The Sign of Your Favor

The Cross of Christ is the most powerful reality in the world. All of Creation flows from it and is drawn again to it, held together in unity by it. It is the divine favor, the grace of God fully revealed to the world.

Psalm 86 is a prayer of David in a difficult time. He cries out to God, “Hear me, Lord, and answer me, for I am poor and needy. Guard my life, for I am faithful to you; save your servant who trusts in you. You are my God; have mercy on me, Lord, for I call to you all day long.” (Psalm 86:1-3)

He recalls the goodness of the Lord and how, in times past, when he cried out for mercy and help, the Lord was faithful to hear and deliver him. There is no help anywhere else that can compare, and so all the nations will finally come before the Lord and glorify his name. The Psalmist is now once again in distress, from arrogant foes, ruthless people out to destroy him — they have no regard for him, or even for God. Once again he cries out to the Lord for help:

But you, Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness. Turn to me and have mercy on me; show your strength in behalf of your servant; save me, because I serve you just as my mother did. Show me the sign of your favor, that my enemies may see it and be put to shame, for you, Lord, have helped me and comforted me. (Psalm 86-15-17) 

The favor and grace God has shown beyond all measure is the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ into the world, uniting divinity with humanity, God with humankind, to trample down death by death on the cross, and destroy the power of that arrogant foe who held the power of death — that is, the devil — so to deliver us from the fear of death, from which all sin and darkness arises.

Christ, in his death and resurrection, is the reality of our salvation — the salvation of the whole world. From the earliest days of the Church, the time of the New Testament writings and the preaching of the Gospel, the Cross has been the symbol of this reality. As symbol and sign, it participates in that reality.

The early Church has handed down this symbol to us in a very tangible way, through the Sign of the Cross, the practice of tracing the Cross on the forehead or body with finger or hand. It is most certainly a sign of God’s Favor — one I am never without — and has long been honored in the Church.

Of the beliefs and practices whether generally accepted or publicly enjoined which are preserved in the Church some we possess derived from written teaching; others we have received delivered to us “in a mystery” by the tradition of the apostles; and both of these in relation to true religion have the same force ... Were we to attempt to reject such customs as have no written authority, on the ground that the importance they possess is small, we should unintentionally injure the Gospel in its very vitals; or, rather, should make our public definition a mere phrase and nothing more. For instance, to take the first and most general example, who is thence who has taught us in writing to sign with the sign of the cross those who have trusted in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ? (St. Basil of Caesarea, On the Holy Spirit, 27.66)

Let us not then be ashamed to confess the Crucified. Be the Cross our seal made with boldness by our fingers on our brow, and on everything; over the bread we eat, and the cups we drink; in our comings in, and goings out; before our sleep, when we lie down and when we rise up; when we are in the way, and when we are still. Great is that preservative; it is without price, for the sake of the poor; without toil, for the sick; since also its grace is from God. It is the Sign of the faithful, and the dread of devils: for He triumphed over them in it, having made a show of them openly, for when they see the Cross they are reminded of the Crucified; they are afraid of Him, who bruised the heads of the dragon. (St. Cyril of Jerusalem, Catechetical Lecture 13.36) 

At every forward step and movement, at every going in and out, when we put on our clothes and shoes, when we bathe, when we sit at table, when we light the lamps, on couch, on seat, in all the ordinary actions of daily life, we trace upon the forehead the sign. (Tertullian, De Corona, 3)

But imitate him always, by signing thy forehead sincerely; for this is the sign of his Passion, manifest and approved against the devil if so thou makest it from faith; not that thou mayest appear to men, but knowingly offering it as a shield.  (St. Hippolytus, Apostolic Tradition, 42)

[St. Anthony instructs]: The demons make their seeming onslaughts against those who are cowardly. Sign yourselves therefore with the cross, and depart boldly, and let these make sport for themselves. (St. Athanasius, Life of Antony)

Thus [the devil] suffers and is dishonored; and although he still ventures with shameless confidence to disguise himself, yet now, wretched spirit, he is detected rather by those who bear the sign on their foreheads; and he is even rejected by them, and is humbled and put to shame. (St. Athanasius, Letter to the Bishops of Egypt, 1.2) 

At the beginning of our prayers let us sign ourselves with the seal of baptism. Let us make the sign of the cross on our foreheads, as on the day of our baptism, as it is written in Ezekiel. Let us not first lower our hand to our mouth or to our beard, but let us raise it to our forehead, sing in our heart, “We have signed ourselves with the seal.” This is not like the seal of baptism, but the sign of the cross was traced on the forehead of each of us on the day of our baptism. (Horsiesius, Regulations, 7) 

“Show me the sign of Your Favor,” 
the Psalmist prayed. It is 
the Sign of the Cross.

Faith Energized Through Love

“The only thing that matters,” says St. Paul, “is faith working through love” (Galatians 5:6). This is faith expressing itself through love, energized by love — and that can only be the energy of God at work, for God is Love. Love is not an optional add-on to faith but is essential to it. Faith without love lacks value and gains nothing. Without love, faith is useless.

If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing. (1 Corinthians 13:1-3)

Faith without works is an abstraction, a concept with no incarnate reality. Faith reaches out in love. Love is the very form of faith. Whatever works we do, though they may otherwise be very good, yet if they are not energized by love, accomplish nothing, for there is nothing of God in them.

See how St. James and St. John, in their letters, agree with St. Paul concerning the dynamic of faith energized through love. 

What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. (James 2:14-17)

Was not our father Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. And the scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,” and he was called God’s friend. You see that  a person is considered righteous by what they do and not by faith alone ... As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead. (James 2:21-24, 26)

Dear friends, I am not writing you a new command but an old one, which you have had since the beginning. This old command is the message you have heard. Yet I am writing you a new command; its truth is seen in him and in you, because the darkness is passing and the true light is already shining. Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates a brother or sister is still in the darkness. Anyone who loves their brother and sister lives in the light, and there is nothing in them to make them stumble. But anyone who hates a brother or sister is in the darkness and walks around in the darkness. They do not know where they are going, because the darkness has blinded them. (1 John 2:7-11)

We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love each other. Anyone who does not love remains in death. Anyone who hates a brother or sister is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life residing in him. This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters. If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person? Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth. (1 John 3:14-18) 

See also how the early Church stands in agreement: 

St. Ignatius of Antioch: “None of these things is hid from you, if you perfectly possess that faith and love towards Christ Jesus which are the beginning and the end of life. For the beginning is faith, and the end is love. Now these two, being inseparably connected together, are of God, while all other things which are requisite for a holy life follow after them.” (Epistle to the Ephesians 14:1) 

St. Basil of Caesarea: “Faith and works must be joined: so shall the man of God be perfect, and his life not halt through any imperfection. For the faith which saves us, as says the Apostle, is that which works by love.” (Letter 295, to Monks)

St. Augustine: “The faith that saves is the faith that the apostle Paul adequately describes when he says, ‘For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision avails anything, nor uncircumcision, but the faith which works through love.’” (Handbook on Faith, Hope and Love) 

St. Leo the Great: “While faith provides the basis for works, the strength of faith comes out only in works.” (Sermons 10.3)

St. Hilary of Arles: “Works give life to faith, faith gives life to the soul, and the soul gives life to the body.” (Introductory Tractate on the Letter of James) 

Faith without works is nothing but 
abstraction and is quite worthless. 
Faith without love gains nothing. 
Nothing of God is in it, 
for God is Love.

Transformative, Incarnational Reality

What is faith? What is salvation? These have often become religious buzzwords, by overuse flattened out into abstraction, holy words sliding into empty slogans. Yet both faith and salvation have definite form and can be discerned in tangible ways. They can be embodied and lived out, realities to be inhabited, not concepts to be admired from afar.

Faith is lived trust, casting all our cares and anxieties upon the Lord, who takes care of us (1 Peter 5:7). It is committing our way to the Lord, entrusting ourselves to him who acts on our behalf (Psalms 37:5). It is following Lord Jesus, walking in his ways: “Whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked” (1 John 2:6).

Salvation is transformative reality, as the apostles of our Lord have taught us: “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation” (2 Cor. 5:17). “Do not be conformed to this present world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may test and approve what is the will of God – what is good and well-pleasing and perfect” (Romans 12:2). “Therefore, my dear friends ... continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose” (Philippians 2:12-13). “Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires” (2 Peter 1:4).

To follow Lord Jesus, walking in his ways, 
entrusting all to him, is the beginning of salvation. 
For neither faith nor salvation are abstractions 
but are livable, transformative, 
incarnational reality.

Sin, Salvation and the Reality of Being

How we view sin affects how we understand salvation. When sin is framed as a legal infraction, the violation of a code, salvation becomes a forensic matter requiring a courtroom acquittal. This reduces human reality to a set of rules and transactions. Sin, however, is not the infraction of a law but the brokenness of a relationship. It is to turn away from God, from one another and is even a rejection of our own true selves. It is what St. Augustine called incurvatus in se, a curving inwardly upon ourselves, away from all else — which is not how we were created to be.

Salvation is not a legal adjudication with God delivering a verdict from some neutral corner. In Christ, God does not remain external, delivering a verdict, or granting forgiveness from afar, but unites himself with our nature, entering into our life and death so that humankind might enter into his divine life. Salvation is not an abstract transaction but the concrete reality of Christ’s life lived in us — the re-making of humanity in communion with God. For God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself, not counting our sins against us (2 Corinthians 5:19). 

The good news of the gospel is that in Jesus Christ, we become partakers of the divine nature, Christ living in us. This life is not abstract but real and tangible. It is what St. Peter and St. Paul confessed in their writings, and saints ever since have shown us what it looks like.

His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires. (2 Peter 1:3-4)

I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So the life I now live in the body, I live because of the faithfulness of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. (Galatians 2:20)

In some corners, sin has been understood as a legal infraction and salvation as a legal solution. These, however, are abstractions that do not even begin to address the reality of being but distance us from it. The Incarnation of Jesus Christ, on the other hand, plunges us into the very heart and truth of what it means to be divine and what it means to be human.

Interconnected Through the Incarnation

The Incarnation is not just God entering into our world and drawing near, but God uniting with humanity in Christ. Because the Word became flesh, every human being is already bound up with Him — and therefore bound to one another in Him. The good news of the gospel is not just that we are forgiven, but that in Christ’s humanity we are united with him, and therefore with each other. In Christ, all things are brought together in unity (Ephesians 1:10; Colossians 1:17).

Formerly, humankind was headed up in Adam, but now it is headed up in Christ. “Consequently, just as one trespass [Adam’s] resulted in condemnation for all people, so also one righteous act [Christ’s] resulted in justification and life for all people” (Romans 5:18). “Just as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive” (1 Corinthians 15:22). 

This is the recapitulation about which St. Irenaeus writes so famously. What was once encompassed in Adam is now recapped in Christ. For example, of the hunger, weariness and tears Christ experienced, the wounds he suffered, and the piercing of his side from which flowed blood and water, Irenaeus says, 

All these are tokens of the flesh which had been derived from the earth, which He had recapitulated in Himself, bearing salvation to His own handiwork. (Against Heresies 3.22.2)

For if He did not receive the substance of flesh from a human being, He neither was made man nor the Son of man; and if He was not made what we were, He did no great thing in what He suffered and endured. But every one will allow that we are [composed of] a body taken from the earth, and a soul receiving spirit from God. This, therefore, the Word of God was made, recapitulating in Himself His own handiwork. (Against Heresies 3.22.1) 

St. Leo the Great, in his sermon On the Feast of the Nativity, shows that Christ has taken on human nature, and by that nature conquered death and the devil: “For the Son of God in the fullness of time which the inscrutable depth of the Divine counsel has determined, has taken on him the nature of man, thereby to reconcile it to its Author: in order that the inventor of death, the devil, might be conquered through that which he had conquered.” Isn’t that what we find in Hebrews? 

Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might break the power of him who holds the power of death — that is, the devil — and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death. (Hebrews 2:14-15)

St. Gregory Nazianzen, in a Letter to Cledonius shows that whatever has not been assumed by Christ cannot be saved: “If only half Adam fell, then that which Christ assumes and saves may be half also; but if the whole of his nature fell, it must be united to the whole nature of Him that was begotten, and so be saved as a whole.” 

There is only one human nature, of which we all partake, and Christ has assumed it and recapitulated it in himself. St. Gregory writes particularly about the various aspects of human being, such as body, spirit, mind and will; whatever has not been assumed by Christ cannot be made whole. But this applies just as well to all humankind. In his Treatise on 1 Corinthians 15:28, Gregory says, “Now the body of Christ, as I often have said, is the whole of humanity.”

Through baptism, we are incorporated into the body of Christ in a very tangible way. As we participate in the Eucharist, the Body and Blood of our Lord made present, we experience together what it means to become the body of Christ. 

Each of us bears the humanity Christ has made His own and are intimately and inextricably united with Christ and so also with each other. We are each created in the image of God, of Christ, who is the Image of the Invisible God, and in Christ we become partakers of the divine nature. Faith lives in that reality.

The Good News of the Gospel is that 
through the Incarnation, we are, every one of us, 
interconnected with Jesus Christ, 
and so also with one another 
through Him.  

The Church Is the Fullness of Christ

In the book of Ephesians, St. Paul speaks of God’s great and eternal plan for all creation, which has been revealed in our Lord Jesus Christ. Not only has it been made known in time but it is the purpose of time, describing the fulfillment of time. God’s purpose in Christ is all encompassing, and time is the measure of its progress. 

God made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfillment — to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ. (Ephesians 1:9-10)

The operative word for bringing all to unity under Christ is the Greek anakephalaiomai, which means to sum up, to head up, to recapitulate — or as we like to say, to recap. God’s purpose from the beginning is to recapitulate all in heaven and on earth in Christ, with Christ as head. So shall it be at the end of time.

God put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the Church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all. (Ephesians 1:22-23)

Christ, as the head of all creation, fills all things in every way with himself. In this way, all creation becomes the embodiment of Christ, and this embodiment is the Church. For just as there is no body without the head, there is also no head without the body. St. John Chrysostom says,

The fullness of the head is the body and that of the body is the head. Observe how skillfully Paul writes and how he spares no word to express the glory of God. The “fullness” of the head, he says, is fulfilled through the body ... Through all members, therefore, his body is made full. Then the head is fulfilled, then the body becomes perfect, when we are all combined and gathered into one. (Homily 3 on Ephesians)

The Church is the fullness of Christ in all things and in every way, but that does not mean Christ is incomplete in himself. Rather, the Church is how his fullness is expressed and made known. Christ ever remains uniquely the head over all things. The Church embodies his fullness not by adding to him or taking from him, but by manifesting him throughout the world. The Church is the revelation of Christ.

In his Treatise on 1 Corinthians 15:28, St. Gregory of Nyssa says, “Now the body of Christ, as I often have said, is the whole of humanity.” Fr. John Behr echoes that and the logical conclusion of Ephesians 1: “The Church is the whole of Creation seen eschatologically; from which we already see islands in the present.” For all in heaven and on earth are made one and headed up in Christ, who is All in All.

Jesus Christ fills everything in every way, 
and the Church is that fullness.

In the Image of Christ Crucified

In the Beginning, God said, “Let us make humankind in our image, and in our likeness.” Jesus Christ, who is the Image of the Invisible God, is the fulfillment (Colossians 1:15). But it is Christ as the Crucified One who reveals God to us. How is this so? St. Paul shows us in Philippians 2, and it is the very heart of the gospel.

Have the same attitude toward one another that Christ Jesus had, who though he existed in the form of God did not regard equality with God as something to be grasped, but emptied himself by taking on the form of a slave, by looking like other men, and by sharing in human nature. He humbled himself, by becoming obedient to the point of death – even death on a cross!” (Philippians 2:5-8)

Though he is God, our Lord Jesus Christ did not consider it something to be exploited to his own advantage. Rather, he emptied himself, humbled himself, sharing in our humanity, giving himself over for our sake even to the point of shameful death on the cross. This indeed is the fullness of the Godhead in bodily form, God reconciling all in heaven and on earth to himself through Jesus Christ, having made peace by the blood of the cross (Colossians 1:19-20).

This is what it is to be God — and what it is to be human. By sharing in human nature, Christ defines it for us. To be truly human is to participate in the self-giving, other-centered, cross-shaped love of God, and so to take part in the resurrection of Christ as his body, the Church.

Or do you not know that as many as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? Therefore we have been buried with him through baptism into death, in order that just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too may live a new life. For if we have become united with him in the likeness of his death, we will certainly also be united in the likeness of his resurrection. (Romans 6:3-5)

I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So the life I now live in the body, I live because of the faithfulness of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. (Galatians 2:20)

My confident hope is that I will in no way be ashamed but that with complete boldness, even now as always, Christ will be exalted in my body, whether I live or die. For to me, living is Christ and dying is gain. (Philippians 1:20-1) 

May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. For neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything; the only thing that matters is a new creation! (Galatians 6:14-15)

To be created in the image of God 
is to be created in the image of 
Christ crucified and risen. 

Our True Identity Is In Jesus Christ

Human nature is not something we can manufacture for ourselves. Neither is our identity. These can only be revealed to us, and only through the Incarnation of Jesus Christ — Christ in us, the Hope of Glory (Colossians 1:27).

In the Beginning, when God said, “Let us make humankind in our image, and in our likeness,” Jesus Christ is the fulfillment, who is the Image of the Invisible God (Colossians 1:15). He is the Logos of God — the Reason, the Meaning, the Way of God — who became human being, dwelt among us and revealed the glory of the Father to us in bodily form (John 1:14). 

Our nature is not simply biological existence but the image of God revealed in Christ. It is only in union with Christ that we are made complete and become partakers of the divine nature (Colossians 2:9-10; 2 Peter 1:4). See the many ways Scripture affirms it:

Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. All who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure. (1 John 3:2-3)

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! (2 Corinthians 5:17)

For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. (Ephesians 2:10)

 Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. (Colossians 3:2–4)

By this love is perfected with us, so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment, because just as Jesus is, so also are we in this world. (1 John 4:17)

And the varied ways the early Church confesses it:

He became what we are that He might make us what He is. (St. Athanasius, On the Incarnation, 54)

You have made us for yourself, and our heart is restless until it rests in you. (St. Augustine, Confessions, I.1)

For the glory of God is a living man, and the life of man consists in beholding God. (St. Irenaeus, Against Heresies, 4.20.7)

For we believe that a logos of angels preceded their creation, a logos preceded the creation of each of the beings and powers that fill the upper world, a logos preceded the creation of human beings, a logos preceded everything that receives its become from God ... This same Logos, whose goodness is revealed and multiplied in all the things that have their origin in him, with the degree of beauty appropriate to each being, recapitulates all things in himself ... Each of the intellectual and rational beings, whether angels or human beings, through the very Logos according to which each was created, who is in God and is with God, is called and indeed is a portion of God through the Logos that preexisted in God. (St. Maximus the Confessor, Ambigua 7)

Christ who is the Logos of God is also our logos, our true reason, meaning and purpose — the way of our being. To live in communion with Christ is to come into our true identity, who we really are. Apart from him our identity is fragmented and distorted. Christ, the Logos of God, is expressed in each one of us, and each one of us is expressed in him. 

Our inherent nature and identity is in Jesus Christ alone. 
Only in him do we discover our true selves, 
so to become who we are.