"Chapter 37 He Took on Humanity
"Great, therefore, was the mercy of God the Father. He sent His creative
Word, who, coming to save us, took on our condition and the situation in
which we lost life. He broke the chains which bound us, and by His
light dispelled the darkness of our prison. Sanctifying our birth, He
destroyed death, setting us loose from those same chains.
"The Word revealed the resurrection (2 Timothy 1:10) becoming
Himself "the firstborn of the dead" (Colossians 1:18; Revelation 1:5).
In Himself He raised up fallen man, lifting him far above the heavens,
to the right hand of the Father, as God had promised through the
prophet, saying, "I will raise up the tabernacle of David that is fallen"
(Amos 9:11; Acts 15:16) -- that is, the body that was from the line of
David.
"Our Lord Jesus Christ truly accomplished all of this when He
triumphantly achieved our resurrection, that He might truly raise us
up, setting us free to the Father.
"If anyone rejects His birth from a virgin, how can he accept His
resurrection from the dead? It is not a marvelous, astonishing or
extraordinary thing for someone who was never born to rise from
the dead. We would not even talk about such a resurrection, for one
who was not born is immortal and is no more subject to death than to
birth. How could one who did not take on man's beginning receive his
end?" [page 51: SAINT IRENAIOS' THE PREACHING OF THE
APOSTLES, prepared by Jack N. Sparks. Brookline, MA: Holy Cross
Orthodox Press, 1987.].
"Great, therefore, was the mercy of God the Father. He sent His creative
Word, who, coming to save us, took on our condition and the situation in
which we lost life. He broke the chains which bound us, and by His
light dispelled the darkness of our prison. Sanctifying our birth, He
destroyed death, setting us loose from those same chains.
"The Word revealed the resurrection (2 Timothy 1:10) becoming
Himself "the firstborn of the dead" (Colossians 1:18; Revelation 1:5).
In Himself He raised up fallen man, lifting him far above the heavens,
to the right hand of the Father, as God had promised through the
prophet, saying, "I will raise up the tabernacle of David that is fallen"
(Amos 9:11; Acts 15:16) -- that is, the body that was from the line of
David.
"Our Lord Jesus Christ truly accomplished all of this when He
triumphantly achieved our resurrection, that He might truly raise us
up, setting us free to the Father.
"If anyone rejects His birth from a virgin, how can he accept His
resurrection from the dead? It is not a marvelous, astonishing or
extraordinary thing for someone who was never born to rise from
the dead. We would not even talk about such a resurrection, for one
who was not born is immortal and is no more subject to death than to
birth. How could one who did not take on man's beginning receive his
end?" [page 51: SAINT IRENAIOS' THE PREACHING OF THE
APOSTLES, prepared by Jack N. Sparks. Brookline, MA: Holy Cross
Orthodox Press, 1987.].
