2nd Peter 1:3-4
"According as His divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him that has called us to glory and virtue.
Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust".
In this verses I find joy in the fact that God has made all necessary provisions that every believer should be a partaker of the divine nature.
The divine nature revealed in v. 4, is the outcome of the various gift that comes from the benevolence of GOD.
What is this Divine Nature
The God like character being made manifest in Christians today is as a result of all that GOD has given to them, to aid them in living Christ-like lives; Apostle Peter calls them "all things that pertains to life and godliness"; these things needed to ensure that a natural man is transformed to a man with a divine nature is made available " by His divine power".
The divine nature is a combination of various stage of a natural man's transformation process, to a God-like state. I will give you a bit of some of these stages from a believing Christian to
a babe-christian down to a matured, bone-eating believer.
A Believing Christian
John 3:16
For God so love the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
Acts 4:4
Howbeit many of them which heard the word believed and the number of the men was about five thousand.
Believing that Jesus Christ died for you and accepting Him as LORD and personal savoir is the kick-off stage of the divine nature. A man who is soaked in sin and worldliness has not gotten to this point. It starts from believing. Faith being the bedrock of Christianity sustains this process until Christ is fully manifested in that individual.
A baptising Christian
Acts 8:13
Then Simon himself believed also: and when he was baptised he continued with Philip, and wondered, beholding the miracles and signs which were done.
Mark 16:16
He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.
Baptism is an outward manifestation of the inward work of grace in a believers life. It is the next step after a soul has confess JESUS as lord of his life, he then openly baptises signifying a death and resurrection with Christ; dropping all old traits and embrace the new life in Christ. The baptism at most case brings to light the manifestation of the Holy Spirit as a gift to guide that Christian into the realm of the divine nature.
A Babe Christian
Hebrews 5:12
For when for the ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat.
Hebrews 5:13
For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe.
1st Peter 2:2
As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby
Then the journey to spiritual maturity starts from here, at this point, a babe Christian starts his spiritual journey; he begins to spend time on God's word which is a spiritual milk that propels his spiritual growth process. At this point this believer might not be that strong and fervent in prayers but has keen interest in religious activities; here an initial love for God is made manifest and he will be needing christian counsellors around to boost his faith and love for God.
A Bone-Eating Chriatian
Hebrews 5:14
But strong meat belongeth to them that are full of age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.
At this point of ones christian life he is experience the divine nature in his spiritual life. The bone-eating christian is one that is advanced in his walk with God. Faith in this christians life had gotten to its apex, and he at this point has fought various battles and victory achieve. This believer has gone beyond just reading his bible to diacovering hidden mysteries in God's word. He now has a closer and intimate relationship with the Holy Spirit; for this believer nothing comes by surprise to hin because of his experience over the years.
If you enjoyed this post, stay tuned for more positive imparting post from me. Also do upvote, follow and resteem @princewillandrew
Bereh that