The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together. - Romans 8:16-17
I was thinking recently about deification. We're somewhat unique in the Christian world for taking Paul's statement about being heirs and joint-heirs quite literally. That is, exaltation actually means that we enjoy the life that God enjoys, with the same privileges and powers. But in the past, other religions have believed that mortals could become gods. Take, for example, the Pharaohs. The Egyptians actually recognized the Pharaoh as a god.
What I find so interesting is that in these other cultures, the only way a person could be deified (falsely so, of course, so they weren't really gods at all) was by the ultimate act of selfishness -- recognizing complete and utter superiority in oneself, glorifying oneself in the extreme, and requiring others to serve one unconditionally. How ironic that the real path to deification is exactly the opposite. We must follow in the steps of Christ by utterly humbling ourselves, glorifying only God, and serving others unconditionally. In reality, we must become as selfless as possible.
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