It is for us to be partakers of the divine nature that we were made children of God and sons of God that we may be glorified with the divine glory (2 Pet. 1:4; Rom. 8:30c; Heb. 2:10). Every day we should partake of the divine nature. When we partake of beef, we partake of the nature of a cow. If every day we partake of beef, eventually, not only our skin but also our clothing will begin to smell like a cow. Likewise, if we eat salmon every day continually, our entire body will smell like salmon. Our partaking of the divine nature must be constant. Being partakers involves more than partaking in an occasional way. We must partake of the divine nature every minute. We must eat, drink, and even breathe the divine nature. In our human life we breathe more often than we drink, and we drink more often than we eat. In our Christian life, we must breathe, drink, and eat the divine nature.
We partake constantly of the divine nature so that we may be glorified. To merely improve ourselves does not involve us with a different element. However, to be glorified, we must be involved with the element of God's glory, with the element of God's glorifying nature. When metal is heated until it becomes red hot, as in welding, it is "glorified." The element of electricity enters into the metal and makes it hot. Thus, we may say that the electricity glorifies the metal.
By partaking of God's divine nature, we are glorified with the divine glory. We were regenerated through the resurrection of Christ unto a living hope (1 Pet. 1:3). This hope is for our coming glorification. We have been justified, and we will be glorified (Rom. 8:30c). Since we are now on the way to glory, Hebrews 2:10 tells us that God is leading us, His many sons, into glory.
As a young Christian, I was taught that to be glorified was to have our physical defects removed. With this understanding, I thought that for a crippled person to be brought into the Lord's glory meant that his being crippled would be removed at the Lord's coming back. I held this understanding for quite a time. Eventually, I came to realize that this was not the proper understanding of being glorified. When we received the divine life and were regenerated, we became a new being. This new being is a partaker of the divine nature. Day after day we must partake of the divine nature, and this divine nature is the glory. Eventually, this divine nature will glorify us, causing us to shine with God's element.
Regeneration includes our upcoming glorification. Thus, it is correct to say that our regeneration has not yet been completed. We have had a beginning, and now we are on the way. There is still much of our being that has not yet been regenerated. We may think that the process we undergo after our initial regeneration should be called sanctification or transformation. This is certainly true, but in Romans 8:30 Paul mentioned only justification and glorification. These are only two of the steps in the long process from regeneration to glorification. Paul seemed to skip sanctification, transformation, and conformation. Actually, the steps of sanctification, transformation, and conformation are included in the ultimate step of glorification, for these steps consummate in glorification. Regeneration begins with justification and consummates in glorification.
Although we have been regenerated, we may still lose our temper. Our losing of our temper indicates that we have not yet been fully regenerated. When we lose our temper, we may wonder whether or not we have been regenerated at all. Yes, we have been regenerated, but not fully. We have been regenerated, but we will not be thoroughly regenerated until we have been glorified.