Image by Cailin Valente
As I read these two short, yet powerful, verses what strikes me the most is Peter’s emphasis on the divine power God gives each Christian and how it affects our lives. He writes how necessary it is to practice virtue in order to receive the promises Christ holds for us, and he gives us one main reason for striving towards it. He says that when we say yes to the divine power God has bestowed on us, we “become partakers of the divine nature.” But what does that mean?
Does it mean we become gods? Does it mean that we can predict the future? Can I fly and float now since I’m divine? And what is nature? Like the woods and flowers and trees?
What is means is that we share in the divine nature of the Jesus. Now, don’t get me wrong, we are not GODS and we can never become gods. There is only ONE God. The God of Israel. BUT we are given power to allow God to work miracles through us! This is what the Saints are known for.
When Peter writes that we are all called to this divine nature he is telling us that we, through baptism (which is the virtue of faith on our parent’s part), have been given divine life. We are given God’s divine power which makes it possible for us to lead supernatural lives. This in turn will lead us closer and closer to heaven.
This whole divine power thing reminds me of a friend from college. This friend has the gift of healing. He is a humble man and didn’t tell me himself, but I heard about it from a mutual friend of ours. She had experienced God working through him firsthand. My friend asked him to pray over her hip which had been hurting for years. He prayed over it and she told me how much better she felt and that the pain had gone away! She had been healed. It was a true life miracle! I was stunned and in awe.
God is so generous with his creation and wants us to share in His divine power and glory! Healing isn’t the only gift that God gives. There are gifts of counsel, fortitude, peace, gentleness, teaching, preaching, joy, compassion, forgiveness etc. Sharing in this power and divine glory is part of the active Christian life.
Finally, we must remember that it is God the Father who first acted in revealing himself to us through his Son Jesus. We read in verse three that, “through the knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and power,” we are able to live out a supernatural divine life. How humbling to know that nothing we have done has saved us. Nothing. It’s all HIM. Only through the mercy and love of God are we given the, “precious and very great promises,” of being one with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit and sharing in his Divine life and power.
My prayer for you this day is that you say YES to living out this truth. <3 God bless you <3
