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Participating


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. (II Peter 1:4)

          Back in Genesis, Satan’s temptation to Adam and Eve was that in eating the fruit of the tree, they would become “like God, knowing good and evil.” I believe Adam and Eve thought that knowing evil would do them good, that they would be able to sit in judgment over it. They weren’t thinking of their own experiences, knowing the experience of evil done to them. 
          We have not changed in all the generations that have followed. We still want to be like God, in His might and His authority. We want to be the judge, jury, and sometimes executioner, not so much in killing others (though sometimes that) but as in executing our own decisions, whatever they may be. And we are often offended when God doesn’t seem to think we’re grown up enough to fill His shoes.
          Today’s passage tells us that God wants us to be like Him. He wants us to participate in His divine nature. In order to do so, however, we have to escape corruption caused by evil desires. I suspect to God, our emphasis on power saddens Him. Yes, He is omnipotent, but what would you think of a person who wanted your credit card to use to buy things of which you don’t approve?  

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