Spiritual Contemplations for those who serve the Lord |
Ekhristos anesti. Alithos anesti! Piekhristos aftonf. Khen oumethmi aftonf!
Consequently Jesus Christ died on the cross carrying in His body the curse that belonged to Adam and his descendents. With the thorn of death pierced deep into His forehead, the righteous Jesus Christ died on behalf of all sinners after having fulfilled the law verdict previously bestowed by sin on everybody. “if One died for all, then all died” (2 Corinthians 5:14) The death and burial of all humanity in Jesus Christ has put an end to the first humanity with all its curses preparing us for the day of the new recreation. For Jesus Christ, His resurrection accomplished in His very severely wounded, dead body and pierced open side was in itself just a mere resurrection from the dead. But, for us our human body it was an impartation of a new creation to our human body. “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new” (2 Corinthians 5:17). Resurrection as a Transition from Darkness to Light
Spirit as the giver of spiritual birth and renewal to all those who believe and get baptized transitioning them from the darkness of Satan to his wonderful light. “He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love” (Colossians 1:13). If Jesus Christ’s resurrection was essentially and primarily rising “from the dead” for the One who ascended is the one who came down (John 3:13) and the One who rose is the One who died first our resurrection must also be rising from the dead. Therefore, rising, by necessity has to be preceded by dying. Jesus Christ’s glorified, magnified resurrection had its starting point in a dark grave, with real death, total selfless submission and commitment in the hands of the father and brave, willing obedience that walked the walk in steps anchored in love till the cross! It is impossible to taste the joy of resurrection before going through death and the burial rituals. Whoever wants to rise with Jesus Christ has to be baptized to Jesus Christ’s death, be buried with Him in willful love. It is impossible for the Father to move us into the Kingdom of the Son of His love while there is still in us some darkness left. For, it is impossible for the old creation to transition to the new orbit of the resurrection because the process is exclusively spiritual. Whoever is born of the flesh is flesh; and according to the flesh he lives, thinks, and rejoices and his joy, sadness, fears, regrets and assurance are all drawn from and revolve around the flesh and the world with all its enticements and delusions. Resurrection is the beginning of the second birth by the Spirit. Whoever is born of the Spirit is spiritual and all the details of his life are according to the spirit; and according to the Spirit he lives, thinks, and his joy, sadness, fears, regrets and assurance are all drawn from and revolve around the Spirit and are done for the glory of God and according to His will. The carnal man and spiritual man both live on this planet. The former does everything in response to the flesh and dies with the flesh. The latter does everything according to the Spirit; and therefore lives above the world and will never taste death. Resurrection as a New Age and New Door
For those who are new in their walk towards the glorified kingdom, the cross seems an inevitable load wished to be removed or done without as if wanting to put on the new heavenly man over the old patched one.
Those who have preferred the road and approached the light, regard the cross as an essential inevitable necessity for which they have scented the fragrant breeze of the Resurrection from afar and heard the sound of the true Salvation hymn from behind the gates of the body. They had their spirits awakened and prepared for the coming great event. That great event facilitated the crossing from death to life, from darkens to light, from the authority of Satan to the Kingdom of God, from the bonds of the old man to the liberty of the children of God in glory. That great event granted and guaranteed the passage from death to life after it had been impossible “For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection” (Romans 6:5). This verse presents the first act of unity in the likeness of Jesus Christ’s death as a past tense act. The second act is presented in the perpetual future. This means that unity with Jesus Christ in His death is one subject and unity with Him in His Resurrection is another one. In His death we were truly in Him, within His human body which is ours because through His incarnation He took what was ours and died with it. His Resurrection does not procure unity by default. For, it is essential that the risen Jesus Christ come to us. We were in Jesus Christ at His death, but after His resurrection He comes to us, and makes a dwelling. But Jesus Christ cannot make His Resurrection an act of a new life except within those who have accomplished the complete death of the old man. That is what he had taught repeatedly time and time again.
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The Disciples returned joyfully to our Lord Jesus Christ after having experienced the powerful authority He had given them over evil spirits. But the Lord’s response was, “Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven” (Luke 10:20). Do we live this joy, the joy of salvation and inheritance of the kingdom of heaven? Indeed, during the dispensation of the holy mysteries (Holy Communion), the church rejoices singing “Christ has granted us salvation.” However, many do not experience nor feel this joy. What are the obstacles that hinder this joy and delays this salvation? The answer is summarized in three major points: Total Negligence of Repentance Our Lord clarified saying “I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish” (Luke 13:3). St. John Chrysostom stated the same truth saying, “God will not judge us because we sin but because we do not repent after sinning.” Repentance is not a once-in-a-lifetime incident that procures salvation, perpetual renewal and justification to the end of life. Rather, it is a repeated act that should follow every sin and every wrong doing.
Is the Holy Bible read or completely neglected? The Lord considers reading the Holy Bible and keeping the commandments genuine signs of our love for him. We dare receive Holy Communion without confession to obtain absolution from sins. We might be deluded into self-righteousness thinking that acceptance before God resides in the avoidance of major sins such as murdering, stealing, or committing adultery. Thus committing sins such as cursing, lying, swearing become acceptable ignoring what the Holy Bible’s verdict “ nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God” (1 Corinthians 6:10). We are in need of living a life of perpetual repentance, confession and absolution. It was not in vain or void that the Lord said to his disciples, “Assuredly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven ” (Matthew 18:18). Reliance on Self-Righteousness “Consider my weakness with your compassionate eye, O Lord, for after a short while my life will end and I have no salvation through my deeds” (from the midnight prayer). With this prayer, the church reminds us every night that we are not saved through our personal righteousness. The Holy Bible confirms this truth; “Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin.” (Romans 3:20). Our Lord Himself teaches, “ So likewise you, when you have done all those things which you are commanded, say, ‘We are unprofitable servants. We have done what was our duty to do.’” (Luke 17:10). In the example of the Pharisees and the tax collector, the former used to fast, pray and tithe; but his problem was his dependence on his self-righteousness considering his actions a source of acceptance before God. It is perilous to adopt the two-sided weighing scale theory as if to signify God’s way of judging man’s good and bad actions depending on which side is heavier. Perhaps the portrait of Archangel Michael carrying this type of scale might be behind this concept which in essence portrays God’s justice in condemning Satan only. This concept is essentially not Christian. It is our duty as servants to teach that keeping all the commandments is not a passport to salvation if we depend on our actions alone. For, if God examined peoples’ acts with His fiery justice, no one would stand justified before Him “They have all turned aside; They have together become unprofitable; There is none who does good, no, not one.” (Romans 3:12). No one can stand before God’s justice except the righteous man Jesus Christ and everyone who has renounced his own righteousness and took shelter in Christ’s. As St. Paul clarified to the Corinthians, “ But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe. For there is no difference;for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed, to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.” (Romans 3: 21-26). And to Titus, he said “ not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit,...that having been justified by His grace we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.” (Titus 3:5,7). It is evident that justification comes through Christ alone; whereas holding on to self-righteousness and hypocrisy will make us lose the reward.
The splitting of the Red Sea, the destruction of Pharaoh, the food and water, the clouds by day and fire by night were the reservoir of previous miraculous experiences they had with God. Their strong faith was pleasing to God and earned them entrance into the Promised Land. A practical application of this lesson on hope in Salvation and inheritance of the Kingdom of Heaven generates three types of responses:
+ God’s promises are true, “ in hope of eternal life which God, who cannot lie, promised before time began, but has in due time manifested His word through preaching, which was committed to me according to the commandment of God our Savior” (Titus 1:2-3). + With this confidence and hope St. Paul asserts, “Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing.” (2 Timothy 4:8). + St. John confirms this hope saying, “Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.” (1 John 3:2-3). + This hope is also clear in St. Paul's words to the Colossians “because of the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, of which you heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel” (Colossians 1:5). How great is this hope that compels the children of God and encourages them throughout their journey so that they may live a sanctified life beholding the glory prepared for them. Thus a repentant Christian lives a life of striving and penitence casting his hope totally on grace which is capable of saving the vagabond keeping before his eyes St. Peter’s words, “Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 1:13). *Adapted from HGBY monthly Clergical letters - Dec. 2013
1. Discipleship of Thoughts Within man there exists a huge, creative, constructive mental energy freely granted and furnished by God in order for man to think of all that is good, pious and of good reputation. St. Paul says to the Philippians, “Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things” (Philippians 4:8). Therefore, it is necessary for thoughts to be brought under discipline according to the course of Christian perfection in order to obtain the trophy of Grace and gain protection against prodigality, ignorance, and loss. The sources of thought discipline are numerous:
Here we ought to remember that we need first and foremost to acquire humility because discipleship of the mind needs humbleness of the mind. On the other hand, when will the time come for a proud, arrogant, stubborn, stagnant, counseling-rejecting mind to be disciplined? 2. Discipleship of the Senses and Organs The human body is a magnanimous entity with members, senses, feelings and propensities that need to be disciplined to become healed, straightened and stabilized in the path of righteousness; in order to know how to proceed in every good deed. The best source of accomplishing this comprehensive discipleship is in the church environment with her Orthodox worshipping and celebrations that are rich occasions, feasts and prayers.
3. Faith and Dogmatic Discipline Since their inception in the bosom of the church, the faithful believers receive their dogma and doctrines passed on, once for all, from the saints. However, this faith edifice needs to be established through the believer’s continuous discipleship on the teachings and sayings of God and the fathers. These sayings nourish and confirm the beliefs protecting them from doubts and backsliding. The best source of dogma discipleship is the liturgical life in our great Orthodox Church enriched with the mysteries, dogma, and grace witnessed for by the Holy Spirit. One grows theologically and dogmatically whenever educated and disciplined on the thoughts of St. Cyril the Great, the Pillar of Faith, St. Athanasius the Apostolic, St. Dioscorus, the Defender of Faith, St. John Chrysostom, the Hero of Orthodoxy, and St. Gregory, the Theologian. Also, the faithful gets disciplined through the actual living of the church feasts such as the major feasts that highlight our Christian dogma. Some of these dogmas are the Incarnation, the Annunciation, the Cross, the Redemption, the Resurrection, the work of the Holy Spirit. Every major feast is a school by itself from which we draw firm teachings concerning our dogma. To be a disciple of dogmas is not just mere intellectual lectures on theology but rather a life lived primarily through the church. Therefore, it is the duty of servants to very early give those whom they serve to drink from these dogmas through a regular church life. 4. Personality Integrated Discipleship Man benefits from lessons offered by life itself. For example, St Anthony benefited from the words of the naked woman about to swim in the sea. Because of her words, he entered the desert taking her reproaching reply as if sent from heaven. St. Ephraim, the Syrian, learned from the woman staring at him who asked him to look at the ground from which he came. He benefitted from her words and trained himself to be humble.
*Adapted from HGBY monthly Clergical letters - Nov. 2012
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