Monday, March 30, 2009

Impressed to make an Impression

Recently I was reading some of Chrysostom’s homilies on Galatians. He can be fairly thought provoking at times… even if occasionally the thought is “What???” Like when he explains Paul’s rebuke of Peter as a ruse they had cooked up to silence the Judaizers. In Homily IV, he begins by quoting, 1 Timothy 1:15-16, “This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief. Howbeit for this cause I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might shew forth all longsuffering, for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on him to life everlasting.” The interesting thing is he applies these verses to Christ showing longsuffering TO Paul instead of as I had understood it Christ showing longsuffering THROUGH Paul. Then I got to thinking…

Ephesians 2:10 brings out that we are a masterpiece being created by God to perform tasks He has foreordained… Paul tells us in the verse we just looked at, that through his life all the following generations should see longsuffering. John was the beloved disciple who became the apostle of love. So how do you show forth something unless you have experienced it? Paul first knew the longsuffering of God by his experience of it in the realization that God had born with Paul throughout his time of persecuting the Church and waited that He might show mercy on the road to Damascus. From that realization Paul could learn to do the same and show longsuffering to others. John learned what love is as he received the love of Christ in a way beyond what the other disciples experienced it. Having received, he could also give out that love, and it became the reoccurring theme in all his writings.
In Hebrews 1:3 Christ is spoken of as the express image of the Father. “Express image” is the translation of the Greek “Charakter”. That word has a two-fold meaning much like the English words “Stamp” and “Seal”. It refers to the thing which produces the image, and also to the image formed. Christ is both the image of God and the instrument that forms that image in us. How do we show longsuffering, patience, love, joy , etc… if we have never seen them? Thus it is essential that we first experience these things from Christ (either directly or through His people) so that we can show them forth to others. We are impressed to make an impression.

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