"...No, repentance could not meet the case. What-or rather Who was it that was needed for such grace and such recall as we required? Who, save the Word of God Himself, Who also in the beginning had made all things out of nothing? His part it was, and His alone, both to bring again the corruptible to incorruption and to maintain for the Father His consistency of character with all. For He alone, being Word of the Father and above all, was in consequence both able to recreate all, and worthy to suffer on behalf of all and to be an ambassador for all with the Father."
~St. Athanasius On the Incarnation pg.33
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Incarnating our Faith
Adam was our chief representative. When he fell into the bondage of sin, so did all of the human race. In this state, we began to turn away from God. We started worshiping false gods, and we suppressed the truth about the one true God, until we had lost our apprehension of Him. Romans 1:21 says: “For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking and their foolish hearts were darkened.”
The only way that we can be brought to the light, is by the almighty hand of God, who regenerates us and frees us from the bondage that sin had upon us (2 Cor. 1:21-22). Since man was evil, God had to renew His image in man. Through the Incarnation and death of Jesus Christ, we were cleansed from our sin and made new!
We are now commanded to incarnate our faith, just like Jesus incarnated his body. We are to be a city set on a hill & a light for all nations. Our faith should reflect upon who we are. When people see us, they shouldn't just see us, but they should see Christ shining through us. In everything that we do, it should always bring glory to God!
-Destiny
The only way that we can be brought to the light, is by the almighty hand of God, who regenerates us and frees us from the bondage that sin had upon us (2 Cor. 1:21-22). Since man was evil, God had to renew His image in man. Through the Incarnation and death of Jesus Christ, we were cleansed from our sin and made new!
We are now commanded to incarnate our faith, just like Jesus incarnated his body. We are to be a city set on a hill & a light for all nations. Our faith should reflect upon who we are. When people see us, they shouldn't just see us, but they should see Christ shining through us. In everything that we do, it should always bring glory to God!
-Destiny
Understanding the Incarnation
How can we know that we are understanding the truth of God and the Incarnation in our lives?
We can show we understand by living a Christian life. We are called to be a city set on a hill & a light for all nations. We have been justified through Christ's death on the cross. We are being sanctified through the work of the Holy Spirit now. And we will one day be glorified with God the Father.
Right now, we are being made sanctified. We are living the Christian life. To show we truly understand the Incarnation, we must have a completely different attitude towards sin. We should entirely reject it. We are saints. Maybe not the best of saints. But we are saints living for Christ. We are called to be a living sacrifice.
Not only should we live the Christian life, but we are also commanded by Jesus to spread the gospel. We are told to share our Faith with others. We are called to do this. We have a living hope and should live a life that glorifies the Father above. Even in times of suffering, we must remember that we can share in Christ's sufferings and will, likewise, be resurrected with Him. What have we to fear? God is with us. Who can come against us? We have a living hope. This life is not ALL that we have.
We can show we understand by living a Christian life. We are called to be a city set on a hill & a light for all nations. We have been justified through Christ's death on the cross. We are being sanctified through the work of the Holy Spirit now. And we will one day be glorified with God the Father.
Right now, we are being made sanctified. We are living the Christian life. To show we truly understand the Incarnation, we must have a completely different attitude towards sin. We should entirely reject it. We are saints. Maybe not the best of saints. But we are saints living for Christ. We are called to be a living sacrifice.
Not only should we live the Christian life, but we are also commanded by Jesus to spread the gospel. We are told to share our Faith with others. We are called to do this. We have a living hope and should live a life that glorifies the Father above. Even in times of suffering, we must remember that we can share in Christ's sufferings and will, likewise, be resurrected with Him. What have we to fear? God is with us. Who can come against us? We have a living hope. This life is not ALL that we have.
Monday, March 9, 2009
The Incarnation
How do we know that we truly comprehend and understand the whole truth about the incarnation?
Firstly, every thing we believe must be internally present and externally proved. Jesus said that by their fruits you shall know them. If we believe that theft is unethical than we should not steal. I it pure hypocrisy to say we are compassionate Christians whilst we refuse to stop and see if the old lady on the side of the road needs help.
That said let us define what the "whole truth" about the incarnation is.
When God created the world He did it through speaking the word, and in the beginning the word was with God and the word was God and the word became flesh and descended to the earth it had created for to redeem the object of it's grace. Christ was fully man and fully God. This is called the "hypostatic union". It is the conjunction of the immortal God and the mortal body of a man.
If we are to"incarnate"our thoughts into practical application then we must ask forgiveness of Christ our mediator, have faith in his power to regenerate us and work out our salvation through faith in good works(which we are now able to do thanks to the incarnation).
Firstly, every thing we believe must be internally present and externally proved. Jesus said that by their fruits you shall know them. If we believe that theft is unethical than we should not steal. I it pure hypocrisy to say we are compassionate Christians whilst we refuse to stop and see if the old lady on the side of the road needs help.
That said let us define what the "whole truth" about the incarnation is.
When God created the world He did it through speaking the word, and in the beginning the word was with God and the word was God and the word became flesh and descended to the earth it had created for to redeem the object of it's grace. Christ was fully man and fully God. This is called the "hypostatic union". It is the conjunction of the immortal God and the mortal body of a man.
If we are to"incarnate"our thoughts into practical application then we must ask forgiveness of Christ our mediator, have faith in his power to regenerate us and work out our salvation through faith in good works(which we are now able to do thanks to the incarnation).
-Alex
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Saint Augustine - Confessions
Recently, we have been reading through St. Augustine's Confessions. It is just an amazing book. There are so many golden nuggets in this book. Here are just a few quotes.
"But you are the life of souls, the life of lives. You live, O life of my soul, because you are life itself, immutable." -Book III
"[M]en are so blind, that they even take pride in their blindness." -Book III
"Entrust to Him whatever you have, for all that you have is from Him. Now, at last, tired of being misled, entrust to the Truth all that the Truth has given to you and nothing will be lost. All that is withered in you will be made to thrive again. All your sickness will be healed. Your mortal body will be refashioned and renewed and firmly bound to you, and when it dies it will not drag you with it to the grave, but will endure and abide with you before God, who abides and endures for ever." -Book IV
"O God, you who are so high above us and yet so close, hidden and yet always present, you have not parts, some greater and some smaller. You are everywhere, and everywhere you are entire. Nowhere are you limited by space. You have not the shape of a body like ours. Yet you made man in your own likeness, and man is plainly in space from head to foot." -Book VI
-David
"But you are the life of souls, the life of lives. You live, O life of my soul, because you are life itself, immutable." -Book III
"[M]en are so blind, that they even take pride in their blindness." -Book III
"Entrust to Him whatever you have, for all that you have is from Him. Now, at last, tired of being misled, entrust to the Truth all that the Truth has given to you and nothing will be lost. All that is withered in you will be made to thrive again. All your sickness will be healed. Your mortal body will be refashioned and renewed and firmly bound to you, and when it dies it will not drag you with it to the grave, but will endure and abide with you before God, who abides and endures for ever." -Book IV
"O God, you who are so high above us and yet so close, hidden and yet always present, you have not parts, some greater and some smaller. You are everywhere, and everywhere you are entire. Nowhere are you limited by space. You have not the shape of a body like ours. Yet you made man in your own likeness, and man is plainly in space from head to foot." -Book VI
-David
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
