The True Christ

CURSED BE THE MAN 

WHO TRUSTS IN MAN

“Thus says the Lord: 

Cursed be the man who trusts in man,

and whose heart has departed from the Lord”

                                          (Jer. 17:5)

     When a man turns away from trusting the Lord in his heart, it will then become common that he places his confidence and trust in other men or in himself. But if he never placed his trust in God but always in other men or himself, the curse is applicable. We are endowed by the Lord with good intellects and have been given freedom to choose whatever we decide upon. This freedom places a great responsibility on us for our beliefs, actions and choices.. The Scripture says, “Cursed be the man who trusts in man.” Why? Peter heard our Lord say, Will you also go? as people were leaving Him because of His doctrine, Peter asked him. To whom else will we go? For there is no God but the one true God and Jesus Christ is true God and man. Our hearts belong to God and not to ourselves and it is God who endowed us with the ability to love. God should be our very first love for He gives us everything we have, and He desires that we turn to Him, but woe to us if our heart “has departed from the Lord.” There is nothing worse for man than to be under a curse, for its end is eternal death and suffering. All who reject Christ and deny Him obedience and love have placed themselves under a curse.

     To whom will we go? 

Our life is in God’s hands, He gave himself to crucifixion for our salvation.  He died and rose after three days. He sent us His Holy Spirit to comfort us and to remind us of His doctrine.  He created us with His own hands and breathed His own spirit into us, bestowing a portion of His divinity into our souls and bodies. God has indeed greatly honored us and has highly exalted us due to His generosity and perfect love, for He greatly respects and honors his own image, the  creature which  He formed with His own hands – man!

     Behold the Theotokos, John the Forerunner, Peter and Paul, the twelve Apostles. many millions of Saints and Martyrs, all who flourished over a 2,000 year period! These are the ones that we fervently hope to greet with joy in the life that is beyond death. Filled with divine grace they all lived for and glorified Christ by their lives and glorious deaths here on earth. They loved Christ, they lived for Christ and they will be with Christ for ever and ever.

     How can man go elsewhere than to his Creator and God? His very life is always in God’s hands. God has determined his life span, to which he cannot add or take away one day. How can he put his life into the hands of a fellow servant instead? How can he  reject the great honor that God endowed him with and honor and exalt himself instead. How can man reject God’s glory and glorify his fellow man or be glorified by him?

     A man meets a woman and they form a great love for each other, and they end up in a beautiful marriage. They perfectly understand that their love is between themselves alone. Then things change and one of the two, let’s say the man, decides to abandon his first love and go to someone else. The marriage has come to an end and what they both had so greatly desired, love that never ends, has ended. Similarly God has married us and we have a great responsibility as His bride.  The Church of which we are all members, is the bride of Christ and Christ God is our heavenly Bridegroom and this divine marriage is endless for after this life, Christ will take us to be with Him forever. But if we betray our first love and choose someone else in place of our divine Groom, we will be shut out of the Kingdom.

     But what is the responsibility of we who are the bride during this present life? Our first love must be for Jesus Christ, for He is far above every creature and worthy of our love and affection. For this reason we build temples wherein we love and worship Christ. We place His image up high and in front of us in the temples and we bow to Him in reverence and in love. Entering the church we kiss His icon and signing ourselves with the Cross we pray to the our first love. Christ is our glorious King who firmly promises eternal live to those who are faithful in their love for Him. He gave us a Gospel which we must preach, commandments that we must keep, and feeds us with His own flesh and blood. He has left nothing undone. Sadly these facts are generally not preached in many churches and thus the faithful are not aware of the glory and honor which faithful men and women are destined to, who love and obey the Lord with all their souls, offering Him their hearts in love and joy.

     Cursed be the man who trusts in man! This curse can be lifted when we turn back in repentance and beseech the Lord to accept our repentance, our love and devotion. In deep sincerity we can attract His love and bask in the sunlight of His righteousness. Then we will be with Him forever shining like the great stars of heaven and bask in the light of His countenance.