👉🏾👉🏾👉🏾But We #Preach #Christ #Crucified (1 Corinthians 1:22)
part 3
Brethren beloved in Christ, Let us now, with trembling hearts and illumined minds, attend to the sacred mystery announced by the Apostle Paul: “But we preach Christ crucified” (1 Cor. 1:22). This is not the mere recital of words, but the very foundation of salvation, the heartbeat of true faith, the center of the apostolic gospel which the Orthodox Church, by the grace of the Holy Spirit, has preached from generation to generation, neither adulterated by philosophy nor diminished by heresy.
1. Christ is Not a Creature, But the Creator Himself
When we proclaim Christ crucified, we are not speaking of a mere prophet, nor an angel, nor any created being. No, we proclaim the Only-Begotten Son, very God of very God, the Creator of all that is seen and unseen. The Word, who in the beginning created all things, did not send another to save His fallen image He Himself came. As our fathers have declared, “It is impossible to lift creatures without their Creator.” Just as a shattered glass cannot be repaired except by the one who formed it, so fallen humanity could only be restored by its Maker.
This, dear faithful, is the essence of our Orthodox confession. The humility of Christ in becoming man is not merely a noble act, but a divine descent, the healing balm for our incurable wound.
2. The Will of God: The Incarnation of Love
The Incarnation was not the outcome of human merit, nor an accident of time, but the eternal counsel of God, fulfilled by His will through the cooperation of the Holy Trinity. As the Wudasie Maryam Zesalus sings, “By His will, by the will of the Father, by the will of the Holy Spirit, He came and saved us.”
Rejoice, O man! For the Lord of glory emptied Himself to assume our frailty. As David sang in awe, “What is man, that You are mindful of him?” God did not abandon His image to corruption. He visited us, assumed our flesh, and crowned humanity anew with glory. Therefore, the Church preaches not merely a man who did good, but the God-Man who became Christ for our sake.
3. The Good Will of Christ Revealed in His Life
To those who draw near by faith, Christ reveals His good will not in lofty speech, but in the holiness of His life. “Let your light so shine before men,” He said (Matt. 5:16). The Church calls the baptized not only to believe but to imitate the life of Christ: in humility, charity, chastity, and truth.
To the lost and far-off, the Church raises her voice like the trumpet of Peter: “There is no other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). Christ alone is the Savior, not one among many, not a shadow of truth, but Truth Himself, the foundation and fulfillment of salvation.
4. The Gospel According to the Orthodox Tewahedo Church
The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church proclaims not merely the crucifixion, but the entire divine economy of salvation:
Who Christ is: the Son of God and God Himself
Why He came: to save the lost
By whom He came: the Father and the Holy Spirit
His birth of the Virgin
His baptism in the Jordan
His fasting and temptations
His teachings and miracles
His passion, crucifixion, and death
His glorious resurrection and appearances
His ascension and promised return
His divinity and lordship
These are not symbols or ideas, but historical and eternal truths. The Church is a living witness to these mysteries, proclaiming the Lord’s saving acts across generations.
Continues 👇🏾