September 9, 2001 Volume 2 Number 36
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Partakers of Divine
Nature Peter writes, “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, 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 Pet 1:3-4). God tells us in Second Peter that if we avail ourselves to these exceedingly great and precious promises, we can be partakers of, as the word literally means, we can be sharers in, the holy character of God. Man was originally created in the image, and after the likeness of God (Gen 1:26); but this image and rational likeness was lost in the fall of man. But, because Christ died for us, this relationship with God is restored through the transformation, which occurs in conversion. First 2 Cor 3:18 which states, “But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.” Next Col 3:10, “and have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him.” There is a higher calling for those who confess the name of Christ. Note verse 4…“may be partakers of the divine nature.” It is those who have escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust that can be partakers of the divine nature. The meaning here is clear, the corruption is in the world; it operates through lust; and only those who are partakers of the divine nature escape its ravages. So, for someone to engage and partake in those things of the world, (1 John 2:15 and 16- “Do not love the world or the things of the world”), is to throw away that divine relationship we can have with God. And as surely as a bite from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil cast Adam and Eve from the garden and away from the tree of life (Gen 2:9), so will a partnership with the world cast us out the Paradise of God in which dwells the tree of life. In creation, the body came from the earth (Gen 2:7), but the spirit of man cam from God. Zechariah 12:1 tells us, “The burden of the word of the LORD against Israel. Thus says the LORD, who stretches out the heavens, lays the foundation of the earth, and forms the spirit of man within him.” Solomon also tells us in Eccl 12:7, “Then the dust will return to the earth as it was, and the spirit will return to God who gave it.” It is this difference, which is the basis for our struggle, it is this difference which wages war and pits human nature against our divine nature. WHAT CHRISTIANITY DOES The great work is to make men like Christ, Christ-like! We must have this divine nature to enjoy not only the divine society of Christians here on this earth but the divine society of heaven some day. It is Christianity, which changes the nature, but we still have to deal with our human nature. That is why we have the admonition in the following verses in 2 Pet 1:5-10. So, we are to make great haste, greater zeal and earnestness in the pursuit of these qualities which enable us to partake in that divine nature. THEORY AND PRACTICE This divine nature is so against human nature it is often easier to understand than to put in practice. When someone does us wrong we react like John and James did (Luke 9:54), when they wanted "fire to come down from heaven and consume them." To be partakers of the divine nature God wants us to love our enemies (Matt 5:44) because that is God's nature: John 3:16; Rom 5:10. WHAT ARE SOME ITEMS OF DIVINE NATURE ? Love is at the peak of these qualities. It is a prominent attribute of God. John writes in 1 John 4:7-8, “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God, for God is love.” Love is also the foundation stone of all the commandments (Mark 12:29-31). it is imperative that each saint should be impressed with its essentiality. John again says, “If someone says, "I love God," and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen” (1 John 4:20). To be partakers of the divine nature we must be like God and we find that love has its very origin with God. It proceeds from Him. Love is a sign and proof of the new birth. It is the manifestation of our confession of Christ. Holiness is another quality. In Ps 145:17 we read, “The LORD is righteous in all His ways, gracious (holy) in all His works.” In fact he chastens us that we might be holy (Heb 12:10). We must pursue this quality otherwise we will not see the Lord (Heb 12:14). Righteousness is a part of the divine nature. The psalmist writes, “His work is honorable and glorious, and His righteousness endures forever.” We partake by “putting on new man" (Eph 4:24) and all Bible promises for righteousness (Mt 25:31-46). Those are just a few. We could also list mercy, longsuffering, patience, and forgiveness. The consequences of "corrupt nature" are terrible while the "divine nature" brings untold blessings.
LAYING LIFE ON THE
LINE As a New York skyscraper went up, hundreds paused daily to glance up at it. One day they watched a ponderous metal beam go up to take its place in the steel skeleton. As the girder came near, a workman leaned out from the sixteenth floor to seize it. The spectators gasped as he lost his balance and fell. Desperately, he clutched the girder's end with arms and legs. The ground crew stopped the hoisting engine, but the man's weight at one end began to tilt the beam to a vertical position, which would eventually cause him to lose his grasp and fall to his death. With swift decision, another worker on the same floor, seeing his friend's predicament, leaped through space and landed on the other end, where his weight leveled the beam. Amid the applause of the crowd, both men were safely lowered to the street. Every day people around us lose their balance on moral questions-- they consider having an affair with a co-worker, taking company funds, lying to close a deal, toying with drugs and alcohol. Wrong decisions may hurt them and their families for years and cost their souls in eternity. They need friends interested in helping them keep their balance, by exemplary lives, by sacrificial living, by speaking a word for Christ. Here no one applauds, but it will be worth it all when we receive the approval of the Master 1 Cor 4:5). Questions From The
Web Editor’s Note: From time to time during correspondence courses and through our “Ask The Preacher” page on the World Wide Web we receive questions. It is our intent to share these in the bulletin along with the answers given. The following was from an e-mail correspondence course using our Wednesday night class materials in The Book of Ecclesiastes. RDT,sr [ I find it very narrow minded for the Preacher to condemn women the way he does. Why, throughout the bible, is woman given such a bad rap? We see constant examples of "how wicked women are in snaring and tempting men". Doesn't it balance out? Do not many men snare and tempt women? I don't believe there is equity when it comes to blaming one for causing another to sin! ] It's amazing how quickly time passes. It has taken us three weeks to get through chapter seven and we have begun but not finished chapter eight. Strangely your concern for the treatment of women in the Bible was not a topic that brought much discussion, even though I suggested it. Why? For several reasons. When we search the scriptures in their entirety we see the other side of God's depiction of woman in the Bible. Proverbs chapter 31 is a prime example of this fact. A worthy woman is one of God's greatest gifts to the world, to man and specifically to her husband and children. Evil women (those who get the bad rap) deserve condemnation by the preacher, just as surely as he condemned ALL, that is men and women alike, who refuse to serve God. Eccl 7:20 "For there is not a just man on earth who does good and does not sin.” Rom 3:23 "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” Acts 10:34 "Then Peter opened his mouth, and said, Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons” Rom 2:10-11 "For there is no partiality with God.” To the general question: First, Throughout
the Bible, there are a great number of women who are exalted for their
faithfulness. The fact that in Solomon's generation he was not able to
find one does not change the fact that they existed. Solomon, we are
told, had 300 wives and 700 concubines and they turned his heart away Second, The examples we do find of wicked women do not imply that ALL women are wicked, rather that one of the devices that women who ARE wicked use is their ability to sexually snare and tempt men to be as evil as they are. Third, Yes, the opposite is equally true. EVIL MEN, not all men, will do any wicked thing necessary to entice and ensnare women to fulfill their wicked desires. Fourth, It is not a contest of men against women. It is not a matter of who is better or worse. What it is, if a battle against SIN by men AND women. God always commends virtue and condemns SIN. Fifth, You are correct, there is nothing right about blaming another for our sins. WE, AND ONLY WE, ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE CHOICES WE MAKE and the actions we take. If we choose to sin we must face the consequences and the condemnation of God. BUT, if we choose to live faithfully, no one, nothing in this world can separate us from Him, from His Love, or from His salvation. Rom 8:35-39 "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written: "For Your sake we are killed all day long; We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter." Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Sixth, I do not understand Solomon's statement as a condemnation of women in general, but rather, a condemnation of the KIND of women he encountered in his search for worldly pleasures. The KIND of women he associated himself with in this search, are not the kind one searches for, when trying to find a Lifelong Helpmeet as God intended it should be. We must always take the entire plan of God into account before we make our judgments lest we find ourselves in the unenviable position of contending with God. Chapter seven in Ecclesiastes presents itself as the turning point in the book. It appears that having searched for pleasure "under the sun" and having failed to find it there "the WISE man turns back to God. That is the lesson of this book. Nothing "under the sun" can satisfy like true service to God. I know this has been a long reply but I hope it is of interest. Note: No names will be used when posting
these replies, lest we discourage those we are studying with from asking
honest questions about the topics we may be studying. RDT,
sr. The Spirit Expressly
Says ... The Wise Builder Of all things, we cannot afford to take foolish chances about our eternal salvation! There is but one way to make sure: Build your spiritual house on the solid rock of God's Word. Live by the Bible. Jesus said: "Therefore, whosoever hears these sayings of mine. and does them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock and the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat upon that house; and it fell not; for it was founded upon a rock" Matthew 7:24,25). Look to the word of God for assurance that you are on the right path. Safe guidance does not come from within us, but from the Bible. It is what we will be judged by, see John 12:48. We
hope you find this bulletin useful in your Bible study. 2
Sam 22:31
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