Redemption.
The Only-Begotten Son assumed a human nature similar to ours
and was born from the Virgin Mother of God. "Let us worship Him as God, and
believe that He became man," for if Christ is only God "then we are outside of
salvation." To call Him only God does not do Him full justice and does not bring
us salvation, and to call Him only a man brings us no advantage. Cyril opposes
Docetism by stressing the real human nature of Christ. The eternal Word became
man "really, and not only in semblance." It is not a mere man who was crowned
and deified, but the Word and Lord Who assumed a nature similar to our own.
Christ has a double nature. He is both God and man in complete
unity, and therefore Cyril can speak of the blood, humiliation, and crucifixion
of the Only-Begotten. "The One Who died for us was not just a simple man, nor
only an angel, but God Who became man." Therefore the whole world is saved
"because the Only-Begotten Son of God died for it." Christ came for the sake of
salvation. He came in the flesh, "otherwise He would be inaccessible to us," and
"we would not be able to see and rejoice in Him." The visible manifestation of
divine glory struck the prophets with trepidation. God covered His divinity with
the heavens, and thus veiled His unendurable radiance so that it would not
destroy the world. In the Incarnation of the Word "grace is proportionate to
us," for the Word has clothed itself and veiled itself in the flesh.
Christ came "so that the Father could be known," and the Son is
the only door to the true knowledge of God. He puts an end to pagan delusions.
"When people falsely began to worship the image of a man as God, God became a
man to destroy the lie." He came "so that sinful men could enter communion with
God and free themselves from the power of demons."
The Lord suffered for us, but the devil would not have dared to
appear to Him if he had known Him. Therefore, "the body be came a lure for
death, so that the serpent, which was hoping to swallow it, vomited forth that
which had already been swallowed." In this Cyril follows Origen.
The Lord descended into hell alone, but He left with a
multitude. "Death was terrified to learn that Someone new, Who could not be held
in fetters, had descended into hell." "The Lord was born from the new Eve, from
the new Virgin, to fulfill the prophecies. He sanctified baptism by His own
baptism." "The beginning of the Gospel is the Jordan." Christ worked many
miracles, but the greatest of all was the miracle of the Cross. Christ's death
on the cross was not in appearance only. "If salvation is from the cross, but
the death on the cross was only a semblance, then our salvation also is only a
semblance, and then so was the resurrection. If the resurrection was no more
than an appearance, then so too is the second coming. And nothing would be
real."
The cross is the indestructible foundation and hope of
salvation, the glory and "praise of all praises." The voluntary suffering of
Christ was real, and the Son of Man was glorified by accepting the crown of
thorns. "He Who suffered and endured was not an insignificant man, but God
Incarnate." All men were in bondage to death because of sin. Christ raised the
sins of all in His body on the cross to pay the "ransom," and God's anger was
satisfied. The justice of the sentence was maintained, but the strength of love
for mankind was made manifest. Sin came from a tree and lasted until another
tree. Christ was buried in the earth "so that the accursed earth received a
blessing instead of curses, for the tree of life was planted in it."
During His life the Lord symbolically reenacted, and thus
abrogated, the events of the Fall. "I confess the cross, for I know the
resurrection." He ascended into heaven, "crowned by His victory," and sat at the
right hand of the Father. "We will not concern ourselves with the nature of His
throne, for that is beyond our understanding." Although He has left the earth in
the flesh and is seated on high, the Lord is still with us. He will come again
in glory for the judgment and the final victory, "wearing the crown of the
kingdom of God." The eternal heavenly kingdom will be at hand, but the eternal
fire will also be prepared. The cross is a sign of victory, "a crown which does
no dishonor." This is Cyril's brief but striking presentation of the saving work
of Christ.
Source:
http://www.holytrinitymission.org/books/english/fathers_florovsky_1.htm#_Toc3723858
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