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A NEW NATURE
September 12, 2023Seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence. For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust.
2 Peter 1:3-4
GOD HAS EVERYTHING IN YOUR LIFE COVERED. This is one of my favorite verses in the Bible. This is telling us that there is full provision from the Creator of the universe to each one of us – everything pertaining to life and godliness. Everything includes all and excludes nothing. God grants us this through “the true knowledge of Him.” That’s why we study the Scripture to know “His precious and magnificent promises.” By them, we become partakers of the divine nature.
WHAT ARE YOU CHAINED TO? From Adam and Eve, we inherited a sinful nature. In Christ, we inherit a divine nature, and the law of the spirit of life in Jesus lifts us up and sets us free from the law of sin and death (Romans 8:2). As Christians, there are still occasions when we need to repent. But the difference is before we had a chain tethered to us because of our sinful condition. We were fallen and inclined to sin as a habit. But Jesus broke that chain and linked us to righteousness. Now, we are new creations. We are different than we used to be – we are part of the divine nature.
Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation 2 Corinthians 5:17-18
MINISTRY OF RECONCILIATION. The relationship between God and humanity has been restored. Make Jesus central in your life and fall in love with Him daily. Talk to Him and talk about Him. Tell others about Him. When I was out of town, I encountered two separate Christian groups. The first group I saw was on a public ocean pier. The guy was preaching through a megaphone, appealing to people to be saved. He wasn’t screaming, he wasn’t manic, he wasn’t harsh, he wasn’t candy-coating it, but he was so loving and he spoke in conversational terms. Another guy in that group gave me a gospel tract, saying, “It’s all about Jesus,” and even his body language was easygoing. I had a great experience. The next day, I drove by a person with a sign that said “Jesus or Hell,” and I could feel the completely different dynamic of his approach. I’m grateful people are out preaching Jesus. But when you’re a partaker of the divine nature, and you’re assured in it, it helps you come across as more approachable instead of obnoxious, with a deepened interest and a greater affection, making you more persuasive.
I want to encourage you guys; you’re a partaker of God’s divine nature. You’re a new creation in Christ. Meditate on that and watch the good it will do your thinking.
God bless you,
Pastor Jeff Perry
na·ture, noun
The fundamental character or disposition of a person; temperament.
The set of inherent characteristics or properties that distinguish something.
DAILY CONFESSION:
Because I am in Christ, I am a new creature; the old things have passed away; behold, new things have come. God’s divine power has granted to me everything pertaining to life and godliness through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence. By this, He has granted to me His precious and magnificent promises so that by them I may become a partaker of God’s divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust (2 Corinthians 5:17; 2 Peter 1:3-4).
Copyright © 2023 St. Louis Family Church, All rights reserved. No part of this article may be reprinted or distributed in any form without prior written permission of St. Louis Family Church. Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture references are from the New American Standard Bible (NASB) Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved. Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved. “Nature.” The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Harper Collins Publishers, www.ahdictionary.com/word/search.html?q=nature&submit.x=42&submit.y=20 Accessed 6 Sep. 2023.
