Our Amazing and Gracious God (2 Peter 1:4)

For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust.
(2 Peter 1:4, NASB)

Oh, what an amazingly gracious and loving God we serve! He, knowing the choice Adam and Eve would make, still created them. He, knowing the choices we’d make, still created us. And He gave us a beautiful world. He made trees and flowers, seas and mountains. So much to bring us joy. He loves us that much.

For the last two years, my husband and I have taken road trips for our annual vacations. In 2010, we drove up the California coast through the Redwoods up in to Oregon and then down through Yosemite. The towering, majestic trees. The roaring ocean. The magnificent, awe-inspiring mountain peaks.

And then in 2011, we visited Zion and Bryce National Parks in southern Utah. Words just can’t describe …

Such beauty. Created just for me.

But creating this beautiful world isn’t the most amazing thing. Instead of giving us what we deserve—divine punishment—He gives us what we don’t deserve—His divine nature.

He loves us so much He wants to make us more and more like Jesus Christ, God the Son. He gives us His written word. He gives us brothers and sisters in Him. And He molds and refines us daily to be “partakers of the divine nature.”

Amazing.