My beloved brothers and sisters in Christ Our Only True Lord, God, and Savior,
CHRIST IS IN OUR MIDST! HE WAS, IS, AND EVER SHALL BE.
God created the world perfect. "Then God saw everything He had made, and indeed, IT WAS VERY GOOD" [Genesis 1:31]. Everything God made, including man, is "very good," because God is good. Nothing He made is therefore evil in itself. So then, human nature is good in itself. But sin is FREE CHOICE OF MAN’S WILL and it is contrary both to God’s Nature and human nature. God finished the making of heaven and earth for man’s sake. However, Revelation does not say that the present world was perfect to such an extent that it had no need of, or would be incapable of, further perfecting, whether in the days of its creation or in its later and present condition. The earthly world in its highest representatives–MANKIND–was foreordained to a new and higher form of life. Divine Revelation teaches that the present condition of the world will be replaced at some time by A BETTER AND MORE PERFECT ONE, when there will be "NEW HEAVENS AND A NEW EARTH" [2 Peter 3:13] and the creation itself "WILL BE DELIVERED FROM THE BONDANGE OF CORRUPTION" [Romans 8:21].
In the ladder of the earthly creation, man is placed on the highest rung, and in relationship to all earthly beings he occupies the reigning position. Beith earthly, according to his gifts he approaches the heavenly beings, for he is "A LITTLE LOWER THAN THE ANGELS" [Psalm 8:5]. In Orthodox Christian theology, the word "the world" in the Holy Scripture has multiple meanings: The world can refer to all of God’s creation, including the heavens, the earth, and all living things. The Holy Scripture describes God’s creation as "good, very good" [Genesis 1:12, 18, 25, 31] and a product of God’s Goodness and Love. "The world" can also refer to anything that is in rebellion against God. Jesus often taught that people should be "not of the world," meaning they should think, act, and be transformed differently than what "the world" would expect.
The Holy Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 3:22 uses the word "the world" to refer to "all of creation" or "everything that God has made." According to the Holy Scripture, God creates the world and all that is in it. He creates the heavens and the earth as the declaration of His glory (Psalm 19:1). He creates all living things, crowned by the formation of man in His own image and likeness. According to the Holy Gospel, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ has come as the "SAVIOR OF THE WORLD" [Luke 2:11; John 4:42].
"For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in
Him should not perish but have eternal life. ForGod sent His Son into the world,
not to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through Him" [John
3:16-17].
The negative use of the term "the world" is presented not as God’s object of love, but creation in rebellion against God. Our Lord Christ said: "If the world hates you, know that it has hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I CHOSE YOU OUT OF THE WORLD, THEREFORE THE WORLD HATES YOU" [John 15:18-19; James 4:4].
The Holy Apostle John continues to speak of the enmity between Christ and "the world" in his first letter where he gives the following instruction to the Christians.
"Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world,
love for the Father is NOT in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the
flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life, is NOT of the Father buti s of the
world. And the world passes away and the lust of it; but HE WHO DOES THE
WILL OF GOD ABIDES FOREVER" [1 John 2:15-170.
God's good creation is NOT evil. Material existence is NOT evil. Man's fleshly body is NOT evil. Only SINFUL PASSIONS and lusts are evil. They are evil because they treat the created world and the fleshly body of man as ends in themselves, as objects of idolatrous adoration and godless desire. They are evil because, according to the Venerable Augustine puts it, they express the "worship of the creature rather than the Creator." "World" is a collective name embracing what are called PASSIONS. When we speak of passions collectively, we call them the world…the world is carnal life and minding of the flesh [Saint Isaac of Syria].
The Greek word for "world" is COSMOS which literally means good order, good behavior, decency. It can also mean the world or universe from its perfect arrangement. In the more modern Greek it can mean the world, people or crowd. Orthodox Christian spirituality teaches that believers should purity themselves of all worldly and moral infirmities to be united with Christ. Orthodox Christians are expected to be true witnesses to our Savior Christ, and to do so they must stand apart from the things of the world. This means that every thought, word, deed, and action must be inspired by the Holy Spirit and guided by the will of God. Orthodox spirituality teaches us that salvation is a process that can be divided into three stages: PURIFICATION, ILLUMINATION, AND UNION. Each stage corresponds to the body, soul, and spirit.
Orthodox Theology teaches that in the fullness of time, God sent our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ to become man, and through His suffering, death and Resurrection, restored man to his original state of grace and enabled him to attain perfection. Christ says: "Be perfect as your Father in
Heaven is perfect." The ultimate purpose of man, therefore, is to become perfect in God, through agape. That is, to attain perfect, selfless love of God and one’s fellow human beings.
The holy Fathers and Ascetics of the Church speak of "the increasing knowledge of God decreases knowledge of all else. In other words, the more a person knows God; he knows liess of other worldly matters. Not only this, but he/she begins to realize more and more clearly that neither does he/she know God." This point is of fundamental importance to Orthodox Christianity that declares the TOTAL MYSTERy and UNKNOWABILITY of the Divine essence. The purpose of the human being and believer is to achieve moral perfection through the ACQUISITION OF THE HOLY SPIRIT according to Saint Seraphim of Sarov.
"The world" can become a dark and sinister place if we reject God’s Light. God appears to us as Light. In Holy Scripture we read: "In Your Light we shall see light." Only in the state of Illumination does Divine grace make possible the contemplation of the Divine Light. We believe that we are saved by Christ and in Christ. Yet we are still subject to temptation and to sin. Therefore, it is imperative to mention the fact that to acquire moral perfection, we must wage war against the "enemy," that is, sin and the devil. Saint Makarios said: "I have not yet seen a perfect Christian man, one completely free (from the devil and sin)." As long as we live, we must be ready to fight against the dark powers of the evil one. As long as we live in this world and wear the flesh, he has to war." The Holy Scriptures are very necessary and the means of spiritual warfare against the devil; it is also the principle means of acquiring knowledge of God’s will. [Resources: Orthodox Dogmatic Theology, Holy Scripture, Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America)
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"Glory Be To GOD
For
All Things!"
– Saint John Chrysostomos
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With sincere agape in His Divine and Glorious Diakonia (Ministry)
The sinner and unworthy servant of God
+ Father George
The Eastern Orthodox Christian Ethos 