Well, it seems I have stirred the pot a bit. It also would appear that people are implying I am saying things that I really didn't say. Such as this quote: "Can a servant be above his MASTER...It is enough that a servant be as his MASTER..." I never said that man could be or ever would be above God. Here's another one: "how can the creation, be the creator?" I never implied that man would become another creator. I'm now going to list some basic biblical principles backed up by scripture that I would like readers to carefully digest before shooting this concept down based on previous christian concepts or traditions.
First of all in the very beginning in Genesis we see how God created all the creatures. With the fish, the birds, the cattle, etc.. God created them according to their own kind. But when God created man He didn't use this format. When it came to man He created man in the image and likeness of...God. We also can see in scripture that man is likened to a "vessel". In that garden in Eden there were two significant trees. One was the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, the other was the tree of Life. Of course man was deceived by Satan into partaking of the Tree of Knowledge of good and evil. "Knowing" what God knows, is completely different than possessing and being filled with Gods very Life, represented by the "Tree of Life".
Another point to consider taking into account is that we know Jesus is God. Jesus the Godman goes on to say "I Am the Life" (Jn 14:6), and in Jn 6:57 Jesus tells us "....he who eats Me shall live because Me". So, we see in the above that we not only are made in Gods image and likeness, but also thru Christ we are to take in Gods very life, which is also supported by 2Pet 1:4 where it states we have become "partakers of the divine nature". By virtue of becoming born of God in spirit, and becoming partakers of His divine nature we are deemed "members of His body". Ephesians 1:23 states regarding the church "Which is His Body, the fullness of the One who fills all in all". Further in Eph. 4:15 we read "But holding to truth in love, we may grow up into Him in all things, who is the head Christ." It's significant in these passages as well as others that it distinguishes between the "head, Christ" and the "members of His body." As members of His body we will never share in the "Godhead", however we do share in His life and nature. One replier to my first comment stated that even though we have been born again we are still just "human and just sinners" as if to say we will always be the same. I wholeheartedly disagree. If one reads the book of Ephesians and other books of bible we will see that we have become born again NOT to stay the same, but to grow in Gods life that we could become filled completely with His Life ultimately to fully express the divine Life.
Getting back to the body, do not the members of the body share the exact same life flow as the head? If not, how could it be called the body? If someone reaches out and touches my hand, are they touching my hand or are they touching me? The answer of course is...YES. Acts 17:29 says that "....we are Gods offspring". Do not offspring and/or children share the same life and nature as the source? John 15:5 says "I am the vine, you are the branches...." Are not the branches of the vine...part of the vine? John 12:24 goes on to say ".....unless a grain of wheat (referring to Jesus) falls into the ground and dies it abides alone, but if it dies it produces much fruit". The much fruit is simply the expansion of the one grain that fell into the earth. The fruit of the grain cannot be something other and different than the grain that it came from. 1Cor 6:17 says "He who is joined to the Lord is one spirit."
There is much more I could say on this but I will end it with this thought. We became born again (of God) with His very Life. Christ became the life giving spirit (1Cor 15:45) to get into man so that man could live the Godly living not by rules and regulation, but by His very Life. The divine Life. Any other attempt to live a Godly living other than by His life is an exercise in vanity. Only Gods life can truly express and live out the genuine Godly living. Once again we will never share in the Godhead itself, but yes, we will express God in life and nature as members of His body. And I'll say it once again, the body is attached to the head. The head without the body cannot have proper expression, and the body without the head is without function and headship. As members of His body we are in a "growing transformation process". This is revealed in scripture. One day we too will be fully glorified. In that day, there will be a divine wedding. Man, the redeemed church, His bride, will have been prepared to become fully one with Christ/God. The principle of a marriage is that the two, become..one. Would God join Himself in marriage to a bride that doesn't perfectly match Him? Is not the bride deemed a perfect counterpart to the groom?
These passages shout out to us believers that we are indeed becoming...God. This is the main goal of God bringing Himself into man (Jesus), so that man could be brought into God. I am NOT saying that we are becoming more gods. I am NOT saying that we are becoming anything separate and/or distinct from God. There is only one God and always will be. Nevertheless, we must conclude after taking into account the true revelation in the scriptures concerning mans relationship to God in His life that we are indeed not only just partakers of the divine nature, but we are growing into the divine nature.
