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Sun. before the Elevation of the Holy Cross Ocala 2004 For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Begotten Son, that, whosoever would believe in Him should not perish, but have life ever-lasting. John 3:16 This verse from St. John's Gospel is perhaps the most powerful verse in the whole Bible. It stresses the epitome of God's love for His noblest creation -- man. This same verse is also the synopsis of the whole concept of the Theology of our Redemption. It emphasizes the depth and the breadth of God's Divine Love; a love, that Christians for the most part take for granted, or even forget. According to Divine Revelation, love is the essence of God. "God is love," declares St. John in his 1st Epistle, Chapter 4, verse 7. This love was firstly manifested when God created Adam and Eve, and blessed them to multiply and inherit the earth! But, as we know, the first-created chose to misuse their God-given freedom and disobeyed God, thereby resulting in their spiritual and physical death. Many generations followed their banishment from Paradise. As the generations came and went, so did the distance and the gap widen, so that man could no longer see even remotely any ray of light from God. Ingrained though in man's soul, was the need to worship some object, that he considered superior to him. Therefore, man created his own "gods" whom he worshipped. We may bring to mind the many "gods" worshipped by the ancient Greeks, whose dominion was high on Mount Olympus. However, our Eternal and loving God never stopped loving His prime creation. In time, He unfolded His plan to bring man back to his original state of creation, that is, to be a true image and likeness of God. He firstly revealed Himself to Abraham, a pious individual in Mesopotamia, and thus begins the road leading back to God. Subsequently, the long history of preparation methodically follows, during which God spoke through the Prophets of the Old Testament, so that the descendants of Abraham, as the chosen people of God would prepare themselves for the coming of the Messiah, who would atone for the sins of humankind, and offer salvation to all people. God's love is made manifest again, when He sends His only Begotten Son to pay the ransom for all the human race for all time. Through our Lord's sacrifice, His Blood running down the Cross becomes the Divine Grace through which we are saved. Thus, we are all blessed to have the opportunity to reap the spiritual harvest of salvation by the redeeming Grace of our Lord. Through this second manifestation of God's love for man, that is through Jesus Christ, we are in a position to be on a higher plane compared to the first created Adam and Eve. We have the opportunity to become the heirs of God and the joint heirs with Christ, as St. Paul emphatically states in the 8th Chapter of his Epistle to the Romans. Just think of it, and marvel; we are given the power and the Grace to become the heirs of God and the co-heirs with Christ! How greatly Christians slight themselves by not enveloping themselves in the bosom of God's love! It seems that so many of us Christians go about our own way; one this way and another the other way, often going astray to lose ourselves for eternity in God's Kingdom. Christians must conscientiously sense God's love deeply and take life more seriously. We are here upon this earth to labor and enjoy, but not at the cost of our eternal destiny. We came from God, and it is to God that we must return. This return though to God will not be through following any path, which we may have carved, but by following in the path of His Commandments. We must never forget St. Paul's teaching, that "we have no city which remains here, but we seek the City which is to come,"-- that is eternity. Two thousand years have passed, since the Lord's Blood ran profusely from the Cross to wash away the sins of humankind for all time. But, instead of man achieving the ideal of "Theosis," which means becoming God-like, man has selfishly set himself up as an idol,-or, he has set up other idols, which he adores, and thus has subjected himself strictly to his earthly desires and endeavors. The Lord came to bring man back to Heaven; but man has chosen to keep himself grounded. He has chosen to offer his sacrifices on the man-made "altars" of materialism, scientific and technological progress. However, no matter how great his successes may be, there will always exist a vacuum, -- a constant emptiness in his soul waiting to be fulfilled. We often see it over T.V. or in the newspapers, where highly successful people in the material scientific, technological and social world appear to be apprehensive, unhappy and literally unfulfilled, in spite of their having soared to great heights. God gave man the intellectual capability to discover the almost unthinkable and unbelievable. All these achievements could serve for his complete happiness, if they were undergirded with his spiritual counterpart -- the part, which is the breath of God in him, -- his soul. There is no question, that man will continue to be unfulfilled and even suffer as long as he permits the material progress to outstrip his spiritual progress. But, God is patient. He awaits patiently as a loving Father for man to return to the purpose, for which he was created. God wants everyone to be saved. We must come to understand that God's teachings, recorded in the Bible, were not given lightly. The Lord said: "I did not come to save the just, but to call the sinners to repentance." To show how great the joy, when a person mends his or her ways and returns to God, He states, that "there is great joy in all of Heaven when even a single person repents and finds his or her way back to God!" Imagine, my beloved, all those in Heaven are overjoyed when even a single person is saved? Such is the limitless measure of God"s love. But, how many Christians pay any attention, or even truly are concerned? The Lord once mentioned the story of the Jews, who were bitten by poisonous snakes during their 40 years of wandering in the desert after having fled from the Egyptian bondage. It was then, that Moses made a serpent of bronze, and raised it high on his staff, so that the Jews who looked to Moses with faith in God were cured from the snake-bites. Relating this event to Nicodemus, His secret follower, the Lord concluded: "Nicodemus, He said, just as the Jews were cured by looking up at the bronze serpent on Moses' staff, in like manner, I must be lifted up, so that he who would look up to Me in faith, would not perish, but have life everlasting." God does not, and will not turn his back to the least of us. He loves the just, but he nonetheless loves the sinner. You remember, when the self-righteous Scribes and Pharisees condemned the Lord Jesus, when he mingled and. ate with the publicans and sinners, He replied: "Those, who are healthy have no need of doctors, but those who are sick, do have that need; I did not come to invite the just, but the sinners to repent." There is no question that we are living in trying times; difficult times; -- times, when our patience is tested to the breaking point. Precisely, in those times, to whom do we turn for consolation and strength? We turn and look up at the Cross of Jesus, to receive saving strength and comfort. Remember, He sacrificed Himself for you and for me and for all collectively. We also should vividly bring to mind the unlimited love of God for each and everyone of us, and thereby receive courage to face life's adversities. Let us always remember, my beloved, that God so loved the world, that He gave His only Begotten Son, that whosoever would believe in Him should not perish, but have life everlasting.
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