Escaping Corruption, 2 Peter 1:3-4

"According as His divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him that hath called us to glory and virtue: whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust."

     I have heard this scripture before, but never did it dawn on me that it was a method to escape the corruption of the world that comes from the desire of wrongful things (lust)-- And that it truly is! If you read closely you find that according to God's power, which is immeasurable and unsurpassable, we are given all things that pertain unto life and godliness: That is, everything we need for life, and everything we need to be godly people is given to us by God's limitless and unfathomable power. And how are we granted such an honor? Through knowledge of Him who has called us to glory and virtue: Jesus Christ. Because we know Jesus, God, according to His divine power, gives us all we need for this life, and all we need to be godly people.
     Next we see that by means of His glory and virtue (as the Amplified Bible renders it) we are given great and precious promises. Because Jesus is virtuous and glorious, because He is good, kind, loving, and graciously merciful, He has chosen to give to us exceedingly great and precious promises. These are no ordinary promises that we can easily shrug off, but they are amazing promises that we can't even imagine, for they come straight from the mind and heart of God. God declared to Jeremiah the prophet, "I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, to give you a future and a hope." God has in store wonderful promises that are beyond our finding out. To Isaiah God said, "For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts." Hold onto those promises, and look forward to them with joy and gladness!
     Not only are we given such wonderful promises, but we are given so that by them we would become partakers of the divine nature, sharing in the life of God by means of Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit living in us. And in becoming partakers of this divine nature, we are thus escaping the corruption that is in the world, that comes to us through our desiring things forbidden to us by God (lust). Holding onto these great promises causes us to grow more and more Christ-like, thus turning our backs on things that we shouldn't partake in, such as coveting, craving and desiring things that God doesn't want for us and lusting after them with sinful passion.