“THIS IS MY BELOVED SON IN WHOM I HAVE WELL DECIDED”

“THIS IS MY BELOVED SON 

IN WHOM I HAVE WELL DECIDED”

     Note: This verse, like many others, is improperly translated in English Bibles, as “This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased . . . ” “Well pleased” is not the meaning of this word, which in the original Greek version is “evdokia” which does not mean well pleased. A better translation is  in  whom I have well decided. God cannot be described as being pleased or experience pleasure, but He does create and makes decisions.

“This is my beloved Son in whom I have well decided. 

And we heard this voice from heaven when we were 

with Him on the holy mount.” (2 Pet. 1:17-18).

     The holy Apostle Peter heard the above words describing what they heard when they went with Christ to the mount when during  His Transfiguration; the words came from the Father.”This is my beloved Son in whom I have well decided, listen to Him.”

     The Father makes it clear from the beginning that Jesus Christ is His own beloved Son, and it was in Him and through Him that the salvation of man would be accomplished. There is no other name in heaven or on earth, by which man can be saved except that of Jesus Christ, who alone is the eternal Son of God and was born as a man – the Godman, born in time as Son of the Virgin.

     There are some who assert that men made up the idea that Jesus is the eternal Son of God. This was claimed by the ancient heretic Arius who denying the divinity of the Lord, asserting that He was only man.  But the testimony recorded here are the words of the Father who testifies. “This is my beloved Son in whom I have well decided.”

     If Jesus was not the Son of God as well and the Son of the Virgin, faith in Him would be in vain, for as a man alone he could not save. It is the perfect and eternal plan of God that the Godman would be the Savior and Redeemer of the world. After the first fall of man, enmity existed between God and man and God would bring peace and joy through His Only-begotten Son our Lord Jesus Christ.  “This is my beloved Son in whom I have well decided, listen to Him!” All who come to Christ with faith and keep His commandments all through their lives, and enter His Church are on the correct path and all those who reject Christ are destined to everlasting perdition, for they have rejected God’s important command, “This is my beloved Son in whom I have well decided, listen to Him!”

Christ was not just a human moralist as some say, for He is the eternal God and Logos who of His own will became a man, the only Godman. The Father commits everything to the Son who is coming in glory to judge the living and the dead.  

     The Apostle Peter testified to what he heard the Father say and they are very powerful words, not the words of men but of the command to all men from the Father who is in heaven.

     Let us consider some of the earthly gifts of the Father, including the gifts of our souls and spirits and our lives and existence coupled with provisions of its many requirements and necessities, the Father has blessed us with countless blessings and  gifts for this present life. He gives water and abundant crops, animals, and abundant food. How much greater that this will be the promised heavenly gifts of God, including that of life that never ends? But if we do not show gratitude  for the many earthly gifts how can we expect to receive the greater heavenly gifts which we just ignore? We are given life, we eat and drink what is needed, we work, we sleep for rest and from our infirmities. But do we even begin to offer gratitude and appreciation for His many earthly  blessings? If we cannot be grateful and offer thanks for the multitude of earthly blessings already bestowed upon us,  how can we possibly expect the greater promise of heavenly blessings? Or how can we begin to expect heavenly blessings if we do not even believe they exist? How foolish we are! It is certain that we must die no matter how healthy we are, for sooner or later we must go for judgement the very day we leave this present life.

Jesus Christ did not teach us how to maintain and improve the present earthly life, but he did teach us how to sacrifice things in this live so as to acquire everlasting life in His kingdom. Jesus says: “Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust corrupt, and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven where neither moth nor rust corrupts, where thieves do not break through and steal, for where your treasure is there will your   heart be also”                                                                                                 (Mat. 6:19-21) 

      The promises and commandments of Christ, without fail, must be the all important goal of this present life, but certainly not as the world teaches, which is the acquisition of material goods greedily stored up until we die then left to others. So save your money and pile it up for years ahead, especially for your old age. The world teaches us to acquire all the money and goods that we can, which can make us become rich and powerful and believe that there is nothing more. This teaching is the black lie of the evil one who seeks our destruction and a share in his future condemnation and torment. We must heed the words of the Father and put them into daily practice: “This is my beloved Son in whom I have well decided, listen to Him.”

LIGHT AND DARKNESS

“The people who walked in darkness 

have seen a great light; they that dwell

 in the land of the shadow of death; upon 

them has the light shined” (Is. 9:2)

    The Prophet Isaiah speaks of the future coming of as great light which will shine in the darkest places. Jesus Christ is the Light of the world and those who follow Him in truth do not walk in darkness but have the light of life. The Lord as prophesied was incarnate of the Virgin Mary and she gave birth to Him in Bethlehem of Judea.

   Jesus established Himself as Head of His Church which is His body. Then after teaching His disciples, Christ sent them forth to preach the Gospel of salvation among the Jews, which was accepted by a few. Following this they preached to various non-Jews or Gentiles where the Gospel bore much fruit Sts. Peter and Paul composed much of written Scripture Matthew, Mark, Luke and John composed the four Gospels. Luke wrote the Acts of the Apostles and John wrote three epistles and the Book of Revelation. Paul wrote fourteen epistles;  Peter wrote two epistles, James one and Jude one. Besides maintaining written tradition, Orthodoxy preserves the oral tradition well.

     People who walk in darkness . . .  they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death. Where there is the greatest darkness is where the light of the Messiah did shine. We are all familiar with physical light and darkness, and we us many forms of physical light to maneuver through physical darkness. We utrn on the lights in homes, cars, factories, streets stores, etc. Without the use of physical light physical darkness would overwhelm us. But there is another form of darkness which causes us to blindly walk in darkness and dwell in the shadow of death. It is known as moral darkness and can only be overcome with moral light.  Moral darkness comes from the dark evil spirit, and moral light radiates from the bright moral sun Jesus Christ. Moral darkness causes us to behave badly before God and men. But when illumined by Christ and by following His words which brightly illumine our souls, we are enabled to see clearly, harm no one and are on the path to eternal life.

     Every virtue including goodness, kindness, meekness honesty and justice, with the avoidance of all evil vices dwells in the hearts and minds of all who are illumined by Jesus Christ, the only  Light of the world. Although many moral ideas have been taught in the world, only Christ is the true moral light and Teacher of the entire world, which enlightens the entire race of man.

     Moral darkness results in moral blindness which leads men to deserved perdition for they fail to distinguish moral light from moral darkness and Jesus Christ from the Devil. Their freedom to choose bears with it a huge responsibility for every free moral person is responsible for the behavior which he chooses. Every word that came from the mouth of Jesus Christ is important to us, for each one is a living moral light. Let us choose, for example, the words  “Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” (Mat. 5:2) Being poor in spirit is not really a blessing, but its results are a great blessing. Realizing our lack of spirit causes us to be sorrowful and mourn, and the very next beatitude is: “Blessed are they who mourn for they shall be comforted.” Seeing the realization of our own spiritual poverty arouses causes sorrow in our souls,  then the  spirit from God enriches us ringing calmness and peace. Every word of Christ is more valuable than anything that exists. His teaching and His Church gradually prepare us for the life that never ends, the eternal life of God.

     It is imperative that we take advantage of this temporary present life for there will not be a second chance to dedicate “ourselves and one another and our whole lives to Christ our God.”It is in this life that we need to prepare and conduct our lives to becoming like God humble, meek kind and just and this opportunity comes but once in a lifetime. Today is the day of our salvation!