The first intrinsic element of the triune constitution is gold, given by the Father as the basic element (Rev. 21:18b). We have seen that gold in typology always refers to God’s divine nature, and Peter told us that we are partakers of the divine nature (2 Pet. 1:4). When we were born physically, we all inherited our father’s nature by being born of him. We all have been given our human nature by our begetting father. In like manner, when we were born of God, as the begetting Father He imparted His own nature into our being, which is the gold of the “golden mountain,” the New Jerusalem. The city proper is like a mountain with the height of twelve thousand stadia, and Revelation 21:18 tells us that the city was pure gold. Also, Revelation 21:21 tells us that the street of the city was pure gold. All of this denotes that the divine nature is the basic element of our spiritual constitution, just like our human nature is the basic element of our human being.
The divine nature becomes the golden street on which we walk and in which we behave. As a human being, you behave in your human nature. In the same way, a dog has a “doggie nature” and he always behaves in this nature. A dog does not need anyone to teach it to bark. The dog’s barking is because of his nature. The dog nature becomes the “street” for the dog to walk on. Since we as the children of God have the divine nature, this divine nature should spontaneously be our street and our walkway. The reason why we do not go dancing is because this is against the divine nature. The divine nature regulates us, not by a written regulation, but by being a street in our inner being. Our driving a car is not only regulated by a street but also by the lines painted on the street. Our Christian life should not be regulated by a church code or by a written regulation, but by the divine nature as our unique street.
In the New Jerusalem there is one, unique street—God’s divine nature. Why do we Christians not gamble? There is not a code which says that the members of the church should not gamble, but the divine nature within us will not allow us to gamble. We are walking on the divine street, which means we are walking in the divine nature. The divine nature has been given to us and 2 Peter 1:3-4 says that God has granted to us all things which relate to life and godliness and that we may be those partaking of the divine nature. To partake of the divine nature means that you have received the divine nature already. Partaking of the divine nature means enjoying the divine nature. All of us have a share of the golden mountain within us since we have received God’s divine nature. We do not need to receive His nature again, but we have to enjoy it every day.
Peter tells us in his second Epistle that through the precious and exceedingly great promises, the believers might become partakers of the divine nature (v. 4). We all need to praise the Lord that we have God’s divine nature as the gold within us. His divine nature is rich, high, excellent and brilliant! He has also given us great promises in both the Old and New Testaments to enable us to partake of this golden nature.
In order to illustrate how we partake of the divine nature through the great promises of God, we need to consider something which plagues every human being—anxiety. Everyone has anxiety and worry and no one can avoid this. We all must admit that anxiety is a “killer.” There are some wonderful promises in the Bible, however, concerning anxiety. In Matthew 6 the Lord Jesus tells us not to be anxious concerning our life, which involves what we eat, what we drink, and what we put on (v. 25). The Lord then goes on to tell us to look at the birds of the heaven. Although the birds do not sow or reap or gather into barns, our heavenly Father nourishes them (v. 26). Finally, the Lord charges us to “seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you” (v. 33).
Upon graduating from college, a certain young man may aspire to get the best job. If he does not get a job after three months, however, he probably will become anxious. He will begin to wonder where he will get the money to feed and clothe himself. The Lord Jesus, however, promised us that if we seek His kingdom and His righteousness, He will take care of our needs. If we take His promise, we will enjoy the divine nature.
In 2 Peter 1:4-11 there is a record of the divine nature and its development. The development of the divine nature is the growth of the divine nature. The divine nature has been given to us for us to partake of and enjoy. Through the promises of God we can enjoy the divine nature, and by this the divine nature develops and grows from one state to another. While we are enjoying God’s nature we are being constituted with it. In the physical realm, what I eat and enjoy becomes my intrinsic element to constitute me. My healthy facial color and my strength is from the inner constituting by the intrinsic element.
Through the promises of God, we can enjoy the divine nature wrought into our being as our intrinsic element. Philippians 4:6-7 says, “In nothing be anxious, but in everything, by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your thoughts in Christ Jesus.” These verses also contain a promise through which we can deal with anxiety and partake of the divine nature. When you have anxiety, the enjoyment of the gold within you is annulled. This means that when you are in anxiety, you need the enjoyment of the divine nature in you. When you keep or take the promises concerning anxiety, you will enjoy the divine nature. Whenever anxiety threatened to take me over, I said, “Lord Jesus, Philippians 4:6!” Sometimes I shout—“Philippians 4:6!” To let your requests be made known to God means to tell God what you need. If you are anxious about your children, tell God, and the peace of God will guard your heart and your thoughts. In nothing be anxious, but in everything tell God what you need. Once we tell the Lord what we need and that we do not like this anxiety, from that time the thing that is causing us the anxiety becomes His business and His job. Therefore, we enjoy Him and we enjoy His golden nature.
He has granted us all things pertaining to life and He has also given us the great promises that we may partake of, that we may enjoy, the divine nature. While we are enjoying this divine nature, it constitutes us. When we are in anxiety, we cannot enjoy God’s nature constituting us in any way. However, when we appropriate and apply God’s promises, the divine nature has a way to constitute our being and grow within us. This is the first aspect of the triune constitution.