Partakers of divine nature!

2 Pet.1:2-4, ‘ 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 ^[c]corruption that is in the world through lust.’

It’s true that the Word of God is full of promises, the most important being the promise of eternal life to those who believe in Christ Jesus. Our Lord is not just concerned about our spiritual life. He is equally concerned about our life on this earth and all we need regarding the same. His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness. For this purpose, He has given us exceedingly great and precious promises. So, God has not just given us promise regarding eternal life and spiritual lives, but also for all our needs on this earth. If we truly believe in Him, we will believe in one and all His promises for all of them come from the same God. Apostle Peter describes these promises as exceedingly great and precious, because they aim at a great purpose i.e., to make us partakers of divine nature. By this alone, we get transformed into more and more like Jesus.  By this alone we escape the corrupt nature in which we all are born.

His promises become our targets. As we pursue Him and the targets He put for us in form of promises, we identify and keep apart all that blocks the fulfilment of the promises. In this process, we get transformed more and more like Christ.  2 Peter 1: 5- 9, ‘But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, ⁶ to knowledge self-control, to self-control ^[d]perseverance, to perseverance godliness, ⁷ to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love.’ All who waits eagerly for the fulfilment of His promises bear these fruits which ultimately represent and glorify the name of Christ. We will understand this better by looking into lives who waited and experienced the promises given to them.

1. Faith : Rom.4:17-21 describes the faith of Abraham.

V 17’ whom he believed—God, who gives life to the dead and calls those things which do not exist as though they did;’ Abraham knew very well that the One who promised has power to give life to dead. i.e., there was no limit to His power and might and that He could all things.

V 18 ^‘who, contrary to hope, in hope believed,’ Abraham believed against all hope. The world around, medical science and the very nature gave him no hope. His body was like dead to have any children and his age had gone beyond any expectations. But still he believed because he knew who had promised him. By this he fought against all those facts that brought in the evil heart of disbelief.

V 19, “And not being weak in faith,” Abraham’s faith did not grow weak with time and circumstances. It was because his faith was rooted not in the changing circumstances, but in the unchanging Word of God.

V 20, ‘He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief,’ Abraham had steadfast faith, which did not waver like tossing waves. Such faith is the result of dwelling in His Word constantly. When we meditate on His Word Day and night, our faith becomes steadfast and strong.

V 21, And being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform….’ Abraham was fully convinced about the ability, power and might of the Lord who had promised him. This did not give any space to doubt and disbelief. In other words, if we doubt His promises, we have not yet realized who our Lord is.

After describing the faith of Abraham, apostle Paul writes in ^V 22 And therefore “it was accounted to him for righteousness.” The faith which is accounted as righteousness by heaven depicts His glory alone.

2. Virtue: A person, once made righteous through faith in Christ receives the gift of the Holy Spirit, which gives him or her the nature of the Lord i.e to aim to be right always. A person eagerly waiting for God’s promises aims to be right in God’s sight always. God promised Abraham and Sarah a child. When the waiting period got beyond what they had expected, Sarah tried to help God with her own wisdom and asked Abraham to lie with Hagar, her maid. Thus, Ishmael was born. 16:16, ‘Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore Ishmael to Abram.’ After this we see God being silent to Abraham for the next 13 years. When He spoke to Abraham next as per recordings in the Bible, he was 99 years old. God fulfils His promises in His wisdom in His time and in His ways. He did not need Sarah’s help for this. He just needed their complete faith in Him. Gen.17:1-2, ‘When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lordappeared to Abram and said to him, “I am ^[a]Almighty God; walk before Me and be blameless. ² And I will make My covenant between Me and you, and will multiply you exceedingly.”’ God waited till Abraham walked before God without blame to fulfil the promise. It does not mean that Abraham was perfect for no man can be ever perfect before God’s eyes Yet Abraham was restored to God from the unrighteous way before His promises came to pass.

3. Knowledge: Apostle Paul always prayed that the believers grow in the knowledge of God. This is possible in two ways. First is through reading and meditating the Word of God on a regular and systematic basis. Another is our experience in the Lord through various situations of our lives. 40:21, ‘Have you not known? Have you not heard? Has it not been told you from the beginning? Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth?’ This chapters focuses on the greatness and might of the Lord, which is beyond comprehension of the human mind. The more we realise this truth, the more confidence we have upon our Lord. This chapter ends with the verses. Is.40:31 But those who wait on the Lord Shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint…’. Those who wait on the Lord eagerly hungers and longs to know more and more about the Lord. They spend much time reading and meditating on the Word. Their hearts are full of His Word. When such people talk, they talk more about Him and less about themselves. The Word stored inside them fills them with His strength, which in turn gives them abundant strength to wait. Remembering our past experiences in the Lord is another effective way to keep our knowledge about our Lord effective. Waiting for God’s promises needs much spiritual strength, because the time involved and the challenges coming against it can easily weary a person and cause them to lose their hope.

4. Self-control: Lk.8:41-50 talks about Jairus, who was a ruler of a synagogue. When his daughter was sick and on the verge of giving up life, he approached Jesus who started going towards his house. But on the way, another woman who sought healing blocked His way. Jesus spent time in talking to her and appreciating her faith. Jairus, who was eagerly waiting for Jesus’s touch on her daughter waited patiently till Jesus finished His conversation with the woman. Jairus realized who Christ was. All the waiting involved was making the situation of her daughter worse. But he knew that no limits were beyond the touch of Jesus. Every wave that seems to draw a line to our faith is under His feet, for He is a God who walks to water and exhorts every God’s child to walk on same. When a person from his house came and told him that his daughter was dead, Jesus told Jairus, ‘Fear not, only believe. She shall be made whole.’ We who are eagerly waiting for His promises, let us practice self-control for His thoughts and ways are above ours.

5. Perseverance: 7:24, ‘And the waters prevailed on the earth one hundred and fifty days.’ Even after the floods destroyed all the living beings on the face of the earth just as God had purposed, the flood waters prevailed on earth for 150 days. Though we see no valid cause for that, we see the fruit of perseverance in Noah and his family. The one who had closed the door would surely open it. They believed and waited patiently for it. God was building up the fruit of perseverance in Noah and his family. As we wait for His promises, God builds up amazing perseverance in us. If we give up on waiting, we might lose His best. All the seemingly delays are not a delay for God. His timings are always ‘right’, which sees our faith bands being extended till maximum. The five virgins gave up on this factor. They were also prepared as other five virgins who joined the bridegroom. But the one’s left behind were not prepared with the oil to sustain their waiting time till He came. When we realise what we are waiting for, we understand the worth of waiting.

6. Godliness: 2:25-26, ‘^And behold, there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon, and this man was just and devout, waiting for the Consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. ²⁶ And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ.’ In Luke 2, we see Simeon who waited earnestly to see the promised Savior of Israel. His waiting transformed him to a just and devout person. If we are truly waiting to see our redeemer face to face, surely, we will spend our time on this earth as just and devout people. We will commit our lives and all that we have for His glory. Apostle Peter saw the multitude of fish and left them behind to follow the One who gave him that catch. He pleaded the Lord to depart from him for he was a sinner. The realization of our sinfulness is the first step towards Godliness. Let’s clothe ourselves with great attribute and see His glory through fulfilment of His promises.

7. Brotherly kindness and love: 50:20-21, ‘^But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive. ²¹ Now therefore, do not be afraid; I will provide for you and your little ones.” And he comforted them and spoke ^[d]kindly to them.’ Had the book of Genesis ended with Joseph raising to 2^nd position in Egypt, surely Christ would not be seen in his life. Joseph had dreamt the dream of all his family members bowing down before him. And as he waited patiently for this promise, he went through various tough situations in life which humbled him and molded him into a Christ like personality. He easily forgave his brothers who did much evil to him. Besides, he took care of the entire family unconditionally. The ultimate purpose of God’s promise for Joseph was not just to exalt him, but to feed His people, The Israelites in that deadly famine, for the promised Savior of this world would come from the Israelites. Had Joseph taken revenge on his brothers, the Lord’s purpose of His promises would not come to pass. Hence, He humbled Joseph by making him go through unknown painful times and molded him into a loving and forgiving character. As we wait for our promises regarding this life on the earth and the divine life, He makes us go through unknown ways which humbles us. This molds us more and more like Him, which in turn fulfils His purposes through us for His glory.

2 Peter 1 :8, ‘For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither ^[e]barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.’  God seeks fruitful lives. He makes our lives fruitful by blessing us with great and precious promises. May our fruitfulness in Christ grow in these end days, when we expect His 2^nd coming anytime.

God bless us all.

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