Even though this is mostly unknown territory for me, I thought of
writing down my thoughts on this so that I can clarify my
understanding to myself and also to assess if there are any
misgivings that have crept in, which in turn, can be vehicles for
better understanding for me. Kindly correct me if appropriate. I
apologize for the length.
-------
Man (Human Being) was created in the image of God. Man was created
to partake in the eternal Love of God, to live forever in communion
and in companionship with God.(There may be other purposes which I
do not pretend to understand)
Being created in the image of God means, there was no sin in man
originally. (No original Sin! No Pun intended!:)) Then man sinned.
Sin came into existence in the context of man because as part of
being created in the image of God, man was also given the freedom to
choose. While man could choose good, he(she) could also choose evil.
This act of sinning created a distance between man and God. Man fell
from the grace. Man fell from the glory originally intended for him
because of the choice he made. The image of God in man began to
become blurred. With more sins, the image became more blurred.
The other end of the spectrum from God is the Devil, who is the
manifestation of evil. With man making more and more wrong choices,
man began to display the image of the the Devil. As he fell farther
and farther from God's grace, he began to resemble the Devil more
and more.
God had a few choices to make too.
Plan A) God could destroy His creation mankind, the work of His
Hands, and start afresh.
Plan B) God could work out a mechanism for mankind to regain its
past glory.
It pained God to see man self destruct in this manner. For the wages
of sin is (surely) death. Every choice made has its consequences,
and wrong choices have bad consequences. In His unimaginable Love,
God (the Most Holy Trinity) chose Plan B (Haleluiah!!)
The law of Divine Justice demanded punishment for every sin. (I do
not pretend to understand this law completely). So man needed to be
punished. In His eternal Love, God worked out a mechanism for
substitutionary atonement, wherein a sinner may, in true repentance,
be allowed to give up something else in his posession for the punishment, so
that the
sinner can live on without the load of the sin and get closer to the
image of God.Thus the system of sin offering, atonement for sins and
sacrifice of animals was established under the Mosaic Law.
But the sacrifice offered as substitute for man, for the sins of
man, was a poor substitute. The animal offered instead of the sinner
was not in the image of God. So this was imperfect. Yet it served a
couple of purposes -
1) It foreshadowed and prepared the stage for a more perfect
sacrifice which was to happen.
2) It brought intermediary relief from the consequence of sin for
man.
So what could be the perfect sacrifice? In order for the blemish of sin to be
'washed away' for eternity, there needed to be an absolutely perfect sacrificial
Lamb without any blemish. The Devil could not be the sacrificial Lamb, because
He is All Evil. Man could not be, because He is fallen and imperfect. God could
only be the perfect sacrifice. And the sacrifice should be a complete man in his
original state (image of God). Thus Christ the God-Man could be the only
sacrifice. And He consented. (Haleluiah!) This could perhaps have been the
essense of what was discussed in the garden of Gethsemene when the Holy Trinity
stood face to face with the passion and suffering that was to happen.
So God became incarnate. In the image of man, and without sin,
just as originally Adam was, God became man. He walked the earth for
33 years, resisted temptations, resisted evil,remained sinless and
showed that it indeed is possible to resist the Devil. Then He
mounted on the cross to be the most perfect, unblemished Lamb for
the sacrifice of substitutionary atonement for man. This brought an
end to the bloody sacrifice of the Old Testament. No more sacrifice
was needed! It had been done. The path to reconciliation, the way
back Home had been established!! (Praise the Lord!)
Note that this was not for 'satisfying a unrelenting Father', even
though there are elements of Truth that can be gleaned from this,
and even though we create such an imagery in our Literature. It was in
its essence, a satisfaction of Divine Justice. Divine Justice meets
Divine Love on the Cross.
Does this give free ticket to salvation for all? By no means. The
way back home has been established, but man needs to still travel
through it to reach home safely. Prior to the Cross, there was no
way back. Only Christ could forgive sins or those ordained by God
could forgive sins all because of the Ultimate Sacrifice on the
Cross. (We also have to believe that apart from the Cross, there is
no way back home)
So, when the Saint (St.Isaac of Ninevah) speaks of the great
significance of God's Love which is seen at Calvary, he is indeed
pointing to the Truth, but perhaps because of the limitations of
words to portray one's thoughts he may have unintentionally touched
other aspects which may not have been his focus when delivering the
sermon discussed.(or maybe the translation is the culprit as pointed
out). Perhaps we should use such opportunity to get closer to the
teachings of the saint to know him more and through him know His
Master and our Master more. Thanks for so much information about the
Saint and thanks for allowing for these discussions in wonderful
spirit in this season of Resurrection.
CHRIST IS RISEN!!!
Mathew Samuel, Albany, NY
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/IndianOrthodox/message/19675
writing down my thoughts on this so that I can clarify my
understanding to myself and also to assess if there are any
misgivings that have crept in, which in turn, can be vehicles for
better understanding for me. Kindly correct me if appropriate. I
apologize for the length.
-------
Man (Human Being) was created in the image of God. Man was created
to partake in the eternal Love of God, to live forever in communion
and in companionship with God.(There may be other purposes which I
do not pretend to understand)
Being created in the image of God means, there was no sin in man
originally. (No original Sin! No Pun intended!:)) Then man sinned.
Sin came into existence in the context of man because as part of
being created in the image of God, man was also given the freedom to
choose. While man could choose good, he(she) could also choose evil.
This act of sinning created a distance between man and God. Man fell
from the grace. Man fell from the glory originally intended for him
because of the choice he made. The image of God in man began to
become blurred. With more sins, the image became more blurred.
The other end of the spectrum from God is the Devil, who is the
manifestation of evil. With man making more and more wrong choices,
man began to display the image of the the Devil. As he fell farther
and farther from God's grace, he began to resemble the Devil more
and more.
God had a few choices to make too.
Plan A) God could destroy His creation mankind, the work of His
Hands, and start afresh.
Plan B) God could work out a mechanism for mankind to regain its
past glory.
It pained God to see man self destruct in this manner. For the wages
of sin is (surely) death. Every choice made has its consequences,
and wrong choices have bad consequences. In His unimaginable Love,
God (the Most Holy Trinity) chose Plan B (Haleluiah!!)
The law of Divine Justice demanded punishment for every sin. (I do
not pretend to understand this law completely). So man needed to be
punished. In His eternal Love, God worked out a mechanism for
substitutionary atonement, wherein a sinner may, in true repentance,
be allowed to give up something else in his posession for the punishment, so
that the
sinner can live on without the load of the sin and get closer to the
image of God.Thus the system of sin offering, atonement for sins and
sacrifice of animals was established under the Mosaic Law.
But the sacrifice offered as substitute for man, for the sins of
man, was a poor substitute. The animal offered instead of the sinner
was not in the image of God. So this was imperfect. Yet it served a
couple of purposes -
1) It foreshadowed and prepared the stage for a more perfect
sacrifice which was to happen.
2) It brought intermediary relief from the consequence of sin for
man.
So what could be the perfect sacrifice? In order for the blemish of sin to be
'washed away' for eternity, there needed to be an absolutely perfect sacrificial
Lamb without any blemish. The Devil could not be the sacrificial Lamb, because
He is All Evil. Man could not be, because He is fallen and imperfect. God could
only be the perfect sacrifice. And the sacrifice should be a complete man in his
original state (image of God). Thus Christ the God-Man could be the only
sacrifice. And He consented. (Haleluiah!) This could perhaps have been the
essense of what was discussed in the garden of Gethsemene when the Holy Trinity
stood face to face with the passion and suffering that was to happen.
So God became incarnate. In the image of man, and without sin,
just as originally Adam was, God became man. He walked the earth for
33 years, resisted temptations, resisted evil,remained sinless and
showed that it indeed is possible to resist the Devil. Then He
mounted on the cross to be the most perfect, unblemished Lamb for
the sacrifice of substitutionary atonement for man. This brought an
end to the bloody sacrifice of the Old Testament. No more sacrifice
was needed! It had been done. The path to reconciliation, the way
back Home had been established!! (Praise the Lord!)
Note that this was not for 'satisfying a unrelenting Father', even
though there are elements of Truth that can be gleaned from this,
and even though we create such an imagery in our Literature. It was in
its essence, a satisfaction of Divine Justice. Divine Justice meets
Divine Love on the Cross.
Does this give free ticket to salvation for all? By no means. The
way back home has been established, but man needs to still travel
through it to reach home safely. Prior to the Cross, there was no
way back. Only Christ could forgive sins or those ordained by God
could forgive sins all because of the Ultimate Sacrifice on the
Cross. (We also have to believe that apart from the Cross, there is
no way back home)
So, when the Saint (St.Isaac of Ninevah) speaks of the great
significance of God's Love which is seen at Calvary, he is indeed
pointing to the Truth, but perhaps because of the limitations of
words to portray one's thoughts he may have unintentionally touched
other aspects which may not have been his focus when delivering the
sermon discussed.(or maybe the translation is the culprit as pointed
out). Perhaps we should use such opportunity to get closer to the
teachings of the saint to know him more and through him know His
Master and our Master more. Thanks for so much information about the
Saint and thanks for allowing for these discussions in wonderful
spirit in this season of Resurrection.
CHRIST IS RISEN!!!
Mathew Samuel, Albany, NY
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/IndianOrthodox/message/19675
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