Our Christ Above Time

In distant eternity, before the universe was created, before man was made, and even before the angels were created was God, the Eternal, the Immortal, the Everlasting, the Origin of all creation, the One who grants life.

The concept of an Eternal Being is a very rational one although it is beyond human comprehension. When we count numbers in descending order, that is, minus one, minus ten, minus a thousand, minus a million, we will get to what we call minus infinity, which is eternity.

If we count positive numbers and say plus one, plus two, plus ten, plus a thousand, plus a million, we will get to plus infinity, which is eternity.

If we add minus infinity to plus infinity, we will obtain one infinity, God. This is a logical concept, for Infinity, which we express numerically, is a number that is beyond finite calculations. Mathematicians call it “the critical number” because it can enter finite calculations and equations.

Thus, we should not combine this infinite number with our finite numbers, and it is not possible for the finite mind to comprehend the Infinite Being, God.

The king and the vizier:

This is a simple tale that we were told as children but it has a lot of meaning. A king once asked his vizier, “I want to embrace God in my mind, to understand, examine, and study Him as any other creature”. The vizier answered, “Give me three days”. After three days the king and the vizier went for a walk on the seashore. After drinking a cup of tea, the king went for a walk along the shore while the vizier remained seated by the sea. While the king watched in amazement from afar, the vizier scooped up seawater with a teaspoon into the teacup until it was full. He kept adding more and more water and the cup kept overflowing:

“What are you doing?” asked the king.

“I am trying to put the sea into the cup”.

“Have you taken leave of your senses?”.

“Excuse me, sire, you insult yourself when you say that”.

“What do you mean?”.

“If it is impossible to put the sea into a cup, how do you want your finite mind to embrace the Infinite God?”.

The king smiled and praised the wisdom of the vizier.

God is Infinite:

If there were more than one god, each would have had limits. That is why we reject the ideas of the philosophers, the Gentiles, and ancient Egyptian gods, for there is only one infinity, the Being without limits or boundaries. The notion of a god of good and a god of evil, Isis, Osiris, and Horus, and others are philosophical endeavors to understand the universe and man. However, there is only one infinity, one God without limits who gives life and who has power and authority and power over all creation, and the evidence is that all creatures, including man, die. Can man delay his death by an instant, or can he prevent it? Of course, not.

He who gives life has ordained death, and He raises man from death to life again through the resurrection because man, in contrast to other creatures, possesses a rational soul, a holy breath of God which makes him an eternal creature, if it is possible to so describe him. Because of the holy breath that was breathed into his earthly body, he will remain alive forever in either of two places, the eternal kingdom of heaven, or the place of eternal punishment.

God is One Essence and Three Persons:

Of course, God is of one essence, “infinity”, without beginning or end, the origin of creation, Infinite Being, Infinite Wisdom, and Infinite Life. It is impossible for more than one Infinite Being to exist, or each would be finite. The divine eternal immortal essence of God is different from that of man who has a beginning (which he takes from God). Even if he has an everlasting life, he takes that too from God because of the rational eternal soul that he was given by God his Creator. God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth. So God created man in His own image; in the image of God he created him; male and female He created them. Then God blessed them and God said to them, ’ Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth” (Gen. 1: 26 - 28).

Man is therefore made of dust + the breath of God. “And the Lord formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being” (Gen. 2: 7). The dust became a body and the living soul is a rational soul, the breath of God, which renders man eternal.

Every human has a beginning but no end.

All the other creatures have both a beginning and an end.

God alone has no beginning or end; He is eternal and everlasting, the only infinity in the universe, in conception, in being.

But this one essence is manifested in Three Persons.

God the Father is the origin.

God the Son is born of Him.

God the Spirit emanates from Him.

We can simplify this truth by the analogy of the sun, a finite material example, in order to make it easier to understand. The orb of the sun is the origin; the light of the sun is born of the fiery orb; the heat of the sun flows from the fiery orb.

One sun = orb + light + heat:

Just as it is impossible for the orb to be separated from light and heat, so is it impossible for the Father to be separated from the Son and the Holy Spirit.

Just as the orb, the light, and the heat of the sun are one, so is the God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.

And just as it is impossible to have the orb without the light or the heat, to have the light without the orb and the heat, and to have the heat without the orb and the light, so is it impossible to have the Father without the Son and the Holy Spirit, to have the Son without the Father and the Holy Spirit, or to have the Holy Spirit without the Father and the Son. The Holy Spirit flows from the Father and is sent to us by the Son, but all Three Persons are one in essence.

We believe in One God:

We cry out and declare many times a day in the creed, “We believe in One God”. We then explain in detail, for this One God is of the same essence but Three Persons.

We end the sign of the cross by saying, “In the Name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, one God”.

The two Testaments of the Bible affirm, "Hear, O Israel: The lord our God, the Lord is one?' (Deut. 6: 4, Mk. 12: 29).

Even the devils believe in One God. “You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe… and tremble! ” (Jas. 2: 19).

The belief in the unity of God is a deep - rooted tenet in Christianity and he who claims that there is more than one God is of necessity a heretic.

Three Persons:

God the Father is Wise, the Son is Wisdom, and the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Wisdom. Undoubtedly, the Wise + Wisdom + the Spirit of Wisdom = One.

God the Father is the Loving, the Son is the Love that is born of Him, and the Spirit is the Spirit of Love that flows from Him. The Loving + Love + the Spirit of Love = One.

God the Father is the Powerful, the Son is the Power who is born of Him, and the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Power that emanates from Him. The Powerful + Power + the Spirit of Power = One.

The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit:

The Son is born of the Father before all ages, Light of Light, just as light is born of fire. Is there a time lag? When I light a candle and light shines from it, which is first, the light or the fire? There is absolutely no time difference. Which emanates from the other, the light or the fire? Of course, the light comes from the fire without any time difference.

There is also no separation. Although the light is born of the fire, it is not separate from it. In the same way, the Father begets the Son in an eternal and spiritual birth, not a physical one as some believe. This is similar to the birth of light from fire, or of an idea from the mind. Although light comes forth out of the fire, it is inherent in it and inseparable from it. When an idea is bom of the mind and is recorded on paper, it still remains in the mind and is not separated from it by this birth. If this is possible with the tangible such as fire and the human mind, how much more for the divine.

The Father is not the Son nor the Holy Spirit. The essence is the same but the Three Persons are distinctive without however being separate from each other.

St. Augustine says that God the Father is not the Son and is not the Spirit, but the Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God.

The Golden Triangle:

If we visualize a golden equilateral triangle ABC, we notice that:

Angle A is not angle B is not angle C.

Angle A = angle B – angle C.

All of A, B, C. are equal to the whole triangle, for each of the angles embraces the whole triangle.

In the same way, the Person of the Father is not the Person of the Son nor the Person of the Spirit. The Father is the origin, the Son is begotten of Him, and the Spirit flows from Him, However,.

The Father is God.

The Son is God.

The Spirit is God.

And just as it is impossible to separate A from B from C, so is it impossible to separate the three Persons one from the other.

The Father creates the world through the Son and in the Holy Spirit.

The Son redeems the world through the Father and in the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit sanctifies the world with the Father’s will and through the work of the Son.

The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are One God.

God and Man:

God created man from dust and breathed the breath of life into him. He created him in His own image and likeness:

Righteousness… Adam and Eve were holy and righteous.

Freedom… God gave them the freedom to obey or to rebel.

Wisdom… He gave man a mind to think.

Immortality… He breathed an immortal soul into him.

Because of freedom, because God left Satan alive after his fall from heaven, and because Adam had the opportunity to choose and to exercise this freedom, to live with God or with Satan, man fell.

The fall had two results:

The death sentence: the wage of sin is death, that is, a physical and spiritual death (separation from God) and a moral one (for the earth was cursed and nature and animals revolted against Adam) ; it is also eternal (because the separation from God could last forever).

Nature became corrupt: Human nature became corrupt because of man’s sin and thus he needed to be renewed and recreated in order for his holy image to be restored.

The Best Solution:

After the fall of man, there were three possibilities:

That God carry out His sentence and kill Adam and recreate another substitute for him. But this solution runs counter to the love of God, His wisdom and His dignity. What would be the meaning of creating the man Adam only to have him deceived by Satan and killed by God? This would be repeated again, twice and thrice with each new Adam created by God. The best solution would be.

That God forgive Adam and Eve, for He loves man, but:

Where is God’s justice and His laws?.

Where the radical solution for this matter, for what value is it for God to forgive Adam and to leave his corrupt nature to sin further and to die?.

Therefore, the ideal solution was.

For God to redeem man, that is, for another person to die instead of Adam so that justice can take its course, for when this person dies, love takes its course and Adam is saved and forgiven.

However, this redeemer has to:

Be a man … for it is man who sinned.

Die… for the wages of sin are death.

Be infinite… for Adam’s sin is infinite, for it is against God who is Infinite.

Be sinless… for no one can give what he does not possess.

Be a Creator… in order to renew man’s creation and purify him of corruption so that the original divine image he was created in is restored.

Who is this Redeemer?.

It is impossible that He be an archangel, because while it is possible through the power of God for the archangel to take human flesh, he is still finite and he is not a creator.

It is impossible for the redeemer to be a patriarch like Abraham because he is a human who can die; in other words, he is finite and born with sin, and is not a creator.

The only possible solution is for God to take human form, for in Him all the conditions are met. When God is incarnate He can, in His human form, become a man who dies; in His divinity He is infinite, sinless and a Creator who is able to renew our nature and recreate us anew.

The Incarnation was necessary:

The incarnation was necessary so that God could faithfully manifest all His infinite virtues and attributes for He is infinite love, infinite justice, infinite wisdom, and infinite power.

That is why the “Word” became man so that He would, in the flesh, take our place and die and in His divinity renew and recreate man.

The Purpose of the Incarnation:

St. Augustine delineates three aims of the Incarnation.

Teaching: As wise teacher it was necessary for God to condescend to His human creation and teach them the way of salvation. This is naturally within His power for He is the omnipotent God. Man, on the other hand, is poor so how can he ascend to God to get to know Him? Man’s body is the work of God and that is why God does not disdain to unite with it in order to redeem humanity and sanctify it.

Redemption: The Lord redeems us by His death on the cross and we thus obtain forgiveness, purification, sanctification, and rooting in eternal life.

We are also renewed and recreated so that the divine image is restored in us.

Union: When the divine nature is united with human nature this meant His union with us and His dwelling within us. Naturally we will not become gods for there is only one God. But He will adopt us and make us His people, His flock, and the members of His household so that we might live with Him in His kingdom forever.

And that is why our Lord had a temporal birth.

The Lord's temporal birth:

God had prepared humanity for the Incarnation and Redemption two thousand years ago through many events:

The predominance of the Greek language all over the world facilitated the spread of the Gospel. Indeed, in a few years, Christianity had spread to all the known world. Through his travels, St. Paul evangelized in Antioch, Asia Minor, and Europe; the other apostles spread the gospel in Palestine, North Africa, and Egypt. The Ethiopian eunuch came from Ethiopia and Thomas went to India.

The Romans, men of war and strength, also built good safe roads along which the apostles and disciples traveled to all the known world in Asia, Africa, and Europe.

The Lord also prepared a people for Himself separate from the pagans, from whom came the Holy Virgin Mary to be His beloved and honored Mother.

Ptolemy Philadelphia had ordered seventy Israeli elders to translate the Torah from Hebrew into Greek thus producing the version that spread in Greek throughout the world so that all would become familiar with the Old Testament and with the prophecies about our Lord Jesus Christ.

The Gentiles themselves, apart from the Jews, were eager for salvation and a Savior; an example is Akhnaton, the Egyptian haraoh who believed in one god and in immortality.

He was born of a Virgin:

The Lord Jesus was “born of a woman, born under law to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons "(Gal. 4: 4,5).

Many other prophecies in the Old Testament were also fulfilled:

His birth: The Lord Himself gives them a sign; “A virgin shall conceive and bear a son and shall call his name Emmanuel (God with us) ” (Is. 7: 14). Simon the Elder was amazed at this while he was translating the verse, was too embarrassed to mention a virgin conceiving. He wanted to write “a maiden” shall conceive, but an angel of the Lord appeared to him, ordered him to translate accurately, and promised him that he would live to see the prophecy fulfilled. And in fact he lived almost three centuries till he saw the child Jesus in the anus of His Mother, the Virgin, and made his memorable statement: “Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, you now dismiss your servant in peace, for my eyes have seen your salvation which you have prepared in the sight of all people "(Lk. 2: 28,29).

"For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and the government shall be upon His shoulders, and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace" (Is. 9: 6). Only a simple child but He is a Mighty God, meaning that God took human flesh and came to live among us to teach us, redeem us, and be united to us.

In the Old Testament there are more than 300 prophecies of the Lord’s incarnation, His rejection by the Jews, His crucifixion, His resurrection, His ascension, His sending the Holy Spirit, and His establishing the Church. St. Augustine says, “The Old Testament is revealed in the New and the New Testament is hidden in the Old” (See some of the examples in the following table).

No. Subject of the Prophecy Old Testament New Testament.

1 His earthly genealogy. (Is. 11: 1) (Mt. 1: 1 - 7).

2 The place of His birth. (Mic. 5: 2) (Mt. 2: 1 - 6).

3 He is the Incarnate Deity. (Is. 9: 6) (Jn. 1: 14).

4 He is preceded by John the Baptist. (Is. 40: 3) (Mt. 3: 1 - 6).

5 The time of His coming. (Dan. 9: 24 - 26) (Gal. 4: 4).

6 Born of a Virgin. (Is. 7: 14) (Mt. 1: 8 - 23).

7 His entry into Jerusalem. (Zee. 9: 9) (Mt. 21: 1 - 11).

8 Sold for Silver. (Zee. 11: 12) (Mt. 26: 14,15).

No. Subject of the Prophecy Old Testament New Testament.

9 Betrayed by a friend. (Ps. 25: 12 - 14) (Mt. 26: 47 - 50).

(Ps. 41: 9)) Jn. 13: 18).

10 The potter’s field. (Zee. 11: 13) (Mt. 27: 1 - 10).

11 His disciples abandon Him. (Zee. 13: 7) (Mt. 26: 56).

12False witnesses. (Ps. 35: 11) (Mt. 26: 59,60).

13He is beaten and spitted on. (Is. 50: 4 - 6) (Lk. 22: 64).

(Ps. 35: 15,21) (Mt. 26: 67, 68).

14His silence before His accusers. (Is. 53: 7) (Mt. 27: 15 - 24).

15His wounds. (Is. 53: 5) (Mt. 27: 26,29).

16His falling under the weight of the cross. (Ps. 109: 24) (Jn. 19: 17).

17Piercing His hands and feet. (Ps. 22: 16) (Lk. 23: 33).

18His crucifixion between thieves. (Is. 53: 12)) Mk. 15: 27, 28).

19His prayer on the cross. (Is. 53: 13) (Lk. 23: 24).

20People shaking their heads at Him. (Ps. 109: 25) (Mt. 27: 39).

21People mocking Him. (Ps. 22: 7,17) (Mt. 27: 41 - 43).

22People’s astonishment at Him. (Ps. 22: 17).

(Is. 52: 14) (Lk. 23: 35).

23Division of His clothes. (Ps. 22: 18) Jn. 19: 23,24).

24His cry on the cross. (Ps. 22: 1) (Mt. 27: 46).

25His drinking vinegar and gall. (Ps. 61: 21) (Mt. 27: 34).

26His giving up the spirit. (Ps. 31: 5) (Lk. 23: 46).

27His disciples standing afar. (Ps. 38: 11) (Lk. 23: 49).

28None of His bones were broken. (Ps. 34: 30).

(Ex. 12: 46) (Jn. 19: 34 - 37).

29The piercing of His side. (Zee. 12: 10) (Jn. 19: 34 - (37.

30The breaking of His heart. (Ps. 22: 14) (Jn. 19: 24).

31The darkness at the time of the crucifixion.

(Am. 8: 9) (Mt. 27: 45).

32His burial in the grave of a rich man.

(Is. 53: 9) (Mt. 27: 57 (60 -.

33 His resurrection from the dead. (Ps. 16: 10).

) Ps. 33 ( (Mt. 28).

) Ps. 41: 10) (lCor. 15).

(Ps. 22: 22) (Jn. 20: 21).

34His ascension to heaven. (Ps. 47: 5).

(Ps. 68: 18) (Lk. 24: 51).

(Ps. 118: 19) (Acts 1: 9 - 12).

35His is seated at the right hand of God.

(Ps. 110: 1) (Acts. 7: 56).

And so as we celebrate the third millennium and the temporal birth of our Lord Jesus Christ in the flesh, let us not forget His eternal birth before all ages, so that we cry out with St. John the Beloved: “ / « the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God "(Jn. 1: 1). That is, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are one God.

So let us come worshipfully to the Child in the manger whose birth the angels sang saying: ‘‘‘‘Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace, goodwill to all men "(Lk. 2: 14) and to whom the Wise men came from afar to worship Him and to present Him with gold (symbol of His Kingdom) , frankincense, (symbol of His priesthood) , and myrrh (symbol of His redemption of us).

Let us be saved by Him “A Savior has been born to you "(Lk. 2: 11).

Come let us offer Him, Gold… What is most dear to us?.

Frankincense… our prayers and incense, Myrrh… our suffering and sacrifices To Him be all glory.