«...The Church is a
beginning-less,
never-ending, eternal institution, just like Her
founder, the Triadic God, is beginning-less,
never-ending and eternal.
The Church is uncreated,
just as God is uncreated.
She has existed before the ages, before the angels,
before the creation of the world.
«...before
the foundation of the world...»
(Ephesians 1:4), as the Apostle Paul tells us. She
is a divine institution, and there, "...within
Him, dwells all the fullness of godhood...»
(Colossians 2:9).
(OODE note:
Given that "all the fullness" dwells within Christ, and
Christ is the Head of the Church, this phrase
necessarily applies to the Church).
This is an expression of the variform wisdom of God.
It is the mystery of all mysteries.
It was undisclosed, and was
«made
manifest at the end of the ages»
(1 Peter 1:20). The Church remains unshakeable, because
She is rooted in the love and the wise providence of
God.
The eternal Church is comprised of the three
Persons of the Holy Trinity.
From the very
beginning, both the angels and humans were in
God's will and His love.
We humans weren't born just recently. In God's
omniscience, we have existed before the ages. God's love
fashioned us in His image and in His likeness. He
included us in His Church, even though He knew of our
apostasy. He gave us everything to make us gods
also - through Grace and for free - and yet we, with the
misuse of our freedom, have lost our primordial beauty,
the primordial justice, and have cut ourselves off from
the Holy Trinity; we have lost Paradise, everything.
However, outside the Church, salvation does not exist;
life does not exist. That is why the merciful
heart of God - our Father - did not leave us out of His
love. He opened the gates of Paradise for us once again
- at the end of the ages - and revealed Himself in the
flesh.
With the divine Incarnation of the only-begotten Son of
God, God's pre-eternal plan for man's salvation was
manifested again to mankind. As the Apostle Paul
said to Timothy: "...and
admittedly it is great, this mystery of godliness; Who
revealed Himself in the flesh, was justified in the
Spirit, was seen by the angels, was preached to the
Gentiles, was believed in the world, and ascended in
glory.»
(1 Timothy 3:16). The Apostle's words are words
that are dense with meaning - divine words, heavenly
words!
In His infinite love God has reunited us with His
Church, in the Person of Christ.
By entering the uncreated Church, we approach Christ; we
ourselves enter into the uncreated.
In other words, we the faithful are called upon to
become uncreated - to partake of the divine energies of
God, to penetrate the mystery of godhood, to overcome
our worldly conscience, to die as "the ancient person"
and become godlike. When we live in the Church, we
live in Christ.
This is a very delicate
matter.... we cannot comprehend it. Only the Holy Spirit
can teach it to us...»
Translation by A. N.
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