And the light shineth in the darkness, and the darkness comprehendeth it not.
John 1:5
As we prepare to celebrate the Great Feast of the Lord’s Nativity (25 December OS/Jan. 7), we are aware of the great furor over the attempt by the secular culture to erase “Christmas” from the national consciousness: atheist groups sue to ban manger scenes in public, department stores instruct employees not to say, “Merry Christmas,” and so forth. This kind of thing is disturbing, but it should not surprise us, for the struggle to proclaim the reality of the true Word and Son of God, and of His Incarnation, will never cease to be warfare and agony until the end of the world, when He comes again in glory to judge the living and the dead.
To understand this, we must fully accept the Christian revelation that life in this world is not repose and relaxation, but the ongoing struggle against Satan over our eternal destiny. If we think of peacefulness and ease as “ordinary” life and of struggles, controversy, and persecution as “interruptions,” we will always be angry when other people attack us for our beliefs or make it difficult for us to practice our faith. If we think of it as “taken for granted” that others will respect Christ and the Church, then we will always be irritated and judgmental when they do not.
We must understand, however, that it is not “taken for granted” or “ordinary” for the fallen human mind, darkened by sin, to receive Christ, much less to receive the fullness of Christ, which is in Holy Orthodoxy. For Christ is not a feel-good philosopher or a nice guy who smiles and promises that “happy times are here again,” but the Almighty Lord Who came with power into this world dominated by the devil, sin, and death, to wrest our souls from Satan by the violence of His Cross. He came in poverty and obscurity, and He took into His pure soul and body the consequences of our sins, though He is the Blameless One. This mighty act, this overwhelming wonder of His unbelievable condescension to us, is too much for the sinful human mind to bear, for He judges our sins simply by Who He is, and man’s pride, possessed by the lie of human autonomy, cannot accept Him, or His forgiveness, or His command that we obey Him in repentance and purity of life.
It is no wonder then, that atheists and secularists, including “liberal” pseudo-Christians, obsessed with creating a utopia on earth by means of “science” and “social planning,” wish to wipe out in men’s minds the very thought of Christ, the reality of Whose Cross shows how absurd and contemptible is man’s attempt to create a paradise on earth.
A key to understanding this further is to realize that there are really no “secularists,” for man is never really autonomous: no human being belongs to himself. He is either striving to be a free son of God or a possessed slave of the devil. These are our only choices. Let us pity and pray for those who choose the latter, and always strive to do the former. If we desire to serve Christ, and to be where He is, that is, on the Cross in this life, and in Paradise in the age to come, He will give us every help of grace in order to remain faithful. But we must renew our resolve, with courage, every day, by His grace.
A Merry Christmas and Blessed AD 2006!
Christ the Champion over Sin and Death
So, the God who all human beings expected throughout all the ages was Christ. In His person, God and man were united. He was born of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary. His conception and birth are miraculous. The Son of God became son of man in order to save men. If we study His words and His work, we will appreciate that he is clearly superior to the leaders of all other religions. While they are men, He is the God-Man. He spoke about love, about purity of heart and of intentions. He overcame sin, the devil, and death. He was raised from the dead. No other leader of a religion has risen again from the dead. Christ was resurrected and so overcame death and the devil. This is why He is the unique God-Man.
We are called Christians because we believe that He is the true God and because we keep His commandments in our personal life. We attempt to conform our lives to His own life.
Christ is not a perfect philosopher and a good lawgiver. He is not a moralizer and the leader of a religion, even the most perfect one. Rather, He is the champion over death, the devil, and sin. He did not come simply to change the external conditions of man’s life; He came to make man holy, to transfigure him, to deify him, to make him a son of God by grace. He is the Son of God by nature (natural child); we must become children of God by grace (adopted children).
- from Entering the Orthodox Church by Metropolitan Hierotheos (Vlachos)