In Light of the Gospel

“For with You is the fountain of life;
In Your light we see light.”
(Psalm 36:9)

“The True Light,
Who gives Light to everyone,
was coming into the world.”
(John 1:9)

A Prayer for Facial Recognition

 

Letting Go and Trusting God

 

Baptism is Not a Work But a Gift

“Do you not know that as many as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? Therefore we have been buried with him through baptism into death, in order that just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too may live a new life. For if we have become united with him in the likeness of his death, we will certainly also be united in the likeness of his resurrection.” (Romans 6:3-5) 

Baptism and the Kingdom of God

“Giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light. For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.” (Colossians 1:12-14)

“In him you were also circumcised with a circumcision not performed by human hands. Your whole self ruled by the flesh was put off when you were circumcised by Christ, having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through your faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead. When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins.” (Colossians 1:11-13)

One thing I especially like about this version of the Icon of the Baptism is that, at the bottom, Lord Jesus stands on the same broken gates we find in the Icon of the Resurrection. They are the gates of Hades, of Death, trampled under the feet of Lord Jesus.

Bathed in the Truth of Christ

“Do you not know that as many as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? Therefore we have been buried with him through baptism into death, in order that just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too may live a new life. For if we have become united with him in the likeness of his death, we will certainly also be united in the likeness of his resurrection.” (Romans 6:3-5)

Christ Blessed the Water of Baptism

 

“Buried with him in baptism, by which you were also raised along with him by the faithfulness of the operation of the God who raised him from the dead.” (Colossians 2:12 DBH)

The Hour of Which Christ Speaks

“On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. Now both Jesus and His disciples were invited to the wedding. And when they ran out of wine, the mother of Jesus said to Him, ‘They have no wine.’ Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, what does your concern have to do with Me? My hour has not yet come.’” (John 2:1-4)

“The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. Now my soul is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour. ” (John 12:23-24, 27)

“After Jesus said this, he looked toward heaven and prayed: ‘Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you.’” (John 17:1)

And So Is He Our Salvation

Humankind, Once
Headed Up in Adam,
Is Now Headed Up in Christ.

“Consequently, just as one trespass [Adam’s] resulted in condemnation for all people, so also one righteous act [Christ’s] resulted in justification and life for all people.” (Romans 5:18)

“For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive.” (1 Corinthians 15:22)

What John Saw

“‘Worthy is the Lamb who was slain To receive power and riches and wisdom, And strength and honor and glory and blessing!’ And every creature which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, I heard saying: ‘Blessing and honor and glory and power Be to Him who sits on the throne, And to the Lamb, forever and ever!’” (Revelation 5:12-13)

The Presence We Encounter

On the Road to Emmaus

So he said to them, “You foolish people – how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Wasn’t it necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and enter into his glory?”

Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them the things written about himself in all the scriptures. So they approached the village where they were going. He acted as though he wanted to go farther, but they urged him, “Stay with us, because it is getting toward evening and the day is almost done.” So he went in to stay with them.

When he had taken his place at the table with them, he took the bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. At this point their eyes were opened and they recognized him. Then he vanished out of their sight.

They said to each other, “Didn’t our hearts burn within us while he was speaking with us on the road, while he was explaining the scriptures to us?” (Luke 24:25-32)

The Cross and the Holy Trinity

“God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them” (2 Corinthians 5:19)

“And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son as Savior of the world.” (1 John 4:14)

“But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.” (Romans 8:11)

But Love Forgave and Overcame All

“Fellow Israelites, listen to this: Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs, which God did among you through him, as you yourselves know. This man was handed over to you by God's deliberate plan and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross. But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him.” (Acts 2:22-24)

“Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, he likewise shared in their humanity, so that through death he could destroy the one who holds the power of death (that is, the devil), and set free those who were held in slavery all their lives by their fear of death.” (Hebrews 2:14-15)

For God, who is love, was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting our sins against us (1 John 4:8; 2 Corinthians 5:19).

What We Encounter in the Mystery of Baptism

“For God chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world that we should be holy and blameless before him in love.” (Ephesians 1:4)

“What shall we say then? Are we to remain in sin so that grace may increase? Absolutely not! How can we who died to sin still live in it? Or do you not know that as many as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? Therefore we have been buried with him through baptism into death, in order that just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too may live a new life. For if we have become united with him in the likeness of his death, we will certainly also be united in the likeness of his resurrection.” (Romans 6:1-5)

The Restorer of Relationship

 

The Second Death is the Death of Death

“The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and Death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each one was judged according to his deeds. Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death – the lake of fire.” (Revelation 20:13-14)

“Then comes the end, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father, when he has brought to an end all rule and all authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be eliminated is death. For he has put everything in subjection under his feet. But when it says “everything” has been put in subjection, it is clear that this does not include the one who put everything in subjection to him. And when all things are subjected to him, then the Son himself will be subjected to the one who subjected everything to him, so that God may be all in all.” (1 Corinthians 15:24-28)

The Reality in Whom We Have Our Being

 

The Nature of Reality

 

The Trinity and Human Being

“To say that there are ‘many human beings’ is a common abuse of language. Granted there is a plurality of those who share in the same human nature ... but in all of them, humanity is one.” — Gregory of Nyssa, That There Are Not Three Gods

Incarnation and the Fullness of Everything

 

When Creation Came Into Being

Christ is the Lamb Slain from
the Foundation of the World.

The Arms of Love

 

Once We Say It Is Okay

 

Each Human Being Matters

 

Christian Universalism

“God made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfillment — to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ.” (Ephesians 1:9-10)

“Then the end will come, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father after he has destroyed all dominion, authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death. For he ‘has put everything under his feet.’ Now when it says that ‘everything’ has been put under him, it is clear that this does not include God himself, who put everything under Christ. When he has done this, then the Son himself will be made subject to him who put everything under him, so that God may be all in all.” (1 Corinthians 15:24-28)

An Announcement, Not An Argument

“Christ is risen from the dead,
Trampling death by death,
And on those in the tombs
Bestowing Life.”
Paschal Troparion

Not By Special Knowledge

 

Discerning Doctrine By Love

Christ Became Human Being

Through the Incarnation,
Christ has defined what
It means to be human,
Revealed most fully in
The Cross and Resurrection.

There Is Only One Human Being

Though there are many human persons,
There is only one human being.

All Things Participate in Christ

 

God’s Way Is Restoration

“For God’s purpose, according to which he did not make the human being to perish but to live forever, abides unchanging. When his kindness sees shining in us the slightest glimmer of good will, which he himself has in fact sparked from the hard flint of our heart, he fosters it, stirs it up and strengthens it with his inspiration, ‘desiring all to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.’ For, he says, ‘it is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish.’ And again he says, ‘God does not wish a soul to perish, but he withdraws and reflects, lest one who has been cast down perish utterly.’” ~ St. John Cassian, Conference 13.7

Because of Our Justification

Salvation Enables Faith

 

The Good News Hidden In Romans 3:23

In the first eleven chapters of Romans, the apostle Paul makes a long argument concerning the inclusiveness of the gospel. Along the way, he shows the inclusiveness of the gospel.

For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. But they are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. (Romans 3:23-24)

Consequently, just as one trespass resulted in condemnation for all people, so also one righteous act resulted in justification and life for all people. (Romans 5:18)

The experience of mortality and sin is universal, but so to the rectification and life Christ has secured for us through his faithfulness. And at the end of Paul's extensive argument, this is the conclusion he comes to:

God has bound everyone over to disobedience so that he may have mercy on them all. (Romans 11:32)

At this amazing declaration of universal mercy, Paul leaps into doxological wonder.

Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out! “Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor? Who has ever given to God, that God should repay them?” For from him and through him and for him are all things. To him be the glory forever! Amen. (Romans 11:33-36)

A Reorientation of the Heart

 

The Tree of Knowledge and the Deliberating Will

 

The Lord Who Sorts Me Out

The Reality of All Things

 

All Else is Idolatry

 

Our True Identity is in the Humble Christ

Our true identity is
found in the humble Christ,
and there will we find our rest.

“You should have the same attitude toward one another that Christ Jesus had, who though he existed in the form of God did not regard equality with God as something to be grasped, but emptied himself by taking on the form of a slave, by looking like other men, and by sharing in human nature. He humbled himself, by becoming obedient to the point of death – even death on a cross! As a result God highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow – in heaven and on earth and under the earth – and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.” (Philippians 2:5-11)

The Interpenetration of Heaven and Earth

 

When It Becomes Okay

 

On the Day We Realize Our Own Poverty

 

God in Each Other, Each Other in God

 

Would That Not Be a Disruption in the Incarnation?

 

Kindness is Transformative

 

Faith is Personal Engagement

 

All Creation Groans Together With Us

“For the creation eagerly waits for the revelation of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility – not willingly but because of God who subjected it – in hope that the creation itself will also be set free from the bondage of decay into the glorious freedom of God’s children. For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers together until now.” (Romans 8:19-22)

Faith is the Result of Our Salvation