Saturday, 3 April 2021
BE CONDITIONED TO YOUR DIVINE NATURE
For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men? (1 Corinthians 3:3).
If you’re born again, even though outwardly you may look like your next-door neighbour who isn’t born again, a real transformation took place in your spirit. You were actually, literally, born divine — born anew with the life and nature of God. Not only are you godly, you’re God-like. But because many don’t know this, they say, “We’re all humans.” No, we’re not; that’s what you were before you were reborn.
The human “you” died, and a new you came from God. That’s what John meant when He said, “Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world” (1 John 4:4); it means you hail from God; your life is divine. What God expects is that you become conditioned to your divine nature. It’s the purpose for the renewing of your mind: Romans 12:2 says, “And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind…”
You may say, “But in the Book of Acts, Peter told Cornelius that he himself was a man.” You may also refer to the occasion where the people at the cities of Lycaonia almost worshipped Paul because of the signs and wonders he had performed, and he told them, “… We also are men of like passions with you…” (Acts 14:15).
But here’s what you must understand: the apostles, at this time, hadn’t fully understood the mystery of the Gospel. Otherwise, they’d have communicated differently. Think about it: Jesus never talked like that. He said, “…I am from above: ye are of this world; I am not of this world” (John 8:23). When it dawned on Paul through revelation of the Spirit that he was the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus, he expressed it differently.
He said the Christian is “a new creature” — a new type of man (2 Corinthians 5:17). The same Peter also graduated to a higher class and in His epistle, he called the Christian “partaker of the divine nature”; associate of the God-kind. Psalm 82:6 says, “I have said, Ye are gods; and all of you are children of the most High.” If you talk and live as a man, you’ll suffer the things men suffer. Become conscious of your divine nature and practise the divine life.
CONFESSION: Through meditation on the Word, I’ve become conditioned to my divine nature. I have “Kingdom sight,” and Kingdom perception. I think, talk, and live as an associate of the God-kind. Glory to God!
FURTHER STUDY:
Psalm 82:5-7; John 10:33-36
1 YEAR BIBLE READING PLAN: Luke 9:37-62 & Joshua 16-19
2 YEAR BIBLE READING PLAN: Matthew 27:11-25 & Leviticus 3