“..Who for the sake of us humans and for our salvation came down from heaven and was incarnated by the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary and became man.”

1. The purpose of incarnation

Through sin, as we have seen, man was separated from God and became marginalized and helpless, unable to raise himself from the abyss into which he had fallen. He could not rise to God, and therefore God, in His love, willed to descend Himself to man in order to restore the fellowship between man and Him.

God loved man with an “insane love,” in the words of theologian Nicholas Capsellas, so much so that He, the eternal being, the Creator, and the possessor of absolute happiness, did not leave alone that man who voluntarily rejected him, but rather descended to him, seeking him. Just as the shepherd whom the Lord Jesus spoke of pursued the lost sheep [Luke 15:1-7]. He is not satisfied with the angels, just as the humble shepherd was not satisfied with the ninety-nine sheep that did not go astray.

Through the incarnation, God took our degenerate, fallen human nature, and united it with His divinity in an indescribable union. May God heal, through incarnation, the spiritual bleeding that is original sin.

Through incarnation, God breathed His life into the sick person, to restore to him the spiritual strength that had been lost and the beauty that had been distorted.

Through the incarnation, God Himself united with man so that the life of God flowed through man.

We have seen that man fell because he wanted to make himself a god instead of God, by dispensing with God. He longed for deification, but he lost his way because he thought that deification was accomplished by swelling now. It was in God's design that man be deified, for He - God - did not create man to be His servant, but rather a partner in His divine life. But this deification was not possible in isolation from God. Rather, it was conditioned by man’s union with God, because from God, and from God alone, man derives every talent, strength, and life. Outside of God there is nothing but nothingness, emptiness and death. But man listened to the deceit of the evil one and aspired to deify himself instead of God. He did not achieve his goal, but rather degraded from his original human level and subjected his nature to death. Satan's promises were false (Jesus called him “a liar and the father of lies” [John 8:44]) when he announced to man that by disobeying God he would become a god. Those bright promises were an illusion and a deception, but what man could not achieve when he was arrogant, God achieved for him when he came down to him. Therefore, in serving the magic of good news, the Church sings:

“Today the secret that existed before the ages is revealed, and the Son of God becomes the Son of Man, so that by taking the lowest, he will give me the best. Adam was disappointed in the past and did not become a god as he had desired. So God became a man so that Adam could become a god.”

This is how the infinite God took on our limited nature, and the Perfect and Immortal God took on our weak, mortal nature. The mere fact that he took our created nature while he was the Creator was a concession on his part, but he went in a loving concession to the point of taking our nature in the miserable state it had fallen into due to its fall. Thus, by his condescension, he healed our haughtiness, and by descending to us, he exalted us to him.

But what does it mean when we say that man was “deified” through incarnation? This does not mean that we have become gods by nature, we are still creatures. But deification means that God's life has been given to us, so we have become participants in His love, glory, power, joy, wisdom, holiness, and immortality. We have not attained the essence and divinity of God because He is always transcendent and unreachable, but the divine powers have been given to us and are within our reach. This was made clear in particular by Saint Gregory Palamas and confirmed by the Orthodox councils. In this sense, we should understand the words of the Apostle Peter: “You have become partakers of the divine nature” (2 Peter 1:4).

Questions:

1. Read Luke 15:1-7. How does this parable indicate the meaning of incarnation?
2. What is the purpose of God taking on the fallen nature of man in incarnation?
3. Man fell when he tried to deify himself. Was his fault in his quest for deification or in the path he took to reach it?
4. What does Saint Irenaeus’ words mean: “God became man so that man could become God”? Does the Bible talk about this deification taught by the Orthodox Church? (See 2 Peter 1:4). Does this “deification” mean that we become equal to God? So what does it mean?

2. Preparing the incarnation

The incarnation is therefore a free initiative of love from God toward the person who turned away from Him and rejected him by choice:

[And God demonstrated His love for us by sending His only Son into the world so that we might live through Him. In this we see true love, not our love for God, but His love for us. Out of His love, He sent His Son to be an atonement for our sins [1 John 4:9, 10].

But God's love is not imposed, and therefore man had to accept this initiative of divine love. For this reason, God took care, with a fatherly glance, to gradually prepare humans for the arrival of incarnation, and His work was similar to the work of the wise educator who prepares the child for the appropriate conditions to advance the stages of development one after the other until he reaches maturity. This divine education for human freedom appeared especially in the Israeli people, who alone remained faithful to God despite their many sins. In particular, God prepared humans to receive the incarnation, so that when it was completed, individuals from this people would carry His good news to the entire world. This preparation has taken various forms, including:

The law:

It is a set of laws given to the Israeli people by inspiration from God. The Apostle Paul said about him: [Then the law was our chastener to Christ] [Galatians 3:24]. The Greek teacher was a slave who was entrusted with accompanying entrusted children, watching over them, and teaching them the foundations of knowledge, so that they would later be able to listen to lessons taught by a famous teacher. That was the function of the law for the Jews. The Ten Commandments, for example, were intended to refine people’s morals so that they could be prepared to enter the kingdom of love. As for the sacrifices that were required by the law to atone for sins, they were a symbol indicating the one true sacrifice, which is the death of Jesus Christ on the cross.

Historical incidents:

The events in the history of the Jewish people symbolized the events of salvation and prepared the people to receive incarnation. Joseph, who was sold by his brothers out of envy and became, as the book said about him, “the Savior of the world” during the famine that occurred, was a symbol of Christ, who was handed over out of envy by the Jews, his bodily brothers, to the Romans in order to put him to death by crucifixion, so he became, in the full sense, “the Savior of the world.” He feeds people not with material bread, as Joseph did, but with heavenly bread, which is his body. Likewise, the salvation of the Israeli people from the slavery of Pharaoh at the hands of Moses and their entry into the Promised Land at the hands of Yeshua, which is the very name of Jesus and means “God saves,” was a symbol of the salvation of believers from the slavery of Satan through Christ’s incarnation, death, and resurrection and their entry into the Kingdom of God.

The prophets

God also sent prophets to His people throughout the generations to prepare them to receive the incarnation. As his name indicates, his mission was to foretell the will of God, that is, to announce it forcefully, calling on humans to straighten out the crookedness of their conduct and to return to God. These prophets prepared the Jewish people to receive the incarnation:

A - Because they were stirring up the slumbering, petrified consciences and saying publicly to the people that fulfilling the Sharia outwardly does not matter, but what is important is changing the heart and giving it to God, and thus they pave the way of God to the world.

B - Because they were referring, with divine inspiration, to the incarnation of the Son of God and to the works of salvation that he will perform in our land. Thus, the Prophet Isaiah, who lived in the eighth century BC, spoke about the house in which the Messiah would be born, saying that he would be a descendant of David: [And a rod shall come forth from the stem of Jesse, and a branch shall spring forth from his roots, and the Spirit of the Lord shall come upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and They are the spirit of counsel and strength, the spirit of knowledge. And the fear of the Lord] [Isaiah 11:1, 2].

The Prophet himself declared that he would be born of a virgin: [But the Lord himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin will conceive and bear a son, and will call his name Immanuel] [Isaiah 7:14].

The Prophet Micah, who also lived in the eighth century B.C., prophesied about the place of the Savior’s birth, saying: [But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are too small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruling over Israel and its outgoings from of old, from everlasting days.] [Micah 5:2].

Isaiah spoke about the message of the Savior, saying: [The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to lift up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom and liberation to the captives. To be held captive at large. To proclaim an acceptable year of the Lord and a day of vengeance of our God. To comfort all who mourn [Isaiah 61:1, 2].

Isaiah also announced the sufferings that the Savior would endure for the sins of the people:

[And He was wounded for our transgressions, bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace was upon him, and by his stripes we are healed. We are all like sheep who have gone astray. We have each turned to his own way, and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was wronged, but he was afflicted, and he did not open his mouth. Like a sheep being led to the slaughter, and like a sheep before her shearers, he is silent, so he did not open his mouth. [Isaiah 53:5-7].

Questions:

1. Wasn't the incarnation a free initiative of love by God? (See 1 John 4:9 and 10).
2. But love does not impose an obligation, so the person had to accept this initiative of love. How did God prepare him to receive incarnation?
3. What is the law? What about his role in preparing for incarnation? (See Galatians 3:24). How did he fulfill this role?
4. How did events in the history of the Jewish people indicate the events of salvation? How does the story of Joseph refer to it? How does it refer to the salvation of the Israeli people from the slavery of Pharaoh and their entry into the Promised Land?
5. Who are the prophets? How did they prepare people to receive the incarnation? Did they refer to the circumstances of the incarnation and the works of salvation?
   • for example: To the bodily origin of Christ (see Isaiah 11:1-2)
     To his birth from a virgin? (See Isaiah 7:14)
     To the town where he was born? (See Micah 5:6)
     To his message of salvation? (See Isaiah 61:1-2)
     To his suffering? (See Isaiah 53:5-7).

3. The role of the Virgin Mary in the incarnation

We said that God, in His love, determined to descend upon man to save him. However, while he respected human freedom, he was waiting for man to want his salvation, to want to approach the God to whom he descended. Therefore, God gradually prepared humanity to receive salvation. This preparation led to the Virgin Mary. Mary is the flower of the Old Testament and the fruit of God’s care for his people and his upbringing of them over the generations. In Mary, the holiness of the Old Testament reached its peak in faith, humility, and obedience to God. Therefore, in the person of Mary, humanity was able to say “yes” to God and accept Him as their Savior. This is what happened when Mary answered the angel: [Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. “Let it be done to me according to your word” [Luke 1:38]. Then, the Son of God was incarnated because humanity “allowed” him in the person of Mary to come to her and save her. Therefore, the theologian Nicholas Capsilas wrote: “The incarnation was not only the act of the Father, His power, and His Spirit, but it was also an act of the will and faith of the Virgin. Without the acceptance of total purity, and without the contribution of its faith, the achievement of this goal would have been impossible..,}.

Thus, Mary was that “gate facing toward the east” that the Prophet Ezekiel spoke about and through which the Lord expressed. [Then he took me back to the path of the outer holy gate, facing the east, and it was closed. Then the Lord said to me: [This gate will be closed; it will not be opened and no man will enter through it, because the Lord, the God of Israel, has entered through it, and it will be shut. The prince, the ruler, is the one who sits there to eat bread before the Lord. By the way of the portico of the gate he will come in, and by the way of the porch of the gate he will go out.”] [Ezekiel 44:1, 2].

As the Church sings, “She alone brought Christ alone into the inhabited earth to save our souls” (Our Lady’s Birthday Service). In Mary, the union between God and man was first accomplished. As the Son of God united himself with a body that he took from the body of Mary: “By your birth, the Word of God was united with humanity, and the excluded nature of our race was united with the heavenly ones.”

The Church calls the Virgin “Mother of God” because she gave birth to God incarnate. Thus, what Elizabeth said under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit was echoed when her relative, the Virgin Mary, visited her: [...Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and cried out with a loud voice and said:... Where is this for me, that the Mother of my Lord should come to me? ] [Luke 1: 41-43]. The Church believes that the status of the Virgin is superior to the angels, as she was qualified to carry within herself the incarnate Son of God, thus becoming a living temple of the God whom: “The hosts of angels do not dare to look at him.” Therefore, it addresses her, chanting: “You who are more honorable than the Cherubim and incomparably higher in glory than the Seraphim.” . And also: {Because he made your storehouse a throne and made your belly more spacious than the heavens}. (Basil's Mass)

Thus, the Orthodox Church’s honoring of the Virgin Mary is due in particular to the role she played in the incarnation. Therefore, the name you constantly call her is “Mother of God.” Therefore, also when you praise her, you praise in a special way that role that God wished to assign to her in the purposes of: “Rejoice, you who gave birth to the guide of the lost. Rejoice, you who gave birth to the savior of the captives” (service of praise). For the same reason, Orthodox icons never represent the Virgin alone, but rather always represent her carrying her Son and her God. The glory of the Mother of God derives from the One who wished to be born from her, from the One whom she gave to the world. The Virgin herself, in her earthly life, did not want to show her personality. Rather, she was always hidden behind her Son. The only teaching that the Gospel conveyed to us from the Virgin’s tongue is her commandment to humanity to obey her Son: “Whatever he commands you, do.. John 2:5.”

The Church believes that since the Virgin became a mother to the incarnate God, she also became a mother to all those to whom that God became a brother through the incarnation: [For he who sanctifies and those who are sanctified are all from one, for this reason he is not ashamed to call them brothers.. Since the children share in flesh and blood, he also shared And likewise in them [Hebrews 2:11, 14].

In particular, for those who through their faith became his beloved disciples. When Jesus was on the cross, he addressed Mary, saying to her about the beloved disciple: “Here is your son.” Then he addressed John, saying: “Here is your mother” [John 19: 26 and 27]. These phrases are correct to apply to every beloved disciple of Jesus, that is, every believer in him. Therefore, the Mother of God has towards us the tenderness and eagerness of a mother. At the wedding in Cana of Galilee, Mary felt the need of the family and joined her feeling of this need with that of her son, saying to him: “They have no wine.” The Lord responded to her and performed His first miracle for her, even though His hour had not yet come (John 2:3 and 4). This is how Mary feels our need and her intercession is to combine her compassion for us with the compassion for his Son. This intercession is powerful, as is evident from the incident at Cana in Galilee. As the Church bears witness: {No one hastens to address you and goes away in shame before you, O pure Virgin, Mother of God... “The Law of the Barclays”}. But the grace that the Virgin specifically asks for us is that her Son be conceived in us so that we may carry him in our being as she carried him and be united with him as she was united with him.

Questions:

Read Luke 1:26-56, John 2:1-11, and 19:25-27.

1. Would it have been possible for the incarnation to have been completed if man had not accepted it? why not?
2. What is - in this case - the importance of the Virgin’s phrase in Luke 1:38?
3. How then can we say that the Virgin was the fruit of God’s upbringing of man in the Old Testament?
4. How do you understand the statement of Orthodox theologian Nicholas Kabasilas that the Virgin made the incarnation possible?
5. How can we say that God's union with humans first occurred in the person of Mary? Or is this clear from the Church’s saying to Mary: “She lent a body to the Word, the Creator of all”?
6. Why does the Church call the Virgin “Mother of God”? Isn't this name based on the text of the Bible? (See Luke 1:41-43).
7. Isn’t the Orthodox Church’s honoring of the Virgin primarily due to the role she played in the incarnation? How is this evident in the prayers of the Church and in the icons we paint? Isn’t this consistent with the position of the Virgin herself, as is clear in the Gospel (see John 2:5).
8. Didn't the Son of God become our brother through incarnation? (See Hebrews 2:11, 14). In this situation, how is it correct for us to consider the Virgin as our mother?
9. Didn’t Jesus give his mother a “mother” to every “beloved disciple”? (See John 19:25-27).
10. How was the Virgin’s intercession revealed in the Gospel? (See John 2:1-11).

4. The one person of Christ:

The incarnate God was called Jesus Christ. As for “Jesus,” it is a Hebrew word that means “God saves.” This name was given to the incarnate Son of God due to the saving mission that he came to carry out. That is why the angel said to Mary when he gave her the good news: “Behold, you will conceive and give birth to a son, and you will name his name Jesus” (Luke 1-31). The angel who appeared to Joseph said to him, speaking about the Virgin: “She will give birth to a son, and you shall name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21). The word “Christ” means the Anointed One. The prophets, kings, and priests in the Old Testament were touched by a sacred blessing through which they received grace to complete their mission, and for this reason they were called the Lord’s Anointed Ones. But these were only an image and symbol of Jesus, who alone is the Lord’s Christ in the full sense, that is, he was anointed not with oil, but with the fullness of the gifts of the Holy Spirit, which came upon his humanity, making him a prophet who foretold the complete truth of God, and a priest who offered the only acceptable sacrifice for human sins, which is the sacrifice of himself. And a king who reigns forever over humanity that believes in him.

The Orthodox Church believes that Christ has two natures: divine and human, united in one person, the person of the incarnate Son of God, and that this union exists without division, separation, transformation, or mixing, meaning that each of these two natures retains its own characteristics, so it does not lose the divine nature. Its divine qualities and human nature does not lose its human qualities (without transformation or mixing), but they are united in one person (without division or separation). If we want a picture that illustrates this belief, let us take the iron heated by fire. Iron is still iron and fire is fire, but there is no separation between fire and iron as they are combined in the piece of heated iron.

In other words, the Church believes that Jesus Christ is perfect God and perfect man, a true God and a true man, but he is one person because the Son of God included human nature in his divinity and made it and this divinity one person, the person of the incarnate God. This divine provision was necessary for salvation. Because if Christ were only God, and if his humanity were merely an illusion and imagination, how could divinity have entered the core of humanity to sanctify it? If Christ was only a human being, how could he be a bridge through which the divine life itself could be conveyed to humanity? If the divinity and humanity in Christ were separate, how could this intimate union be achieved between God and man through which humanity is renewed and deified? This solid belief in the person of Christ is a prerequisite for us to realize the salvation that the Lord has given us. It is also a cornerstone of our lives, because if divinity was united with humanity in the person of Christ without invalidating this humanity, then this means that we can unite with God and deify Him without having our humanity repented and erased. Thus, we can understand the importance of the struggle that the Church fought to preserve throughout the generations the true belief in the person of Christ against all the heresies that tried to distort this belief.

Christ is one person:

In the fifth century, a heresy advocated by Nestorius emerged that taught that Christ was two persons, one divine and the other human, not necessarily linked to each other. She said that when Christ was born, he was a pure human being, then divinity resided in him as in a temple and accompanied him until he was crucified, then it separated from him, and there was nothing on the cross but a suffering human being. Therefore, the followers of this heresy called the Virgin Mary “the mother of Christ” and not “the mother of God.” But this Nestorian heresy, which divides the one person of Christ, is contrary to the teaching of the Bible. Elizabeth greeted Mary, who was pregnant with Jesus, saying to her: “Where does this come to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?” And these words inspired by the Holy Spirit (because Elizabeth said them while she was full of the Holy Spirit) mean that Mary is about to give birth to not just a human being, but the Lord. Himself. Likewise, the suffering and humiliated Christ on the cross was still God, even in those moments, as is clear from the words of the Apostle Paul: “If they had known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory” (1 Corinthians 2:8): The crucified one is therefore at the same time the Lord of glory. Likewise, the Apostle himself spoke of “the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood” (Acts 20:28): The blood that was shed on the cross was not merely human blood, but rather the blood of God Himself. The Third Ecumenical Council met in Ephesus in the year 431 to refute this heresy, proving that Christ is one and indivisible person.

In two natures:

As a reaction to the previous heresy, an opposite heresy also appeared in the fifth century, called for by Eutyches (or Eutyches), which says that the divine nature in Christ has swallowed up the human nature, and therefore Christ did not lose one person, as Orthodoxy says, but rather one nature, which is the divine nature in which the nature was dissolved. Humanity. Therefore, this heresy was called “the one-nature heresy.” The Fourth Ecumenical Council, held in Chalcedon in the year 451, ruled on it and proved that Jesus is not only fully God but also fully human, a human in reality and not in appearance and imagination.

The saying of the two natures, which was defined by the Fourth Ecumenical Council, was not accepted by the ancient Eastern churches (Syriacs, Copts, Ethiopians, and Armenians). These churches reject the phrase “two natures,” but they disbelieve in Eutyches, who said that the human nature is dissolved in the divine nature. The difference between us and her is a verbal difference that does not affect the essence of the doctrine.

This is clearly evident in the entire Gospel, as we see in it that Jesus was born as a human being, grew up, was hungry, thirsty, rejoiced, suffered, and cried, and he died and was buried as a human being. Just as He spoke as God, saying: “I and the Father are one” (John 10:30), He sometimes spoke as man, saying: “I go to my Father and your Father, and to my God and your God” (John 20:17). In the same circumstance, he acted as both God and man, demonstrating that the divine and human natures both existed in his one person. For example, like a man who was tired and thirsty and asked the Samaritan woman to give him water to drink, like a God who revealed to her the secrets of her life. As a human being, he cried over Lazarus and asked where they had put him, and as a God who raised him from the dead. Therefore, John wrote, “And the Word became flesh” (John 1:14), and it was mentioned in the Epistle to the Hebrews: “Since the sons partook of flesh and blood, he also partook of them” (Hebrews 2:14).

With two wills:

When the dispute became widespread between the Orthodox and the followers of one nature, some wanted, under pressure from the emperor, to reconcile the two points of view, so they replaced the phrase “one nature” with the phrase “one will,” saying that Christ had two natures, but the human will in him melted into the divine will, but the Sixth Council The Ecumenical Council, held in the year 680 in Constantinople, refuted this new heresy, proving that Christ had a human will that was distinct from the divine will. The divine will in Christ is the same will as the Father: “I and the Father are one” (John 10:30). As for the human will in him, it exists on its own, but Christ, in his freedom, subjected it throughout his life and until death, death on the cross, to the will of the Father. This is evident in the Lord’s words: “I do not seek my own will, but the will of the Father who sent me” (John 5:30). Therefore, Christ had a will distinct from the will of the Father, but due to his freedom, he refuses to let it differ from the will of the Father. This is what also appears when he prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane: “O my Father, if you are willing, let this cup pass from me” (Matthew 26:39) (and here His human will was revealed to be exempt from suffering), but He added, saying: “But let your will be done, not mine” (Matthew 26 :39) (Here he completely submitted his human will to the divine will).

Because the human will in Christ was distinct from the divine will, it was possible for it to be tempted independently of the divine will. Indeed, Christ was tempted to become like us in everything, even our experiences. The Gospel narrated to us two experiences that happened to him, one of which was his experience in the wilderness after his fasting (Matthew 4: 1-11) and the second was his experience of rejecting suffering (Matthew 26: 39). Jesus must have gone through other trials throughout his life, but he always by choice submitted his human will to the will of the Father, and thus he did not commit a sin even though he was like us in everything. Therefore, he was able to challenge his enemies, asking them with a boldness that no human being can possess: “Which of you rebukes me for a sin?” (John 8:36). That is why he was also able to say to his disciples before his passion: “For the prince of this world is coming (that is, Satan) and he has nothing in me” (John 14:30). In this sense also, the Apostle Peter wrote about him: “He knew no sin, nor was deceit found in his mouth” (1 Peter 2:22).

Thus, the incarnate God wanted to take on a complete human will in order to renew our corrupted human will from within, and He wanted to go through our trials in order to give us the strength to overcome the trials.

Questions:

1. Who called the incarnate God “Jesus”? (See Luke 1:31 and Matthew 1:31). What is the meaning of this word?
2. Who are the “Anointed Ones of the Lord” in the Old Testament? What is the relationship between calling them “Christs” and calling Jesus “the Christ”?
3. What is the meaning of the Orthodox Church’s statement that Christ has two natures “without division, separation, transformation, or mixing”? How does iron heated by fire give an image of that?
4. What is the importance of this doctrine for our understanding of salvation?
5. Do you know anything about the Nestorian heresy and the council that ruled against it? How can it be understood from the Bible that divinity in Christ is inherent in humanity since his conception? (See Luke 1:43) And during his suffering and crucifixion? (See 1 Corinthians 2:8 and Acts 20:28). Can we understand salvation if we do not believe that the divinity in Christ is fundamentally united with his humanity?
6. Do you know anything about the “one nature” heresy and the council that ruled against it? How does it appear from the Gospel that Christ is a perfect human being and that his human nature did not wither and disappear into the divine nature? Do you remember evangelical incidents in which Christ, in one circumstance, acts sometimes as a God and sometimes as a human being? (See, for example, the incident of the Samaritan woman, John 4: 5-42, and the incident of raising Lazarus, John 11: 1-44). Do not these events show that the divine and human natures both exist and are distinct from each other in the one person of Christ?
7. Do you know anything about the “one will” heresy and the council that ruled against it? How does it appear from the Gospel that Christ has two wills, and how does the relationship between them appear? (See John 5:30 and Matthew 26:39). Doesn't it follow that it was possible for Christ to be tempted? Didn't the Bible say that he was already tempted? (See Matthew 4:1-11 and Matthew 26:39). But did Christ commit a sin or violate the divine will? (See John 8:36, John 14:30, and 1 Peter 2:22). What does it mean for the incarnate God to assume full human will and accept the endurance of trials for our salvation?

5. Appendix:

Saint Athanasius of Alexandria lived in the fourth century and participated in the First Ecumenical Council in the year 325, as he was an assistant to the then Patriarch of Alexandria, Alexander (Alexandros).

This council was held to consider the teaching of Arius, who denied the divinity of the Son and declared the invalidity of this teaching. Then Saint Athanasius was elected Patriarch of Alexandria and continued to teach the straight faith in his sermons and letters and refute the Arian teachings:

• “The character and purpose of the Bible is, as I have repeatedly told you, the preaching of two doctrines concerning the Savior.
• He is God from eternity, and He is the second hypostasis, that is, the Son, and He is the glory and wisdom of the Father in His capacity as the Word.
• In time, the Son took a body from the Virgin Mary, the Mother of God, and became a human being for our sake.
• When we browse the Bible, we find in the Old Testament the teachings about the Word, and in the New Testament, that is, the Gospel, we find God incarnate <<لأن الكلمة صار جسداً وحل فينا>>. هكذا كتب يوحنا الرسول في بدء إنجيله.
• So that we do not fall into a new error. There are people who can think like this, saying: In ancient times, the Word used to come to every one of the saints. And now He has also come in the same way in a human being. He also made him a saint by appearing in him as he appeared in others.
• If this were the case, that is, if the incarnation of the Word was in the manner in which it appeared in the saints, there would not be any wonder, and those who witnessed and witnessed it would not have wondered, saying: Where did this come from? And when they added: How, when you are a human, can you make yourself a god? (John 10:33).
• In fact, the Word of God, through whom all things were made, was pleased to become a human being, and humbled himself, in the words of the Apostle Paul, who said of him: He took the form of a servant. Therefore, the cross became a subject of doubt for the Jews.
• As for us, Christ is the power and wisdom of God (1 Corinthians 1:22, 24).
• John the Apostle said: And the Word became flesh.
• In former times the Word came to the saints and sanctified those who received it with respect. But he did not become one with them. No one said about them at their birth: The Word became flesh. And when they suffered, no one said about them: The Word suffered.
• But when the Word came to earth, born of Mary, and because the Father <<رأى ابنه بالطبيعة مولوداً من امرأة>> (غلاطية 4: 4) حينئذ قيل عنه: أنه أخذ جسداً وصار إنساناً. وفي هذا الجسد تألم من أجلنا كما يقول بطرس الرسول: إن المسيح تألم من أجلنا في جسده (2 بطرس 2: 24 و1 بطرس 4: 1) ليظهر للجميع ويجعلهم يؤمنون أنه إله منذ الأزل، ويقدس أولئك الذين يأتي فيهم. وهو يعمل كل شيء حسب إرادة أبيه. وفي الزمن صار هو ذاته إنساناً من أجلنا. وكما يقول بولس الرسول: سكن اللاهوت جسمياً في جسده (كولوسي 2: 9) وكأننا نقول: وإذ هو إله أخذ جسده ذاته واستعمله كآلة، وصار إنساناً من أجلنا.
• Therefore, he possessed everything that characterizes human nature: that is, hunger, thirst, pain, fatigue, and the like, to which a person is exposed. As well as works related to the word: such as raising the dead and healing the sick. He did it using his own body. Thus, the Word bore the diseases and infirmities of the body. Because the body was his body. His body was involved in the works of his divinity. Because divinity was in the body, and because this body was God's.
• Yes, when the Lord accepted human nature, He clothed it completely and clothed it with its weaknesses.
• Who wouldn't like that? Who would not consider this an act of God? Yes, if the works of the divinity of the Word had not been completed in the flesh, man would not have been able to participate in divinity.
• But now it is as if all those who are born from the earth die in Adam. For they too are renewed from above by water and the Spirit. But we live in Christ. Our body is no longer linked to the earth, but it is revealed by the Word of God who became flesh among us.”…Saint Athanasius of Alexandria