Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires. 2 Peter 1:4, NIV

 

We ended last week with the thought that God provides in every need we may have to live and to serve him. This provision from God is true when we know Christ and have responded to his voice calling us to follow him. In our life of faith, God has given us so many precious promises. He has promised us the gift of the Holy Spirit and the Spirit works in us with the same mighty power he used to raise Jesus from the dead. Romans 8:11 teaches: “And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you.” The Spirit of God works in us!

 

Today’s verse describes the journey of sanctification that the Holy Spirit is working in every believer in Christ. Without Jesus, our lives would be described as people caught in the corruption of this world, caused by evil desires. In many verses in the Bible, this state is compared to a state of darkness. We live in a dark and dangerous world without Christ. When we are driven by evil desires, the highest authority in our lives is our own wants and needs. I am then the most important person in my life. When fulfilling my desires, I hurt other people in the process. I do not do that which God desires. This has been the problem of mankind since the fall of man. Outside the will of God, there is death and destruction; people are getting hurt.

 

This makes me think of how different this world could be if people obeyed Christ and loved one another as themselves. People transgress the law; therefore, love, hate, jealousy, murder and war have gained a foothold in this world. We ask what God is going to do about this sorry state of affairs.

 

God is busy renewing this world. He is calling ordinary people like you and me to be his children, to become disciples of Jesus. By faith, we are transformed to be new persons. Peter says that we are called to participate in the divine nature. What does that mean? We were created in the image of God in the beginning. We were called to be his representatives in this world (Genesis 1:26). God is love, 1 John 4:16 teaches us, and as God’s image, we were made to love him and one another. With the rebellion of man in Genesis 3, the image of God in us was broken. We chose to be God’s enemies and we would rather follow our own desires in life. However, when we surrender our lives to the lordship of Jesus Christ, we are being restored to the image of Christ. We become God’s children (John 1:12). We become people living in God’s light. Ephesians 5:8-10 calls on us: “For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) and find out what pleases the Lord.”

 

God helps us to be new persons in Christ. But we also have a responsibility in this process. In the next few days, we will look at seven steps we are called to take to enrich our faith.

 

Prayer: Lord, thank you that I may be your child through faith in Christ. Thank you for renewing my life with your Spirit and restoring the image of Christ in me. Please help me to become more and more like Christ. Amen.