DYNAMIS!
A publication of St. George Orthodox Christian Cathedral
Wichita, KS
Genesis 1:1-13
(01/09)
First Reading at the Vigil of the Feast of Theophany
Toward Illumination: Genesis 1:1-13, especially vss. 3,
4, 5: “Then God said, Let there be light; and there was light. God saw the light;
it was good; and God divided the light from the darkness. God called the light Day; the darkness
He called Night....” It is toward Christ our God that we turn for illumination,
He Who illumines every man (Jn. 1:9).
In
creation, He brought forth light, dividing it from darkness, and
calling the two Day and Night (Gn. 1:5), for He is the Creator of all. And He “...has visited us; to give
light to those who sit in darkness...” (Lk.
1:78,79). Thus, two of His Divine acts, creation and His Theophany, reveal two kinds of light to us: created light,
which He makes in many forms, and Divine or uncreated light. Created light serves our physical need
to see but it also allows us, through our mind’s eye, to apprehend
the existence of uncreated light - one of God’s energies.
Saint Nikolai of Zica identifies four revelations of God embedded in the
creation account, with which we may associate light: 1) God is a changeless
Creator, a Light “...with Whom there is no
variation or shadow of turning” (Jas. 1:17). 2) He is wise and most merciful, a Light
to our paths (Ps. 118:105), the One guiding us towards our intended goal in
Light. 3) He is the Creator of all
physical light and will therefore bring such light to an end along with the
rest of His creation. 4) As Creator
of “...two worlds, the earthly and the heavenly, the material and the
immaterial,” God arranged that in His “...light shall we see
light” (Ps. 35:10).
Mankind as a creation is
changeable. Always we are in flux
and varying, which disrupts our ability to establish a relationship with God,
the unchanging. However, as
Vladimir Lossky says, the “...uncreated,
eternal, divine, and deifying light is grace...[the] divine energies as they
are given to us accomplish the work of our deification....Being the light of
the divinity, grace cannot remain hidden or unnoticed, acting in man, changing
his nature, entering into a more and more intimate union with him...revealing
to man the face of the living God, and....those who are worthy of it attain the
sight of the ‘Kingdom of God come with power’ in this life, as the
three Apostles saw on Mount Tabor.”
While the light of God does not change, His grace and energies change
us, moving us toward illumination and stability in Him by the power of the Holy
Spirit.
The task God gives us is to
purify ourselves through ascetic labors by faith, as Saint Makarios
of
The most difficult obstacle
facing us in becoming glorified through the ineffable light of God is the
allure of the immediate and distracting pleasures of the flesh and our inner
instability and restlessness. But
God kindly reminds us repeatedly in Scripture that He is calling us to be
children of the Light and heirs of eternal good things, and that, at present,
we are always on the Way.
However, in the words of the Baptismal Mystery, we are to
“....prove ourselves as children of the Light.” God help us to keep our eyes on this end
toward which we are striving.
The Theophany
of Christ is a gracious reminder that we are not merely material beings, but
special creatures capable of participating in the immaterial, spiritual world
around us. The Saints urge us to
seek God’s uncreated light with heart, mind, soul, and body, for, as
Saint Gregory Palamas says, he who participates in
this light “...is united to the Light and with the Light he sees in full
consciousness all that remains hidden for those who have not this grace.”
Illumine us, O Master Who lovest mankind, with the pure
light of Thy divine knowledge.
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