own glory and virtue. We need to have the full knowledge of this. We can know the One who has called us to His own glory and virtue only by passing through a long process.
We definitely need the full knowledge of the One who has called us for the purpose of bringing us into His glory and virtue. If we have such an experiential knowledge of Him, the divine power will operate in us effectively. For the divine power to work in us, we daily need to cooperate with God. In the morning we should open to Him and say, “Lord, I am here before You. Go on, Lord. I would not hinder You. Rather, I would give You a free way within me. Lord, whatever You speak to me I will proclaim.” The more we cooperate with the divine power within us, the more we are brought into God’s glory, enjoy His virtue, and express this virtue as godliness.
Glory is the expression of God, God expressed in splendor. Literally, the Greek word rendered “virtue” means “excellency,” denoting the energy of life that enables us to overcome all obstacles and to carry out all excellent attributes. Glory is the divine goal; virtue is the energy and strength of life that enable us to reach the goal. This virtue, with all things relating to life, has been given to us by the divine power, but it needs to be developed on the way to glory.
God has called us to His glory and virtue, but this calling needs to be worked out. Although we have been called into God’s glory and virtue, are we actually in this glory, and are we participating in this virtue? The truth is that sometimes we are in the glory, and sometimes we participate in this virtue. God’s calling us to His glory and virtue can be worked out through His precious promises (v. 4).
Second Peter 1:4 goes on to say, “Through which He has granted to us precious and exceedingly great promises that through these you might become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption which is in the world by lust.” The Greek word translated “through” in this verse means “on account of, on the basis of.” The Greek word has an instrumental sense, but here it also denotes cause. The relative pronoun which in 2 Peter 1:4 refers to glory and virtue in verse 3. Through and on the basis of the Lord’s glory and virtue, by and to which we have been called, He has given us His precious and exceedingly great promises, such as in Matthew 28:20; John 6:57; 7:38-39; 10:28-29; 14:19-20, 23; 15:5 and 16:13-15. All these promises are being carried out in His believers by His life-power as the excellent virtue, unto His glory.
According to 2 Peter 1:3, the Lord has called us not only by His glory and virtue but also to His glory and virtue. The disciples saw the Lord’s glory and virtue. During the time He was with them, they saw the virtue in His conduct and daily living. They also saw His glory on the Mount of Transfiguration. They saw the Lord’s glory at other times as well, for example, when He fed the five thousand and when He called Lazarus out of the tomb. Having seen the Lord’s glory and virtue, the disciples were attracted. This means that they were called by the Lord’s glory and virtue. After the Lord’s resurrection, on the day of Pentecost, Peter was full of glory and virtue. The disciples were in a situation that was full of glory and full of virtue, the glory and virtue to which they had been called.
Through this glory and virtue God has given us promises. This means that because of the glory and virtue, God has given us the precious and exceedingly great promises. Because we all have been called to glory and virtue, God has given us promises in order that He may work out this virtue and glory for us.
The impartation into us of all things which relate to life and godliness is through the full knowledge of God, the One who has called us by and to His own glory and virtue. How can we live a life that expresses God as our godliness? We live it through knowing Him. Therefore, we need to know the One who has called us by and to His glory and virtue. Furthermore, through this glory and virtue He has granted to us precious and exceedingly great promises. By these promises He assures us that He will work out the virtue so that we may reach His glory.
Second Peter 1:4 speaks of the “partakers of the divine nature.” This is the highlight of Peter’s ministry. As those who have received equally precious faith, we, the believers in Christ, should be partakers of the divine nature. For God to be our life is a deep subject, but for God’s nature to be our nature is an even deeper matter.
The divine nature refers to what God is, that is, the riches, the elements, and the constituents of God’s being (John 4:24; 1 John 1:5; 4:8, 16). The divine nature, which mainly refers to the constitution of the divine life, the constitution of God, is constituted with Spirit, love, and light. The divine life and the divine nature are inseparable; the divine nature is the substance of the divine life and is within the divine life (1:1-2; 5:11-13). As the children of God, we are God-men, born of God, possessing the life and nature of God, and belonging to the species of God (3:1; John 1:12-13). At our regeneration, another nature was imparted into us; this is the nature of God, the divine nature. Because the divine nature is in the divine life, the divine life with which we were born again has the divine nature within it (3:3, 5-6, 15). Whoever believes into the Son of God is born of God and has the right to become a child of God; thus, a believer has the right to partake of, to enjoy, the nature of God (1:12-13).
Through incarnation Christ put humanity upon Himself and thereafter had two natures, the divine nature and the human nature. Through His resurrection and through coming into us as the Spirit, Christ has brought divinity into us. Therefore, we also have two natures, the human nature and the divine nature. By being born of the Spirit, we have become partakers of the divine nature. We can say, “Lord, just as You have two natures, so we have two natures also. You are divine and human, and we are human and divine. We are the same as You! Lord, You have our nature, and we have Yours. You are both divine and human, and we are both human and divine. Lord, You are the Son of God, and we are sons of God.” By our first birth we partook of the human nature. Now that we have been begotten of God by the new birth, we partake of the divine nature. Our status is both human and divine. We are not merely sons of man but sons of God as well.
We, the sons of God, have all become partakers of the divine nature. To us, God is no longer merely the creating God but also the begetting Father. He has imparted His life, His nature, and even His being into our being. God the Father has become our nature and life. Because we have been born of God, in life and nature we are the same as God. In other words, we are God in life and in nature but not in His Godhead. On the one hand, the New Testament reveals that the Godhead is unique and that only God, who alone has the Godhead, should be worshipped. On the other hand, the New Testament reveals that we, the believers in Christ, have God’s life and nature and that we are becoming God in life and in nature but will never have His Godhead. Regeneration does not make us part of the Godhead. To say that believers become part of the Godhead as objects of worship is to blaspheme God. We cannot share in the Godhead, but we can partake of the divine nature. What a great blessing it is to be one with God in His life and nature!
The greatest blessing in the universe is that we can partake of God’s nature. The Christian life is a life of enjoying the divine nature. We are partaking of the divine elements of God’s being. A partaker of the divine nature is one who enjoys and participates in the divine nature. If we would be partakers of the divine nature, we need to live by the divine life within which is the divine nature (1:4; 10:10; 11:25; 6:57b). We live the divine life by God’s promises. In order that we may enjoy all that He is, God will do many things for us according to His promises. We need to live by the divine life so that we may be partakers of the divine nature. Although we received the divine life at the time we believed, the divine nature must be continually enjoyed by us. This enjoyment requires the grace of God. God’s sufficient grace will work within us day by day so that we may enjoy the divine nature. The more we enjoy the divine nature, the more we have His virtue, and the more we are brought into His glory.
The riches of what God is are the content of the living hope mentioned in 1 Peter 1:3. According to His great mercy, God the Father has regenerated us unto a living hope. This living hope is actually a hope of life. Having this hope of life, we expect to enjoy daily the riches of the divine life. Actually, to enjoy the divine life is simply to partake of the divine nature. Therefore, partaking of the divine nature is related to our living hope of enjoying all the riches of the divine life.
When we were regenerated, we were enlivened by God. The divine life came into the center of our being. From that time onward, we have had a living hope, a hope of life. Our hope is that every part of our being will be enlivened. Regeneration, therefore, has brought in a living hope. Regeneration is unto the enjoyment of the riches of the divine life, and the riches of this life are the divine nature. Hence, to partake of the divine nature is to enjoy the riches of God.
When we received the divine life and were regenerated, we became a new being — a partaker of the divine nature. The expression partakers of the divine nature in 2 Peter 1:4 indicates that the Triune God is our portion. If God were not our portion, we could not partake of His nature. Every day we should partake of the divine nature. Our partaking of the divine nature must be constant, not occasional. In our Christian life, we must eat, drink, and even breathe the divine nature.
The matter of nature is very important. Hens lay eggs because it is according to their nature. The apple tree and all fruit trees bring forth fruit also by and according to their natures. This means that if we have a particular nature, we are able to do things that are by and according to that nature, and if we do not have a certain nature, we are not able to do things that are according to that nature. As believers in Christ, we have God’s nature. We desire to be holy, godly, and spiritual because these things are according to God’s nature, of which we partake. To do the things of God is natural to us because the divine things are according to the divine nature within us.
We have the divine nature within. The divine nature means everything in our Christian life. Since we have the divine nature, we do not need outward regulations to adjust our hair, clothes, and behavior. Any adjustments that we make should be made according to the divine nature within. Everything we do, say, and are should be checked with the divine nature. Every newborn child has the human nature. While little babies do not have any knowledge of outward regulations, they still have the human nature that regulates what they eat. You do not need to teach them about sweet and bitter because they have the human nature with its human taste. As Christians, we have a nature that is much higher than the human nature. We have the divine nature with a divine taste. We must live a life that matches the divine nature within us.
Since we have the life of God, we also have the nature of God. The emphasis on life is on the capacity to live, and the emphasis on nature is on the inclination of our living. We desire to be heavenly because the nature of God, the inclination of God, is heavenly. We desire to be holy because God’s nature and inclination are holy. We feel uneasy when we are proud, and we feel comfortable when we are humble because this is the nature and inclination of God. We feel uneasy when we take advantage of others and very happy when we share with others, because this is God’s nature and inclination. These are all matters of nature and inclination. If we realize that the divine nature within us has a particular taste, we will see that it is easy to be freed from the world and not love sin and evil. God is in us not only as our life but also as our nature. Within us He is the capacity to live, and He has also become our taste in our living. His life and nature in us make it very easy for us not to love the world and to overcome sins and evil.
If we enjoy God and partake of the riches of His being, we will be constituted with the divine nature, becoming the same as God in life and nature but not in the Godhead and expressing Him in all that we are and do. If we partake of God day by day, eventually we will partake of Him unconsciously. We all should be fully saturated with the nature of God. The more we are saturated with God, the more we will express Him. When others contact us, they will see in us the expression of the Triune God. We may even give off a divine fragrance.
The enjoyment of the divine nature is both for the present and for eternity. For eternity we will continue to partake of the divine nature. This is illustrated by the tree of life and the river of water of life in Revelation 22:1 and 2. The river of life flows out from the throne of God and of the Lamb. This signifies God flowing out to be the enjoyment of His redeemed ones. That flowing river will saturate the entire city of New Jerusalem. Furthermore, the tree of life that grows along the river will supply the redeemed ones with God as their life supply. This is a picture of what it means to partake of the divine nature. To eat the fruit of the tree of life is to partake of God’s nature; to be partakers of the divine nature is to be the eaters of the tree of life. God’s nature is holy, loving, righteous, kind, and pure. Actually, God’s nature is all-inclusive. The more we partake of the divine nature, the more we have holiness, love, righteousness, kindness, and all manner of divine attributes. These attributes then become our virtues, which eventually will consummate in God’s glory. We should praise the Lord that we human beings can have God’s life, enjoy God’s nature, live as God lives, express Him as our godliness, and have all the excellent virtues that will consummate in glory.
In his second Epistle, the apostle Peter unveils the energy, the strength, by which the believers are enabled to escape the corruption in lust and the result of that escape. The energy is the virtue of the divine life, and the result is that the believers partake of the divine nature and thus enjoy all the riches of what the Triune God is. In our partaking of the divine nature and in our enjoying of all that God is, all the riches of the divine nature will be fully developed, as described in verses 5 through 7 of chapter 1. Having escaped the corruption of lust in the world and having thus removed the barriers to the growth of the divine life in us, we are freed to become partakers of the divine nature and to enjoy its riches to the fullest extent in its development by the virtue of God unto His glory. Day after day we must partake of the divine nature, which is the glory. Eventually, this divine nature will glorify us, causing us to shine with God’s element. We were made children of God and sons of God in order to be partakers of the divine nature so that we may be glorified with the divine glory (v. 4; Rom. 8:30; Heb. 2:10).
It is a wonderful fact that as believers we possess the divine nature. The way to enlarge the sphere of the divine nature within us is to take the word of Christ not only by reading but also by praying, singing, psalming, and thanking the Lord (Col. 3:16). If the word of Christ is to dwell in us richly, we need to open our entire being and exercise our spirit. Then the word of Christ will enter into us, stir us up, and become mingled with us, causing us to be one with the Lord in an actual and practical way. As a result, the sphere of the divine nature in us will be enlarged.
In 2 Peter 1:4 there is a condition for becoming partakers of the divine nature: the condition is “having escaped the corruption which is in the world by lust.” Lust is a barrier that keeps us from enjoying the divine nature. Christ died to redeem us from the vain manner of life (1 Pet. 1:18-19), and now, as redeemed ones, we should abstain from fleshly lusts (2:11) and no longer live in the flesh in the lusts of men (4:2). This is to escape the corruption that is in the world through lust. The more we escape this corruption, the more we will enjoy the nature of God. Likewise, the more we partake of the divine nature, the more we will escape the corruption that is in the world by lust. This is a cycle of escaping and partaking and of partaking and escaping. If this cycle of partaking and escaping works within us in a strong, rapid way, it will be difficult for us to take in any of the corruption of the world. We partake of the divine nature, and this divine nature strengthens us to stay away from corruption. Then the more we stay away from the corruption of the world, the more we enjoy the riches of the divine nature. This is the experience of God’s economy.
In brief, we should partake of the divine nature and enjoy what God is, the contents, the ingredients, of His being. By what way do we enjoy the divine nature? First, we enjoy the divine nature by the full knowledge of the One who has called us by His glory and virtue and to His glory and virtue. Because of this, He has given us many precious and exceedingly great promises. Second, we need to escape the corruption which is in the world by lust; that is, we need to abstain from lustful living. Indulging the lusts of the flesh annuls our right to enjoy God’s nature. But if we escape the corruption which is in the world by lust, we will cooperate with the God who is now operating in us according to His promises to carry out His virtue and glory. If we cooperate with God’s operation, we will become those who enjoy the divine nature.
Through the precious and exceedingly great promises we, the believers in Christ, who is our God and Savior, have become partakers of His divine nature in an organic union with Him, into which we have entered through faith and baptism (John 3:15; Gal. 3:27; Matt. 28:19). The virtue (energy of life) of this divine nature carries us into His glory (godliness becoming the full expression of the Triune God).
Based upon the glory and virtue to which we have been called by God, He gives us promises. He promises us that He will be responsible to work out this glory and virtue. As we have seen, glory as the expression is the goal, and virtue is the energy of life. Virtue is the excellent attributes of God becoming to us the energy of life. This means that we have the energy and strength to reach glory. By God’s promises we have the energy to express His glory.
God has called us to His own glory and virtue. This goal is great, vast, and profound. Who is able to reach God’s own glory and virtue? None of us is able to arrive at this goal. Therefore, there is the need of God’s word of promise to assure us, encourage us, strengthen us, and speed us on our way toward this goal. Knowing our need for assurance, encouragement, and strength, God has given us precious and exceedingly great promises.
We cannot reach the high goal of God’s glory and virtue by ourselves. For this, we need the Lord. Because we do not know what lies ahead of us, God has given us precious promises. One of these great promises is in Matthew 28:20: “Behold, I am with you all the days until the consummation of the age.” No doubt, this promise was an encouragement to all the disciples.
The Lord’s promises encouraged Peter and the other disciples on their way toward the goal of God’s glory and virtue. When Peter and the eleven stood up to preach on the day of Pentecost, God’s glory and virtue were with them. The disciples manifested divine virtues, not natural human virtues. In Acts 3 a lame man looked to Peter and John for a gift of money. Peter said to him, “Silver and gold I do not possess, but what I have, this I give to you: In the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene rise up and walk” (v. 6). Then Peter took him by the hand and lifted him up, and immediately the lame man was healed. “Leaping up and about, he stood and began to walk, and he entered with them into the temple, walking and leaping and praising God” (v. 8). On that occasion, they manifested God’s virtue and glory. This was carried out by the promise of the Lord that He would be with them all the days until the completion of this age. By means of the Lord’s promises the early disciples were encouraged to press on to reach God’s glory and attain the divine virtues.
The New Testament is filled with promises. Paul says in 2 Corinthians 12 that he had a thorn in his flesh that caused him to suffer. He prayed three times to the Lord that the thorn might depart from him. But the Lord said to him, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is perfected in weakness” (vv. 7-9). This shows us that the Lord’s grace and power were sufficient to sustain and supply Paul and to bring him through these sufferings and difficulties. Therefore, Paul said that he would rather boast in his weaknesses so that the power of Christ might tabernacle over him. The original meaning of the word tabernacle here is “to fix a tent or a habitation upon something.” This portrays the power of Christ, which is Christ Himself, being like a tent tabernacling over us, overshadowing our weaknesses.
Every time we feel heavily burdened, we need to listen to the Lord’s voice saying, “My grace is sufficient for you. My power is perfected in weakness.” If we consider ourselves to be strong, then we will not be able to enjoy the Lord’s power. Therefore, our weakness is precious. It is due to our weaknesses that the Lord’s power has the ground to manifest itself, and we are able to enjoy His power. God’s sufficient grace will work within us day by day so that we may enjoy the divine nature.
The promises in 2 Peter 1:4 are mainly related to our spiritual life. These are promises for the inner life and the outward expression of life. One such promise is in Ephesians 3:20, which says, “To Him who is able to do superabundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power which operates in us.” This promise to do above all that we ask or think does not concern the material things of the present life but the spiritual things for the church life. The Lord will do superabundantly above all that we ask or think for the church life, according to the inner working power that operates in us.
In the New Testament there are great promises, which clearly indicate that our experience of God involves our enjoyment of the divine nature within us in order that His divine nature would become our enjoyment. For example, 1 Thessalonians 5:23 says, “The God of peace Himself sanctify you wholly, and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” This verse contains a great promise that God would sanctify us wholly, that is, our spirit, soul, and body. By this promise we may enjoy the holy divine nature which we have within us. We may be careless concerning holiness because although we have received the divine nature, we may not enjoy it. Yet when we read the great promise in 1 Thessalonians 5:23, we are helped, encouraged, and strengthened to live a holy life. Upon reading this verse, we are assured by the promise that God will sanctify us both in our daily walk and in our tripartite being — our spirit, soul, and body. Consequently, we would be careful in the details of our daily walk in order to live a holy life. This is our experience of the enjoyment of the divine nature on the basis of a great promise given to us by God.
Another great promise of God is found in 2 Corinthians 6:16 through 7:1, which says, “What agreement does the temple of God have with idols? For we are the temple of the living God, even as God said, ‘I will dwell among them and walk among them; and I will be their God, and they will be My people.’ Therefore ‘come out from their midst and be separated, says the Lord, and do not touch what is unclean; and I will welcome you’; ‘and I will be a Father to you, and you will be sons and daughters to Me, says the Lord Almighty.’ Therefore since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and of spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.” Holiness is separation unto God from all things other than Him (Rom. 1:1-2; Eph. 1:4). To perfect holiness is to make this separation full and perfect, to have our entire being — spirit, soul, and body — fully and perfectly separated, sanctified, unto God (1 Thes. 5:23). A believer who loves the Lord and reads this portion of the Word may be helped, encouraged, and strengthened to live a holy life that matches God’s holy nature. On the basis of the great promise in this passage, he would certainly enjoy the holy divine nature that is in him.
Second Corinthians 9:6-10 also contains great promises of God. Here Paul says, “Take note of this: He who sows sparingly shall also sparingly reap; and he who sows with blessings shall also with blessings reap; each one as he has purposed in his heart, not out of sorrow or out of necessity, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound unto you, that, in everything always having all sufficiency, you may abound unto every good work; even as it is written, ‘He has scattered abroad; he has given to the poor; his righteousness abides forever.’ Now He who bountifully supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed and cause the fruits of your righteousness to increase.” In this passage we see at least two great promises. On the one hand, if we sow with blessings, we will reap with blessings, for God will bountifully supply seed to us. On the other hand, if we sow sparingly, we will reap sparingly. Consequently, we will be unable to enjoy the generous divine nature within us and to see God’s blessing in His generosity. Based upon these promises, may we learn to be the partakers of the divine nature, those who enjoy the divine nature always, not occasionally.
When we spend time reading this portion of the Word prayerfully, we will be stirred up to give according to the generous divine nature of God. God is full of generosity and liberality; generosity is a characteristic of God’s divine nature. When we dwell on this passage, we will be encouraged and reminded to give generously according to the divine nature within us. As a result, we will begin to practice generosity, thereby enjoying the generous divine nature.
To partake of the divine nature is to enjoy the divine nature, and to enjoy the divine nature is to enjoy God Himself, that is, to enjoy all that God is. The entire New Testament is a book of precious and exceedingly great promises. Every portion of the New Testament is a promise that the Triune God will do everything for us to enjoy Himself as the divine nature.
The precious promises are embodied in the divine Word. By pray-reading the promises, we partake of and enjoy the divine nature, and by partaking of the divine nature we develop in the divine life. The more we pray-read the promises, the more we enjoy the divine nature, and the more we enjoy the divine nature, the more we grow and develop in the divine life.
