Ministers of Presence

Do you Carry Divine Nature with You?

What do you bring with you when you encounter a person, enter a room, or a situation? Do individuals who share your space sense that something meaningful is going to take place? Or is the encounter just a moment in time, lacking value, or significance? Consider the epistle of St Peter. In 2 Peter 1:4, the scripture reads,

“Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.”

The Greek word for participate is koinōnos which means a partner, associate, comrade, or companion. The Greek word for divine is theios which means, spoken of the only and true God. The Greek word for nature is physis means the powers by which one person differs from others. Therefore, together they mean we are partakers in Godlike powers. Fundamentally, as children of God, we possess the ability in our lives on Earth to genuinely reflect God. I say “ability” because the degree to which we reflect our Father is relative to the degree to which we surrender our human nature. To that end, I will ask the first question again: What do you bring with you when you encounter a person, enter a room or a situation?

To fully understand what is available to us, we must first understand the very nature of the Triune God. Most believers understand the divine nature of God is love. However, this truth must be further unpacked to see our connection to it. To do this, we must explore the interrelationship, interdependence, and ultimately immanent truth of the Triune God. By understanding their relationship, we can see our place in their union. As noted earlier, most believers know that God is love, however, to be love, God needed someone to love. It is God the Father’s love for the Son and for the Spirit where His personhood is largely defined; thereby the mutual love from the Son and Spirit to the Father and for one another is where their personhood is largely defined as well.

In the Trinity is a mutually indwell relationship to one another as Father, Son, and Spirit in perfect love and co-equal in essence, power, action, and will. For it is through their koinonia that we learn the truth about our reborn selves. In theology, koinonia is having perfect divine communion. Peter R. Laughlin of the Australian College of Ministries writes it this way, “..having been created in the image of God, humanity is now welcome to participate in the divine koinonia through the ascended incarnate Son and in the power of the Spirit who is now present with us”. Thus, we are brought into koinonia (through Christ) with the Triune God, and thereby we take the Trinity with us wherever we go. Let me ask the first question again: What do you take with you when you encounter a person, enter a room, or a situation?

In John 14:20, scripture tells us that "On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you."

As believers, we are the adopted children of God. Our birthright entitles us to a privileged relationship with Him. However, what is available to us is never forced on us. Many believers live satisfying lives without ever unleashing the full power of the Holy Spirit. For it is the gentle, tender, and soft-spoken Holy Spirit who is Lord and Giver of Life and He desires for Gods’ children to enjoy the full presence of the Father wherever they go. However, this will not happen passively. In 2 Peter1:5 scripture reads, "For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue". The word supplement means to augment; increase; add; to boost. These activities must be initiated by us like hungry younglings craving to suckle of the Spirit all the nourishment our vessels need and then some more. Therefore, as filled, we assert a confident and forceful disposition towards our walk of faith with full knowledge of the Parkletos, Spirit within us. For in Romans 8:11, "The Holy Spirit raised Jesus from the dead. If the same Holy Spirit lives in you, He will give life to your bodies in the same way." We now live with the fullness of resurrection power flowing through us from the top of our heads to the soles of our feet. It is when this becomes our Truth, where other people notice and remember when they spent time with and around us. However, in 2 Peter 1:9, the Apostle explains why believers do not walk in the full truth of their birthright.

“But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins.”

Per Apostle Peter, believers who wallow in self-condemnation, doubt, fear are essentially living like unbelievers. Therefore, no supernatural presence is present in them although it is bountifully available to them. Let me ask the first question one final time: What do you take with you when you encounter a person, enter a room or a situation?

Be encouraged.

Thomas Knowles, Minister of the Gospel of Christ Jesus

References

6:3 (November 2015). Peter R. Laughlin, Australian College of Ministries; Trinitarian Presence, An Encounter of Meaning in Christian Chaplaincy