Killing Death

There is an interesting story in the Old Testament about a bronze serpent. Moses was commanded to make a serpent and put it on a pole. It was used to heal those who were being killed by the venom of snake bites (Numbers 21:4-9).  St. Gregory the Theologian taught that this bronze serpent did not heal just because the people believed in it. If that were the case, Moses could have just raised his staff up and told people to believe for their healing. Rather, the bronze serpent healed because it was dead on the pole and because it was dead its power to kill was also dead.

Imagine if you could take the source of what causes death and kill it. The problem for us is that the source of death is in us. We die because we sin and sin because we die. We are all born with a condition that kills(James 1:15). Even God, as St. Maximos the Confessor teaches, in the mystery of becoming a man, submitted to this condition that we are in. He took upon himself the same flesh that we have. In doing so, he assumed all our imperfections and limitations, the greatest being death. All though he never sinned, he did not hide from the damage done to our humanity from sin. As we all know, he died on the cross.

Death is our greatest enemy. It is the power the devil wields over us. As I said, we die because we sin and we sin because we die. No human being has ever been able to kill this cycle of death. However, God did kill death by sending his own Son who became like us in everything but sin. When death came to consume the body of Christ it encountered God. Death had no power over Christ. He rose from the dead. As St. Gregory of Nyssa describes it, the humanity of the Lord was like the bait on a fishing hook. When death came like a fish to swallow the bait it encountered the hook, which was the Lord’s Divine Nature.

The bronze serpent was nailed to a pole to kill the power of the venom. Christ was nailed to the cross to kill the power of death. The serpent had no power to kill because that which gave it power was destroyed by its death. Our fallen nature no longer has the power to kill us because what gave it power has been destroyed by death. For this reason, St. Gregory the Theologian exclaims, “what is the fitting epitaph for it from us?“O death, where is your sting? O grave, where is your victory?” You are overthrown by the Cross; you are slain by Him who is the Giver of life; you are without breath, dead, without motion, even though you keep the form of a serpent lifted up on high on a pole”.

The Author of Hebrews once said, “Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might break the power of him who holds the power of death--that is, the devil”. We were all once under the power of death and in slavery to the devil. Christ has freed us from this power by his death. As we soon will  proclaim in the Byzantine tradition, “Christ is risen from the dead, By death He trampled death, And to those in the tombs He granted life”. We were all headed for the tomb, hopeless, in bondage to the evil one, but Jesus Christ has set us free. Christ has killed death by his death. It no longer has any power over us. We will all face it! However, when it comes for us it will be killed once more by Christ who is in us, the hope of Glory(Colossians 1:27).

The Very Angry God

Soon Christians from all over the world will celebrate the saving work of the cross. Unfortunately, in the understanding of many this saving work is a big pay off to an angry God. As it is perceived, God is angry at us. We have all sinned against him and because of his anger he plans to punish us all eternally in hell. It doesn’t matter how much or how less you have sinned, his wrath will be the same for all. At the same time, they believe the angry God loves us. Consequently, in order to appease his own anger, he sent his one and only Son to be punished in our place.

As you just heard, the sacrifice of Jesus Christ becomes our means to pay off God’s anger. This is what many Christians hold sacred and this why atheists rightly mock them. Why would anyone want to serve a God like this? I mean, if any human being acted like this we would deem them mentally ill or sadistic. Does God get angry????, there should be no doubt! The scriptures are clear that there will be a wrath of God and that Christ does save us from that (1Thessolians 1:10). However, the cross is by no means a payoff to a God who can’t control his anger.

St. Gregory the Theologian once asked to whom is the blood of Christ offered? He said that we were detained in bondage by the Evil One, sold under sin, and receiving pleasure in exchange for wickedness. He then asks, since a ransom belongs only to him who holds in bondage, I ask to whom was this offered, and for what cause? He then says, if this blood is offered to the Evil one it would be an outrage and asks how could the blood be offered to the Father since He was not the one whom kept us in bondage.

I think Saint Gregory the Theologian would say to those that believe Christ’s blood is for the appeasement of God’s anger: “on what principle did the Blood of His Only begotten Son delight the Father”. The fact is there is nowhere in scripture where God demands a human death to appease his wrath. This is how some pagan religions worshiped their gods and not how Christians should understand the cross. In contrast, St. Gregory the Theologian makes the point that Christ is sacrificed for the sake of humanity, not God’s anger.

Christ shed his blood not to appease the Father’s anger. He did not die to save us from an angry god’s hellish wrath.  Christ died in order to destroy everything that was keeping us from the Father. As its says in Romans 6:6, “our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin”. As it teaches, the cross is not the place where God’s anger is appeased. It is the place where our sinful nature is “done away with”.

Christ through His death ransoms us from a fallen nature so that we can become children of God. When the Father looks at the cross he sees the means by which humanity can return to Him. The truth is God does get angry, there will be a hell, and the wicked will be judged. Yes, a fallen nature can bring about all these things. But, as I said, Christ did not die for the purpose of these things. He died to destroy everything that was keeping us from God and did so on the cross(1Peter 2:24) .

Forgiveness of sin by the shed blood of Christ is not some legal action that placates God anger. Rather, it is the means for becoming a new creation. Our old fallen nature was nailed to the cross and in exchange Christ offers to us His nature. There is no angry God at the cross. There is only the one who became what we are so that we can become what He is.

We become God

     Ever since I was able to grasp what my church was teaching I have not been the same. For some of us its easy to keep God distant through the use of religion. What is not easy for us is accepting  that through Christ there really is no distance between us and God. When it comes to this idea of distance my church teaches that God became man so that man can become God. At the first time of hearing this, like many, I found it unacceptable. It seems it’s easy to get hung up on a false context in which there is an invitation to a new pantheon. As for the teaching it means what it says but it does so in a Christian context. In its context it is clear that we the created are called to participate in the uncreated, to share in what God is through grace, to partake of the Divine Nature (2peter 1:4). As St. Diadochos of Photiki teaches God is someone who has been given completely to us but remains hidden in our hearts. On our part, we are called to an ongoing participation in what He has given us. To make known to ourselves and to the world what has done in those who are baptized.
     For the baptized there is no need to go through phases or stages to have God. As Saint Cyril of Jerusalem said once, “having been baptized into Christ, and put on Christ, you have been given the same form as the Son of God”. After hearing this, our first thought is often to assume that we become “like” Christ through baptism, therefore making us near to God. Unfortunately, using the term “like” in reference to what the saint is saying can diminish his actual meaning. In contrast, the saint specifically said that we have been given the same “form” as Christ. In this case, where we use the term “like” to imply a mere resemblance the saint uses “form” which implies that we are of the same thing, which makes God more than just near. Christ was true God and true man. It was His divine nature that transformed His human nature, even giving it victory over death. This same thing now takes place in each one of us. This is a mystery for sure but one in which we can understand that there are no distances between us and God.
     We who believe in Christ only need to look in our own heart to see God and to know that His divine nature is changing us. On the other hand, experiencing  this should not be an isolated experience. This same mystery is found in every member of the Church. For its only in the context of being a member of the Church that this mystery can be fully realized. In terms of the Church, as Byzantine Catholic I believe that the greatest way to experience this mystery is found in the Divine Liturgy. In another perspective, I would be bold to say that from God’s view the greatness in the Liturgy comes from us. What I trying to say is that what takes place in my Holy Tradition is incomplete as long as it remains on the altar. We are in fact the destination for all the Divine activity that takes place in the Liturgy. It is true that the bread and wine becomes God but we do even more!
     In saying these things I wonder why it’s easier for me to accept that bread becomes God  instead of those who participate in the Liturgy. Why is it so easy for me to keep Christ on the altar and not within me. This is scandalous language I know but its language that some saints never failed to speak about. For example, St. Symeon the New Theologian had this to say, “We awaken in Christ's body as Christ awakens our bodies and my poor hand is Christ. He enters my foot and is infinitely me. I move my hand and wonderfully my hand becomes Christ, All of him, For God is indivisibly whole, seamless in his Godhead. I move my foot, At once he appears like a flash of lightning”. He goes on to say that even the most ugly and hidden parts of us become transformed, they become God. I guess in all my own ugliness its hard to accept that everything in that Eucharist is everything now in me.
     Speaking more on my ugly parts, looking at my own life, in terms of my sins, what my church teaches seems impossible. How can I become what God is or rather why? I still don’t understand why He loves me or why He has given Himself fully to me. I certainly don’t deserve this but I do accept it. In accepting this I have also made a commitment to never give up; even when it seems superficial to keep turning to God due to the fact that I keep falling into the same sins. For me, just knowing that He is there without measure drives me to never give up. I really don't understand how it all works but I do know that by constantly turning to Him I am being changed and becoming what He is through grace.

"The Word became flesh to make us "partakers of the divine nature":"For this is why the Word became man, and the Son of God became the Son of man: so that man, by entering into communion with the Word and thus receiving divine sonship, might become a son of God." "For the Son of God became man so that we might become God." "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." (Catechism of the Catholic church 460)

Are You God?

     Throughout the Philokalia we are instructed that we are becoming gods by grace. More specifically, it teaches us that we are gods not in the sense of those to be worshiped but those who are being made immortal and incorruptible because of the indwelling presence of God. However, I think for most modern Christians hearing something like this for the first time might make them uncomfortable. In fact, it was too long ago that someone from my own church thought I was promoting something from the New Age movement. However, the doctrine of divinization is something very central to Christianity. Its mentioned throughout the scriptures and is even taught in the Catechism of the Catholic Church. For example, the following scriptures say Genesis 1:27 “we are the image of God”, Psalms 82:6” we are gods”,  2 Peter 1:4 “share in God’s nature”,  1 John 3:2 “we will be like God” and in the Catechism (par.460) "men will be made god". It might sound difficult at first but to embrace this vital truth can reveal to us one of the greatest acts of God’s love.
     In my opinion what makes divinization difficult to grasp is how many have come to understand their soul. The common understanding of the soul is that it is immortal. Even though this is true the way the soul has immortality is normally not understood. A more complete understanding about the immortality of that soul, and every part of us, is that we are “made for" immortality instead of being immortal by ourselves. Being made for immortality instead of being immortal is a big difference and demonstrates that we only become immortal by the grace and goodness of God. Most often when you have the first position to hear about divinization sometimes makes you feel like the next step in your immortality is to take the place of God. However, the more complete understanding demonstrates that immortality is something only proper to God and if the soul is made for it then it involves participation in what God is or an act of divinization.
     When it comes to understanding divinization the Holy Scriptures teach us that unlike any other creation man was made to be what God is. This is also seen in many teachings of the early church fathers who would often reference Gen. 1:26, "Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness", to show how we become God. For example, St. Columbanus of Luxeuil writes: “God bestowed upon man the image of His Eternity, and the likeness of His Character”. In showing that we have this ability many of the fathers demonstrated that the natural state of man was literally to become what God is through obedience and love. It was through obedience and love that man was given the opportunity to grow in his experience of the presence of God that was in him. So you could say that man's deity status was dependent upon the measure he was grated to experience what God is. Unfortunately, man was tempted to become a god in another way by the devil, which led to the fall from our original state. As a result, the ability to become what God is became obscured and it would not be completely restored until the time of Christ.
     As the early church fathers taught God became man so we could {again} become what God is. Not to go into great detail but Christ by his whole life returns us to what we are called to. He gives us again the ability to participate in the divine nature (2peter 1:4) in a complete way or to become gods by grace. He does this first and foremost by giving us the gift of the Holy Spirit through life in the Church, which is to say that now in our bodies dwells everything that God is. Having everything that God is we can now give every part of our lives to Him, allowing Him to eternally transform us. So it really isn’t a strange thing to think of ourselves as gods as it says in Psalms 82:6. No, we are not God himself or an extra version of the Trinity. Rather, we are just sharing in what He is through grace, which is what we are designed for.
     When it comes to how we are designed I think a good analogy is to understand how a light bulb works. A light bulb is not light of itself but depending upon its wattage it can become light. We are very much like light bulbs but with an unlimited wattage. A light bulb can only become light based on its watts but there is no end to the amount of divinity that we can contain. If you think about this level of intimacy that God offers us by divinizing us it is breathtaking. He loves us so much that he lets us experience everything that He is and this is unending. From now until all eternity we will continue to become what He is by grace. Sometimes not having this understanding of divinization leaves people with the notion that what God offers just happens after we die. This of course could not be farther from the truth. Today is the day of salvation (2cor. 6:2)! This is the time that God has called us to the deepest intimacy with Him and it only gets better each day. Everything of God is in us and God has called us to make it our own. As St. Athanasius proclaimed “God became man so that we might become God”.

Death on the Byzantine Cross

     Just about every month I get a knock on my door from someone trying to save me. For me it is always an honor to talk with such people because it gives me a chance to share my faith. Usually, when these people present their gospel they demonstrate how guilty I am in the sight of God and that because of this he is going to punish me with Hell. However, because God loves me he sent Jesus to be punished in my place by dying on the Cross. At this point I have no trouble with agreeing that God punishes sin but from their point of view they make it seem like God is schizophrenic. For God is mad enough to put me in Hell but at the same time loves me to the point that He would sacrifice his only son. My question to them usually is why couldn’t God just forgive me and why is it necessary for him to kill his own son? You would think it would be more logical to just forgive rather than to have someone suffer for me.
     The way it is expressed above about Christ dying on the cross is very popular in modern evangelization. It’s easy to understand that we are guilty and to see that we need someone to make us right with God. However, this presentation of the Lord’s sacrifice is not without criticism or weakness. In fact, to some degree it often makes the Lord’s death resemble a sacrifice that is thrown into a volcano to stop the anger of the volcano god. Even one of our Byzantine fathers St. Gregory of Nazianzus had the following to say about this approach: “On what principle did the Blood of His Only begotten Son delight the Father, Who would not receive even Isaac, when he was being offered by his Father, but changed the sacrifice, putting a ram in the place of the human victim? Is it not evident that the Father accepts Him, but neither asked for Him nor demanded Him; (On Pascha Oration 45, XXII)”. There is no doubt that we are guilty of sin but there must be more to the Lord’s death then paying for our crimes.
     In the Byzantine tradition I believe there is a more complete understanding of the Lord’s death. In fact, each year we proclaim this during Holy Pascha when we say, “Christ is risen from the dead, By death He trampled death, And to those in the tombs He granted life”. From this perspective the Lord’s death becomes the means to end the problems with the human condition, which are the problems that keep us from God. Based on this, the guilt debt from sin is given a different position. Instead of our guilt being something that specifically makes God punish us with the fires of Hell it becomes more a power that leads us to our own self destruction. Being under the power of sin we are stuck in this cycle that leads to death, which is also a cycle that leads us to sin because we die. Finding ourselves in this impossible condition we are without a doubt in need of redemption. A redemption that not only just satisfies God’s wrath but one that gives us the freedom from our own condition.
     When it comes to understanding our redemption we are often faced with a powerful contradiction. If we die and sin because we die how can we free ourselves. This of course is why the Son of God became one of us. By becoming man the Lord was not only free of sin but he also suffered the effects of our condition in order to heal it. We see this healing at its fullest when the Lord experienced death on the cross. When it comes to show how this healing took place I believe St. Gregory of Nyssa gives the best explanation. In explaining the Lord’s death the saint teaches that the humanity of the Lord was like the bait on a fishing hook. When death came like a fish to swallow the bait it encountered the hook, which was the Lord’s Divine Nature. The saint demonstrated that it was Lord’s Divinity that healed us from our condition. The resurrection of the Lord from this point of view becomes for humanity the last act to free us from the slavery of our condition.Since by the Lord's death he destroyed what ultimately keeps us in the cycle of sin.
     There is no doubt that punishment for our sin is an aspect of the Lord death. However, the Byzantine tradition offers much more in understanding sins effects and also the power of God’s love. For not only do we receive forgiveness through Christ but we also receive the freedom from all the keeps us from God. Through the cross God has broken down every barrier that kept us from Him. As the scripture says, “For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves (Colossians 1:13)”. For us there is now by the cross not only just forgiveness but the ability to participate in the heavenly life or as our fathers have called it Theosis*. In addition, by cross we also receive the same power through Christ to heal our own condition. It is only by this power that we shall also overcome our own death.


*In Byzantine theology Theosis is the transforming effect of divine grace, the spirit of God, or the atonement of Christ. It literally means to become more divine, more like God, and/or take upon a divine nature.