THE KINGDOM OF GLORY

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 KINGDOM OF GLORY

With the end of this age and the TRANSFORMATION OF THE WORLD INTO A NEW AND BETTER WORLD, there is revealed THE ETERNAL KINGDOM OF GOD, THE KINGDOM OF GLORY.

Then will come to an end the Kingdom of Grace, the existence of the Church on earth, the MILITANT CHURCH; it will enter into this Kingdom of Glory and will merge with the Heavenly Church, THE CHURCH TRIUMPHANT. "Then cometh the end, when He shall have delivered up the Kingdom to God, even the Father; when He shall have put down all rule and all authority and power. For He must reign, till He hath put all enemies under His feet. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is DEATH… And when all things shall be subdued unto Him (the Father), then shall the Son also Himself be subject unto Him that put all things under Him, that God may be all in all" (1 Corinthians 15:24-26, 28). These words concerning the end of the Kingdom of Christ must be understood AS THE FULFILLMENT OF THE SON’S MISSION, which He accepted from the Father, and which consists of the conducting of mankind to God through the Church. Then the Son will reign in the Kingdom of Glory together with the Father and the Holy Spirit, and "of His Kingdom there shall be no end," as the Archangel announced to the Vir21:1).gin Mary (Luke 1:33), and as we read in the Symbol of Faith: "And His Kingdom will have no end." Saint Cyril of Jerusalem says of this: "For will not He Who reigned before overthrowing His enemies, reign all the more after He has conquered them?" (Catechetical Lectures).

Death will have no power in the Kingdom of Glory. "The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death… Then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory" (1 Corinthians 15:26, 54). "There shall be time no longer" (Revelation 10:6), The eternal blessed life is presented vividly in the twenty first chapter of Revelation: "And I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth were passed awayL and ther was no more seas (Revelation 21:1), In the future Kingdom everything WILL BE SPIRITUALIZED, IMMORTAL, AND HOLY.

But the chief thing is that those who attain the future blessed life and become "partakers of the Divine Nature" (2 Peter 1:4) WILL BE PARTICIPANTS IN THAT MOST PERFECT LIFE, WHOSE SOURCE IS IN GOD ALONE. In particular, the future members of the Kingdom of God will be vouchsafed, like the Angels, to SEE God" (Matthew 5:8), TO BEHOLD HIS GLORY NOT AS THOUGH A DARK GLASS, NOT BY MEANS OF CONJECTURES, BUT FACE TO FACE. And not only will they behold this glory, but THEY THEMSELVES WILL BE "PARTAKERS" of it, shining like "THE SUN IN THE KINGDOM OF THEIR FATHER" (Matthew 13:43), being "fellow heirs" with Christ, sitting with Christ on a throne and sharing with Him the royal grandeur" (Revelation 3:21), Romans 8:17; 2 Timothy 2:11-12).

As is symbolically depicted in Revelation: "They shall be no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat. For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters; and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes" (Revelation 7:16-17). As the Apostle Paul says, drawing from the words of the Prophet Isaiah: "Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the hearts of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him" (1 Corinthians 2:9; cf. Isaiah 64:4). Blessedness in God will be all the more desirable in that it will be "ETERNAL WITHOUT END: "The righteous (shall go) into life eternal" (Matthew 25:46),

However, this glory in God, in the thought of the Holy Fathers of the Church, will have its degrees, corresponding TO THE MORAL DIGNITY OF EACH ONE. One may conclude this also from the words of Holy Scripture: "In My Father’s house are many mansions" (John 14:2); "He shall reward every man according to his works" (Matthew 16:27); "every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labor" ( 1 Corinthians 3:8); "one star different from another star in glory" (1 Corinthians 15:41). Saint Ephraim the Syrian says: "Just as everyone takes enjoyment of the rays of the sensual sun according to the purity of his power of seeing and of the impressions that are given, and just as in a a single lamp which illumines a house each ray has its place, while the light is nor divided into many lamps; so also the future age ALL THE RIGHTEOUS SHALL DWELL INSEPARABLY IN A SINGLE JOY, BUT EACH IN HIS OWN DEGREE WILL BE ILLUMINATED BY THE SINGLE MENTAL SUN, AND DO THE DEGREE OF HIS WORTH HE WILL DRAW IN JOY AND REJOICING AS IF IN A SINGLE ATMOSPHERE AND PLACE, AND NO ONE WILL SEE THE DEGREES THAT ARE HIGHER AND LOWER, LEST LOOKING ON THE SURPASSING GRACE OF ANOTHER AND UPON HIS OWN DEPRIVATION, HE WILL THEREBY HAVE SOME CAUSE IN HIMSELF FOR SORROW AND DISTURBANCE. May this not be there, where there is neither sorrow nor sighing; but everyone according to the Grace propter to him in his measure will rejoice inwardly, while outwardly all will have a single contemplation and a single joy" (Saint Ephraim the Syrian, "On the Heavenly Mansions").

The above Orthodox theological teachings of the Church is given to all those Christians who adhere to the Holy Tradition and are preparing spiritually to celebrate the All-Holy Pascha and Resurrection of our Lord, God, and Savior Jesus Christ, the Son of God and Redeemer of all mankind.

"For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts,
we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our
great God and Savior Jesus Christ, Who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purity for
Himself His own special people, zealous for good works" (Titus 2:11-14). [Resources:  Orthodox Dogmatic Theology]

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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