WORK OF THE NEW MAN JESUS CHRIST

     Jesus Christ came into the world and fulfilled His activity, which aimed at the devil and all evil; He overthrew his dominion stripping the devil of his ill-gotten power and authority which he had acquired by man’s fall into sin, after his disobedience to God’s commandment.

     The overthrow of the evil one and all evil could only be accomplished by Jesus Christ the new man.

Being born of the a woman without the seed of man, He was perfectly holy, and free from original sin and not under the condemnation of death. He grew in spirit being filled with wisdom and the grace of God. At thirty years He was baptized in the Jordan River by John the Baptist, then by the voice of His heavenly Father witnessed that He was His own beloved Son in whom He had well decided to save the sinful and mortal race of men. Also, under the form of a dove descending upon Him, He was anointed by the Holy Spirit to be High Priest, King and Prophet over the holy city of God. He would fight with and overcome the devil and establish the Kingdom of God on earth.

    The devil attacked Christ unsuccessfully in an attempt to defile Him with sin, but was quickly defeated, became feeble and was exposed and put to shame, and he was instantly defeated.

     Jesus Christ being victorious began to preach the Gospel of His kingdom. And he brgan to gather his disciples. He drove out demons from those possessed, healed every form of sickness among the people and restored the dead to life. This established that He is truly the Son of God who came into the world to save the world from sin and to free men from the authority of the devil.

     The Devil waged a counterattack defaming Him with slander through the mouths of the wicked Scribes and Pharisees who were his seed. They accused Him of perverting the law of Moses, and accused him of being a false prophet; despite His divine wonders, they deemed Him worthy of death and not a true representative of God to which His works strongly testified. He voluntarily delivered himself into the hands of his enemies who condemned Him to death, the shameful death of the cross. This was most unjust and many prophecies bore witness of these things. He suffered greatly and surrendered His spirit, given up to death upon the Cross, and  the wicked ones looked upon Him with self satisfaction.

     This unjust and wicked act was immediately adjudged by God. It was judged that the Son who was deprived of life should receive the life that was taken from Him, and restored four and five fold. The Devil was condemned to death and destruction, and was deprived of all his authority which he had unjustly acquired because of the sins of men.

     On the third day the Lord Jesus Christ arose from the tomb according to the Scriptures, and received all authority in heaven and on earth and the right to raise the dead to life eternal, this included all those who believe in Him. The Devil is stripped of the authority which he possessed until the time comes when he will be justly apprehended and cast into the unquenchable fire of eternal punishment together with his angels and all his followers.

     From baptism until crucifixion and death upon the cross, the work of Christ was like war; then after the resurrection the work was peaceful and constructive having become the beginning of the new order founded upon the rights of pure and sinless Christ. Christ came and by teaching and example taught men what their purpose and destination are, elevating them as to their divine and holy destination. Christ through His mighty work turned the old idolatrous world upside down.

     This article was published in October 2016, and it shows the wonderful battle that our Lord waged on our behalf and the seriousness and importance of our Orthodox Faith. Christ who is the Creator and God of all, spared nothing including His life to bring us to salvation. The big question is, what are we doing about it. This is the most important decision that we will make during our entire lifetimes.

1. THE NEW MAN JESUS CHRIST

“The old man was of the earth, earthy, the new man is the Lord from heaven.”  

     The first man (Adam) was of the earth. earthy; the new man (Christ) is the incarnate Logos from heaven. The first man dissolved into the elements of which he had been composed, and returned to the earth from which he was taken. But the new man is not from the earth but is the Lord who descended out of heaven. Man did not evolve but is created by the Lord/ Thus life and death of men are always under the Son of God’s authority, for He is the preexisting eternal God, who also became a man in time. He is the one Godman Jesus Christ, the image and glory of the Father who gives birth to Him outside of time.

     The New Man is  true God the Logos, the second person of the Holy Trinity. Fulfilling part of His eternal plan, He became a man like unto ourselves without any change in His divinity. Also He became the perfect man being the perfect image and likeness of God, and was prophetically prophesied in the Book of Genesis. 

     He assumed His humanity in the womb of the Ever-virgin Mary, and He grew and was nourished by His earthy Mother. She gave birth to Him as a babe and carried the God of all in her holy arms. What a mystery~ What a wonder!  What humility! He became strong in spirit and grew into full manhood. He came and destroyed the authority of the devil stripping him of his power over man which he had acquired by inciting him to commit sin. He renewed the old man and saved him by all that He did for him with His suffering, death and resurrection. 

     An account of the divine and human natures of Christ is confirmed in three articles of our Symbol of faith, the third, fourth and fifth, and this was also defined by the Fourth Ecumenical Synod held in Chalcedon which says: “Following, then, the divine fathers in confessing one and the same Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, with one accord, we teach that He himself is perfect in humanity, truly God, one person, truly man with soul and body. He is of two natures, uncon-fused, unchangeable, indivisible and inseparable. We speak not of two persons separated but of one person, the same Son and is the only begotten God, the Logos our Lord Jesus Christ, as the prophets from the beginning taught concerning Him and the Lord Jesus Christ himself taught us, and as the Symbol of the fathers has delivered to us.”

     According to this definition of the dogma, the one eternal hypostasis of Christ is affirmed to be of two births, there are two natures, two wills and energies, one divine and the other human, united with no confusion, without one replacing the other, unchangeable, the one not being converted into the other; inseparable, the one not disappearing and leaving the other remaining. In the union of two natures, each retains its own properties. The unity exists in the person, the duality in the natures, and the wills and energies. Both the natures the wills and the energies exist in the one person. Christ is known as perfect God and perfect man from the properties and energies of either nature.

     In Him is contained all the power and authority of the Father and by His word alone, He raised the dead, healed every form of sickness and every disease, He changed water into wine, rebuked the waves of the sea, cast out demons, multiplied five loaves, so that many fragments were left. From doing these and similar things we know that He is truly God, for these are the works of God. He is truly man is shown by His weariness from a journey, by His hunger, thirst and pain. Also He was troubled at the approach of death and suffered as He was hanged upon the Cross. The Godman cognized and looked ahead to the work He was to accomplish in overcoming the ruler of this word, the devil, By His free will He was delivered up to death and in His own power He arose from the dead as God, saving all who believe in Him, and granting them life eternal in the heavenly kingdom. Those who disregard and reject His word He will justly condemn together with the devil and his angels when He comes in glory as Judge the living and the dead.

     Most men usually gives little or no attention to God and His commandments while God gives     complete attention to man, for He feeds and clothes him, provides shelter, provides means of communication, teaches him to wash, to speak and converse with Him. So rightly does He condemn those who refuse to believe in Him accomplished by His divine work as the Godman, which only He could do. He formed us with His own hands and yet we say there is no God?

     Man is a moral creature and has the morals senses that teach him truth and falsehood, right and wrong. Man is the only creature on this earth that rules over so many things. For God made him superior to others with intelligence and many abilities. Man is the image of God and has a destination that is vastly superior to this present life, which is eternal life where there is no sorrow, no pain, no death but life everlasting in joy which rejects all sorrow.