Showing posts with label The Gospel. Show all posts
Showing posts with label The Gospel. Show all posts

Monday, December 23, 2024

Eternally and Inextricably United

The Incarnation cannot be undone. If it could, it would be the undoing of our salvation, for the Cross and Resurrection would be of no benefit to anyone. Nor could it be undone for some without undoing it for all. It is all of one piece, just as humankind is, for we all partake of human being, the one and only way of being human.

When Christ the Word became “flesh” and dwelt among us (John 1:14), he did not merely put on human being as a suit, which could later be discarded when it served its purpose. No, he became human being, and is so eternally. He defines what it means to be fully human — yet he did not cease to be fully divine.

Nor did Christ become merely a singular instance of human being. That, too, would have done us no good, for his actions would have been of benefit only to himself. But he became human in such a way that in his death all died, so that in his resurrection all might be raised.

In Romans 5:18, St. Paul compares/contrasts Adam and 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.” Just as the connection between Adam and humankind was universal, such that Adam’s disobedience resulted in condemnation for all, so also the connection between Jesus Christ and humankind is universal, such that Christ’s obedience has resulted in justification and life for all.

Likewise, in 1 Corinthians 15:22, “For just as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive.” Just as the connection between Adam and humankind was universal, such that in Adam all die, so also the connection between Jesus Christ and humankind is such that in him all will be made alive.

By the Incarnation, Christ is united, eternally and inextricably, with us all. For humankind, which was once headed up in Adam, is now headed up in Christ.

Friday, December 20, 2024

That We May Become What He Is

Our Lord Jesus Christ became human, that humankind may become divine. Though Christ was rich, for our sake, he became poor, just as we are, that through his poverty we might become rich. Christ had no sin, and knew no death or corruption, but he became what we are and shared in our condition, that we might  become the righteousness of God in him, escaping the power of death and know divine life. In Jesus Christ, we become partakers of, participants in, the divine nature.

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)

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

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)

The early Church Fathers grasped this well, and taught it without hesitation. It is what they understood the Scriptures and the Gospel to mean concerning Christ, the Cross, and our Salvation.

  • “Our Lord Jesus Christ, who did, through His transcendent love, become what we are, that He might bring us to be even what He is Himself.” (St. Irenaeus of Lyon, Against Heresies)
  • “For we hold that the Word of God was made man on account of our salvation, in order that we might receive the likeness of the heavenly, and be made divine after the likeness of Him who is the true Son of God by nature, and the Son of man according to the flesh, our Lord Jesus Christ.” (St. Gregory the Wonderworker)
  • “For He was made man that we might be made God.” (St. Athanasius, On the Incarnation)
  • “He Himself has made us sons of the Father, and deified men by becoming Himself man.” (St. Athanasius, Against the Arians)
  • “For therefore did He assume the body originate and human, that having renewed it as its Framer, He might deify it in Himself, and thus might introduce us all into the kingdom of heaven after His likeness.” (St. Athanasius, Against the Arians)
  • “For as the Lord, putting on the body, became man, so we men are deified by the Word as being taken to Him through His flesh, and henceforward inherit life everlasting.” (St. Athanasius, Against the Arians)
  • “But the Incarnation is summed up in this, that the whole Son, that is, His manhood as well as His divinity, was permitted by the Father’s gracious favor to continue in the unity of the Father’s nature, and retained not only the powers of the divine nature, but also that nature’s self. For the object to be gained was that man might become God.” (St. Hilary of Poitiers, On the Trinity)
  • “Believe that the Son of God, the Eternal Word, Who was begotten of the Father before all time and without body, was in these latter days for your sake made also Son of Man, born of the Virgin Mary ineffably and stainlessly (for nothing can be stained where God is, and by which salvation comes), in His own Person at once entire Man and perfect God, for the sake of the entire sufferer, that He may bestow salvation on your whole being, having destroyed the whole condemnation of your sins: impassible in His Godhead, passible in that which He assumed; as much Man for your sake as you are made God for His.” (St. Gregory Nazianzus, Oration 40:45)
  • “If the divine Logos of God the Father became son of man and man so that He might make men gods and the sons of God, let us believe that we shall reach the realm where Christ Himself now is, for He is the head of the whole body, and endued with our humanity has gone to the Father as forerunner on our behalf.” (Maximus the Confessor, The Philokalia, On Theology)

Through the Incarnation, in which our Lord Jesus Christ has united divinity with humanity, God with humankind, He has become what we are, that we may become what He is.

Wednesday, December 18, 2024

The Last, the Least and the Lost

Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 

Blessed are those who mourn,
for they will be comforted. 

Blessed are the meek,
for they will inherit the earth. 

Blessed are those who hunger
and thirst for righteousness,
for they will be filled. 

Blessed are the merciful,
for they will be shown mercy. 

Blessed are the pure in heart,
for they will see God. 

Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they will be called children of God. 

Blessed are those who are persecuted
because of righteousness, for theirs
is the kingdom of heaven. 

Blessed are you when people insult you,
persecute you and falsely say all kinds
of evil against you because of me. 

Rejoice and be glad,
because great is your reward in heaven,
for in the same way they persecuted
the prophets who were before you.
(Matthew 5:3-12)

Come to me,
all you who are
weary and burdened,
and I will give you rest.
Take my yoke upon you
and learn from me,
for I am gentle
and humble in heart,
and you will find rest
for your souls.
For my yoke is easy
and my burden is light.
(Matthew 11:28-30)

For the Son of Man
did not come to be served,
but to serve, and to
give his life as a
ransom for many.
(Mark 10:45)

Our Lord Jesus Christ
has come for the
Last, the Least
and the Lost.

God is Love!

Monday, December 16, 2024

Repentance and the Perception of God

God is Love, as St. John tells us (1 John 4:8). Love is not merely something God has or does under certain conditions. No, Love is what God is. We see this revealed in Jesus Christ, who is “the Image of the Invisible God,” in whom “all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form” (Colossians 1:15; 2:9). Through his self-giving, other-centered death on the Cross, we see exactly what Love looks like and so what it means to be God (and because of the Incarnation, we also see what it means to be human).

God is Simple, not a being of parts with each balancing out the others. This means that the love of God is never in tension with the holiness of God, or the justice of God, or even the “wrath” of God. These are but different ways of speaking the same thing: the love of God. 

When John declares that God is Love, there is no “but” that can walk it back even one tiny step. Everything God does is a manifestation of the love of God that is revealed in our Lord Jesus Christ on the Cross. God will never do what Love would not do. In 1 Corinthians 13, St. Paul gives us a wonderful description of how love behaves, and God will never do anything that is contrary to that.

God is Love, and those who are properly oriented toward God perceive Him as Love, but those who are not perceive Him in terror and dread. The real problem is the mind that has been deceived and is in bondage to dark passions. As St. Paul tells us, “The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace ” (Romans 8:7). “Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior” (Colossians 1:21). 

The mindset (perception, outlook, orientation) of the flesh is bondage, corrupting how we understand God, ourselves, and the world. What is needed is a new orientation, a reorientation toward God. Another word for this is repentance. Repentance is allowing our perception to be properly oriented by the revelation of God in Jesus Christ. 

We cannot reorient ourselves — that would require having the proper orientation in the first place. But it comes to us as a gift, the goodness and kindness of God leading us into a new way of seeing God. It comes to us in the word of the gospel, the message of Christ, through the Holy Spirit. For the Cross of Christ reveals to us what God is really like: self-giving, other-centered, cross-shaped Love.

Monday, November 25, 2024

Yielding to the Life of Christ


Faith in Christ is not merely mental acquiescence to some proposition about him. More than that, it is personal engagement with Christ, entrusting ourselves to him, yielding ourselves into his hands. That is the substance of repentance, abandoning false mindsets and perceptions that are at odds with God and the truth of our being, and giving ourselves over to God revealed in our Lord Jesus Christ.

The false mindset we have long suffered under is that we are separated from God. The reality is that we have never been separated from God, for all have been created by Christ, through Christ, for Christ and in Christ — indeed, all of creation holds together and continues to have its being in Christ (Colossians 1:16-17). So, it is impossible that we could ever have been separated from Christ, or else we would have simply ceased to be. 

Even more, by the Incarnation, Christ has united himself to us, divinity with humanity, God with humankind, becoming not just one of us but one with us. Christ became not merely an individual instance of human being, he became Human Being itself, of which we all partake.

But the mind darkened by demonic deceit, by death and the fear of death, and so, by the enslaving power of sin, rejects the reality of our being, the truth that we have always been in Christ. And so we have lived as though we are fundamentally apart from God. Yet the only apartness there has ever been between us and God has been in our own compartmentalized minds. St. Paul says, “The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace ” (Romans 8:7), and, “Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior” (Colossians 1:21). 

We were at enmity with God, but God has never been at enmity with us. Rather, God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself, not counting our sins against us (2 Corinthians 5:19). Notice the directionality of that: God was not reconciling himself to the world — he had never turned away — but has reconciled the world to himself. And Christ has broken the power of all that darkened our minds and held us in bondage:“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).

This is the truth of the gospel, and those who have come to know Christ, have the privilege of making him known to others. “To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Colossians 1:27). It is the joyful anticipation, the positive expectation of participation in the divine glory, for in Jesus Christ, we become “partakers of the divine nature” (2 Peter 1:4).

Christ in you! This is true of all, not by our own faith but by the faithfulness of Jesus Christ — in the Creation, the Incarnation, and the Cross. But it is by faith that we yield ourselves to Christ in us, and confess with Paul: “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 NET).

What is Faith?
It is Yielding to the
Life of Christ in You.

Wednesday, November 20, 2024

God’s Eternal Purpose Fulfilled

In Ephesians 1, St. Paul lays out the “Big Picture,” God’s eternal purpose in Christ, from beginning to end. It begins with God choosing us in Christ from before the foundation of the world. This is the Incarnation, by which Christ united divinity with humanity, God with humankind — but also eternity with time. Time itself is transfigured in Christ, such that the Incarnation is not merely temporal but eternal.

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his good pleasure and will — to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. (Ephesians 1:3-6)

Thus chosen in Christ from the beginning, we have also been predestined for sonship through him. This is God’s eternally good pleasure, plan and purpose, God’s will and delight. It is the glory of God’s grace and is most praiseworthy in every way.

In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us. With all wisdom and understanding, he 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 in heaven and on earth under Christ. (Ephesians 1:7-10) 

God’s divine grace has been showered upon us beyond all bounds. Here again is the “good pleasure” and purpose (Greek, eudokia) of his will, revealed by the wisdom of Christ and understanding by the Holy Spirit, making known the eternal mystery, purposed in Christ from the beginning, and now revealed — unveiled — to us through the message of the gospel. From eternity, God purposed in Christ to bring all in heaven and on earth to unity, with Christ as the head and summation of all. It is the recapitulation (Greek, anakephalaiosasthai), the “recap” of all Creation — of everyone and everything.

Then Paul offers a pastoral prayer that God would give us wisdom and understanding by the Holy Spirit, that we may see what God has done in Christ, and what that means for us. That we may know God’s “incomparably great power for us who believe.”

That power is the same as the mighty strength he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way. (Ephesians 1:19-23)

Here is the consummation of all things, the eternal purpose of God in its fulfillment. It is Christ raised from the dead and seated at the right hand of the Father in the heavenly realms, far above all rulers and powers and dominions. In Ephesians 2:5-6, Paul tells us the God has raised us up as well, together with Christ, and seated us together with him in the heavenly realms — this is present reality, not future promise. Further, God has placed all things under his feet and has given him as head (Greek, kephale) over the Church, which is his body.

What is this body? Paul says it is the fullness of him who fills All in All (Greek, panta en pasin). Put another way, Christ is the One who completely fulfills everything in every way — and the Church is that Fullness! Seen from this endpoint, then, all of Creation becomes the Church, the Body of Christ.

Christian Universalism is the belief that this is indeed so, that God’s eternal purpose in Jesus Christ will be completely fulfilled, and so will God be All in All.

Tuesday, November 12, 2024

The Final Word on Everything

Jesus Christ, Crucified and Risen is the Word Who Is With God from Eternity — and indeed is God. He is the Creator of All, the Redeemer of All, and the Judge of All, Who Puts Everything Right. He is the Word Who Draws All to Himself. The Word Who Comes at the End of the Age. The Word Who Brings Unity to All in Heaven and on Earth. The Word Who Fills All Things in Every Way — and His Body, the Church, is That Fullness. The Word Who Restores All Things. The Word Who Makes All Things New. Jesus Christ, Crucified, Risen and Ascended, is God’s Final Word on Everything.

Now is the time for judgment on this world; now the prince of this world will be driven out. And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all to myself. (John 12:31-32)

With all wisdom and understanding, he 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 in heaven and on earth under Christ. (Ephesians 1:8-10)

And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the Church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all things in every way. (Ephesians 1:22-23) 

He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making all things new!” (Revelation 21:5)

Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord, and that he may send the Messiah, who has been appointed for you — even Jesus. Heaven must receive him until the time comes for God to restore everything, as he promised long ago through his holy prophets. (Acts 3:19-21)

Friday, November 1, 2024

In the Humility of Jesus Christ

Our Lord Jesus Christ is the humility of God, and so, the glory of God revealed. For humility is not merely something God does; it is not something he endured in some passing way. God is not merely humble. God is humility itself. 

Humility is self-giving, other-centered and cross-shaped — which is exactly what Divine Love is. Humility is but another way to speak of Love, and so, of God, for God is Love. “Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends,” says the Evangelist (John 15:13), and God in Christ is the Good Shepherd who lays down his life for us.

I am the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd lays down his life for the sheep ... I am the Good Shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me — just as the Father knows me and I know the Father — and I lay down my life for the sheep. (John 10:11, 14-15)

In his letter to the Philippians, Apostle Paul hymns the depth and height of this great love and humility. It is, all of it, the glory of God unveiled. The humility of Christ is not the means to divine glory but is the fullness of the divine glory made manifest. Humility is what the glory of God looks like. And so Paul exhorts us:

In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death — even death on a cross! Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2:5-11)

In the humility of Jesus Christ is our freedom, and Lord Jesus invites us to follow him in this humility, so to discover our peace and rest:

Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light. (Matthew 11:28-30) 

Wednesday, October 30, 2024

Christ and the Final Judgment

Yes, there is a Final Judgment — and thank God for it! It means that God finally puts everything right, even as God created it to be from the beginning. The Final Judgment is where we see that the end is in the beginning and the beginning is in the end. 

The Final Judgment is Jesus Christ crucified and risen. It is Christ upon the Cross, the Lamb of God upon his Throne. It is all in heaven and on earth being gathered together and summed up in Christ, which is God’s eternal purpose and the mystery of God’s good will (Ephesians 1:9-10). It is all in heaven and on earth being reconciled through Christ having made peace by the Blood of the Cross (Colossians 1:19-20).

Now is the time for judgment on this world; now the prince of this world will be driven out. And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all to myself. (John 12:31-32)

For this purpose the Son of God was revealed: to destroy the works of the devil. (1 John 3:8)

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)

When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross. And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross. (Colossians 2:13-15) 

We must all stand before the Judgment Seat, the Cross, where our Lord Jesus Christ poured himself for us in self-giving, other-centered love. We must all be tested and corrected by Divine Love. For our Lord has said, “Everyone will be salted with fire” (Mark 9:49).

The Final Judgment is the Fire of God’s Consuming Love. It is not retributive, for God is Love, and Love is not retributive. It is, rather, a Refiner’s Fire, burning away what is worthless, what does not come from God — the “wood, hay and stubble” — while purifying and preserving safe what is precious, what does come from God — the “gold, silver and precious jewels” (see 1 Corinthians 3:11-15). It is purgative, therapeutic and restorative.

Jesus Christ does not save us from the Final Judgment. Through the Cross and Resurrection, Jesus is the Final Judgment — on sin, death, and the devil. The Final Judgment, then, is salvation, for the judgment of God is never retributive but is finally restorative.

Monday, October 21, 2024

Grace and the Gift That Is God

Grace is God giving Himself to us, thoroughly and completely, by uniting with us through our Lord Jesus Christ. For Christ is the Image of the Invisible God, in whom all the fullness of divinity dwells in bodily form, and in whom we are made complete and become partakers of the divine nature.

“The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:14)

“Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death — even death on a cross! Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name.” (Philippians 2:5-9)

“The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation ... For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.” (Colossians 1:15,19-20)

“In Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and in Christ you have been brought to fullness.” (Colossians 2:9-10)

“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)

Friday, October 4, 2024

Christ is Building His Church

When Peter confessed the revelation he received from the Father, that Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah, the Son of the Living God, our Lord Jesus said to him, 

Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven. And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. (Matthew 16:17-18)

Hades is the realm of the dead. Older English versions have often translated the Greek word Î±̔́ͅδης as “hell.” Newer versions have begun to simply transliterate it as Hades. It is not to be confused with another word, Gehenna, found in the Greek New Testament and which also gets translated as “hell.” Gehenna refers to a geographical location and a temporal, historical judgment, and not some other-worldly, post-mortem experience.

Our Lord declared that he would build his Church and that the “gates of Hades” would not prevent it or prevail against it. In other words, not even death could stop it.

This is the Resurrection! It is Christ trampling down death by his own death on the Cross. The gates of Hades lay broken beneath his feet. The “strong man” has been bound, and Christ has plundered his house (Mark 3:27). The broken remnants of the chains and locks of death lay scattered about. Christ has taken the keys of Hades and death and has emptied them out (Revelation 1:18). He has taken Adam and Eve by the hand and brought them out to life — and with them, all who are in them!

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)

For just as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive. (1 Corinthians 15:22)

As St. John Chrysostom said, in his Homily on the Cemetery and the Cross, “Christ, by his death bound the chief of robbers and the jailer, that is, the devil and death; and transferred his treasures, that is, the entire human race, to the royal treasury.”

And so is Christ building His Church. Through the Incarnation, the union of divinity with humanity, of God with humankind, the death of Christ on the Cross is the death of all humankind, so that the Resurrection of Christ from the dead might be the resurrection of all humankind.

In his Treatise on 1 Corinthians 15:28, St. Gregory of Nyssa said, “Now the body of Christ, as I often have said, is the whole of humanity.” Fr. John Behr extends this to its logical conclusion: “The Church is the whole of Creation seen eschatologically; from which we already see islands in the present.”

This is the Good News of the Gospel: Christ has broken the gates of “hell” — of death and Hades — and is building His Church.