Who is Christ?

Once we understand the nature of truth and the absurdity of modern views, then we must ask: who is this Spirit of Truth, this person of Christ, this first principle upon which all truth rests, and how is such a transcendent source knowable to us?

The Spirit of Truth is necessarily Christ Jesus, as He is necessarily both man and God. Without Christ as a man then God would remain forever out of our reach, too distant and too transcendent for our meager minds to dare approach. And so too would objective truth remain beyond our reach.

For who are we to know the Spirit of Truth? Who are we to know God?

John 6:66-68

From that time many of His disciples went back and walked with Him no more. Then Jesus said to the twelve, “Do you also want to go away?”

But Simon Peter answered Him, Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.

Revealed Truth

The very creator of the universe, of time and space, of reason itself, the source of all, can only be made knowable to us if that creator would condescend down to us -- to meet us, as it were, in our sorrowful state. In order to lift us up, He must come down to us. The story of Christ and of His life is exactly that story. It is our story. From the fall of man to our redemption through Christ.

In this ancient story we learn about ourselves and our purpose in life. For God condescended down to us -- the Almighty, born in a manger -- a child like any other. How is this possible? God could not be contained in all the stars and all the galaxies in the universe, but He was born as a mere human child in Bethlehem. The profundity of this is beyond words; for we are created in the image and likeness of God, and so too is our created purpose.

The condescension by the Almighty is followed by Christ's death, resurrection, and finally His ascension, which reveals the terrifying truth of our created purpose. For man is now lifted up beyond the holy of holies. And we begin to understand what it means to be made in the image and likeness of God. Christ is our alpha and omega, our begining and end -- the power that completes our life in God.

Hebrews 2:8-10

Thou hast put all things in subjection under his feet. For in that he put all in subjection under him, he left nothing that is not put under him. But now we see not yet all things put under him.

But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man.

For it became him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings.

The Word Made Flesh

Jesus the man is not a messenger from God, He is the message itself. He is the revelation of divine truth. He is revelation itself. He is the logos, the divine word of God in the form of man. As such we can ascend with Him. We are made to ascend with Him. And by looking upon Him do we see the face of God.

John 14:9

he that hath seen me hath seen the Father

Christ is both creator and created, allowing the ineffable being of God to be knowable to us.

Matthew the Poor

Christ descends into His creation in order to raise it up to Himself. He does not transform into it but redeems it from within. He purposely takes His body from creation in order to unite with it, so that with that body, He may become partaker of creation's travails and death; but through the power of His divinity, He pulls it up from death by His resurrection and makes it co-heir with Him in glory.

Father, Son, Holy Spirit

We learn from the life of Jesus that He is the Son of God, that the very word of God is itself a distinct person from God the Father. And that the bond between the Father and the Son, which proceeds from the Father to the Son -- the very love of the Father to the Son -- is the Holy Spirit, which is itself a distinct person.

The trinity is revealed to us in the life of Christ, that God Almighty is three persons -- which allows us to understand the transcendent source of all that is through relationships of eternal love. The ineffable being of God becomes knowable to us through these relationships. All fatherhood springs from God the Father, all sonship from Christ the word of God, and all life springs from the Holy Spirit -- which is the love from the Father to the Son.

Our very existence is an act of love, and through Christ can we understand the nature of the transcendent God, as well as the nature of love, which is the uncreated energy of God.

Christ is Knocking

The message that is Christ Jesus is incompatible with modern views, but so too is truth itself incompatible with modern views. And only to the degree that one earnestly and humbly seeks truth can one realize the nature of truth and the presence of Christ in their life.

Revelation 3:20-21

Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me. To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.

Without Christ we are living in darkness, worshipping various systems of control, caught in continuous destructive revolutions, grasping desperately for meaning, and finding only absurdity and evil.

John 8:12

I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.

Christ -- the Spirit of Truth, the King of kings, the Prince of peace, God of gods -- is known by many titles -- the Lord of Spirits, the Son of Man, the Son of God, the Messiah. And the doctrines of His life, death, resurrection and ascension are as varied as His titles. Yet Christ is knowable to you personally, not just in high-minded theological discourse but down to every flutter of your heart.

His grace is there with you now. For there is no event in life, none too big nor too small, that His grace is not sufficient. He calls to you personally through beauty, through goodness, through truth, through comforts great and small -- and He is there for you even as you stumble and fall in temptation and darkness.

Ephesians 6:10-12

Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

The Lord of Spirits, by Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick

Life in Christ means joining Him and His angels as He defeats His demonic enemies.

Meaning of Life

Christ not only sustains life, but is also the meaning of life.

Even in a reductionist sense, meaning in life is inescapable, and can be observed in three ways,

1. way of the slave - fear
2. way of the mercenary - reward
3. way of Christ - love

Deep down we know this to be true: from our base instincts we operate out of fear -- fear of suffering, fear of death, fear of God if one is wise. This is our base and only motivation when all else fails. This is the one source of meaning we can never fully escape (despite the murderous attempts by nihilists).

And we can similarly operate out of reward, the mercenary mindset. We seek reward and look for the shortest path to reward (usually within the bounds of our fear of suffering). Call this the carrot and stick mindset as it applies to all animals, and equally to us humans.

Christ offers a better way, that of love, giving glory to God -- which is the meaning of life.

Matthew 22:34-40

But when the Pharisees had heard that he had put the Sadducees to silence, they were gathered together. Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting him, and saying, Master, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

If we are to love God with all our heart, soul, and mind then we are to give him everything that we are -- all our sins, all our talents, all our suffering, all our joys, everything. And even how we relate to others, we are to love our neighbors as ourselves.

St. Joseph the Hesychast

Whatever we do not give to God to use in our ascetic struggles will be used by the other one (i.e., Satan). Our Lord gives us the commandment to love Him with all our souls and all our heart [Matthew 22:37], so that the evil one cannot find a place to rest within us.

This may seem impossible, and that's the point, we are called to something greater than ourselves. We are called to Christ, and by giving everything to Christ we become aware of the God-given grace that sustains us. We become aware of our part in God's will, for His will be done. We become the actuality of God's triumph over sin and death.

Theosis

We often refer to our relationship to God as familial, as a child to a parent. Yet in our fallen state we have inverted this relationship. We imagine ourselves to be self-reliant adults, adults that became independent of our parents. We then imagine God as a similar developmental stage "to be outgrown".

This is radically inverted from our true relationship with God.

We are but infants to God. Imagine a parent holding up their baby so that the baby may one day learn to walk; the baby makes fumbling movements with his legs and the parent marches the child along as if the baby is walking under its own power. When their wills align the baby and parent march along happily and lovingly.

The right relationship with God means to ask and receive His grace, and to let His will and our will become one. We are not aiming at growing stronger in order to be independent of God. We are instead aiming to become closer to God. All things -- our sins, our joys, everything -- are to be offered up to Christ Jesus that we may receive God's grace.

Theosis, becoming like Christ, means necessarily to become more and more willfully dependent on God. Ultimately, the life of Christ is not a series of miracles that Christians believe, nor is it a series of parables and moral advice, but it is the story that makes truth knowable to you personally, the story of your life as it was intended to be lived at the right hand of God.