In all the messages we have given, we have never touched in a thorough and adequate way the definition of the divine nature. This term “the divine nature” is only mentioned once in the entire Bible—in 2 Peter 1:4. This verse mentions the divine nature in a very particular way in that it says that we have become partakers of the divine nature. A partaker is different from a receiver. We have received the divine nature, but there is a question as to whether or not we are partaking of the divine nature. This is why Peter in his second Epistle told us how to partake of the divine nature in the first chapter. We need to be the partakers of the divine nature in the same way that we are partakers of food every day. Not many of us have ever paid an adequate amount of attention to the matter of how to become an enjoyer of the divine nature.
It is not an easy task to define the divine nature. It would even be hard for any of us to give an adequate definition of the human nature. From our fellowship, I hope we all will be able to see the definition of the divine nature, how to partake of and enjoy the divine nature which we have already received through our divine birth, and the issue of our partaking of the divine nature. In this chapter we will focus our attention on the definition of the divine nature.
When many Christians study the Bible, their first concern is for their welfare or for what blessing or profit they can get from the Bible. Their second concern is how to worship God, how to fear Him, how to please Him, and how to do things to glorify Him. Not many Christians even think concerning how to fellowship with God. They mostly would be concerned with how to have a time with God. The third real concern for many Bible readers is how to improve or better themselves. We all have the realization that we are not that good. Therefore, to many of us the Bible is a divine, heavenly book telling us how to improve ourselves. Finally, many Bible readers hope that the Bible could be an instruction book telling them what to do. Not many have really seen something concerning God’s interest, really realizing that God intends to work Himself into us to be our life and to be our nature. A few persons whom I met talked a lot about how God is to be our life, but they spoke very little concerning how God’s nature could be our nature. For God to be our life is a deep subject, but for God’s nature to be our nature is an even deeper matter.
There are three verses in the Bible which puzzle many Bible students and translators—Romans 1:20, Colossians 2:9, and 2 Peter 1:4. Romans 1:20 refers to God’s eternal power and divinity. Some translators translate the word “divinity” wrongly into “divine nature.” The King James Version translates this word into “Godhead.” In Colossians 2:9 we are told that all the fullness of the Godhead dwells in Christ bodily. The word for Godhead in Colossians 2:9 and the word for divinity in Romans 1:20 denote different things concerning God and are two different Greek words. Then in 2 Peter 1:4 we see the divine nature. In the past, we may have felt that these verses referred to the same thing, but we need a clear understanding in order to differentiate among them. Since gold signifies the divine nature of God for the base of God’s building, we need to have a clear vision concerning the definition of the divine nature.
In a note on Romans 1:20 Darby says that the Greek word for divinity means “what is characteristic of God.” In Romans 1:20 “divinity,” Gk. theiotes, denotes the characteristics of the divine nature. For example, the nature of a piece of furniture may be wood and the grain of the wood is a characteristic of the nature. According to Romans 1:20 the creation only shows the characteristics, the expressions, of God’s divine nature. In the creation you cannot see God’s divine nature itself.
The creation cannot show or exhibit the Person of God. The Person of God was exhibited and expressed by Jesus Christ. Colossians 2:9 says that in Christ dwells all the fullness of the Godhead, not the fullness of divinity but the Godhead, the Person. Because the creation is not a person it can only show God’s characteristics, not God’s Person. Only a person can exhibit or express a person, and the Person that exhibits God’s Person, is Jesus Christ. The word “Godhead” in Colossians 2:9 refers to God’s Person. The creation only shows the characteristics of God but not God’s Person. Christ, as the embodiment of God, shows the Godhead, God’s Person, and shows Him in full bodily.