The Entire Thought

Creation Glorified

The people were amazed when Jesus cast out demons. But you and I have seen more impressive things. When we landed on the moon, President Nixon boasted that it was the greatest event since creation. Politicians tend to exaggerate, so let’s take a more sober review of great historic events. Starting from the beginning.
People think that all at once, God made some amazing things and then rested forever. But creation was not a one-week-wonder: It is still going on. God did not make a product and then move on, as human creators do. God stayed with creation. Otherwise, everything would dissolve into the nothingness whence it came.
The original matter fumed and spewed and brought forth countless varieties of beings. Then one day, one of those beings thought: “I think, therefore I am!” Creation had evolved into humankind. Creation became conscious of itself. Which was also a breakthrough for God, who now had a
creature to relate with.
That relationship also evolved, as primitive minds slowly learned what God expected from them. Humans toyed with the idea of many gods, god and bad gods; they sacrificed food, animals and even humans; they feared God, were bewildered by God, sometimes even hated the distant God. Until one day God let it be know that he loved humans and wanted to be loved back. Creation became the love nest of God and humans.
Humankind continued to evolve into different kinds of societies and configurations and cultures and religions until it reached the point at which God could become part of creation. The Son of God gathered earthly elements to himself and became enfleshed. Creation had reached its climax.
The history of the earth, the future of the earth became the history and future of God!
The physical insertion of the Creator into creation was a volatile mixture. Although humankind had for centuries longed for closer contact with God, when God actually approached, humans did not know what to do. God was so different, so mysterious, so uncontrollable, so other, so holy! So, they killed him.
God simply took the battered body of his Son and raised him back to life. This was by far the greatest event since creation. When Jesus was resurrected, he shuffled off the ordinary elements of earth and wove a totally different spiritual body around himself. Resurrection is the creation of a new kind of body, a different kind of matter: glorified matter.
As an individual human, Jesus had been restricted to a single culture, a single century. But the Cosmic Christ is equally close to every age and civilization. He communicates this universal presence through his Holy Spirit. God’s Spirit had hovered over the waters of creation, spoken through the prophets, inspired every thought, word and deed of Jesus on earth. Now, God’s Spirit comes into his own. Just as creation was Christified by the life of Christ, so creation is now Spiritualized by God’s personal Spirit. We are living in the greatest time of history.
And it’s not over. Creation and humankind will continue to evolve under the direction of God’s Spirit until it reaches a critical mass in the Cosmic Christ. Then the glorified Christ will take to himself the glorified matter of creation and present it to his Father. There will be a new heaven and a new earth.

Fr. James Smith
Celebration, February 1, 1009

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