Do Christians Participate in the very Life of God?

In II Peter 1:4 we are told the promises of God are such that they enable us to be partakers of the divine nature. This seems an almost revolutionary idea. The English word “partake” means to receive something into oneself, often expressed of food: “He partook of the desserts.” The Greek here is koinonos which is to be close with, be intertwined with, often understood with the word “communion:” to be in close fellowship. Strong's says plainly: “a sharer, partner, companion.” Perhaps the most measured interpretation would be to say we participate in the divine life.

I've always read this to mean we receive God's life into our very own in a very substantive sense, and it brings the following to mind:

• We are stamped with the image of God by virtue of creation.

• Because we are created by the divine we are connected to God as creature to Creator.

• In the incarnation Christ took on flesh – he participated with us such that he became very man of very man whilst remaining very God of very God.

• Christ became like us so that we could become like him. He re-purchased humanity so that, now made alive unto God, we can become like Him.

The question is whether anything ontological happens. This tough word is too easily tossed about, misused, certainly misunderstood. The idea goes to being – “of what is this person comprised?” Can the very being of a person be transformed or do we deal with actions only? Does God fix the behavior or does He fix the heart?

Perhaps the best Christian answer is “yes:” That is, God does both. But one flows from the other. It is worth noting the ontology of the incarnation and then, in turn, suggest something like it is made possible by it. Christ became man so man could become like Christ; as he took on flesh so we take on divinity. This is “being in” Christ, “abiding in” Christ, being “found in His righteousness alone faultless to stand before the throne.” It is more than changing behavior: it is a change of the very being of a person. In Christ we go from darkness to light.

The passage in Colossians 3 speaks to this with the language of “putting on” the new man which is being “renewed in knowledge after the image of his Creator.” If this were merely clothing, analogous to change of appearance or behavior, we'd be less than partakers. But the language Paul uses elsewhere means “putting on Christ” – we participate in the very life and person of Jesus. We are partakers of the divine nature.

Perhaps this is most properly seen in the eucharist, what my tradition calls communion. We receive the very life of God and are transformed thereby. And why would we not be? The Word of infinite potency made the world, saved the world, and offers Himself into our very life such that we become children of God. Sounds ontological to me, the ultimate identity language. Who am I (the language of being just won't go away)? I am a child of God; I participate in the divine life.

And so perhaps when we ask, "Do Christians participate in the very life of God?" the answer is another question: "Did God participate in the very life of people?" To the extent he did, He makes it possible that we can, too. That is, He made it possible that we can participate in His life.

This is Mystery. This is Alleluia.