“THE PROMISED AND EXPECTED SON OF GOD CAME TO EARTH” JESUS CHRIST THE LORD AND SAVIOR

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.

"THE PROMISED AND EXPECTED SON OF GOD CAME TO EARTH"
JESUS CHRIST THE LORD AND SAVIOR

"But when the fullness of the time was come" (Galatians 4:4), or in or, in other words:
_____when the human race, following after Adam, had tasted in full measure, spiritually speaking, of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and had come to know in experience the sweetness of doing good and the bitterness of evil-doing;
_____when for the most part mankind had reached and extreme degree of impiety and corruption;
_____when the best, although smallest, part of humanity had an especially great thirst, longing, and desire to see the promised Redeemer, Reconciler, Savior, Messiah;
_____when, finally, by God’s will, the political conditions were ready because the whole of the civilized part of humanity had been united under the authority of Rome—-something which strongly favored the spreading of faith and the Church of Christ;
_____then "THE PROMISED AND EXPECTED SON OF GOD CAME TO EARTH."

Mankind, in the person of its best representatives, acknowledged its unfulfilled debt, the heavy debt, the heavy debt of numerous preceding generations and of its own age. It was a debtor UNABLE TO PAY. The feeling of guilt in its purest form was present in the Jewish people. Mankind tried to erase its sins by means of sacrifices, which expressed the giving over to God of the best part of what was in man’s possession, in the possession of his family, as a gift to God. But these sacrifices were not capable of REGENERATING men.

Let us quote here the words of the holy righteous Saint John of Kronstadt, from the sermon on the feast of the Exaltation of the Cross (September 14th) of the Lord: "Let us enter into the meaning of the mystery of the Cross… The world, that is, the human race, would have been given over to eternal death, to eternal torments, according to the unchanging, most strict justice of God, if the Son of God had not become, out of His limitless goodness, A VOLUNTARY INTERMEDIARY AND REDEEMER OF MANKIND, WHICH WAS CRIMINAL, DEFILED AND CORRUPTED BY SIN. For, by the deception of the serpent, the murderer of men, it was cast down into a frightful abyss of lawless and perdition… However, SO THAT MEN MIGHT BE CAPABLE OF THIS RECONCILIATION AND REDEMPTION FROM ABOVE, IT WAS NECESSARY FOR THE SON OF GOD TO DESCEND INTO THE WORLD, TO TAKE UPON HIMSELF A HUMAN SOUL AND BODY, AND BECOME THE GOD-MAN, IN ORDER THAT IN HIS OWN PERSON, IN HIS HUMAN NATURE, HE MIGHT FULFILL ALL THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD WHICH HAS BEEN BRAZENLY VIOLATED BY ALL MANNER OF HUMAN UNRIGHTEOUSNESS; IN ORDER THAT HE MIGHT FULFILL THE WHOLE LAW OF GOD, EVEN TO THE LEAST IOTA, AND BECOME THE GREATEST OF RIGHTEOUS MEN FOR THE WHOLE OF UNRIGHTEOUS MANKIND, AND TEACH MANKIND RIGHTEOUSNESS WITH REPENTANCE FOR ALL ITS UNRIGHTEOUSNESS AND SHOW FORTH THE FRUITS OF REPENTANCE. This He fulfilled, NOT BEING GUILTY OF A SINGLE SIN, and was the ONLY PERFECT MAN, IN HYPOSTATICAL UNION WITH THE Divinity" (Sermon on the Feast of the Exaltation: "The Meaning of the Mystery of the Cross").

Saint Gregory Palamas writes: "Before Christ we all shared the same ancestral curse and condemnation poured out on all of us from our single Forefather, as if it had sprung from the root of the human race and was the common lot of our nature. Each person’s individual action attracted either reproof or praise from God, but no one could do anything about the shared curse and condemnation, or the evil inheritance that had been passed down to him and through him would pass to his descendants. As we have seen, this inheritance entailed a corrupted human nature, bringing about the death of both the soul and body. "But Christ came," says Saint Gregory, "SETTING HUMAN NATURE FREE AND CHANGING THE COMMON CURSE INTO A SHARED BLESSING." (Homilies, vol. 1, p. 52).

CHRIST’S Incarnation, death and Resurrection, which He accomplished FOR THE SALVATION OF MANKIND, expressed God’s Truth, Righteousness, and Justice on the one hand, and His mercy and agape on the other. Saint Isaac the Syrian writes concerning God’s PLAN OF SALVATION also manifested His agape (love): "God the Lord surrendered His own Son to death on the Cross for the fervent love of creation. ‘For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son to death for our sake’ (cf, John 3:16). This was not, however, because He could not have redeemed us in another way, but so that His surpassing agape, manifested hereby, might be a teacher unto us. And by the death of His only begotten Son He made us near to Himself. Yes, if He had had anything more precious, He would have given it to us, so that by it our race might be His own."

THE SON OF GOD, THE MESSIAH, THE DIVINE REDEEMER WAS REJECTED BY HIS PEOPLE AND HAD HIM CRUCIFIED AND KILLED.

"And they led Jesus away to the high priest; and with him were assembled all the chief priests, the elders, and the scribes… Now the chief priests and all the council sought testimony against Jesus to put Him to death, but found none. For many bore false witness against Him, but their testimonies did not agree… But He kept silent and answered nothing. Again the high priest asked Him, saying to Him, Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?’ Jesus said, ‘I AM. AND YOU WILL SEE THE SON OF MAN SITTING AT THE RIGHT HAND OF THE POWER, AND COMING WITH THE CLOUDS OF HEAVEN.’ Then the high priest tore his clothes and said, ‘What further need do we have of witnesses? You have heard the blasphemy! What do you think?’ And they all condemned Him to be deserving of death" (Mark 14:53-64).

"Pilatet then went out to them and said, ‘What accusation do you bring against this Man?’ They answered and said to him, ‘If He were not an evildoer, we would not have delivered Him up to you.’ (John 18:29-30)

"Pilate therefore said to Him, " Are You a king then?’ Jesus answered, ‘You say rightly that I am a king. For this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice.’ Pilate said to Him, ‘What is truth?’ And when he had said this, he went out again to the Jews and said to them, ‘I find no fault in Him at all.’ But you have a custom that I should release someone to you at the Passover. Do you therefore want me to release to you the King of the Jews?’ Then they all cried again, saying, ‘Not this Man, but Barabas!’ Now Barabas was a robber. So then Pilate took Jesus and scourged Him… Therefore, when the chief priests and officers saw Him, they cried out, saying, ‘Crucify Him, crucify Him! Pilate said to them, ‘You take Him and crucify Him, for I find no fault in Him.’ The Jews answered him, ‘We have a law, and according to our law He ought to die, because He made Himself the Son of God.'(John 18:37-40, 19:6-7).

"Now it was the Preparation Day of the Passover, and about the sixth hour. And he said to the Jews, ‘Behold your King!’ But they cried out, ‘Away with Him, away with Him! Crucify Him!’ Pilate said to them, ‘Shall I crucify your King?’ The chief priests answered, ‘We have no king but Caesar!’ Then he delivered Him to them to be crucified. So they took Jesus and led Him away" (John 19:14-16). [Resources: Orthodox Dogmatic Theology and New Testament)

(To be continued)
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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