To be a partaker of the divine nature is
not, of course, to become God. That cannot be. The essence of Deity is
not to be participated in by the creature. Between the creature and the
Creator there must ever be a gulf fixed in respect of essence; but as
the first man Adam was made in the image of God, so we, by the renewal
of the Holy Spirit, are in a yet diviner sense made in the image of the
Most High, and are partakers of the divine nature. We are, by grace,
made like God. “God is love”; we become love—“He that loveth is born of
God.” God is truth; we become true, and we love that which is true: God
is good, and he makes us good by his grace, so that we become the pure
in heart who shall see God. Moreover, we become partakers of the divine
nature in even a higher sense than this—in fact, in as lofty a sense as
can be conceived, short of our being absolutely divine. Do we not become
members of the body of the divine person of Christ? Yes, the same blood
which flows in the head flows in the hand: and the same life which
quickens Christ quickens his people, for “Ye are dead, and your life is
hid with Christ in God.” Nay, as if this were not enough, we are married
unto Christ. He hath betrothed us unto himself in righteousness and in
faithfulness, and he who is joined unto the Lord is one spirit. Oh!
marvellous mystery! we look into it, but who shall understand it? One
with Jesus—so one with him that the branch is not more one with the vine
than we are a part of the Lord, our Saviour, and our Redeemer! While we
rejoice in this, let us remember that those who are made partakers of
the divine nature will manifest their high and holy relationship in
their intercourse with others, and make it evident by their daily walk
and conversation that they have escaped the corruption that is in the
world through lust. O for more divine holiness of life!
This devotion was taken from The Apostle's Bible app.
No comments:
Post a Comment