My mother had a contented nature. My dad’s nature was practical and frugal. Some friends are always cheerful by nature, but I know people that are worriers or complainers by nature. Today, I’m thinking about the NATURE of God. This is a big topic that has occupied this year so far, yet I’ll stick to specific verses concerning that term.
It’s mostly in the NT. One incident in Acts 14 tells of Paul and Barnabas being worshiped as Greek gods because a man had been healed. These men of God were horrified and Paul cried out:
Acts 14:15–17. “Men, why are you doing these things? We also are men, of like nature with you, and we bring you good news, that you should turn from these vain things to a living God, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and all that is in them. In past generations he allowed all the nations to walk in their own ways. Yet he did not leave himself without witness, for he did good by giving you rains from heaven and fruitful seasons, satisfying your hearts with food and gladness.”
In these few verses, Paul points out that people share human nature, but God is not like us. He is forever alive, the Creator of all things, patient with sinners, and shows His goodness by blessing us with sustenance and the ability to enjoy life. That is only a little about God’s nature.
Later Paul wrote that creation itself says much more about God. In Romans 1:19–20, he declared, “What can be known about God is plain . . . because God has shown it to (people). For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made . . . .”
This is astounding. In the human heart, and because of what can be seen in creation, every person knows that there is a God and we can perceive His nature. This passage goes on to tell what happens when that knowledge is denied, suppressed or rejected, but the point is that God has a nature that reveals who He is. Those who discern well can see much about an artist in their work or a writer in their words. This is also true about God — yet goes farther; His nature includes a desire and the ability to be known.
Much is said about the nature of God in the OT, especially the Psalms. Those who trusted Him understood His loving kindness, His desires for their lives. However, the greatest revelation of the nature of God is found in the Lord Jesus Christ. In Hebrews 1:3, He is described:
“He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.”
We know the story. God so loved the world that He came to save us from our sin. He humbled Himself to be born a baby in a manger, to patiently grow to adulthood and present Himself to His people awaiting their Messiah. But they wanted redemption from Roman rule, not from sin. In anger and rejection they put Him to death and He allowed that. He knew that He had to die for our sin and willingly went to the Cross. This is the incredible revelation of the nature of God! He gave His life as a man for my life as a sinner that I might be forgiven and spend eternity living with Him. But there is more . . .
GAZE INTO HIS GLORY. Astonishing as the nature of God is, even more astonishing is that He makes many incredible promises to me that through them, I can have a share in His nature:
2 Peter 1:3–4. “His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire.”
This is not like the temptation of the snake to Eve who told her she could disobey and know good and evil and thus be like God. Instead, God wants me to become what Eve was like before that deception occurred — made in the image of God and able to reflect His nature without any desire to sin or to run my own life. Going my own way can seem right, but that winds up being sin that leads to death. Seeing and having the nature of the Lord is life everlasting. The more I gaze at the glory of Jesus Christ, the more I want to be like Him, to live by His nature and not my old one!
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