The Gospel on the Firstborn

My beloved spiritual children in Christ Our Only True God and Our Only True Savior,
CHRIST IS IN MIDST! HE WAS, IS, AND EVER SHALL BE. Ο ΧΡΙΣΤΟΣ ΕΝ ΤΩ ΜΕΣΩ ΗΜΩΝ! ΚΑΙ ΗΝ ΚΑΙ ΕΣΤΙ ΚΑΙ ΕΣΤΑΙ.

THE GOSPEL ON THE FIRSTBORN
By Saint Nikolai Velimirovic

"Now the birth of Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Spirit.

Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not willing to make her a public example, was minded to put her away secretly. But while he thought on these things, behold, the Angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, 'Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary they wife; for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus: for he shall save his people from their sins.' Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the Prophet saying, 'Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call him Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.'

Then Joseph being raised from sleep did as the Angel of the Lord had bidden him, and took unto him wife: And knew her not till she had brought forth her firstborn son: and he called His name Jesus" (St. Matthew 1:18-25).

He who, in obedience and humility, draws near to the Lord Jesus Christ will never again desire to be separated from Him.

The first exercise for a recruit in Christ's army is practice in obedience and humility. The new world, the new creation, the new man: all began with obedience and humility. The old world trod obedience to God underfoot, together with humility towards Him, and by this destroyed the bridge linking earth and heaven. The spiritual materials for the rebuilding of this bridge are, before all else, obedience and humility.

While Adam was rich in obedience and humility, it was hardly possible to differentiate between his spirit and the Spirit of God, between his will and thoughts and those of God. He could feel, desire or think nothing that was not in God and of God. As the Angels of God stood in the full presence of God, so did Adam (in a direct closeness), and from this closeness gazed on the Source of Light, of wisdom and love. He had no need to light a candle of his own, living as he did in the Sun Itself. His candle would, in the light of the Sun, neither have burned nor given light.

But when Adam violated obedience and lost humility--and those two are always gained or lost together--then his direct communication with God was cut off, the bridge was demolished and he fell into fearsome, stagnant darkness, in which he had to light himself with his own candle, that the mercy of God had given him when God's righteousness drove him out of paradise. He then began not only to make a difference between himself and God, between his will and the will of God, his feelings and those of God, his thoughts and those of God--he not only began to make and see a difference, but was scarcely able (only now and then, in moments of enlightenment) to be aware of his likeness to God.

Alas, in what a miserable and abysmal state, through his disobedience and pride does he find himself who was originally created in the image and likeness" of the Holy and Divine Trinity Itself! (Saint Philaret of Moscow says, in his homily on the Entry of the Mother of God into the Temple: 'In man in a sinless state, the image of God was the source of blessing; in fallen man, it was [only] the hope of blessing'). Alas, we are all descendants of Adam, all low shoots from the stump of the felled cedar that had once majestically been raised up above all God's creatures in Paradise; low shoots overcome by the tall weeds of cruel, brutal nature, which had grown up like a curtain between him and the Source of Immortal agape (love).

Only see how, as at the waving of a magician's wand, the disobedience and pride of man's forefather all at once change all creation around him, and he becomes surrounded by an army of the disobedient and the proud!

While Adam was obedient and humble before the Creator, all around him breathed obedience and humility. But what a change came about in the twinkling of an eye! At the moment of Adam's fall, he was surrounded by the disobedient. Here was disobedient Eve besides him. Here was the chief disseminator of disobedience and pride, the spirit of disobedience--Satan. Here was the whole of nature--disobedient rebellious and full of fury. Fruit, that had till then melted with sweetness in man's mouth, began to smite him with its bitterness. Grass, that had wrapped itself around his feet like silk, began to scratch him like needless. Flowers, that had rejoiced in giving their scent for their lord to breathe, began to smother themselves with weeds, to keep him away from them. Wild beasts, that had fawned round him like lambs, began to spring on him with sharpened teeth and eyes aflame with fury. Everything took a wild and aggressive stance towards Adam. And the richest of all creatures felt himself to be the poorest. Clothed formerly in angelic glory, he now felt himself humiliated, lonely and naked; so naked that he was forced to borrow clothing from nature to cover his nakedness, both physical and spiritual. For his body, he began to borrow skins from the animals and leaves from the trees; and for his spirit, he began to borrow from all creatures--from creatures!--knowledge and skills. He who had formerly drunk from the overflowing Fount of Life was now forced to go with the animals, to bend down in the mud and drink at the trough in order to slake his physical and spiritual thirst.

Look now at the Lord Christ. All is obedience and humility. The Archangel! Gabriel, the representative of Angelic obedience and humility; the Virgin Mary--obedience and humility; Joseph--obedience and humility; the shepherds--obedience and humility. Storms obedient, winds obedient, sun and moon obedient, men obedient, beasts obedient; the grave itself obedient. All is obedient to the Son of God, the New Adam, and all is humble before Him, for He also is unconditionally obedient to His Father, and is humble before Him. (Source: Orthodox Heritage)

(To continue)

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"Glory Be To GOD For All Things!"--Saint John Chrysostom

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With sincere agape in His Holy Diakonia,
The sinner and unworthy servant of God

+Father George