Gifts that Keep on Giving

Outside a store, I saw the sign: “Give your loved ones the gift that keeps on giving – cooking lessons.” Recently someone posted, “Want to give a gift that keeps on giving – give them a zoo membership.” I agree. When our sons were little, we had a zoo membership. We visited Dallas Zoo at least twice weekly – a wonderful outlet for the kids and parents!

Peter talked about a spiritual gift that kept on giving.

“Just as, by his god-ness (theios) power, everything for life and reverence has been gifted to us through acknowledging him who called us to his glory and excellence, through these, the precious and greatest promises are being gifted to us so through them we become partakers of god-ness (theios) nature, fleeing the corruption in this world’s desire.”

The Greek word for God is theos, and the adjective is theios, “god-ness.” In English, however, we use the word “divine.” But to stress its “god” quality, I’ll keep using “god-ness.”

This adjective, theios, occurs only one other time in the NT, in Paul’s speech at Athens.

“Since we are offspring of God, we must not think of the god-ness (theios) to be in the skillfully designed images made of gold, silver, stone, or people’s imagination” (Acts 17:29)

He argued that humans were in god-ness nature, and materials like silver or gold or the imaginations of people couldn’t precisely reproduce humanity’s god-ness. Paul and Peter referred to humanity’s god-ness because the Old Testament spoke of it.

When God instructed Moses to design the tent and everything in it (the ark, its lid, the altar, etc.), carefully and exactly as the heavenly tent, he empowered Bezalel to do the artwork. Concerning him, God said:

“See, I have chosen Bezalel. . . and filled him with the spirit of god-ness (theios), wisdom, understanding, and knowledge in every work – to make artistic designs with gold, silver, bronze, and to cut and set stones, to work with wood, and to engage in all kinds of crafts.” (Exod 31:2–5)

Solomon and Job refer to this god-ness in connection with one’s covenant and spirit (Prov 2:17; Job 27:3; 33:4). All these examples tell us that god-ness (or divinity) is God-given quality of humanity, almost like being in the “image of God” or have his breath in us.

So, when Peter said – “Just as, by his god-ness (theios) power, everything for life and godliness has been gifted to us . . . the precious and greatest promises are gifted to us so that through them we become partakers of god-ness (theios) nature . . .” – his audiences were to think of a special gift that kept on giving. (Peter used the verb “gifted” [doreomai] twice in this section.) They already had the god-ness needed for life and reverence but would have more of it as they continued partaking in it. And, as they partook more and more of it, they could flee the corruption in this world’s desire. This world had one desire – to corrupt humanity. The only way to flee the world’s desire was to empower oneself with the gift already given.

God gifted us with the same god-ness that keeps on giving, provided we keep on taking. We need its power to flee this world’s desire to corrupt us.