2 Peter 1:4 ⁴by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become sharers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by desire.

This verse continues the thought of verse 3 and gives the way we can become who God created us to be. God has granted his promises to us through his glory and goodness. The key promise that Peter has in mind is that we can participate in God’s nature. The plural pronoun which (hōn) at the beginning of the verse likely refers to “all things related to life and godliness” in verse 3. The precious and very great promises are found in Jesus (2 Corinthians 1:19-20). These promises are that we can be recreated into God’s image that was marred and lost in some way when Adam and Eve sinned. Their forced separation from God by being exiled from the garden of Eden represents the separation all their descendants experience because of our own sins. Through grace, we still retain some elements of God’s nature, but the desires of the world draw us into ourselves and away from God. We become more like world that struggles for survival, which was one of the outcomes of Adam’s and Eve’s sin (Genesis 3:16-19). God promised in different ways and at different times throughout the Old Testament that one day, a special person would come and make a new covenant and bring hope for new life.

The purpose and outcome of God giving his divine power to us is so that we can share in the divine nature. The word nature (physeōs) expresses the way a person responds and lives by an innate inner drive or worldview. The same power that created the universe with a word can recreate our inner persons to be in God’s likeness of love and holiness. Our inclination is no longer to please ourselves or fight for survival but to love others the way God loves us, because now we have his nature in us. This power is available now to us through faith in God’s Son. This power helps us live our lives in victory and godliness, not for selfish reasons that feed our pride.

This recreation helps us escape sin that so easily entangles us and corrupts our thoughts and lives. The world around us is controlled by this fallen nature. It influences just about every aspect of our lives and shows up in acts of rebellion against God and human authorities, and through broken relationships and habits that degrade our physical bodies.

We can make the decision to overcome this corruption through faith and reliance on God’s glory and goodness. We cannot do this totally on our own strength. God gives us the strength to stand up to temptation and to live according to his will. However, we must do our part by trusting in God and living in faithful obedience to God’s teachings and direction. This verse is a bold proclamation that God has better things planned for us in this world if we will only receive them in humble submission.