Ye are Gods!

The Son of God became man so that we might become God. No, I am not in a cult. Yes, I do believe that we become gods by grace. As the Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches, the only-begotten Son of God, wanting to make us sharers in his divinity, assumed our nature, so that he, made man, might make men gods(460). To become divine is a basic Christian doctrine. Unfortunately, this doctrine has been lost in modern Christianity. For the most part, modern proclamations of the Gospel portray us as sinners in the hands of the angry God. We are offered the chance to escape God’s wrath and are given the hope of heaven in the life to come.

Not to diminish the modern aspect of being reconciled to God, but what good is this message to someone who is facing a life sentence in prison. For such people, life is day to day suffering. A guy in prison facing a life sentence, unlike most people, knows there is a profound distance between himself and God. Even if he accepts the fact that he can be forgiven, this does not take away the reality that his life now has become a constant struggle for meaning. All opportunities to find meaning that could have once been his are gone, all he has are the bars in front of him. Sure, you can tell him that following Christ in prison makes him a good example but that can only go so far. I mean, just about every religion in the world can help you to be a good example, so why is Christianity any different? Well, it’s different because the only-begotten Son of God, wanting to make us sharers in his divinity, assumed our nature, so that he, made man, might make men gods.  

We can have God now, we are called to experience God now. We don’t have to wait to get to heaven. It starts now. Jesus said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but by me”. We don’t come to the Father after we die and go to heaven, we go to him as soon as we are reconciled to him through baptism in Jesus Christ.  Through baptism we receive the promise of the Holy Spirit who makes us partakers of the divine nature (2peter 1:4). The Holy Spirit is someone that we become consciously aware of and we can grow in our experience of him by following Jesus Christ.

As St. seraphim of Sarov taught, the true goal of our Christian life consists of acquiring God’s Holy Spirit, becoming a god. We can grow in our experience of God.  Our bodies are designed for God’s presence, it is his presence that makes us divine beings. Jesus Christ restores to us our right to be able to participate in divine life. Not only does he take away our sin, he also takes away everything that keeps us from God. We can have God now and we are not limited in our experience of Him. As St. Seraphim of Sarov also said, “fasting and vigil, prayer, mercy, and every other good deed performed for Christ — are means for acquiring the Holy Spirit of God. Only deeds performed for Christ give us the fruits of the Holy Spirit”.

So please do not find it a strange thing when I say, “ye are gods (John 10:34).” I am not proclaiming the 4th person of the Holy Trinity. Nor am I saying that you are to be worshiped. I am merely stating our potential as beings called to participate in the divine nature. God is divine by nature and we become divine by participating in what he shares with us. God is not holding anything back and if for some reason you find yourself having a dull and meaningless Christianity I invite you to as one saint says, "come, bow and fall down together with me and do not rise until you have received the gift of God, as I, who am unworthy, have received this gift of grace". Having the divine nature working in your life is a gift, as the saint said. It is a gift that God eagerly wants to share with us. We just need to be aware of what we have through our baptism and participate in it.