Day 38

Yesterday we spoke about the Fall of man and the corruption of the Image of God in which we created. We also saw that the Nativity of Christ is a powerful and miraculous moment in God’s plan to restore our image to what is what, in other words, to offer us salvation.

By taking on our human nature, Jesus Christ affects this salvation. He takes our corrupted nature and perfects it. As Archimandrite Vassilios points out, Jesus was everything that Adam failed to be. It is for this reason that He is referred to as the New Adam. He took on our flesh, our nature, and lived it as it was meant to be lived…sinless.

Where Adam disobeyed God’s command in the Garden of Eden, Jesus was obedient “to the point of death” (Phil 2:8). While Adam’s sin brought death into the world, Jesus brings us the possibility of eternal life.

I would like to quote directly from our book because these words are so important: “The Incarnate Christ is the one and only God-man. He is what it means to be God, and He is what it means to be human. We were children of Adam, but because of Christ, we are now children of God.”

What it means to be human. When I read that I was reminded of a common saying we sue when we fail at something or do something wrong “I’m only human”. To be human, through faith in God, is to be like God. There is no failure or wrongdoing there. Those things come when we choose other than God.

As we prepare to celebrate this Nativity, let us welcome the true human nature we see in Christ and strive to be imitators of Him.

In Christ

Fr. David