Intimacy in our union with Christ
As God's loving-kindness is ineffable and His love for our race surpasses human speech and reason, so too it belongs to the divine goodness alone, for this is "the peace of God which passes all understanding" (Phil. 4:7). Likewise it follows that His union with those whom He loves surpasses every union of which one might conceive, and cannot be compared with any model.
Therefore even Scripture needed many illustrations to be able to express that connection, since one would not suffice. In one place it employs the figures of an inhabitant and a dwelling, in another those of a vine and a branch, here that of a marriage, there that of members and a head. None of those figures is adequate for that union, for it is impossible from these to attain to the exact truth. Above all it is necessary that the union should conform to friendship-yet what could be adequate for divine love?
It would appear that marriage and the concord between head and members especially indicate connection and unity, yet they fall far short of it and are far from manifesting the reality. Marriage does not so join together that those who are united exist and live in each other, as is the case with Christ and the Church. So the divine apostle, speaking of marriage, says, "this is a great mystery," and adds, "I speak of Christ and the Church" (Eph. 5:32), showing that it is not marriage but union with Christ which he sets up for admiration. The members are joined to the head; they are alive because they are joined and die if they are separated. But it appears that the members of Christ are more closely joined to Him than to their own head, and that it is even more by Him that they live than by their concord with it. This is plain from the blessed martyrs, who gladly suffered the one (ie. dismemberment of their bodies) but would not even hear of the other, for they gave up their heads and limbs with pleasure, but could not even by word revolt from Christ.
So I come to that which is strangest. To whom else could one be more closely united than to oneself? Yet this very unity is inferior to that union. For each of the spirits of the blessed ones is identical with himself, yet it is united to the Saviour more than to him. It loves the Saviour more than itself, and of this Paul will bear witness by the saying in which he wishes that he were "anathema from Christ for the sake of the salvation of the Jews" (Rom. 9:13) so that it might redound to His greater glory. But if human love is so great, the divine love is inconceivable. If the wicked can show so great gratitude, what ought to be said of God's goodness? Since the love is so immense, the union in which it has joined those who love must needs so surpass man's understanding that it cannot be likened to any similitude whatever.
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Please help Sister Nektaria in India
Please help sister Nektaria's work in India.
As you know the financial situation in Greece prevent the flowing the donations from Greece to India . the Greeks in Greece used to be a main donor for this philanthropic effort in India. Now the donation is so scarce she really need help and support form american orthodox christians.
Please share the following website with your family & friends and forward it to them so wherever they are, they can organize the ongoing help. for ex. if each one of the orthodox christians donates a dollar a month,surely she can have some funds.
All the donations made through this website will come directly to St Basil orphanage account and all 100% of donations will be sent directly to India.
Please help.
www.theluckygirlsmovie.com
click "home", then click "film", click on 'watch the full movie".
God bless you.
I had no idea about Sr. Nektaria and the orphanage in India.
http://www.theluckygirlsmovie.com/watch - watch full movie here.
Lucky Girls was filmed in January 2008 with the purpose of raising funds and awareness for the Greek Orthodox Orphanage in Kolkata, India. Lucky Girls is a 16-minute film that explores the plight of the young Indian girl-child and quilts the remarkable stories and dreams of the girls from the orphanage. The film esthetically wraps around the hearts of the viewers, inviting them into the touching and vivid lives of the girls. It was filmed and produced by volunteers from America with the blessings of Sister Nectaria, the co-founder of the orphanage.
As you know the financial situation in Greece prevent the flowing the donations from Greece to India . the Greeks in Greece used to be a main donor for this philanthropic effort in India. Now the donation is so scarce she really need help and support form american orthodox christians.
Please share the following website with your family & friends and forward it to them so wherever they are, they can organize the ongoing help. for ex. if each one of the orthodox christians donates a dollar a month,surely she can have some funds.
All the donations made through this website will come directly to St Basil orphanage account and all 100% of donations will be sent directly to India.
Please help.
www.theluckygirlsmovie.com
click "home", then click "film", click on 'watch the full movie".
God bless you.
I had no idea about Sr. Nektaria and the orphanage in India.
http://www.theluckygirlsmovie.com/watch - watch full movie here.
Lucky Girls was filmed in January 2008 with the purpose of raising funds and awareness for the Greek Orthodox Orphanage in Kolkata, India. Lucky Girls is a 16-minute film that explores the plight of the young Indian girl-child and quilts the remarkable stories and dreams of the girls from the orphanage. The film esthetically wraps around the hearts of the viewers, inviting them into the touching and vivid lives of the girls. It was filmed and produced by volunteers from America with the blessings of Sister Nectaria, the co-founder of the orphanage.
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
My Life in Christ ...
Consists of Union with him.
In short, it is this world which is in travail with that new inner man which is "created after the likeness of God" (Eph 4:24).
When he has been shaped and formed here he is thus born into that perfect world which grows not old. As nature prepares the foetus, while it is in its dark and fluid life, for that life which is in the light, and shapes it, as though according to a model, for the life which it is about to receive, so likewise it happens to the saints. This is what the Apostle Paul said when he wrote to the Galatians, "my little children, with whom I am again in travail until Christ be formed in you" (Gal 4:19)
However, while the unborn have no perception whatever of this life, the blessed ones have many hints in this present life of things to come. This is the reason. The unborn do not yet possess this life, but it is wholly in the future. In that condition there is no ray of light nor anything else which sustains this life. In our case this is not so, but that future life is, as it were, infused into this present life and mingled with it. For us too that Sun has graciously risen, the heavenly fragrance has been poured forth into the malodorous places, and the Bread of angels has been given even to men.
In this present world, therefore, it is possible for the saints not only to be disposed and prepared for that life, but also even now to live and act in accordance with it.
Paul writes, "lay hold on eternal life" (Tim 6:12), and "it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me" (Gal 2:20). The divine Ignatius says, "there is water living and speaking in me" (To the Romans, 7:2). Scripture is full of such passages! Beside all these, when He who is the Life promises the saints to be with them for ever, and says, "behold, I am with you always, to the close of the age" (Mt 28:20), what else should one think?
When he had sown the seed of life on the earth (Lk. 8:5) and cast on it the fire (Lk. 12:49) and the sword (Mt. 10:34), He did not forthwith depart and leave it to men to plant and nourish the seed and to kindle the fire and use the sword. He Himself is truly with us and "works in us to will and to do, as the blessed Paul said (Phil 2:12). It is He Himself who kindles and applies the fire, He Himself holds the sword. In short, "neither does the axe boast without him who lifts it" (Is. 10:15). Those from whom the Good One is absent will attain to no good.
Yet the Lord did not promise merely to be present with the saints, but to abide with them-nay more than this, to make His abode in them (Jn 14:23). What then shall I say? Where it is said that He is united with them, it is with such love that He becomes one spirit with them. As Paul says, "he who is united to the Lord becomes one spirit with Him" (I Cor 6:17), and "that you may be one body and one spirit, just as you were called" (Eph. 4:4)
In short, it is this world which is in travail with that new inner man which is "created after the likeness of God" (Eph 4:24).
When he has been shaped and formed here he is thus born into that perfect world which grows not old. As nature prepares the foetus, while it is in its dark and fluid life, for that life which is in the light, and shapes it, as though according to a model, for the life which it is about to receive, so likewise it happens to the saints. This is what the Apostle Paul said when he wrote to the Galatians, "my little children, with whom I am again in travail until Christ be formed in you" (Gal 4:19)
However, while the unborn have no perception whatever of this life, the blessed ones have many hints in this present life of things to come. This is the reason. The unborn do not yet possess this life, but it is wholly in the future. In that condition there is no ray of light nor anything else which sustains this life. In our case this is not so, but that future life is, as it were, infused into this present life and mingled with it. For us too that Sun has graciously risen, the heavenly fragrance has been poured forth into the malodorous places, and the Bread of angels has been given even to men.
In this present world, therefore, it is possible for the saints not only to be disposed and prepared for that life, but also even now to live and act in accordance with it.
Paul writes, "lay hold on eternal life" (Tim 6:12), and "it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me" (Gal 2:20). The divine Ignatius says, "there is water living and speaking in me" (To the Romans, 7:2). Scripture is full of such passages! Beside all these, when He who is the Life promises the saints to be with them for ever, and says, "behold, I am with you always, to the close of the age" (Mt 28:20), what else should one think?
When he had sown the seed of life on the earth (Lk. 8:5) and cast on it the fire (Lk. 12:49) and the sword (Mt. 10:34), He did not forthwith depart and leave it to men to plant and nourish the seed and to kindle the fire and use the sword. He Himself is truly with us and "works in us to will and to do, as the blessed Paul said (Phil 2:12). It is He Himself who kindles and applies the fire, He Himself holds the sword. In short, "neither does the axe boast without him who lifts it" (Is. 10:15). Those from whom the Good One is absent will attain to no good.
Yet the Lord did not promise merely to be present with the saints, but to abide with them-nay more than this, to make His abode in them (Jn 14:23). What then shall I say? Where it is said that He is united with them, it is with such love that He becomes one spirit with them. As Paul says, "he who is united to the Lord becomes one spirit with Him" (I Cor 6:17), and "that you may be one body and one spirit, just as you were called" (Eph. 4:4)
Sunday, June 27, 2010
What people think of us.
"We shall not care what people think of us, or how they treat us. We shall cease to be afraid of falling out of favor. We shall love our fellow men without thought of whether they love us. Christ gave us the commandment to love others but did not make it a condition of salvation that they should love us. Indeed, we may positively be disliked for independence of spirit.
It is essential in these days to be able to protect ourselves from the influence of those with whom we come in contact. Otherwise we risk losing both faith and prayer. Let the whole world dismiss us as unworthy of attention, trust or respect – it will not matter provided that the Lord accepts us. And vice versa: it will profit us nothing if the whole world thinks well of us and sings our praises, if the Lord declines to abide with us.
This is only a fragment of the freedom Christ meant when He said, 'Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free' (John 8.32).
Our sole care will be to continue in the word of Christ, to become His disciples and cease to be servants of sin."
- From 'His Life is Mine' by Archimandrite Sophrony p.55, St Vladimir Seminary Press, Crestwood, New York 1977.
It is essential in these days to be able to protect ourselves from the influence of those with whom we come in contact. Otherwise we risk losing both faith and prayer. Let the whole world dismiss us as unworthy of attention, trust or respect – it will not matter provided that the Lord accepts us. And vice versa: it will profit us nothing if the whole world thinks well of us and sings our praises, if the Lord declines to abide with us.
This is only a fragment of the freedom Christ meant when He said, 'Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free' (John 8.32).
Our sole care will be to continue in the word of Christ, to become His disciples and cease to be servants of sin."
- From 'His Life is Mine' by Archimandrite Sophrony p.55, St Vladimir Seminary Press, Crestwood, New York 1977.
Our repentance ... together, lets pray
Repent of your ways, inhabitants of the earth. Behold, the eye of the Master of the world is keeping watch deep within you. Do not trust your seducible eyes, let the Eye illumine your way. Your eyes are curtains over the Eye of God.
Repentance is admission of the way of sin. Repentance opens up a new way. The penitent's eyes are open to two ways: to the way which he is going, and to the way he should be going.
There are more who feel repentant than there are who turn their wheels onto a new way. I tell you: the penitent must have two types of courage--he must have the courage to weep over his old way, and he must have the courage to prepare himself for a new way.
What good is it for you to feel repentant and still tread the old way? How do you describe a person who is drowning and shouts for help, but when help arrives will not grab hold of the life line? I liken such a person to you.
Repent of your yearning for this world and all that is in this world. For this world is the graveyard of your ancestors, which is gaping and waiting for you. Just a little longer and you will be ancestors and will yearn to hear the word "repentance," but you will not hear it.
Just as the wind begins blowing and carries off the mist before the sun, so will death carry you off before the face of God.
Repentance rejuvenates the heart and lengthens one's lifetime. The tears of a penitent wash darkness from his eyes, and give his eyes a childlike radiance. The eye of my lake is like the eye of a deer, always moist and radiant as a diamond. In truth, the moisture in the eyes drains the anger in the heart.
The soul in the penitent is like a new moon. A full moon must wane, a new moon must wax.
The penitent clears the weeds from the field of his soul, and the seed of goodness begins to grow.
Truly, the penitent is not one who laments over the evil deed he has committed, but one who laments over all the evil deeds that he is capable of committing. A wise landowner not only cuts the thornbush that has pricked him, but every thornbush on the field that is waiting to prick him.
O my Lord, make haste to show a new way to every penitent, after he scorns his old way.
O heavenly Mother, Bride of the All-Holy Spirit, bow down toward our heart, when we repent. Open the fountain of tears within us, that we may wash away the heavy clay, that saddens our eyes.
O All-Holy Spirit, blow and disperse the unclean stench from the soul of the penitent that has been choking him and lead him to repentance.
We bow down and beseech You, O Life-giving and Mighty Spirit!
Thought for the day...
Whatever you may be seeking, seek it with all your strength, but do not expect your own search and efforts to bear fruit of themselves. Put your trust in the Lord, ascribing nothing to yourself, and He will give you your heart's desire.
St. Theophan the Recluse
St. Theophan the Recluse
Saturday, June 26, 2010
What is love?
Τι είναι αγάπη;
Δεν είναι συμπόνοια μήτε καλοσύνη.
Στη συμπόνοια είναι δύο, αυτός που πονά κι αυτός που συμπονάει.
Στην καλοσύνη είναι δύο, αυτός που δίνει κι αυτός που δέχεται.
Μα στην αγάπη είναι ένα.
Σμίγουν οι δύο και γίνονται ένα.
Δεν ξεχωρίζουν.
Το εγώ και εσύ αφανίζονται.
Αγαπώ θα πει ΧΑΝΟΜΑΙ.
~ Ν. Καζαντζάκης
Δεν είναι συμπόνοια μήτε καλοσύνη.
Στη συμπόνοια είναι δύο, αυτός που πονά κι αυτός που συμπονάει.
Στην καλοσύνη είναι δύο, αυτός που δίνει κι αυτός που δέχεται.
Μα στην αγάπη είναι ένα.
Σμίγουν οι δύο και γίνονται ένα.
Δεν ξεχωρίζουν.
Το εγώ και εσύ αφανίζονται.
Αγαπώ θα πει ΧΑΝΟΜΑΙ.
~ Ν. Καζαντζάκης
Sunday, June 20, 2010
Symbol of Faith - part 6
... AND RESURRECTED ON THE THIRD DAY IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE SCRIPTURES...
Christ is risen, chosen people! The earth cannot harm Him, nor can the tomb restrain Him. Let your souls arise, you who are filled with the grace of Christ! Let the image of God within you shine, cleansed of earth and saved from mortal decay! Rejoice and be glad, for your Messiah, the One and Only, has con quered death, that terror of all those born on earth!
The miraculous resurrection of Christ the Lord from the tomb was completely in accord with His miraculous appearance in the world. It corresponded to His extraordinary birth from the most pure Virgin, His almighty works on earth, His heavenly wisdom and mercy, His superhuman patience and dignity in suffer ing injustice and torture, and His divine forgiveness of His executioners from the cross. Everything is in accord. Everything resembles and corresponds to each other. Just as you can know the nature of a whole sea from one drop of sea water, you can know the entire character of Christ from one incident of His life. His entire character represents one continuous miracle, organically consisting of innumerable miracles. He is your all-powerful Messiah, O Christ-bearers, who blessed you from the cross, from the tomb, and out of the tomb.
The resurrection is like one precious stone in the string of continuous precious stones, which represents the life of the Lord on earth. This precious stone is of the same beauty, of the same priceless value, of the same grace, as the other precious stones in the divine string of Christ. His resurrection is completely natural in view of the eternal realities which He revealed through all His works and His whole personality. On the third day at dawn the all-powerful Lord rose from the dead and appeared to His Holy Mother, to the myrrh-bearing women, and to the apostles (Matt. 28; Mark 16; Luke 24; John 20 and 21; 1 Cor.15:6). Afterwards He manifested Himself for a full forty days to His disciples and friends (Acts 1). Later He appeared to His enemy and persecutor Saul (Acts 9). First, then, He manifested Himself to His friends and followers, as to the first members of His Holy Church, so that He might establish and choose them, and afterwards also to His enemies. And He appeared to these latter as much for the purpose of defending His Church, as for the purpose of showing His mercy towards His ene mies, just as He did from the cross. For He "loves the righteous and shows mercy on the sinful," and wishes all men to be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth.
The resurrected and living Lord has continued to manifest Himself to numerous men and women mar tyred for His name. He has appeared to venerable men and holy women and virgins throughout the entire history of the Church of God up to the present day. He has appeared in wakefulness and in dreams, in wars and in prisons, next to the beds of the sick and in times of necessity, when human strength is of no use. He has appeared in shacks to the poor, in radiant altars to His holy clergy as well as to penitent sinners in dens of iniquity. He has appeared only where fervent faith and tearful prayer have called upon Him, and where His appearance was indispensable. Why should we enumer ate them? His living presence is constantly felt by the truly chosen people, by those who bear the image of God in themselves. Consider what the resurrected and living Lord exclaimed as His final word to His followers: "Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the age. Amen" (Matt. 28:20)
Amen - so be it, O Lord!
"In accordance with the Scriptures." As it had been written by the inspired authors of the Scriptures, as it had been prophesied by God's prophets, thus did it come to pass. It was written by the prophets: "For Thou wilt not abandon my soul in hades, nor wilt Thou suffer Thy Holy One to see corruption" (Psalm 16:10). And again it is written and prophesied: "God shall arise and His enemies shall be scattered" (Psalm 68:1). But in addition to the many prophesies concerning the resur rection of Christ contained in the Old Testament of the Bible, this majestic incident was symbolically and prefiguratively expressed through the fates of many righteous men.
Thus the fate of the righteous Abraham, who was in danger of death on many occasions at the hands of more powerful enemies and yet emerged alive and victorious, represents a prefiguration of Christ's vic tory at the resurrection. Isaac is a similar prefiguration, who was placed beneath the knife of his father and yet was saved. Another prefiguration of Christ's resur rection is the prophet Jonah, who spent three days in the belly of a whale, and was then thrown out alive. So also were the fates of many other righteous men, such as Moses, Noah, Joseph, King David, the prophets Elijah and Daniel, the three children in the fiery furnace, the much-suffering Job, and many others who, oppressed by Satanic and human injustice, were ultimately victorious over all and attained glory, having preserved the image of God within them inviolate. Therefore, the Holy Fathers at Nicaea also stated that the Lord Christ rose from the dead "in accordance with the Scriptures." For an incident which was prophesied in advance was more convincing to men than one which was not.
And in the gospels the holy evangelists noted how even the Lord himself foretold His own resurrection to His disciples on many occasions. And whenever the Lord would foretell His suffering and death, He would also foretell His glorious resurrection at the same time (Matt. 16:21; 17:23; 20:19; 26:32-cf. Mark 8:31; 9:9-31; 10:34; 14:28; Luke 9:22; 18:33; John 2:19-22). And everything came to pass just as it was foretold. Your Lord and Redeemer was tortured, crucified, buried dead, but on the third day He gloriously rose from the dead.
Love is invincible, royal children. Its homeland lies in heaven, its kingdom lies in eternity, its shadow on earth, its absence in hell. Oh how powerful is that shadow! But real love, the love which blazes in the hearth of the eternal fatherhood and eternal sonship of God, the love which Christ brought to earth-that love is all-powerful. Satan along with sinners foolishly rejoiced over the dead Messiah. Satan acquired his foolishness when he totally lost the image of God within him. Where could he have known-where could he have felt-how all-powerful divine love is? The power of this love has no comparisons, no measure ments, no limits. The earth would have exploded, if Christ had not risen from it. The earth was incapable of containing Him within itself This is the power of real, heavenly, eternal love. The might of love is indescrib able. With the might of this blazing love the King of heaven visited earth, endured all humiliations and tortures, and finally resurrected. By its might infirmi ties are healed, demons are cast out, diseases are cured, storms are calmed, and all nature is forced into obedience. This love is entirely miracle-working, and wherever it appears, in whatever sphere and at what ever time, it works miracles.
This is the faith of the children of God, O royal children, who have become adopted children of God through the power of Christ's love. Those who hate and do evil, who despise God and mankind, who forge chains for themselves out of their sins and place them in the hands of the demons of hell, cannot accept this faith. This is the faith of radiant and pure souls, of those who love God and mankind. They accept this faith, and suffer for it, following the example set by Christ. Love eases their suffering, and sweetens bitter ness. Their eyes become clouded with respect to all the deceptive treasures of this world; but their spiritual vision, washed and enlightened by tears, sees into the homeland of eternal love clearly. Blessed are they on the Day of Judgment, on the Dreadful Day of God's retribution. They shall survive on that Day, and shall warm themselves at the hearth of eternal love.
Is this not your faith, Christ-bearers, and the faith of your most glorious forefathers? Let it also be the faith of your children. This is the faith which has never been put to shame, the Orthodox Faith-as bitter as death, as healing as heavenly balm, and as radiant as resurrection. Truly this is the faith of great souls, of the truly chosen people, who bear the image of God within themselves. On the Judgment Day of the resurrected Messiah they shall be shown mercy and be called blessed.
Christ is risen, chosen people! The earth cannot harm Him, nor can the tomb restrain Him. Let your souls arise, you who are filled with the grace of Christ! Let the image of God within you shine, cleansed of earth and saved from mortal decay! Rejoice and be glad, for your Messiah, the One and Only, has con quered death, that terror of all those born on earth!
The miraculous resurrection of Christ the Lord from the tomb was completely in accord with His miraculous appearance in the world. It corresponded to His extraordinary birth from the most pure Virgin, His almighty works on earth, His heavenly wisdom and mercy, His superhuman patience and dignity in suffer ing injustice and torture, and His divine forgiveness of His executioners from the cross. Everything is in accord. Everything resembles and corresponds to each other. Just as you can know the nature of a whole sea from one drop of sea water, you can know the entire character of Christ from one incident of His life. His entire character represents one continuous miracle, organically consisting of innumerable miracles. He is your all-powerful Messiah, O Christ-bearers, who blessed you from the cross, from the tomb, and out of the tomb.
The resurrection is like one precious stone in the string of continuous precious stones, which represents the life of the Lord on earth. This precious stone is of the same beauty, of the same priceless value, of the same grace, as the other precious stones in the divine string of Christ. His resurrection is completely natural in view of the eternal realities which He revealed through all His works and His whole personality. On the third day at dawn the all-powerful Lord rose from the dead and appeared to His Holy Mother, to the myrrh-bearing women, and to the apostles (Matt. 28; Mark 16; Luke 24; John 20 and 21; 1 Cor.15:6). Afterwards He manifested Himself for a full forty days to His disciples and friends (Acts 1). Later He appeared to His enemy and persecutor Saul (Acts 9). First, then, He manifested Himself to His friends and followers, as to the first members of His Holy Church, so that He might establish and choose them, and afterwards also to His enemies. And He appeared to these latter as much for the purpose of defending His Church, as for the purpose of showing His mercy towards His ene mies, just as He did from the cross. For He "loves the righteous and shows mercy on the sinful," and wishes all men to be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth.
The resurrected and living Lord has continued to manifest Himself to numerous men and women mar tyred for His name. He has appeared to venerable men and holy women and virgins throughout the entire history of the Church of God up to the present day. He has appeared in wakefulness and in dreams, in wars and in prisons, next to the beds of the sick and in times of necessity, when human strength is of no use. He has appeared in shacks to the poor, in radiant altars to His holy clergy as well as to penitent sinners in dens of iniquity. He has appeared only where fervent faith and tearful prayer have called upon Him, and where His appearance was indispensable. Why should we enumer ate them? His living presence is constantly felt by the truly chosen people, by those who bear the image of God in themselves. Consider what the resurrected and living Lord exclaimed as His final word to His followers: "Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the age. Amen" (Matt. 28:20)
Amen - so be it, O Lord!
"In accordance with the Scriptures." As it had been written by the inspired authors of the Scriptures, as it had been prophesied by God's prophets, thus did it come to pass. It was written by the prophets: "For Thou wilt not abandon my soul in hades, nor wilt Thou suffer Thy Holy One to see corruption" (Psalm 16:10). And again it is written and prophesied: "God shall arise and His enemies shall be scattered" (Psalm 68:1). But in addition to the many prophesies concerning the resur rection of Christ contained in the Old Testament of the Bible, this majestic incident was symbolically and prefiguratively expressed through the fates of many righteous men.
Thus the fate of the righteous Abraham, who was in danger of death on many occasions at the hands of more powerful enemies and yet emerged alive and victorious, represents a prefiguration of Christ's vic tory at the resurrection. Isaac is a similar prefiguration, who was placed beneath the knife of his father and yet was saved. Another prefiguration of Christ's resur rection is the prophet Jonah, who spent three days in the belly of a whale, and was then thrown out alive. So also were the fates of many other righteous men, such as Moses, Noah, Joseph, King David, the prophets Elijah and Daniel, the three children in the fiery furnace, the much-suffering Job, and many others who, oppressed by Satanic and human injustice, were ultimately victorious over all and attained glory, having preserved the image of God within them inviolate. Therefore, the Holy Fathers at Nicaea also stated that the Lord Christ rose from the dead "in accordance with the Scriptures." For an incident which was prophesied in advance was more convincing to men than one which was not.
And in the gospels the holy evangelists noted how even the Lord himself foretold His own resurrection to His disciples on many occasions. And whenever the Lord would foretell His suffering and death, He would also foretell His glorious resurrection at the same time (Matt. 16:21; 17:23; 20:19; 26:32-cf. Mark 8:31; 9:9-31; 10:34; 14:28; Luke 9:22; 18:33; John 2:19-22). And everything came to pass just as it was foretold. Your Lord and Redeemer was tortured, crucified, buried dead, but on the third day He gloriously rose from the dead.
Love is invincible, royal children. Its homeland lies in heaven, its kingdom lies in eternity, its shadow on earth, its absence in hell. Oh how powerful is that shadow! But real love, the love which blazes in the hearth of the eternal fatherhood and eternal sonship of God, the love which Christ brought to earth-that love is all-powerful. Satan along with sinners foolishly rejoiced over the dead Messiah. Satan acquired his foolishness when he totally lost the image of God within him. Where could he have known-where could he have felt-how all-powerful divine love is? The power of this love has no comparisons, no measure ments, no limits. The earth would have exploded, if Christ had not risen from it. The earth was incapable of containing Him within itself This is the power of real, heavenly, eternal love. The might of love is indescrib able. With the might of this blazing love the King of heaven visited earth, endured all humiliations and tortures, and finally resurrected. By its might infirmi ties are healed, demons are cast out, diseases are cured, storms are calmed, and all nature is forced into obedience. This love is entirely miracle-working, and wherever it appears, in whatever sphere and at what ever time, it works miracles.
This is the faith of the children of God, O royal children, who have become adopted children of God through the power of Christ's love. Those who hate and do evil, who despise God and mankind, who forge chains for themselves out of their sins and place them in the hands of the demons of hell, cannot accept this faith. This is the faith of radiant and pure souls, of those who love God and mankind. They accept this faith, and suffer for it, following the example set by Christ. Love eases their suffering, and sweetens bitter ness. Their eyes become clouded with respect to all the deceptive treasures of this world; but their spiritual vision, washed and enlightened by tears, sees into the homeland of eternal love clearly. Blessed are they on the Day of Judgment, on the Dreadful Day of God's retribution. They shall survive on that Day, and shall warm themselves at the hearth of eternal love.
Is this not your faith, Christ-bearers, and the faith of your most glorious forefathers? Let it also be the faith of your children. This is the faith which has never been put to shame, the Orthodox Faith-as bitter as death, as healing as heavenly balm, and as radiant as resurrection. Truly this is the faith of great souls, of the truly chosen people, who bear the image of God within themselves. On the Judgment Day of the resurrected Messiah they shall be shown mercy and be called blessed.
Victory Resurrection - Joy.
Friday, June 18, 2010
Symbol of Faith - part 6
Crucified for us under Pontius Pilate, He suffered and was buried...
The flame of divine love in eternity blazes constantly in the hearth of God's fatherhood and God's son-ship. The winds of time never reach there. Capricious changes never touch that flame, nor do they bend it, expand it or diminish it. For this reason divine love is unaging life, untroubled joy, unlimited power. With this miraculous flame in His hands, in His heart, and in His whole being, the King of heaven came down in a miraculous way on a miraculous mission among men. And He spoke those blessed words: "I have come to cast fire upon the earth; and would that it were already kindled!"(Luke 12:49). Let just one spark of that holy fire fall on your hearts, and it will be enough to enlighten your long journey to the eternal hearth. Do not extinguish it, but hide it and guard it as though it were a most precious inheritance, O chosen people, who bear the image of God within you.
The Most Gracious Only-begotten Son of God bowed down the heavens and came down to the earth for our sake and for the sake of our salvation. He did not descend from a throne to another throne, but from a throne to cold stone. He suffered much for our sake and for the sake of our salvation. If we were only to say this much, it would be sufficient for our shame and for the glory of His love. But more must be said, so that the truth may be complete. The Messiah of the human race endured slander, malice, snares, was spit upon, blows, ridicule, and floggings. Even with this it has not all been told. He was condemned along with thieves, crucified on a cross, suffered to the point of death, breathed His last breath in agony, and was buried. He did not reject the brimming cup of torment, nor did He remove the crown of thorns from His head, nor did He cast the heavy cross from His back. Thus did He crown the true, Orthodox Faith with suffering and love with sacrifice.
Do you know, chosen people, why the Holy Fathers included the name of Pontius Pilate, the murderer of God, in our Creed? Do not doubt that the Holy Spirit - who inspired the Holy Fathers with wisdom - deigned to do so. And the Holy Spirit of God deigned to do so, so that the faithful would know exactly and forever in which Christ they should believe. For there have appeared and there will appear false christs, false messiahs, in the world, to deceive and confuse. Therefore, the All-foreseeing Holy Spirit, filled with love for mankind, wished to safeguard Christ's faithful from any deception and confusion. Therefore, through the mouth of the Holy Fathers at Nicaea, He defined precisely which Christ was meant when the Messiah and Savior of the world was mentioned. It solely and exclusively meant Jesus Christ, who was crucified during the rule of Pontius Pilate, the procurator of the Roman emperor at that time. This Christ is the only true Christ, the only genuine Messiah, the only Savior filled with love for mankind. All the others who have presented themselves or will present themselves to the world under that great name, to the very brink of time, until the Day of Judgment, are false christs.
Pilate's name is mentioned for another reason, to show and confirm the personage of the Savior of the world as a historical personage and not a figment of the imagination. When the name of Pontius Pilate is mentioned, it fixes both the time and the place of the appearance of Christ the Lord in the world. For it was precisely known, even to the pagan, Christ-fighting historians of Rome, when and where Pontius Pilate was procurator of Caesar. Do you know human weakness, O chosen people? In their weakness many, too many people are inclined to renounce their benefactor and not doubt in their malefactor. In their weakness some people up to this time - and there will be other such people after this time - have doubted in the personage of Christ as a historical personage, while no one ever doubted in the existence of a man called Pontius Pilate, a man who in the reign of the Roman Caesar Tiberius was the procurator of Caesar in the city of Jerusalem. By mentioning the name of Pontius Pilate, then, the Holy Fathers of Nicaea wished to emphasize the historical personage of Christ, who appeared at a definite time and at a definite place and lived in this world.
Pilate's name was also included in the Creed in order to point out the injustice of the pagans. Roman laws are considered some of the greatest works created by pagan peoples. Yet the Man of Innocence was condemned to death at a time when these highly acclaimed Roman laws carried authority in the world; and He was condemned by a true representative of those laws, Pontius Pilate, the procurator of the Roman Caesar. In the application of these laws on the One more Righteous than the righteous, this "perfect work" of the pagans was shown to be perfectly worthless. This is one more obvious reason why the God of heaven had to come down into the world Himself - to save the world from the universal darkness of paganism. Hence the mention of Pilate's name in the Symbol of Faith resounds like an eternal condemnation not only of the executor of the pagan laws but of the pagan laws themselves.
"He suffered and was buried," said the Holy Fathers of Nicaea. You will ask: Why did they feel it necessary to add these words, when it was already stated that He was "crucified?" When someone is crucified and fastened to a cross with nails, who can doubt in his suffering? And when he breathes his last breath on the cross, is it not something altogether natural and ordinary, for him to be buried? Logical people do not doubt this. To logical people it is both natural and clear. But doubt gnaws at illogical people. They think that they are exalting themselves by humiliating Christ. They think that by judging their Judge they will escape judgment. Certain illogical people appeared who maintained that the Lord did not feel any pain on the cross. They said that Christ was an illusory man, and that as such he was unable to feel torment and suffering. As though they did not hear the death rattle of the Son of God in Gethsemane: "My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me" (Matt. 26:39)! And as though their heart of stone was not in a position to tremble before His outcry of pain on the cross: "My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me" (Matt. 27:46)! O unrighteous people, why do you not believe in the suffering of the greatest Sufferer of all time? Why do you deny the pain which caused the earth to quake and the sun to grow dark? Why has your heart turned to stone before the pain which caused stones to split open? These stones will testify against you on the Day of Retribution, on the Dreadful Day.
Blessed are those two men, Joseph and Nicodemus, for they were zealous over the dead body of the Lord. They took him down from the cross with reverent fear, carefully wrapped it in linen with fragrant oil, and buried it in a tomb with honor. And the Jews came and secured the tomb and sealed it shut. And they asked Pilate for sentries to keep watch over the tomb, lest someone steal the dead body of Christ. Thus did it all happen; and thus do logical people believe. But there were illogical people who invented a fairy tale, that the Lord's body was not completely buried but was only hidden. From this fairy tale the opportunistic scribes concocted other untrue and unjust fairy tales.
All of this untruth and injustice against the Savior of the world was foreseen in advance by the Holy Spirit of God, who enlightened and inspired the Holy Fathers at Nicaea. Therefore, He prompted them to put the words, "He suffered and was buried," in addition to the word, "crucified;" so that you and your descendants, O chosen people, might know the truth about the Lord your Savior forever, and so that you might be able to fight against untruth with truth.
In this way the Holy Fathers expressed our faith in the Lord Savior, the Redeemer and Regenerator of the human race, who suffered for sinners out of love. But ungrateful, selfish, self-centered and soulless people cannot accept this faith. How could it be accepted by those who bury the image of God within them in the ground, and turn themselves into a tomb for their soul? Truly, tombs shall not enter into the eternal kingdom of God. Rather decay shall be handed over to inextinguishable fire.
This is the faith of grateful souls. Living in this valley of grief and terror, they do good without expecting anything back in return. They have recognized the thorny field of this world, and take great care lest their trail become one more thorn. They remain silent when they hear the sarcastic reproach: All the others are thorns, do you really believe that you can be roses? And in secret they weep for their brothers, who eagerly strive to mark their trail in this world with thorns. Only one kind of thorn is dear to their heart, only one - the one through which the tender feet of the Son of God walked, and on which roses have bloomed. Those of grateful heart see these roses, and are intoxicated by their fragrance - the only bearable life-giving fragrance in the midst of the stench of mildew and death.
Grateful souls look and see many other thorns beside the way of Christ. They see the thorns of bitterness, the garden of the Mother of the Savior of the world, all soaked with tears, but all luxuriously abloom with white roses. And as they look they see many other lesser gardens of the righteous and of those who suffered for righteousness' sake, thorny stems adorned with various flowers. And when they sniff these flowers they notice that they all resemble Christ and give off the robust, life-giving fragrance of Christ. And a feeling of gratitude to the heavenly Gardener floods their hearts and overflows. And they strive with all their might to turn their life and the life of their friends into a flower, a scion of the Crucified Christ.
This is your faith, Christ-bearers, the faith of your forefathers, who were grateful to Christ the Lord until death. Let this also be the faith of your children, from generation to generation, all the way to the end, until the Judgment Day of Christ, on which the flowers shall be accepted, but the barren thorns shall be cast into the fire. This is the salvation-bearing true Faith, which has never been put to shame. Truly, this is the faith of the truly chosen people, of those who bear the image of God in themselves. On the Day of Retribution their faces shall shine like the sun, and they shall resemble God. And they shall be called blessed.
The flame of divine love in eternity blazes constantly in the hearth of God's fatherhood and God's son-ship. The winds of time never reach there. Capricious changes never touch that flame, nor do they bend it, expand it or diminish it. For this reason divine love is unaging life, untroubled joy, unlimited power. With this miraculous flame in His hands, in His heart, and in His whole being, the King of heaven came down in a miraculous way on a miraculous mission among men. And He spoke those blessed words: "I have come to cast fire upon the earth; and would that it were already kindled!"(Luke 12:49). Let just one spark of that holy fire fall on your hearts, and it will be enough to enlighten your long journey to the eternal hearth. Do not extinguish it, but hide it and guard it as though it were a most precious inheritance, O chosen people, who bear the image of God within you.
The Most Gracious Only-begotten Son of God bowed down the heavens and came down to the earth for our sake and for the sake of our salvation. He did not descend from a throne to another throne, but from a throne to cold stone. He suffered much for our sake and for the sake of our salvation. If we were only to say this much, it would be sufficient for our shame and for the glory of His love. But more must be said, so that the truth may be complete. The Messiah of the human race endured slander, malice, snares, was spit upon, blows, ridicule, and floggings. Even with this it has not all been told. He was condemned along with thieves, crucified on a cross, suffered to the point of death, breathed His last breath in agony, and was buried. He did not reject the brimming cup of torment, nor did He remove the crown of thorns from His head, nor did He cast the heavy cross from His back. Thus did He crown the true, Orthodox Faith with suffering and love with sacrifice.
Do you know, chosen people, why the Holy Fathers included the name of Pontius Pilate, the murderer of God, in our Creed? Do not doubt that the Holy Spirit - who inspired the Holy Fathers with wisdom - deigned to do so. And the Holy Spirit of God deigned to do so, so that the faithful would know exactly and forever in which Christ they should believe. For there have appeared and there will appear false christs, false messiahs, in the world, to deceive and confuse. Therefore, the All-foreseeing Holy Spirit, filled with love for mankind, wished to safeguard Christ's faithful from any deception and confusion. Therefore, through the mouth of the Holy Fathers at Nicaea, He defined precisely which Christ was meant when the Messiah and Savior of the world was mentioned. It solely and exclusively meant Jesus Christ, who was crucified during the rule of Pontius Pilate, the procurator of the Roman emperor at that time. This Christ is the only true Christ, the only genuine Messiah, the only Savior filled with love for mankind. All the others who have presented themselves or will present themselves to the world under that great name, to the very brink of time, until the Day of Judgment, are false christs.
Pilate's name is mentioned for another reason, to show and confirm the personage of the Savior of the world as a historical personage and not a figment of the imagination. When the name of Pontius Pilate is mentioned, it fixes both the time and the place of the appearance of Christ the Lord in the world. For it was precisely known, even to the pagan, Christ-fighting historians of Rome, when and where Pontius Pilate was procurator of Caesar. Do you know human weakness, O chosen people? In their weakness many, too many people are inclined to renounce their benefactor and not doubt in their malefactor. In their weakness some people up to this time - and there will be other such people after this time - have doubted in the personage of Christ as a historical personage, while no one ever doubted in the existence of a man called Pontius Pilate, a man who in the reign of the Roman Caesar Tiberius was the procurator of Caesar in the city of Jerusalem. By mentioning the name of Pontius Pilate, then, the Holy Fathers of Nicaea wished to emphasize the historical personage of Christ, who appeared at a definite time and at a definite place and lived in this world.
Pilate's name was also included in the Creed in order to point out the injustice of the pagans. Roman laws are considered some of the greatest works created by pagan peoples. Yet the Man of Innocence was condemned to death at a time when these highly acclaimed Roman laws carried authority in the world; and He was condemned by a true representative of those laws, Pontius Pilate, the procurator of the Roman Caesar. In the application of these laws on the One more Righteous than the righteous, this "perfect work" of the pagans was shown to be perfectly worthless. This is one more obvious reason why the God of heaven had to come down into the world Himself - to save the world from the universal darkness of paganism. Hence the mention of Pilate's name in the Symbol of Faith resounds like an eternal condemnation not only of the executor of the pagan laws but of the pagan laws themselves.
"He suffered and was buried," said the Holy Fathers of Nicaea. You will ask: Why did they feel it necessary to add these words, when it was already stated that He was "crucified?" When someone is crucified and fastened to a cross with nails, who can doubt in his suffering? And when he breathes his last breath on the cross, is it not something altogether natural and ordinary, for him to be buried? Logical people do not doubt this. To logical people it is both natural and clear. But doubt gnaws at illogical people. They think that they are exalting themselves by humiliating Christ. They think that by judging their Judge they will escape judgment. Certain illogical people appeared who maintained that the Lord did not feel any pain on the cross. They said that Christ was an illusory man, and that as such he was unable to feel torment and suffering. As though they did not hear the death rattle of the Son of God in Gethsemane: "My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me" (Matt. 26:39)! And as though their heart of stone was not in a position to tremble before His outcry of pain on the cross: "My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me" (Matt. 27:46)! O unrighteous people, why do you not believe in the suffering of the greatest Sufferer of all time? Why do you deny the pain which caused the earth to quake and the sun to grow dark? Why has your heart turned to stone before the pain which caused stones to split open? These stones will testify against you on the Day of Retribution, on the Dreadful Day.
Blessed are those two men, Joseph and Nicodemus, for they were zealous over the dead body of the Lord. They took him down from the cross with reverent fear, carefully wrapped it in linen with fragrant oil, and buried it in a tomb with honor. And the Jews came and secured the tomb and sealed it shut. And they asked Pilate for sentries to keep watch over the tomb, lest someone steal the dead body of Christ. Thus did it all happen; and thus do logical people believe. But there were illogical people who invented a fairy tale, that the Lord's body was not completely buried but was only hidden. From this fairy tale the opportunistic scribes concocted other untrue and unjust fairy tales.
All of this untruth and injustice against the Savior of the world was foreseen in advance by the Holy Spirit of God, who enlightened and inspired the Holy Fathers at Nicaea. Therefore, He prompted them to put the words, "He suffered and was buried," in addition to the word, "crucified;" so that you and your descendants, O chosen people, might know the truth about the Lord your Savior forever, and so that you might be able to fight against untruth with truth.
In this way the Holy Fathers expressed our faith in the Lord Savior, the Redeemer and Regenerator of the human race, who suffered for sinners out of love. But ungrateful, selfish, self-centered and soulless people cannot accept this faith. How could it be accepted by those who bury the image of God within them in the ground, and turn themselves into a tomb for their soul? Truly, tombs shall not enter into the eternal kingdom of God. Rather decay shall be handed over to inextinguishable fire.
This is the faith of grateful souls. Living in this valley of grief and terror, they do good without expecting anything back in return. They have recognized the thorny field of this world, and take great care lest their trail become one more thorn. They remain silent when they hear the sarcastic reproach: All the others are thorns, do you really believe that you can be roses? And in secret they weep for their brothers, who eagerly strive to mark their trail in this world with thorns. Only one kind of thorn is dear to their heart, only one - the one through which the tender feet of the Son of God walked, and on which roses have bloomed. Those of grateful heart see these roses, and are intoxicated by their fragrance - the only bearable life-giving fragrance in the midst of the stench of mildew and death.
Grateful souls look and see many other thorns beside the way of Christ. They see the thorns of bitterness, the garden of the Mother of the Savior of the world, all soaked with tears, but all luxuriously abloom with white roses. And as they look they see many other lesser gardens of the righteous and of those who suffered for righteousness' sake, thorny stems adorned with various flowers. And when they sniff these flowers they notice that they all resemble Christ and give off the robust, life-giving fragrance of Christ. And a feeling of gratitude to the heavenly Gardener floods their hearts and overflows. And they strive with all their might to turn their life and the life of their friends into a flower, a scion of the Crucified Christ.
This is your faith, Christ-bearers, the faith of your forefathers, who were grateful to Christ the Lord until death. Let this also be the faith of your children, from generation to generation, all the way to the end, until the Judgment Day of Christ, on which the flowers shall be accepted, but the barren thorns shall be cast into the fire. This is the salvation-bearing true Faith, which has never been put to shame. Truly, this is the faith of the truly chosen people, of those who bear the image of God in themselves. On the Day of Retribution their faces shall shine like the sun, and they shall resemble God. And they shall be called blessed.
- Love - the Cross - Death.
Thursday, June 17, 2010
Symbol of Faith - part 5
Who for us men and for our salvation came down from Heaven and was incarnated by the Holy Spirit and of the Virgin Mary, and became man.
Just as a mother bends down and leans over a tear-stained baby in a crib, so does the descent of the Creator of men into this temporal and visible world correspond to His miraculous existence in eternity. We men and our salvation were the reason for His descent, and the manner-being born of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary. Who says so? If we men said this, one could doubt it. But He himself said it, the One whom no one who bears the image of God in himself can doubt.
He himself, the True One, said of Himself, that He came to serve, and to give His life "as a ransom for many" (Matt. 20:28). Naturally this meant to serve men and to give Himself as a ransom for men. This is the purpose of His descent. And no man revealed the manner of His descent (who would have believed him?), but an archangel of God. The archangel of God Gabriel revealed it to the Virgin Mary in Nazareth:
"Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. " When Mary asked, "How can this be, since I have no husband?" the archangel of God answered: "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore, the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God." If anyone among you asks in amazement, how this is possible, God's herald of glad tidings will answer him, just as he answered the Most Holy Virgin when he said: "For with God nothing will be impossible" (cf. Luke 1:28-37). Instead of questioning and probing, silence and gladness are more fitting here - silence on account of the sublime mystery, and gladness on account of the almighty power of our God and Creator.
The Son of God and the Son of the Virgin - the One Begotten in heaven and Born on earth, existing in eternity and in time. This is your Messiah, O chosen people, and your Savior. Begotten in eternity of the Father without a mother. Born in time of the mother without a father.
Whoever wishes to understand this completely, let him say whether he fully comprehends the grain of sand beneath his feet, or a leaf on a tree, or the stars in the firmament. Has he understood the tiniest creature of God, which he tramples, or sees, or touches? Has the human mind, which for thousands and thousands of years has been probing, counting, measuring, comparing, describing - has it fully comprehended a single work of God in this world?
This world is miraculous; the whole world breathes miracles. This world is mysterious; the whole world is censed with the scent of awesome and sublime mysteries. How much more miraculous is the Creator of this world? At any point where eternity comes into contact with time, where heaven comes into contact with earth, a great light appears. And it is light which is incomprehensible to you, and not darkness. The Virgin Mary in Nazareth was that blessed point, where eternity came into contact with time, where heaven came into contact with earth. And from that point a great light came forth, which began to shine over the entire world. It is light which is incomprehensible to you, blessed people, and not darkness.
Probe, blessed people, with humility and fear; probe with your mind whatever God has created, but believe whatever He has revealed concerning Himself and His own great essence. "For we walk by faith, not by sight" (2 Cor. 5:7). Is God a man, that His fatherhood and birth should be like the fatherhood and birth of a man? Human fatherhood and birth is only a symbol, only a shadow and a pale picture of God's fatherhood and birth. It is not revealed to us, and therefore, we cannot know, what sort of role the Holy Spirit played in the begetting of the Son of God in eternity. What use is it to probe where God is silent and has not revealed. But God has revealed to us through the archangel Gabriel something about the role of the Holy Spirit in the birth of the Son of God in time. And what the Most High has deigned to reveal through His bodiless herald of glad tidings - this one thing we do know. We know, namely, that the Holy Spirit descended upon the Virgin Mary in Nazareth, and that the power of the Most High overshadowed her. Thus eternity came into contact with time, heaven with earth, the spiritual with the physical, and the great Light appeared, which has illumined the world and you who are in the world. In this manner the Holy Virgin conceived in her body, and gave a body to the One who deigned to be the Messiah and Savior, and appear as a man among men.
“…and became man.”
Why did the Holy Fathers of Nicaea also include this phrase, when they had already said: ". . . and was incarnated?" Was not this phrase sufficient, and sufficiently clear? He was incarnated, He assumed bodily form, He appeared in bodily form - is this not sufficient? In no way. The bodily forms in the universe are many and varied. In ancient times God revealed Himself to the Israelites in the form of a pillar of fire and a cloud. The Holy Spirit appeared at the River Jordan in the form of a dove. It was necessary to state precisely in what sort of body the Son of God appeared in the world. He appeared in the bodily flesh of man; not in the form of a man, like the Spirit appeared in the form of a dove - God forbid! - but as an actual physical man. As an actual, true man He appeared, and not as an illusory man. Therefore, both these phrases are said: "and (He) was incarnated ... and became man."
He showed us honor, the greatest honor that could ever be shown, when He, as the Lover of Mankind, descended among us as one of us. Out of eternal glory and joy and beauty; He came down into our inglorious valley of sorrow and ugliness, for the sake of us men and for our salvation.
Just as a king sends his heralds to a city and announces his arrival, so also did the King of heaven, who out of his love for mankind wished to appear on earth, send His heralds to the human race and announced His arrival. At last He "degraded Himself, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men" (Phil. 2:7). And all this degrading He voluntarily took on Himself - for the sake of us men and our salvation.
This faith is offered by God to all men and to all generations on earth. But the impure cannot accept it, so long as they do not repent and are not cleansed of their injustice, arrogance and cruelty. How could those who have distorted the image of God within themselves accept this faith? The voice of heaven does not find an echo in the blown-down power lines of their souls. When the King of heaven completely sweeps open the curtain of mysteries with His hand and appears in clouds of angels to judge it will be grievous, oh how grievous and dreadful it will be at that time for wicked unbelievers! But blessed and blessed are pure and chaste souls! A thousand times blessed are those who cleanse their souls of their wickedness in time and accept and keep the faith of God in themselves - the heavenly peace in their pure hearts and righteous souls. They shall not be put to shame in heaven by the example of the Virgin Mary, Mother of God, and from her Son they shall receive blessing and eternal life.
This is your faith, Christ-bearers, the faith of your pure and chaste forefathers. Let it also be the faith of your children, from generation to generation, until the end of time. This is the faith which has never been put to shame, the true Faith, the faith of light, truth and consolation. This is the faith of the greatest, best and noblest people in your race, and in every race on earth. Truly, this is the faith of the truly chosen people, of those who bear the image of God in themselves. At the Judgment they shall be called blessed.
Just as a mother bends down and leans over a tear-stained baby in a crib, so does the descent of the Creator of men into this temporal and visible world correspond to His miraculous existence in eternity. We men and our salvation were the reason for His descent, and the manner-being born of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary. Who says so? If we men said this, one could doubt it. But He himself said it, the One whom no one who bears the image of God in himself can doubt.
He himself, the True One, said of Himself, that He came to serve, and to give His life "as a ransom for many" (Matt. 20:28). Naturally this meant to serve men and to give Himself as a ransom for men. This is the purpose of His descent. And no man revealed the manner of His descent (who would have believed him?), but an archangel of God. The archangel of God Gabriel revealed it to the Virgin Mary in Nazareth:
"Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. " When Mary asked, "How can this be, since I have no husband?" the archangel of God answered: "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore, the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God." If anyone among you asks in amazement, how this is possible, God's herald of glad tidings will answer him, just as he answered the Most Holy Virgin when he said: "For with God nothing will be impossible" (cf. Luke 1:28-37). Instead of questioning and probing, silence and gladness are more fitting here - silence on account of the sublime mystery, and gladness on account of the almighty power of our God and Creator.
The Son of God and the Son of the Virgin - the One Begotten in heaven and Born on earth, existing in eternity and in time. This is your Messiah, O chosen people, and your Savior. Begotten in eternity of the Father without a mother. Born in time of the mother without a father.
Whoever wishes to understand this completely, let him say whether he fully comprehends the grain of sand beneath his feet, or a leaf on a tree, or the stars in the firmament. Has he understood the tiniest creature of God, which he tramples, or sees, or touches? Has the human mind, which for thousands and thousands of years has been probing, counting, measuring, comparing, describing - has it fully comprehended a single work of God in this world?
This world is miraculous; the whole world breathes miracles. This world is mysterious; the whole world is censed with the scent of awesome and sublime mysteries. How much more miraculous is the Creator of this world? At any point where eternity comes into contact with time, where heaven comes into contact with earth, a great light appears. And it is light which is incomprehensible to you, and not darkness. The Virgin Mary in Nazareth was that blessed point, where eternity came into contact with time, where heaven came into contact with earth. And from that point a great light came forth, which began to shine over the entire world. It is light which is incomprehensible to you, blessed people, and not darkness.
Probe, blessed people, with humility and fear; probe with your mind whatever God has created, but believe whatever He has revealed concerning Himself and His own great essence. "For we walk by faith, not by sight" (2 Cor. 5:7). Is God a man, that His fatherhood and birth should be like the fatherhood and birth of a man? Human fatherhood and birth is only a symbol, only a shadow and a pale picture of God's fatherhood and birth. It is not revealed to us, and therefore, we cannot know, what sort of role the Holy Spirit played in the begetting of the Son of God in eternity. What use is it to probe where God is silent and has not revealed. But God has revealed to us through the archangel Gabriel something about the role of the Holy Spirit in the birth of the Son of God in time. And what the Most High has deigned to reveal through His bodiless herald of glad tidings - this one thing we do know. We know, namely, that the Holy Spirit descended upon the Virgin Mary in Nazareth, and that the power of the Most High overshadowed her. Thus eternity came into contact with time, heaven with earth, the spiritual with the physical, and the great Light appeared, which has illumined the world and you who are in the world. In this manner the Holy Virgin conceived in her body, and gave a body to the One who deigned to be the Messiah and Savior, and appear as a man among men.
“…and became man.”
Why did the Holy Fathers of Nicaea also include this phrase, when they had already said: ". . . and was incarnated?" Was not this phrase sufficient, and sufficiently clear? He was incarnated, He assumed bodily form, He appeared in bodily form - is this not sufficient? In no way. The bodily forms in the universe are many and varied. In ancient times God revealed Himself to the Israelites in the form of a pillar of fire and a cloud. The Holy Spirit appeared at the River Jordan in the form of a dove. It was necessary to state precisely in what sort of body the Son of God appeared in the world. He appeared in the bodily flesh of man; not in the form of a man, like the Spirit appeared in the form of a dove - God forbid! - but as an actual physical man. As an actual, true man He appeared, and not as an illusory man. Therefore, both these phrases are said: "and (He) was incarnated ... and became man."
He showed us honor, the greatest honor that could ever be shown, when He, as the Lover of Mankind, descended among us as one of us. Out of eternal glory and joy and beauty; He came down into our inglorious valley of sorrow and ugliness, for the sake of us men and for our salvation.
Just as a king sends his heralds to a city and announces his arrival, so also did the King of heaven, who out of his love for mankind wished to appear on earth, send His heralds to the human race and announced His arrival. At last He "degraded Himself, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men" (Phil. 2:7). And all this degrading He voluntarily took on Himself - for the sake of us men and our salvation.
This faith is offered by God to all men and to all generations on earth. But the impure cannot accept it, so long as they do not repent and are not cleansed of their injustice, arrogance and cruelty. How could those who have distorted the image of God within themselves accept this faith? The voice of heaven does not find an echo in the blown-down power lines of their souls. When the King of heaven completely sweeps open the curtain of mysteries with His hand and appears in clouds of angels to judge it will be grievous, oh how grievous and dreadful it will be at that time for wicked unbelievers! But blessed and blessed are pure and chaste souls! A thousand times blessed are those who cleanse their souls of their wickedness in time and accept and keep the faith of God in themselves - the heavenly peace in their pure hearts and righteous souls. They shall not be put to shame in heaven by the example of the Virgin Mary, Mother of God, and from her Son they shall receive blessing and eternal life.
This is your faith, Christ-bearers, the faith of your pure and chaste forefathers. Let it also be the faith of your children, from generation to generation, until the end of time. This is the faith which has never been put to shame, the true Faith, the faith of light, truth and consolation. This is the faith of the greatest, best and noblest people in your race, and in every race on earth. Truly, this is the faith of the truly chosen people, of those who bear the image of God in themselves. At the Judgment they shall be called blessed.
- The herald of glad tidings - the Mother of God - the Lover of Mankind.
Symbol of Faith - part 4
. . . Light of Light, true God of true God, begotten, not made, of one essence with the Father, through Whom all things were made.
Both a prophet and a visionary looked into eternity and saw that it had no sun or moon or stars, but nevertheless had a certain ineffable light, which penetrated and illuminated everything (cf. Isaiah 60:19 and Rev. 21:23). Do you know, O chosen people, what sort of light this is? You surmise: it is the eternal Light of the face of the Most High. It is the Light of the eternal Father, the Light of the eternal Son, and the Light of the eternal Holy Spirit - one Light, one Deity, one Beauty.
The Holy Fathers of Nicaea, enlightened by the eternal Light from that other world, explained the relationship of Christ the Lord to the heavenly Father and His relationship towards creation with six phrases.
The first phrase: "Light of Light. "
It was said by the great beholder of mysteries: "God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness" (1 John 1:5). If a father is light, what can his son be other than light? If the eternal Father is Light, His Son is also Light. The testimony of the Son concerning Himself proclaims: "I am the light of the world" (John 8:12). Blessed are you, if you can just be called enlightened by that Light!
The second phrase is: "true God of true God."
Once the apostle Philip decided to say to the Lord: "Lord, show us the Father, and we shall be satisfied." The meek Lord answered him: "he who has seen me has seen the Father." And furthermore He added: "Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me" (John 14:8-11; cf. 12:45). Again He said: "all that the Father has is mine" (John 16:15). Again He said: "I and the Father are one" (John 10:30). It was then that the Jews took up stones to stone Him to death, because as they themselves said, "You, being a man, make yourself God" (John 10:33). To the extent that they, blinded by sin, were able to see, they spoke. They saw in Christ - or rather on Christ - just a human body, but that which lay beyond the veil of the body, beyond blood and flesh, was hidden from their eyes. Consider how an ordinary copper wire on the ground and a copper wire which conducts electricity, thought and voice, appear identical to all eyes lacking intelligence and experience. There was a blindfold over their spiritual vision, and so when they looked they could not see the essence of God in the essence of a man.
This the baptized, purified and sanctified could see. The holy apostles saw it, as did the Holy Fathers of Nicaea, and all spiritual people over many, many centuries. "God was in Christ," testifies the apostle Paul (2 Cor. 5:19). This is Divine revelation. But is it not clear from the concept of parent and offspring in all the realms of life that the Begotten One of God is true of true God. The true God could only have true God.
The third phrase is: "Begotten."
That is, the Son of begotten of God-Light begotten of Light, begotten of Truth, Life of Life, Glory of Glory, true God of true God. The human mind understands to a degree the birth of body from body, but poorly understands the birth of spirit from spirit. "And God is spirit." Bodily birth is only a shadow and a symbol of spiritual birth. It is sufficient for Christ-bearers to know that their Messiah and Savior is not death begotten of death, darkness of darkness, corruption of corruption, or weakness of weakness, but rather Light begotten of Light, true God begotten of true God. And how He was begotten in eternity will, should it be necessary, be revealed in eternity.
It has been said to you once, that your Messiah is the Only-begotten Son of God, the only One begotten of God, and so let it be a joy for you to hear it again in Him as the begotten. For begetting indicates love. It has been said to you above, that He is the only One begotten of the Father in essence, the Most High begotten of the Most High, the Begotten of the Most High before all ages. And now His begetting is distinct and differs from being made. He was begotten, but not made. He can resemble creatures, but He is not a creature.
The fourth phrase is: "of one essence with the Father" -that is, of one being with the Father.
Is this not automatically understood after all that has been said concerning Him? For when one says that He is the Father's Son, he has already explained that He is of the same substance, of the same essence as the Father. And when one says: "Light of Light", he again explains that light was begotten equal in substance and essence to the light which begot it. And when one says: "true God of true God", he confirms the truth that the Son is of one essence with His Father. Finally, when one says: "begotten, not made," he has even more strongly confessed that which was explained more clearly earlier. For whatever is begotten is of the same essence as its begetter, while whatever is made is of a different essence and substance than its creator. Observe and see: a child is of the same essence as his father, but an ax is of a different substance than its blacksmith.
These are the four phrases which the Holy Fathers of Nicaea used to define the relationship of Christ, the Son of God, with regard to His Father in eternity. And here are the two phrases, which they used to define the relationship of Christ with regard to creation.
The first phrase: "not made".
Heaven and earth, and everything that is visible and invisible, everything outside the essence of the One, Living God-is all created. Only the Creator is uncreated. And just as the Father is uncreated, so also is the Son uncreated. He was begotten and not made. Co-eternal with the Father, of the same essence as the Father, He is the Alpha and Omega, together with the Alpha and Omega. Together with the One who has no beginning, He has no beginning. He is timeless, infinite, eternal, immortal. His essence is inseparable from His Father's essence; His light and glory are indivisible from the light and glory of the Father. The Father's power is His power. Therefore, is it not clear, that the Son of the Most High is not made? For how could One who exists eternally be made? And by whom could One who is co-eternal with the Father be made?
Just as one cannot talk about the sun without light, O Christ-bearers, or about a spring without water, so one cannot talk about the Father without the Son, or about the Son without the Father. For if He were created, He would, like many of those created, need a Savior for Himself. If He were created, He would not be the Son but one of many sons; He would not be the Son but one of many adopted sons. Truly He is the Son and not an adopted son. If He were just an adopted son, then the Most High would not have a begotten Son. Then the Most High could not be called the Father, and eternal fatherhood would not exist. Neither would eternal love exist. Neither eternal fatherhood nor eternal sonship - the two pillars of eternal love - would exist. But let your hearts rejoice, children of God, because fatherhood and sonship and love do exist. May the eternal rays of love illumine you!
The second phrase is: "through whom all things were made".
Everything created has entered into its existence through Him. Just as it is written concerning the Word of God: "All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made" (John 1:3). Therefore, not only is the Only-begotten Son of God not made, He is the Maker. "Through Him all things were made, and without Him nothing was made, that was made." Everything in heaven and on earth that derived its existence by creation was the work of the Son as much as the Father; and all that exists is under the authority of the Son as much as the Father.
Thus did our Holy Fathers of Nicaea express the inexpressible. Thus did they put into words their faith and your faith, and all on the foundation of the written revelation of the Lord Jesus Christ and the unwritten revelation of the Holy Spirit of God. Know, however, that He who cannot be contained in the entire universe, cannot be contained in human words.
All that has been said about Him up to this point, O Christ-bearers, has been said about the Most High God in eternity, in His very Self, outside of created things and beyond creation. It was spoken about the eternally mysterious Father and the Son before He manifested Himself; about the eternal Being, who alone is Father to Himself and Son to Himself, and needs nothing outside Himself. It was spoken about the miracle of an Existence without change, without aging, and without death; about the inextinguishable divine Flame, of which every other light, visible and invisible, is causally envious.
And what will now follow is a description of God the Creator, descended into time, into space, into the finite, in the midst of His own creation. Just as a mother bends down and leans over a tear-stained child in a crib, so seems the descent of the Creator of men among men, into this vale of tears.
This is the faith of contemplative and prayerful souls. Sensory people covered with dust find it difficult to accept this faith. Contemplative people sincerely realize the limitations of human reason with respect to all the new and higher mountains of mysteries, which come one after the other. And so just when they have scaled one of those mountains with great effort, and have scarcely caught their breath and begun to feel joyful, before their eyes looms another, more lofty mountain-and so on, from generation to generation.
They look and see that each mystery of nature unlocked is not the messiah but only the forerunner of new mysteries. Each thing new, revealed, and learned is not revelation but a curtain, which conceals all the new, nameless, countless, and endless miracles. Therefore, they prayerfully elevate their mind to the Most High, and with their whole heart they receive from Him the revelation concerning the ultimate and supreme mysteries, which through His love and mercy He has deigned to reveal to the human race. They receive it with joy and reveal it with courage. What can they expect from man? And what can the sons of men, who journey together with them, tell them about the imperceptible, invisible, intangible, divine mysteries, from the countless mountains of natural mysteries? What can they hear with their sense of hearing from sensory people covered with dust? Nothing that they have not already heard - and rejected. This is why the One, True Messiah is so dear to them - because He came from the realm of ultimate mysteries as a personal witness, and revealed them to them insofar as the human soul on earth can receive and bear them.
This is your faith, Christ-bearers, the faith of your contemplative and prayerful forefathers. Let is also be the faith of your children, from generation to genera tion, all the way to the end of the journey. Truly, this is the faith of the truly chosen people, of those who bear the image of God in themselves. On the Judgment Day of God they shall be preserved and justified by their faith, purity, and good works. And they shall be called blessed.
Both a prophet and a visionary looked into eternity and saw that it had no sun or moon or stars, but nevertheless had a certain ineffable light, which penetrated and illuminated everything (cf. Isaiah 60:19 and Rev. 21:23). Do you know, O chosen people, what sort of light this is? You surmise: it is the eternal Light of the face of the Most High. It is the Light of the eternal Father, the Light of the eternal Son, and the Light of the eternal Holy Spirit - one Light, one Deity, one Beauty.
The Holy Fathers of Nicaea, enlightened by the eternal Light from that other world, explained the relationship of Christ the Lord to the heavenly Father and His relationship towards creation with six phrases.
The first phrase: "Light of Light. "
It was said by the great beholder of mysteries: "God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness" (1 John 1:5). If a father is light, what can his son be other than light? If the eternal Father is Light, His Son is also Light. The testimony of the Son concerning Himself proclaims: "I am the light of the world" (John 8:12). Blessed are you, if you can just be called enlightened by that Light!
The second phrase is: "true God of true God."
Once the apostle Philip decided to say to the Lord: "Lord, show us the Father, and we shall be satisfied." The meek Lord answered him: "he who has seen me has seen the Father." And furthermore He added: "Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me" (John 14:8-11; cf. 12:45). Again He said: "all that the Father has is mine" (John 16:15). Again He said: "I and the Father are one" (John 10:30). It was then that the Jews took up stones to stone Him to death, because as they themselves said, "You, being a man, make yourself God" (John 10:33). To the extent that they, blinded by sin, were able to see, they spoke. They saw in Christ - or rather on Christ - just a human body, but that which lay beyond the veil of the body, beyond blood and flesh, was hidden from their eyes. Consider how an ordinary copper wire on the ground and a copper wire which conducts electricity, thought and voice, appear identical to all eyes lacking intelligence and experience. There was a blindfold over their spiritual vision, and so when they looked they could not see the essence of God in the essence of a man.
This the baptized, purified and sanctified could see. The holy apostles saw it, as did the Holy Fathers of Nicaea, and all spiritual people over many, many centuries. "God was in Christ," testifies the apostle Paul (2 Cor. 5:19). This is Divine revelation. But is it not clear from the concept of parent and offspring in all the realms of life that the Begotten One of God is true of true God. The true God could only have true God.
The third phrase is: "Begotten."
That is, the Son of begotten of God-Light begotten of Light, begotten of Truth, Life of Life, Glory of Glory, true God of true God. The human mind understands to a degree the birth of body from body, but poorly understands the birth of spirit from spirit. "And God is spirit." Bodily birth is only a shadow and a symbol of spiritual birth. It is sufficient for Christ-bearers to know that their Messiah and Savior is not death begotten of death, darkness of darkness, corruption of corruption, or weakness of weakness, but rather Light begotten of Light, true God begotten of true God. And how He was begotten in eternity will, should it be necessary, be revealed in eternity.
It has been said to you once, that your Messiah is the Only-begotten Son of God, the only One begotten of God, and so let it be a joy for you to hear it again in Him as the begotten. For begetting indicates love. It has been said to you above, that He is the only One begotten of the Father in essence, the Most High begotten of the Most High, the Begotten of the Most High before all ages. And now His begetting is distinct and differs from being made. He was begotten, but not made. He can resemble creatures, but He is not a creature.
The fourth phrase is: "of one essence with the Father" -that is, of one being with the Father.
Is this not automatically understood after all that has been said concerning Him? For when one says that He is the Father's Son, he has already explained that He is of the same substance, of the same essence as the Father. And when one says: "Light of Light", he again explains that light was begotten equal in substance and essence to the light which begot it. And when one says: "true God of true God", he confirms the truth that the Son is of one essence with His Father. Finally, when one says: "begotten, not made," he has even more strongly confessed that which was explained more clearly earlier. For whatever is begotten is of the same essence as its begetter, while whatever is made is of a different essence and substance than its creator. Observe and see: a child is of the same essence as his father, but an ax is of a different substance than its blacksmith.
These are the four phrases which the Holy Fathers of Nicaea used to define the relationship of Christ, the Son of God, with regard to His Father in eternity. And here are the two phrases, which they used to define the relationship of Christ with regard to creation.
The first phrase: "not made".
Heaven and earth, and everything that is visible and invisible, everything outside the essence of the One, Living God-is all created. Only the Creator is uncreated. And just as the Father is uncreated, so also is the Son uncreated. He was begotten and not made. Co-eternal with the Father, of the same essence as the Father, He is the Alpha and Omega, together with the Alpha and Omega. Together with the One who has no beginning, He has no beginning. He is timeless, infinite, eternal, immortal. His essence is inseparable from His Father's essence; His light and glory are indivisible from the light and glory of the Father. The Father's power is His power. Therefore, is it not clear, that the Son of the Most High is not made? For how could One who exists eternally be made? And by whom could One who is co-eternal with the Father be made?
Just as one cannot talk about the sun without light, O Christ-bearers, or about a spring without water, so one cannot talk about the Father without the Son, or about the Son without the Father. For if He were created, He would, like many of those created, need a Savior for Himself. If He were created, He would not be the Son but one of many sons; He would not be the Son but one of many adopted sons. Truly He is the Son and not an adopted son. If He were just an adopted son, then the Most High would not have a begotten Son. Then the Most High could not be called the Father, and eternal fatherhood would not exist. Neither would eternal love exist. Neither eternal fatherhood nor eternal sonship - the two pillars of eternal love - would exist. But let your hearts rejoice, children of God, because fatherhood and sonship and love do exist. May the eternal rays of love illumine you!
The second phrase is: "through whom all things were made".
Everything created has entered into its existence through Him. Just as it is written concerning the Word of God: "All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made" (John 1:3). Therefore, not only is the Only-begotten Son of God not made, He is the Maker. "Through Him all things were made, and without Him nothing was made, that was made." Everything in heaven and on earth that derived its existence by creation was the work of the Son as much as the Father; and all that exists is under the authority of the Son as much as the Father.
Thus did our Holy Fathers of Nicaea express the inexpressible. Thus did they put into words their faith and your faith, and all on the foundation of the written revelation of the Lord Jesus Christ and the unwritten revelation of the Holy Spirit of God. Know, however, that He who cannot be contained in the entire universe, cannot be contained in human words.
All that has been said about Him up to this point, O Christ-bearers, has been said about the Most High God in eternity, in His very Self, outside of created things and beyond creation. It was spoken about the eternally mysterious Father and the Son before He manifested Himself; about the eternal Being, who alone is Father to Himself and Son to Himself, and needs nothing outside Himself. It was spoken about the miracle of an Existence without change, without aging, and without death; about the inextinguishable divine Flame, of which every other light, visible and invisible, is causally envious.
And what will now follow is a description of God the Creator, descended into time, into space, into the finite, in the midst of His own creation. Just as a mother bends down and leans over a tear-stained child in a crib, so seems the descent of the Creator of men among men, into this vale of tears.
This is the faith of contemplative and prayerful souls. Sensory people covered with dust find it difficult to accept this faith. Contemplative people sincerely realize the limitations of human reason with respect to all the new and higher mountains of mysteries, which come one after the other. And so just when they have scaled one of those mountains with great effort, and have scarcely caught their breath and begun to feel joyful, before their eyes looms another, more lofty mountain-and so on, from generation to generation.
They look and see that each mystery of nature unlocked is not the messiah but only the forerunner of new mysteries. Each thing new, revealed, and learned is not revelation but a curtain, which conceals all the new, nameless, countless, and endless miracles. Therefore, they prayerfully elevate their mind to the Most High, and with their whole heart they receive from Him the revelation concerning the ultimate and supreme mysteries, which through His love and mercy He has deigned to reveal to the human race. They receive it with joy and reveal it with courage. What can they expect from man? And what can the sons of men, who journey together with them, tell them about the imperceptible, invisible, intangible, divine mysteries, from the countless mountains of natural mysteries? What can they hear with their sense of hearing from sensory people covered with dust? Nothing that they have not already heard - and rejected. This is why the One, True Messiah is so dear to them - because He came from the realm of ultimate mysteries as a personal witness, and revealed them to them insofar as the human soul on earth can receive and bear them.
This is your faith, Christ-bearers, the faith of your contemplative and prayerful forefathers. Let is also be the faith of your children, from generation to genera tion, all the way to the end of the journey. Truly, this is the faith of the truly chosen people, of those who bear the image of God in themselves. On the Judgment Day of God they shall be preserved and justified by their faith, purity, and good works. And they shall be called blessed.
- The Light the Truth - the Word.
Sunday, June 13, 2010
We depend on His Heart ...
What could be equal to the affection of Christ?
Can a mother be so tender with her love?
What father has love his children so much?
What has a man ever loved so greatly?
Who has ever been seized by such "mania" for anything beautiful and then because of it willingly allowed himself to be wounded by the object of his love without swerving from his affection towards the ungrateful one, but even prizes the very wounds above everything?
This proves that He loves us but also that He greatly honours us, it belongs to the greatest honour that He is not ashamed even of the infirmities of our nature, but is seated on His royal throne with the scars which He acquired from human weakness.
He highly esteemed our nature and yet He did not neglect us individually ... He calls all of us to His crown; He has set us free from slavery and made us sons. He has opened heaven to all, and has shown us the way and supplied us with wings that we may fly to Him.
Not content with this, He Himself leads the way ...
He sustains us and encourages us when we are slack.
Yet, I have not mentioned the greatest thing of all:
The Master is present with His servants not only to that extent but to the extent that He imparts of His own. He not only gives us a hand, but He gives us His whole Self.
We are the temple of the living God; our members are Christ's members whose Head the Cherubim adore.
These very feet, these hands, depend on His Heart.
Can a mother be so tender with her love?
What father has love his children so much?
What has a man ever loved so greatly?
Who has ever been seized by such "mania" for anything beautiful and then because of it willingly allowed himself to be wounded by the object of his love without swerving from his affection towards the ungrateful one, but even prizes the very wounds above everything?
This proves that He loves us but also that He greatly honours us, it belongs to the greatest honour that He is not ashamed even of the infirmities of our nature, but is seated on His royal throne with the scars which He acquired from human weakness.
He highly esteemed our nature and yet He did not neglect us individually ... He calls all of us to His crown; He has set us free from slavery and made us sons. He has opened heaven to all, and has shown us the way and supplied us with wings that we may fly to Him.
Not content with this, He Himself leads the way ...
He sustains us and encourages us when we are slack.
Yet, I have not mentioned the greatest thing of all:
The Master is present with His servants not only to that extent but to the extent that He imparts of His own. He not only gives us a hand, but He gives us His whole Self.
We are the temple of the living God; our members are Christ's members whose Head the Cherubim adore.
These very feet, these hands, depend on His Heart.
Thursday, June 10, 2010
Symbol of Faith - part 3
And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before all ages.
A new light has fallen upon you, O chosen people, who bear the image of God in yourselves. Through the curtain, slightly parted by the hand of the Most High, a new shaft of light has fallen upon you, and you are illuminated like sons of God. This light shows you the mystical, eternal, joyful mystery of eternal fatherhood and eternal son-ship. In this light a blessing has descended upon you, and the balm of consolation has descended upon your tear-stained eyes.
The Lord Jesus is the only one, both as the Christ and as the Son of God. As the Christ in the sense of the Messiah, He is the only one from the beginning to the end of the world. Mankind can neither find nor expect another Messiah. "For false christs will arise . . . and will lead many astray" (Matt. 24:5,24). Thus prophesied the Only, Genuine, Clear-sighted Christ. There have been false messiahs, there are even now, and there will be even more of them as the end of the human race draws nearer and nearer. But only one is the true Messiah, the genuine Christ, the incomprehensible Lover of mankind. This True, Genuine, and Incomprehensible One is the Messiah for all nations and peoples on earth, in every region and for all time. He is the one and only Messiah both for the living and the dead: who have been, who are, and who are yet to follow.
You are therefore called, O chosen people, to tell the peoples and the nations: O peoples and nations, you can have great men, greater than the great; you can have noble sons and daughters, more noble than the noble; but there is one Messiah of you all - only one. So do not await another, and do not seek another. Truly, any others who might come with that name, except for Him alone, will be a lie and the son of a lie. The only true Messiah once said, "Then if anyone says to you, 'Lo, here is the Christ!' or, 'There he is!' do not believe it" (Matt. 24:23). Do not be like the Jews, who incessantly await their own, Jewish Messiah. Truly, no such messiah will come, whether Jewish, or Russian, or Hindu, or American. For it is the characteristic of the true Messiah to be for all men, to appear before all, above all, and for the sake of all.
You have such a Messiah, O peoples and nations, the true Messiah, just as you have a sun in the firmament. And just as one sun shines on you all, so one Messiah shines on you all, illuminates all, serves all, and is Lord over all. Who among you seeks another sun? No one. Why would anyone then seek another messiah, when the light of the Messiah Jesus is more brilliant than the light of the sun-more brilliant, more boundless, more life-creating, more joyful, more salvation-bearing?
Beware of new messiahs, O peoples and nations, and beware of many messiahs, for they are lost, money-grubbing souls and the servants of the deceitful one. Satan wants to disparage the significance of the Lord Jesus in the world by turning the unique and unearthly calling of the Messiah, the Christ, into some sort of order, with which he decorates more and more impostors. But you know that it is one thing to be a real general and another to wear all the decorations of a general without really being one. Beware of those messiahs which the unbaptized proclaim. Your Messiah wears only one symbol, one decoration-the cross. The cross which at the same time is also the banner of victory. By this you will recognize your Messiah, the only true Messiah. It is the same One who once went into the field hunched over to sow, and who will come down once again upright, to reap the harvest through the angels.
The only Messiah of the world is the Only-begotten Son of God himself, who was begotten of the Father before all time. This is His heavenly seal; this is the guarantee of His true Messianic character. Whoever denies that the Lord Jesus is the Messiah, will be caught in a lie.
The apostle who rested his head on Jesus' breast tells you this even more sharply. Here are his words:
"Who is the liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ," that is, the Messiah (1 John 2:22)? Could anything less than the Son of God be the Messiah? And could men accept anyone less as the Messiah?
He had to graft the aged and decayed tree of humanity with His own blood. No mortal's blood would have been pure enough, young enough, strong and life-giving enough, to have enabled that old tree to be rejuvenated and ennobled. No one's blood, truly, except that of the Son of God, with which He clothed His own Divinity as with a scarlet tunic.
Let your mind now elevate itself to the Only-begotten Son of God, O chosen people, you who bear the image of God in yourselves. You will immediately recognize Him by the image of God within you, and once you recognize Him you will become filled with joy. Christ is called the Only-begotten Son of God because He is the only Son begotten of God the Father. When you call the Most High the Father, you have already confirmed the existence of the Son. A childless man is not called a father; nor is one called a sire who has not sired offspring.
Thus does the Most High speak through the mouth of His prophet: "Shall I, who open the womb, be unable to beget? says the Lord; shall I, who cause to bring forth, be without offspring? says your God" (Isaiah 66:9). Let no one doubt, then, that God begets; and let no one doubt the Only-begotten Son of God. Can there be anything good in the world, which is not in God and from God? And being born is a good thing. Therefore, being born is in God, not as a concept but as a reality, an eternal reality, because God is eternal.
God is witness. God the Father himself bore witness and proclaimed Christ as His own Son. He did so first through the prophet when He said: "You are my Son, today I have begotten you" (Psalm 2:7). Oh that eternal "Today" of God! Second, he did it directly with his own voice on two occasions: at the River Jordan and on Mount Tabor- "This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him." Finally, who could know the Lord Jesus Christ better than He himself? And He himself said about Himself: "I am the Son of God" (John 10:36).
Just as no sensible person can call a father a father and deny a son, so no one can call a son a son and deny the father. How could there be a father who never had a child or a son who never had a father? And concerning this, he who rested his head on the breast of the Son of God again tells you: "No one who denies the Son has the Father, and whoever confesses the Son has the Father as well" (1 John 2:23).
A certain rich man had an only son, and this man was very merciful. And so when he heard that there were many orphans in his vicinity, he became sad. So he set out and gathered all the orphans, and brought them into his home. And he made his home their home, his wealth their wealth. And when he addressed them he said to them: "My sons!" in the same manner as he addressed his only son with the words: "My son!" What sort of difference, then, is there?
It is easy for you, O chosen people, to comprehend the difference. The difference is obvious: that rich man was the father in essence only of his only son, while he was called the father of all those orphans in his home through mercy. That only son of the rich man was his son by birth, while all the others were his sons by adoption. Kinship in substance and kinship through the gift of adoption - that is the difference.
This is said to you, O logical people, so that you may be armed against those illogical people who arrogantly say: We acknowledge that Christ is a son of God just as we all are also sons of God! Ask them humbly and gently: Are you all sons through mercy or are you all sons in substance? Speak up and answer us: How could the sinless Christ be God's son through mercy, and how could you, being sinful, be sons of God in substance? You acknowledge that God is sinless. Only one who is sinless can beget the Sinless one. How can one who is sinful be begotten of the One who is without sin? Can someone give what he does not have? And who among the sons of women is without sin? And who among you could call himself a son of God in actual essence?
In substance, or essence only one who carries within himself the divine characteristics and the divine powers of God the Father can be called the Son of God. In other words, only God can be the Son of God. Does not the whole of visible nature testify to you with harmonious testimony that whatever is begotten is the same substance as its begetter? Oak tree begets oak tree, dove begets dove, lion begets lion, eagle begets eagle, man begets man, and so on consistently everywhere in all the realms of living nature. What can God beget of God? The eternal Son of God, begotten of God the Father, is therefore God. The whole of living nature testifies to us that this must be so, and so does the Lord himself with His own testimony. And thus if the sinless Christ is the Son of God in essence, you sinful people can be called sons of God only through grace, through mercy, through adoption.
"Before all ages" - God the Son was begotten of God the Father. The Son of God himself, the Pre-eternal One, bore witness to this fact before his persecutors, the Jews, when He said: "Before Abraham was, I am" (John 8:58). And again, when they asked Him: "Who are you?" He answered them: "The Beginning" (John 8:25). By this the Lord wanted to point out that His origin and His eternal son-ship were outside of time. He, the Only-begotten, is the beginning of all creation, the beginning of the angelic hosts and corporal beings. The Son of God is the Beginning. Just as the Most High is eternal, so also is His fatherhood. Therefore, you are speaking logically when you say that you believe in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Only-begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before all ages.
This is the faith of souls filled with love. Souls empty of love find it hard to accept this faith. Parents with invincible love for their children, and children with invincible love for their parents accept this faith joyfully. The light of God's fatherhood and God's son-ship illuminates the inexplicable and profound mystery of nature concerning the attachment of parents to children and of children to parents. Only in this light can parents and children on earth comprehend the mystery of their mutual love. They can comprehend that their love is not of earthly but heavenly origin. It is kindled by the eternal flame of paternal and filial love, which is to be found in God. Therefore, all parents who love their children with invincible love, and all children who love their parents with invincible love, joyfully accept faith in the eternal Father and the co-eternal Son in heaven.
This is your faith, O Christ-bearers, and the faith of your fathers who loved you. Let is also be the faith of your children whom you love invincibly. This is the salvation-bearing Faith, which has never been put to shame. Truly, this is the faith of the chosen people, of those who bear the image of God in themselves. On the Day of Christ's Judgment they shall be shown mercy and be called blessed.
A new light has fallen upon you, O chosen people, who bear the image of God in yourselves. Through the curtain, slightly parted by the hand of the Most High, a new shaft of light has fallen upon you, and you are illuminated like sons of God. This light shows you the mystical, eternal, joyful mystery of eternal fatherhood and eternal son-ship. In this light a blessing has descended upon you, and the balm of consolation has descended upon your tear-stained eyes.
The Lord Jesus is the only one, both as the Christ and as the Son of God. As the Christ in the sense of the Messiah, He is the only one from the beginning to the end of the world. Mankind can neither find nor expect another Messiah. "For false christs will arise . . . and will lead many astray" (Matt. 24:5,24). Thus prophesied the Only, Genuine, Clear-sighted Christ. There have been false messiahs, there are even now, and there will be even more of them as the end of the human race draws nearer and nearer. But only one is the true Messiah, the genuine Christ, the incomprehensible Lover of mankind. This True, Genuine, and Incomprehensible One is the Messiah for all nations and peoples on earth, in every region and for all time. He is the one and only Messiah both for the living and the dead: who have been, who are, and who are yet to follow.
You are therefore called, O chosen people, to tell the peoples and the nations: O peoples and nations, you can have great men, greater than the great; you can have noble sons and daughters, more noble than the noble; but there is one Messiah of you all - only one. So do not await another, and do not seek another. Truly, any others who might come with that name, except for Him alone, will be a lie and the son of a lie. The only true Messiah once said, "Then if anyone says to you, 'Lo, here is the Christ!' or, 'There he is!' do not believe it" (Matt. 24:23). Do not be like the Jews, who incessantly await their own, Jewish Messiah. Truly, no such messiah will come, whether Jewish, or Russian, or Hindu, or American. For it is the characteristic of the true Messiah to be for all men, to appear before all, above all, and for the sake of all.
You have such a Messiah, O peoples and nations, the true Messiah, just as you have a sun in the firmament. And just as one sun shines on you all, so one Messiah shines on you all, illuminates all, serves all, and is Lord over all. Who among you seeks another sun? No one. Why would anyone then seek another messiah, when the light of the Messiah Jesus is more brilliant than the light of the sun-more brilliant, more boundless, more life-creating, more joyful, more salvation-bearing?
Beware of new messiahs, O peoples and nations, and beware of many messiahs, for they are lost, money-grubbing souls and the servants of the deceitful one. Satan wants to disparage the significance of the Lord Jesus in the world by turning the unique and unearthly calling of the Messiah, the Christ, into some sort of order, with which he decorates more and more impostors. But you know that it is one thing to be a real general and another to wear all the decorations of a general without really being one. Beware of those messiahs which the unbaptized proclaim. Your Messiah wears only one symbol, one decoration-the cross. The cross which at the same time is also the banner of victory. By this you will recognize your Messiah, the only true Messiah. It is the same One who once went into the field hunched over to sow, and who will come down once again upright, to reap the harvest through the angels.
The only Messiah of the world is the Only-begotten Son of God himself, who was begotten of the Father before all time. This is His heavenly seal; this is the guarantee of His true Messianic character. Whoever denies that the Lord Jesus is the Messiah, will be caught in a lie.
The apostle who rested his head on Jesus' breast tells you this even more sharply. Here are his words:
"Who is the liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ," that is, the Messiah (1 John 2:22)? Could anything less than the Son of God be the Messiah? And could men accept anyone less as the Messiah?
He had to graft the aged and decayed tree of humanity with His own blood. No mortal's blood would have been pure enough, young enough, strong and life-giving enough, to have enabled that old tree to be rejuvenated and ennobled. No one's blood, truly, except that of the Son of God, with which He clothed His own Divinity as with a scarlet tunic.
Let your mind now elevate itself to the Only-begotten Son of God, O chosen people, you who bear the image of God in yourselves. You will immediately recognize Him by the image of God within you, and once you recognize Him you will become filled with joy. Christ is called the Only-begotten Son of God because He is the only Son begotten of God the Father. When you call the Most High the Father, you have already confirmed the existence of the Son. A childless man is not called a father; nor is one called a sire who has not sired offspring.
Thus does the Most High speak through the mouth of His prophet: "Shall I, who open the womb, be unable to beget? says the Lord; shall I, who cause to bring forth, be without offspring? says your God" (Isaiah 66:9). Let no one doubt, then, that God begets; and let no one doubt the Only-begotten Son of God. Can there be anything good in the world, which is not in God and from God? And being born is a good thing. Therefore, being born is in God, not as a concept but as a reality, an eternal reality, because God is eternal.
God is witness. God the Father himself bore witness and proclaimed Christ as His own Son. He did so first through the prophet when He said: "You are my Son, today I have begotten you" (Psalm 2:7). Oh that eternal "Today" of God! Second, he did it directly with his own voice on two occasions: at the River Jordan and on Mount Tabor- "This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him." Finally, who could know the Lord Jesus Christ better than He himself? And He himself said about Himself: "I am the Son of God" (John 10:36).
Just as no sensible person can call a father a father and deny a son, so no one can call a son a son and deny the father. How could there be a father who never had a child or a son who never had a father? And concerning this, he who rested his head on the breast of the Son of God again tells you: "No one who denies the Son has the Father, and whoever confesses the Son has the Father as well" (1 John 2:23).
A certain rich man had an only son, and this man was very merciful. And so when he heard that there were many orphans in his vicinity, he became sad. So he set out and gathered all the orphans, and brought them into his home. And he made his home their home, his wealth their wealth. And when he addressed them he said to them: "My sons!" in the same manner as he addressed his only son with the words: "My son!" What sort of difference, then, is there?
It is easy for you, O chosen people, to comprehend the difference. The difference is obvious: that rich man was the father in essence only of his only son, while he was called the father of all those orphans in his home through mercy. That only son of the rich man was his son by birth, while all the others were his sons by adoption. Kinship in substance and kinship through the gift of adoption - that is the difference.
This is said to you, O logical people, so that you may be armed against those illogical people who arrogantly say: We acknowledge that Christ is a son of God just as we all are also sons of God! Ask them humbly and gently: Are you all sons through mercy or are you all sons in substance? Speak up and answer us: How could the sinless Christ be God's son through mercy, and how could you, being sinful, be sons of God in substance? You acknowledge that God is sinless. Only one who is sinless can beget the Sinless one. How can one who is sinful be begotten of the One who is without sin? Can someone give what he does not have? And who among the sons of women is without sin? And who among you could call himself a son of God in actual essence?
In substance, or essence only one who carries within himself the divine characteristics and the divine powers of God the Father can be called the Son of God. In other words, only God can be the Son of God. Does not the whole of visible nature testify to you with harmonious testimony that whatever is begotten is the same substance as its begetter? Oak tree begets oak tree, dove begets dove, lion begets lion, eagle begets eagle, man begets man, and so on consistently everywhere in all the realms of living nature. What can God beget of God? The eternal Son of God, begotten of God the Father, is therefore God. The whole of living nature testifies to us that this must be so, and so does the Lord himself with His own testimony. And thus if the sinless Christ is the Son of God in essence, you sinful people can be called sons of God only through grace, through mercy, through adoption.
"Before all ages" - God the Son was begotten of God the Father. The Son of God himself, the Pre-eternal One, bore witness to this fact before his persecutors, the Jews, when He said: "Before Abraham was, I am" (John 8:58). And again, when they asked Him: "Who are you?" He answered them: "The Beginning" (John 8:25). By this the Lord wanted to point out that His origin and His eternal son-ship were outside of time. He, the Only-begotten, is the beginning of all creation, the beginning of the angelic hosts and corporal beings. The Son of God is the Beginning. Just as the Most High is eternal, so also is His fatherhood. Therefore, you are speaking logically when you say that you believe in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Only-begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before all ages.
This is the faith of souls filled with love. Souls empty of love find it hard to accept this faith. Parents with invincible love for their children, and children with invincible love for their parents accept this faith joyfully. The light of God's fatherhood and God's son-ship illuminates the inexplicable and profound mystery of nature concerning the attachment of parents to children and of children to parents. Only in this light can parents and children on earth comprehend the mystery of their mutual love. They can comprehend that their love is not of earthly but heavenly origin. It is kindled by the eternal flame of paternal and filial love, which is to be found in God. Therefore, all parents who love their children with invincible love, and all children who love their parents with invincible love, joyfully accept faith in the eternal Father and the co-eternal Son in heaven.
This is your faith, O Christ-bearers, and the faith of your fathers who loved you. Let is also be the faith of your children whom you love invincibly. This is the salvation-bearing Faith, which has never been put to shame. Truly, this is the faith of the chosen people, of those who bear the image of God in themselves. On the Day of Christ's Judgment they shall be shown mercy and be called blessed.
Jesus - the Messiah - the Son.
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