2 Peter 1:4 Through which He has granted to us precious and exceedingly great promises that through these you might become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption which is in the world by lust.
Being brought on to maturity is a lifelong process that requires our daily cooperation with the Lord to experience the development of the divine life and the divine nature contained in the divine seed that has been sown into us so that we may have a rich entrance into the eternal kingdom of our God (see 2 Pet. 1:1-11).
As we trace the process of maturity being illustrated and spoken of in the Bible we arrive to 2 Peter 1 where we see that we have been allotted the wonderful, equally precious faith, and this faith is an all-inclusive seed which was sown into us at the time of our regeneration.
After receiving this seed, we need to cooperate with the Lord by being diligent to grow in life unto maturity, and this is by developing the virtues of the divine seed.
We need to have the solid roots of virtue and knowledge, the trunk of self-control, the branches of endurance and godliness, and the blossom and fruit of brotherly love and love. All the divine riches are in the seed of life we received at the time of our regeneration, and we must be diligent to develop them day after day.
The ultimate development of the divine nature within us is love – the love of God, the divine love, the “agape” love, the love which is God Himself in His nature (1 John 4:8, 16).
As we cooperate with the Lord to grow in life day by day, and as we are diligent to add to faith virtue, to virtue, knowledge; to knowledge, self-control; to self-control, endurance; to endurance, godliness; to godliness, brotherly love; and to brotherly love, love, we are filled with God as love and we become the same as He is in His love.
The consummation of the process of growing unto maturity, as revealed in 2 Peter 1, is that we become the same as God in His love! We become those loving God, loving the brothers, loving all kind of human beings without any partiality, and loving even our enemies.
How we need to give the Lord our best cooperation to grow in life unto maturity, opening to Him every day, being diligent to cooperate with Him by partaking of the divine nature through His precious promises, and adding all the virtues in this nature, so that we may grow unto maturity and become the same as God in life, nature, expression, and function, but not in the Godhead.
Developing the Virtues of the Divine Life and Nature to Grow in Life unto Maturity
2 Peter 1:10 Therefore, brothers, be the more diligent to make your calling and selection firm, for doing these things you shall by no means ever stumble. Source: Christian Pictures blog
It is so wonderful to know that, as believers in Christ, we have been given God’s precious and exceedingly great promises that through these we may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption which is in the world by lust (2 Pet. 1:4).
When we were born again by receiving Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we have received the seed of the divine life into us and we have been allotted the wonderful, equally precious faith (which is the all-inclusive seed).
All the divine riches are in the seed of life we received at our regeneration, and throughout our Christian life we need to be diligent to develop these riches and virtues. Our growth unto maturity is by developing what we already have, the riches and virtues of the divine life and nature.
If we have the development of the divine life and are constituted with the elements of the divine nature, a rich and bountiful entrance into the coming kingdom will be supplied to us (2 Pet. 1:11).
It is our destiny to enter into the kingdom of God and be kings with Him, and for us to be kings we need to be mature in life. No immature believer can reign for God or exercise kingship.
According to 2 Peter 1, growing unto maturity is by developing the divine riches and virtues in the all-inclusive seed of life we received. We need to develop in our virtue knowledge, in knowledge, self-control; in self-control, endurance; in endurance, godliness; in godliness, brotherly love; and in brotherly love, love (see 2 Peter. 1:5-11).
This requires our exercise to be diligent to add and develop these virtues, and the result is that we grow in life and become mature, that is, we arrive at the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ (Eph. 4:13).
By being diligent to add and develop the virtues from faith to love, we grow in life unto maturity and we are qualified and equipped to enter into the kingdom and be kings with Christ.
By developing these virtues, we grow in life and reach maturity, are full of Christ, and are qualified and ready to be kings in the coming kingdom of God (Eph. 4:13-15; 2 Pet. 1:11).
Lord Jesus, thank You for allotting to us the wonderful, equally precious faith as the all-inclusive seed containing all the riches of the divine life and nature. We want to be diligent to develop these virtues so that we may grow in life and reach maturity! Lord, may we have a rich and bountiful entrance into the coming kingdom by having the development of the divine life and by being constituted with the elements of the divine nature.
Being Diligent to Pursue the Growth, Development, and Maturity of the Divine Life
When a baby is born, within the human life he receives from his parents there are all the riches of the human life, and these riches and virtues are being developed by him day by day as he grows in life, learns things, exercises, etc.
In a similar manner, in the divine life we received at our regeneration there are the riches of the divine life and nature, and we need to cooperate with the Lord to develop these riches.
We need to partake of the divine nature and grow in the divine life unto maturity until we are filled with God as love and become persons of love, even love itself (Eph. 3:19).
The ultimate development of the divine nature within us is the agape love, the divine life, God Himself in His nature. Footnote 2 in the Recovery Version on the word love in 2 Peter 1:7 says,
The Greek word is used in the New Testament for the divine love, which God is in His nature (1 John 4:8, 16). It is nobler than human love. It adorns all the qualities of the Christian life (1 Cor. 13; Rom. 13:8-10; Gal. 5:13-14). It is stronger in ability and greater in capacity than human love (Matt. 5:44, 46), yet a believer who lives by the divine life (v. 3) and partakes of the divine nature (v. 4) can be saturated with it and express it in full. Such a love needs to be developed in brotherly love to govern it and flow in it for the full expression of God, who is this love. Faith can be considered the seed of life, and this nobler love, the fruit (v. 8) in its full development. The six steps of development in between are the stages of its growth unto maturity.
As we daily cooperate with the divine nature, it will have the opportunity to develop itself to its consummation, which is the divine love, God Himself as love.
We don’t have to “work hard on it” by doing many things outwardly, and there is no way to grow in life unto maturity over night. We simply need to remain in fellowship with the Lord, enjoy Him, love Him, partake of the divine nature by enjoying God’s promises in His word, and we will afford the divine nature the cooperation it needs to grow and develop.
Day by day we need to be diligent to pursue the growth, development, and maturity of the divine life and nature so that we may have a rich entrance into the eternal kingdom.
When we partake of the divine nature to the uttermost, we will be filled with God as love inwardly, and outwardly we will be separated and distinct, sanctified unto God. When we enjoy God as love, we will be holy in all our manner of life.
As we develop the virtues of the divine life and nature, we arrive at the stage where we become love itself, that is, we become the same as God in His communicable attribute of love. We will love God, love the believers, love men, and even love our enemies; love fills our being, and we love with God as love effortlessly.
In a practical way, in order for us to partake of the divine nature and pursue the growth in life, we should present ourselves to the Lord for this life development. Don’t try to act and behave beyond what you have grown in life; simply be what you are until you will be something different due to the further growth in life.
Lord Jesus, we present ourselves to You to grow in life unto maturity. We want to give You our best cooperation for the seed of life to grow and for the virtues of the divine nature to develop. Keep us in the fellowship of the divine life, touching You and enjoying You, that we may partake of the divine nature. Keep us enjoying You in Your word, taking Your promises into us in a living way. Lord, fill us with Yourself as love until we love all men. Bring us on to maturity that we may have a rich entrance into the eternal kingdom!
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Inspiration: the Word of God, my Christian experience, bro. Ron Kangas’ sharing in the message for this week, and portions from, Life-study of 2 Peter, msgs. 6-7, as quoted in, the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Crystallization-Study of Genesis (3), week 6 / msg 6, The Process of Maturity.
- Picture credit: second picture via Christian Pictures blog 2 Pet. 1:10.
- Hymns on this topic:
# Every time I say “Amen” to His Spirit / And walk by my spirit, / The kingdom seed grows and develops / Deep inside of me. / On the outside, it may seem that there’s / No change in me— / But I’m not the same, / ’Cause as the seed grows in me, / Inside I’m becoming God! (Song on Cooperating to Grow in Life)
# Diligence day by day will this growth insure; / Diligence thus will make our election sure. / When indeed with this seed we cooperate, / We’re supplied the kingdom’s entrance, rich and great. (Hymns #1211)
# Lord, keep us poor in spirit, / Pure in heart that we may be / Good ground in which the seed of life / May grow abundantly, / Until the final stage is reached / And You are satisfied / And have Your priceless, chosen pearl, / Your joy complete, Your Bride. (Hymns #1242)
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