Partakers of the Divine Nature

Christians are at the receiving end of God's precious promises. Through receiving these promises we may be partakers of the divine nature. Everything has been given to us without us having to ask for it!

Peter said, ".... 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 Peter 1:3, 4, NKJV, emphasis added).

Here are some statements of truth:

1. Even though God has already given us everything it does not mean that we will automatically receive what is in God's promises. The provision of God is in His promises. We need to discover His promises before we can claim them.

2. Our divine destiny is to become increasingly partakers of the Nature of God. The more you become a partaker of His Nature the less room there is for corruption in you. This is because the Divine Nature is incompatible with corruption.

3. You can only be a partaker of the Divine Nature if you have escaped the corruption that is in the world.

Corruption is in the World

The world is corrupted through lust. The word "lust" in the New Testament has a specific meaning. It means perverted desire or inordinate desire.

Man was created with good desires. But when he turned against his creator and rebelled against Him those good desires became perverted. And in order to satisfy those desires he became corrupted.

Look around you, you'll find anywhere people are doing the most senseless things - They are destroying their own bodies. Take a very simple example like smoking. It is a lust or a perverted desire. I don't condemn them but I do feel sorry for them. They are destroying themselves. This form of corruption brings lung cancer, cancer of the tongue and other related diseases.

The three basic forms of Lust

John said, "Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world - the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life - is not of the Father but is of the world. And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever" (1 John 2:15, 16, 17, NKJV, emphasis added).

The three basic forms of lust are of the world and not of the Father. The Father and the world are incompatible and it is not the will of God for anyone to love the world. The world with its lusts is passing away.

Lusts are Satan's weapons of temptation against humanity

If you analyze temptation through the Bible it always takes those three basic forms of lust. In fact they are Satan's major weapons against you and me.

Temptation started with Eve.

Genesis 3:6 says, "So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and eat. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate" (Emphsis added).

Here are some statements of truth:

1. The three forms of lust are: "The tree was good for food" - lust of the flesh. "It was pleasant to the eyes" - lust of the eyes. "Desirable to make one wise" - pride of life.

2. The word "saw" indicates that Eve moved out of the faith realm into the sense realm. That was the beginning of her problem, Adam's problem and our problem. Everything about Christianity is by faith and through faith. Any believer who moves out the faith realm into the sense realm is in danger of being deceived.

The Nature of Temptation

If you analyze the nature of temptation you will notice that the initial temptation was not the desire to do evil. This was true not only in the case of Eve but also in any other temptation a believer may encounter. The essence of temptation was the desire to be independent of God. This is also the essence of sin. As long as you desire in your heart to be independent of God you are in a dangerous position. Nothing in this universe has any right to be independent of the Creator!

Many people think by acquiring knowledge and education they could be independent of God. They say, "I can manage my life without God. If I'm in real emergency I'll pray, but generally speaking I can handle the situation myself". But this sort of attitude does not please God. We are created to live hour by hour, day by day, moment by moment dependent on the Spirit of God.

Jesus was tempted by Satan

Satan used the same three basic lusts to tempt Jesus. The devil said to Him:

1. "If You are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread" (Luke 4:3) - Lust of the flesh was tested.

2. "All this authority I will give You, and their glory; for this has been delivered to me, and I give it whomever I wish" (Luke 4:6) - Lust of the eyes was tested.

3. "If you are the Son of God, throw Youself down from here ..." (Luke 4:9) - The pride of life was tested.

The essence of these tests was to see whether Jesus would act independent of God the Father.

It is without doubt the last emptation was the most dangerous - to show how much power you have. To use your Spiritual Gifts to promote yourself is the subtlest of all temptation. It is the essence of pride. All religious errors are motivated by pride - eg. the religious pride of the Pharisees. Through pride, all errors come into the door of the Church!

God's Plan to replace the World

God is not going to improve this world; He is going to replace the world instead - contrary to what many people think, Christians or unbelievers. Just like His plan for people, God is not going to improve the "old man" in us, but to replace the old man - to be born again by the Spirit of God. This old world also needs to be "born again"!

Jesus said to His disciples, "Truly, I say to you, in the new age - the Messianic rebirth of the world - when the son of man shall sit down on the throne of His glory, you who have (become My disciples, sided with My party and) followed me will also sit on twelve thrones and judge the twelve tribes of Israel" (Matt. 19:28, The Amplified Bible, emphasis added).

The NKJV of the Bible uses the word "regeneration" instead of the word "rebirth". Notice that the phrase "The Messianic rebirth of the world" is the same as "The regeneration of the world" - the same word used to mean "being born again" of people.

An important spiritual truth revealed is - You can never get into the Kingdom of God but through a birth, whether for you as an individual person, or for the entire human race (the whole world).

It is going to take a birth to bring forth the Kingdom. What is going to be born is the new age because the present (old) age is passing away. What is going to be born is the new world for the present world is passing away. God is not going to patch the world up, He is not going to prolong it, He is going to replace it. We are living in the labor pain (birth pangs) now. The world is in labor pain out of the fact that it is corrupted - and corruption is irreversible! It must come to the God appointed climax. True Christians are looking forward to a new heaven and new earth!

A Kingdom not from this World

God is establishing a Kingdom that is not from this world.

Pilate asked Jesus if He was the King of the Jews. Jesus did not answer him explicitly but said:

"My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would fight, so that I should not be delivered to the Jews; but now My kingdom is not from here" (John 18:36, NKJV).

There is a king for every kingdom otherwise it would not be called a kingdom. In the case of Jesus, He is the King of His Father's Kingdom. This is the Kingdom where all believers belonged.

Christians should not fight to establish this Kingdom. A Christian is under obligation to serve his country and to perform military duty. But this has nothing to do with the Kingdom of God. You cannot establish the Kingdom of God using military power.

God's Remedy for Humanity

Unless you are a believer you are of the world and Satan is your god and master (refer to last week's message). Your life is controlled by the god of this world and you are likely to do the will of Satan. The only answer to this problem is to apply the cross of Jesus Christ to your life.

Paul said, "And those who are Christ's have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires" (Galatians 5:24).

Here are some statements of truth:

1. The above verse is a definition of being a Christian. People who are described as "Those who are Christ's" are Christians.

2. Fleshly passions and desires are perverted desires as explained early.

3. Every Christian's flesh with its perverted desires has been crucified; every Christian has applied the cross to his or her life.

Paul had applied the cross to his life - he said:

"I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me" (Gal. 2:20, NKJV).

The above was Paul's personal confession of applying the cross to his life. Every Christian should also make the same confession - confessing that he has taken the position with Christ on the cross.

Paul's glory is in the cross - he said:

"But God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world" (Gal. 6:14).

In other words, by the cross Paul died to the world. Instead of being in love with the world we should be like Paul, die to the world!