Presidential Address, January 6, 2016, Feast of the Epiphany
St. Irenaeus stated, “God did not ask us to follow him because he needed our help, but because he knew that loving him would make us whole.” In fact, St. Irenaeus embraced the perspective held by all the other Church Fathers that in worship we are divinized. What is divinization? God condescended to us in the incarnation, so we could fully participate in the divine nature. Or, more simply, God became human so humans could become God. In adoration, right worship, we become reconciled to the one who made us and loves us. And we become divinized; we grow in Christ-likeness, or godliness.
This is a seminal idea from scripture and the Church Fathers: humans were created to offer right praise to God. We who follow Christ have the great privilege of engaging the world, telling the world its true story, and bringing it to the right worship of the only God who is ultimately true, good and beautiful. This is why the focus on right worship is at the very core of the Christian faith! [Read more . . . ]