The Divine part 3
We are divine creatures. Godlike. Because we were made in God's image, and then--on the cross--confomed to the image of His Son. The fulness of the Godhead dwelt in A body when Jesus walked the earth. Now it dwells in OUR bodies. His corporate body. Because He dwells in us. And, I think, the key to all of this is understanding the two-way street of relationship. Who I am in Christ is who Christ is in me. He dwells in me, but I dwell in Him. Because I dwell in LOVE. I guard my heart--by keeping it open--because out of the heart flows the issue of life. Which, of course, is love. To live is to love and to love is to live. There is nothing more holy, or more heavenly, or more divine, than being loved by your heavenly Father and loving others with that same love. That's why we were created. That's our purpose. That's our calling. And when we do that, when we let God love us and when we love one another with that love... when we know and believe, when we receive and release, the love of Christ... that's when (and how) we partake of the divine nature. That's when (and how) we let the mind of Christ, that's already in us, BE in us. When (and how) we USE the gift we've been given. We experience love by giving it away. Because love is giving. We experience the gift we've been given (eternal life, which is knowing the one true God and the One He sent... knowing the Father in the context of being His beloved Son in whom He is well pleased) when we SHARE the gift. That's when things get real. That's where the rubber meets the road. And that's when things get exciitng. That's when you can stop struggling and start resting. When you know who you are, you can stop trying to be someone you're not. When you know WHERE you are--we are IN the Kingdom and we ARE the Kingdom--you can be content right here and now. And when you know what you've got you can stop trying to earn your bread by the sweat of your brow. You can be still and know that HE is God. That God is love. You can partake of the divine nature through the knowledge of Jesus. Through the knowledge that it is YOUR new nature. Not the beast nature that ruled the old man, but the love nature that controls the New Man! And I'm not talking about that "Christian robot" who is "controlled" by an external law. Because where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. Freedom FROM sin and death, and freedom TO live a life of love. The thing I like about that phrase in 2 Peter 1:4 (and I think this is where I'm going to focus all of my energy in tomorrow's Rant) is the idea of being a "partaker." Remember when we started this Rant series it was with the idea of eating something that was so good it was out of this world. It was divine. Well, you are what you eat. What you magnify is what manifests in your life. What you feed is what grows. So my point is, when the Bible says, "God is love" (1 John 4:8) the word "love" means "love feast." We partake of the fruit of the Tree of Life. The fruit of the Spirit. Love. And when we eat the right thing... when we know what's inside, when we know who we are... that's when it (Him, love) comes out naturally. We are divine creatures, and we were created to be loved and to love!