(Christian Living Sermon) Hillside 6/98
Filename: Partakers of Divine Nature

BECOME PARTAKERS OF THE DIVINE NATURE

TEXT: 2 Peter 1:1-4-- "Simon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, to themChrist: 2 Grace to you and peace be multiplied in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord; 3 seeing that his divine power hath granted unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that called us by his own glory and virtue; 4 whereby he hath granted unto us his precious and exceeding great promises; that through these ye may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in that world by lust."

LESSON--

1. One of the mysteries of our existence is how we become so corrupt.
   
   1. Some say we are born in sin, and inherit a corrupt nature.
      
      1. This is disproved by God by statement and example in Ezekiel 18.
         
      2. Solomon said, "Behold, this only have I found: that God made man upright; but they have sought out many inventions." Ecclesiastes 7:29
         
   2. If we do not inherit our corrupt nature, and yet we become corrupt, then it follows that we are responsible for our own descent into that pit.
      
      1. We were alive once, but died through sin. Ephesians 2:1-3 "And you did he make alive, when ye were dead through your trepasses and sins, 2 wherein ye once walked according to the course of this world, accord-ing to the prince of the powers of the air, of the spirit that now worketh in the sons of disobedience; 3 among whom we also all once lived in the lust of our flesh, doing the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest:--"
         
      2. It is a matter of exercising our own will. "Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father it is your will to do." John 8:44a
         
      3. Our text says, "Corruption is in the world by lust"---Ours!!
         
2. Partaking of the divine nature must come in recognition of our creation as beings capable of such a transformation.
   
   1. Along with other great accomplishments of God, he "formed a spirit in us." Zechariah 12:1b "Thus saith Jehovah, who stretcheth forth the heavens, and layeth the foundation of the earth, and formeth the spirit of man within him:....."
      
   2. God is described as the "Father of spirits..." Hebrews 12:9 "...we had the fathers of our flesh to chasten us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live?"
      
   3. The spirit which God forms in man gives him a means to rise above his "natural" tendencies.
      
      1. Job 32:8 (Elihu stated a universal truth, saying) "But there is a spirit in man, And the breath of the Almighty giveth them understanding."
         
      2. That is applied to spiritual things revealed from God, in 1 Corinthians 2:12-16. "But we received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is from God; that we might know the things that were freely given to us of God. 13 Which things also we speak, not in words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Spirit teacheth; combining spiritual things with spiritual words. 14 Now the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him; and he cannot know them, because they are spiritually judged. 15 But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, and he himself is judged of no man. 16 For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he should instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ."
         
3. What is the divine nature, of which we are to partake?
   
   1. God is Love. 1 John 4:7-8 "Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is begotten of God, and knoweth God. 8 He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love."
      
      1. This love demonstrated in the sacrifice of His son. John 3:16
         
      2. It is this same kind of love that is part of the divine nature. Ephesians 5:1-2 "Be ye therefore imitators of God, as beloved children; 2 and walk in love, even as Christ also loved you, and gave himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for an odor of a sweet smell."
         
   2. God is equated with Mercy and Truth. He introduced Himself to Moses in these terms. Exodus 34:6 "Jehovah passed by before him, and proclaimed, Jehovah, Jehovah, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abundant in lovingkindness and truth......"
      
      1. To "partake of the divine nature," we need to be merciful.
         
         1. Luke 6.36 "Be ye merciful, even as your Father is merciful."
            
         2. Psalm 18:25 "With the merciful thou wilt show thyself merciful;"
            
         3. James 2:12-13 "So speak ye, and so do, as men that are to be judged by a law of liberty. 13 For judgment is without mercy to him that hath showed no mercy: mercy glorieth against judgment."
            
      2. We must also be truthful. Ephesians 4:20-25 "But ye did not so learn Christ; 21 if so be that ye heard him, and were taught in him, even as truth is in Jesus: 22 that ye put away, as concerning your former manner of life, the old man, that waxeth corrupt after the lusts of deceit; 23 and that ye be renewed in the spirit of your mind, 24 and put on the new man, that after God hath been created in righteousness and holiness of truth. 25 Wherefore, putting away falsehood, speak ye truth each one with his neighbor: for we are members one of another."
         
   3. God is holy and pure. (Holy) Exodus 15:11 "Who is like unto thee, O Jehovah, among the gods? Who is like thee, glorious in holiness, Fearful in praises, doing wonders?" (Pure) Habakkuk 1:13a "Thou that art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and that canst not look on perverseness..."
      
      1. We can become holy by the chastening of our sins. Hebrews 12:10 "For they (our earthly fathers) indeed for a few days chastened us as seemed good to them; but He (God) for our profit, that we may be partakers of his holiness."
         
      2. We must be pure, as God is pure. 1 John 3:2-3 "Beloved, now are we children of God, and it is not yet made manifest what we shall be. We know that, if he shall be manifested, we shall be like him; for we shall see him even as he is. 3 And every one that hath this hope set on him purifieth himself, even as he is pure."
         

APPLICATION-- We have no time to exhaust this subject, but we have learned a little about how we can "partake of the divine nature."

1. One other divine trait of God is that He forgives sinners. Daniel 9:9-10 "To the Lord our God belong mercies and forgiveness; for we have rebelled against him; 10 neither have we obeyed the voice of Jehovah our God, to walk in his laws, which he set before us by his servants the prophets."
   
   1. This forgiveness is in Christ. Colossians 1:13-14 "(God)...delivered us out of the power of darkness, and translated us into the kingdom of the Son of his love; in whom we have our redemption, the forgiveness of our sins:"
      
   2. That divine nature of forgiveness must be in us.
      
      1. Ephesians 4:32 "...be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving each other, even as God also in Christ forgave you."
         
      2. Matthew 6:14-15 "For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses."
         
2. Therefore, we nead to nourish our god-given spirits by seeking the things of the spirit, fashioned after God.
   
   1. God is a spirit. John 4:24 "God is a Spirit...."
      
   2. So, God created man after his image, a spirit. Genesis 1:26-27 "And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the heavens, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. 27 And God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them."
      
   3. God's spirit in us is the key. Romans 8:9 "But ye are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you. But if any man hath not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his."
      
      1. This is not a personal indwelling of the Spirit. Romans 8:14 "For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God."
         
      2. The Spirit can lead us into the knowledge that we are children of God. Romans 8:16-17 "The Spirit himself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are children of God: 17 and if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified with him."
         
      3. The Spirit tells us how we become children of God. Galatians 3:26-27