My beloved brothers and sisters in Christ God,
CHRIST IS IN OUR MIDST! HE WAS, IS, AND EVER SHALL BE.
OUR LORD IS BEAUTIFUL!
"…One thing I have desired of the
Lord,
That I will seek:
That I may dwell in the house
of the LORD
All the days of my life,
TO BEHOLD THE BEAUTY OF THE
LORD…" [Psalm 27:4].
"…He made EVERYTHING BEAUTIFUL IN
ITS TIME…" (Ecclesiastes 3:11].
"…Do not let your adornment be merely outward–arranging of
the hair, wearing gold, or putting on fine apparel–rather LET
IT BE THE HIDDEN PERSON OF THE HEART, with the
INCORRUPTIBLE BEAUTY OF A GENTLE AND QUIET SPIRIT,
WHICH IS VERY PRECIOUS IN THE SIGHT OF GOD" [1 Peter 3:3-4].
Saint Basil the Great writes: "In the fear that human reasonings may make you wander from the truth, Moses has anticipated inquiry by engraving in our hearts, as a seal and a safeguard, the awesome name of God: ‘In the beginning God created.’ It is He–beneficent Name, Goodness without measure, a worthy object of love for all beings ENDOWED WITH REASON, THE BEAUTY THE MOST TO BE DESIRED, the origin of all that exists…it is He Who ‘in the beginning created heaven and earth."
The repeated affirmation "and God saw that is was good" in Genesis I underscores the intrinsic, fundamental GOODNESS of matter and the whole created order, even after the Fall. The created order not only is good but also can be a means OF COMMUNION WITH GOD, by virtue of being created by the All-Good God. Furthermore, the astounding beauty, intricate order, and sublime harmony of all aspects of Creation.
When we speak of God’s magnificent and beautiful creation, we neglect to appreciate God’s own Divine Beauty. Everything in His wonderful creation reveals, to some extent, a reflection of His own Eternal beauty. We see the beauty of the first human being and how He "formed man out of dust from the ground, and breathed in his face the breath of life; and became a living soul" (Genesis 2:7). "Then the Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden, and there He put the man He formed. Besides this, God caused EVERY TREE BEAUTIFUL TO THE SIGHT and good for food to grow from the ground…And the Lord God said, ‘It is not good for man to be alone, I will make him a helper comparable to him…Thus God brought a trance upon Ada, and he slept; and He took one of his ribs, and filled up the flesh in its place. Then the Lord God built the rib He took from Adam into a woman, and brought her to him" [Genesis 2:8-22].
Our God is indeed beautiful and so are His ways. His love for us and His creation attest to that very fact. "Then God said, ‘Let Us make man in Our IMAGE, according to Our LIKENESS" (Genesis 1:26). Since God made man in His "image" and His own "likeness" man was created to be beautiful and to attain perfection.
All of the universe, the stars, and the planets reveal the glory of God. When we look at our own earth and its natural beauty we think of the King of All creation, the Great Originator and Divine Architect, the Alpha and the Omega, the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet, along with the Beginning and End signify the eternality of God Who is the origin and destiny of all things, The Universe itself thus becomes hallowed, transfigured, and sacramental. In the Book of Revelation 4: 2-6 the holy Apostle John describes vividly the Heavenly Temple: "Immediately I was in the Spirit; and behold, a Throne set in heaven, and One sat on the Throne, And He Who sat there eas like a jasper and a sardius stone in appearance, and ther was a rainbow around the Throne, in appearance like an emerald…Before the Throne in the midst of the glass, like crystal." Thus, in our Orthodox Church, the holy Altar Table s sometimes called "the Throne."
God’s Divine Beauty is beyond our comprehension. There is physical beauty and there is an inner beauty, the beauty of the soul. Those who are vain concentrate on the outward appearance and attractiveness. Others concentrate in maintaining the inner beauty, the image of God. The likeness of God is our personal challenge to strive to obtain through faith, love, peace, gentleness, kindness, virtue, obedience and repentance. Our inspiration is Our Lord, God, and Savior Jesus Christ Who is beautiful as well as God the Holy Spirit.
Our Lord, God, and Savior Jesus Christ is called the Lamb of God in [John 1:29] Prophet Isaiah compares the Messiah’s voluntary self-sacrifice to a lamb being led to a slaughter [Isaiah 53]. The central theme of the Book of Revelation (Apocalypse) IS VICTORY THROUGH SACRIFICE. This "Lamb" stands between "the Throne, the four living creatures", and the "elders." God the Holy Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, is He Who created everythng and "When God saw everything He had made and it indeed, was very good," (Genesis 1:31), the Lord is truly the Founder of all good things.
We no turn our attention to the divine words of the holly Apostle Peter who said: "Do NOT let your adornment be merely outward–arranging the hair, wearing gold, or putting on fine apparel–rather LET IT BE THE HIDDEN PERSON OF THE HEART, WITH THE INCORRUPTIBLE BEAUTY OF A GENTLE AND QUIET SPIRIT, WHICH IS VERY PRECIOUS IN THE SIGHT OF GOD" [1 Peter 3:3-4]. True holiness is the genuine spiritual beauty that all Christians must strive to acquire for themselves. We must be vigilant not to protect our heart from the evil passions which pollute the heart. "When the heart is polluted, the pollution is transmitted and divided into all of the other sens23].es and powers of the soul as Saint Gregory Palamas wrote. And Saint Isaac has taught us that, whlle the mind is easily cleansed, it can easily be polluted; the heatr however as it is cleansed with great difficulty it is also difficult to be polluted. If polluted a person loses his purity, grace and divine beauty of God within us. After that there is only ugliness and hideousness which prevails. The Orthodox Christian man or woman understands how sin, the passions, pride, temptations, vices are a real threat to a person’s salvation and spiritual health. Saint John Climacos noted that God has given us such a commandment to guard our heart from the evil passions, and the evil thoughts (logismoi) which rise in our mind. Solomon wrote: "Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow springs of life" [Proverbs 4:23]. (Source: Nicodemos of the Holy Mountain)
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"Glory Be To GOD
For
All Things!"
– Saint John Chrysotomos
+ + +
With sincere agape in His Holy Diakonia (Ministry),
The sinner and unworthy servant of God
The Eastern Orthodox Christian Ethos 