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Devotion

We Shall Be Like Him (Deification)

Subject: We Shall be Like Him. (Deification).
Date: Fri, 05 Feb 1999 09:44:47 GMT
From:  (St.Athanasius)
Newsgroups: aus.religion.christian

In the Name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, the One God,
Amen. Peace and grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.

Dear Readers,
I thought that with the copious posts from
‘Truth’ relating to the post resurrection age that I might post
something about the end purpose of God with mankind. This will only
concentrate on one area-Theosis, (sometimes called Deification in the
Orthodox Church). This is a doctrine that is usually found wanting in
the west and is a ‘major tenet’ of the Apostolic Faith. I have copied
this article from “The Orthodox Study Bible.” New King James Version,
Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1993, page 561, copyrighted.
A side point to note is the Orthodox view of the Fall where mankind’s
creation in the image of God is ‘marred’ as opposed to the view of
totally depraved. Yet perhaps this one is a future post.


DEIFICATION.

Deification is the ancient theological word used to describe the
process by which a Christian becomes more like God. St Peter speaks of
this process when he writes, ” As His divine power has given to us all
things that pertain to life and godliness… you may be partakers of
the divine nature.” (2 Pet. 1:3,4).

What does it mean to partake of the divine nature and how do we
experience it? To give an answer, [we must] first address what
deification is not, then describe what it is.

What Deification is not.

When the Church calls us to pursue godliness, to be more like
God, this does not mean that human beings then become divine. We do
not become like God in His nature. That would not only be heresy, it
would be impossible. For we are human, always have been human, and
always will be human. We cannot take on the nature of God.

St John of Damascus, writing in the eigth century, makes a
remarkable observation. The word “God” in the Scriptures refers not to
the divine nature or essence, for that is unknowable. “God” refers
rather to the divine energies-the power and grace of God which we can
perceive in this world. The Greek word for God, Theos, comes from a
verb meaning ‘run’, ‘see’, or ‘burn’. These are energy words, so to
speak, not essence words.

In John 10:34, Jesus quoting Psalm 82:6, repeats the passage,
“You are gods.” The fact that he was speaking to a group of
hypocritical religious leaders who were accusing Him of blasphemy
makes the meaning doubly clear: Jesus is not using “god” to refer to
diving nature. We are gods in that we bear His image, not His nature.

What Deification is.

Deification means we are to become more like God through His
grace or divine energies. In creation, humans were made in the image
and likeness of God (Gen.1:26) according to human nature. In other
words, humanity by nature is an icon or image of deity: The divine
image is in all humanity. Through sin, however, this image and
likeness of God was marred, and we fell.

When the Son of God assumed our humanity in the womb of the
blessed Virgin Mary, the process of our being renewed in God’s image
and likeness was begun. Thus, those who are joined to Christ through
faith in Holy Baptism begin a re-creation process, being renewed in
God’s image and likeness. We become, as St Peter writes, ‘partakers of
the divine nature” (2 Pet. 1:4).

Because of the Incarnation of the Son of God, because the
fullness of God has inhabited human flesh, being joined to Christ
means that it is again possible to experience deification, the
fulfillment of our human destiny. That is, through union with Christ,
we become by grace what God is by nature-we ‘become children of God’
(John 1:12). His deity interpenetrates our humanity.

Historically, deification has often been illustrated by the
‘sword and fire’ example. A steel sword is thrust into a hot fire
until the sword takes on a red glow. The energy of the fire
interpenetrates the sword. The sword never becomes fire, but it picks
up the properties of fire.

By application, the divine energies interpenetrate the human
nature of Christ. Being joined to Christ, our humanity is
interpenetrated with the energies of God through Christ’s glorified
flesh. Nourished by the Body and Blood of Christ, we partake of the
grace of God-His strength, His righteousness, His love-and are enabled
to serve Him and glorify Him. Thus we, being human, are being deified.

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