Life after Death | Orthodox | 17
We are free to make good and evil
How important is the earthy life for a man!
It is a kind of a test for him for faithfulness.
What does it mean?
In the act of creation God gave His image to a man, which presupposes such a freedom in a man, over which God has no power, which He cannot touch.
(If not so, He would have been guilty for all human sins and sufferings).
That is why God, being absolute humility and love, expects free reciprocal love, but not slavery obedience – that one, which, contrary to God, is so often required in our world.
(What is meant is not discipline, without which even a single society, including the Church, cannot exist, but a slave-like obedience).
So, God does not threaten anyone by punishment, moreover by hell, but by its commandments. He warns a man, that having committed a sin, he violates the laws of his nature, inflicts wounds upon himself.
God calls upon the righteous life, in line with our essence, in order we would not make harm either by deeds (for example by drinking, lust, drugs…) or thoughts and feelings (self-conceit, envy, hypocrisy, hatred…), or by a word ( a lie, insult, flattery…).
When I was a child a certain event occurred in my life, it helped me a lot to understand the essence of commandments:
Once in winter, while leaving the house my amorous mammy warned me very strictly, that I, in no way, should think of touching the iron door handle by my tongue.
Of course, that was enough that as soon as my mother had turned away, I immediately clung to that ill-starred handle.
And, of course, there came an awful screaming.
But, on the other hand, I know what it means, - commandments.
It appears, that they are not the order from God as if from a fierce boss, for disobedience of which He would impose punishment, down to eternal suffering,
but a warning given to a man about the danger of committing wrong deeds, injuring both the body and the soul, that is why entailing all possible suffering.
We don’t enrage God with our sins, but we cripple ourselves.
God, being love, shows us by His commandments:
on the one hand, the danger of causing ourselves sufferings and death (spiritual) by a sin,
on the other – the righteous way of life, leading to good in earthy and eternal life.
That is why this salvation is free choice of God, through love for the justice, holiness and the truth, but not the obedience to Him due to the fear of punishment or expectation from Him the heavenly enjoyment.
A Christian is not a slave and not a hired one by the housekeeper, but a disinterested son of the Father and the heir of the Kingdom.
Why did God humble down to the cross, and didn’t appear as the powerful, wisest invincible Emperor to the world?
Why did Christ come to the people neither as an emperor, nor as a patriarch, nor a hierarch, nor a theologian, nor a philosopher, nor a Pharisee,
but a poor, homeless, from the earthy point of view – the very last man , who hadn’t a single advantage over anyone?
The reason behind that is the same:
power, might, external luster, glory, undoubtedly would carry away the whole world, it would bow before Him as a slave and accept Him in the hope to get as more justice as possible, “bread and circuses”, that means benefits of this moment, transitory.
Christ has come in such a way, that nothing except the truth, would attract a man to Him, nothing external would be a substitute for it, would be in the way of eternal life.
It is not by mere chance that he pronounced such significant words:
“My kingdom is not of this world” (John, 18, 36).
”For this reason I was born and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth.
Everyone on the side of truth listens to me” (John, 18, 37).
The external effects are idols, which the mankind uses as a replacement for God during the whole of its history.
Unfortunately the Church life in the entire world have chosen the way of external so-called “church” splendor, to be exact the secular luster, for quite a long time ago.
It occurs to my memory the outspokenness of an American-Protestant, who stated openly with pride, not with a shame in the least:
“Everything in our Church must entertain in order to attract people”.
And the spiritual law says the opposite:
the more is on the outside, the less is on the inside.
And there is no doubt, that the antichrist’s time period will see such a glitter of a religious cult, which had never existed before in the history and everyone would rush to watch a spectacle (in Slavic shameful event).
And in the history of our Church this shameful phenomenon has many Church advocates.
As far back as at the beginning of 16th century the venerable Nil Sorsky came out against the Church luxury, riches and landed properties, especially in monasteries, as means demolishing Church and unnatural to it.
He tried to defend the non-possessors, but his voice was not accepted – the process of secularizing the Christian way of thinking even at that time turned to be irreversible.
350 years later, in the 19th century St. Philaret of Moscow said with a grief:
”How sad it is to see, that monasteries want pilgrims, that means they search for entertainment and temptation themselves.
True, they are in shortage of means, but more often they are in shortage of non-grabbing, simplicity, hope on God and taste for silence”.
And he also:
“if a certain war is to be declared against some clothes, in my opinion, that is not to be done against hats of the priests’ wives, but to gorgeous cassocks of hierarchs and clergymen. At least, this, first of all, was forgotten.
Your saints, God, let them cloth themselves in truth”.
And this process developing further, undoubtedly resulted in the schism of the XVII century, Peter the First and the Holy Synod administration, revolutions of 1905 and 1917 and their tragic consequences, through to Perestroika (restructuring).
And it might result in something even worse if we don’t regain our senses.
For the Church is really a leaven (yeast)(Matthew, 13, 33) of the society and its spiritual condition directly stipulates the inside and outside wellbeing of the people:
“A little yeast works through the whole batch of dough”. (Galatians, 5,9).
What a pity they don’t see it and don’t understand it.
So, the Lord by His life and by His Cross showed that He cannot exert any, even tiny pressure on human freedom, that is why the salvation is open only to such a person, who voluntary chooses it.
Due to this reason this earthy life is so precious.
Being in his body only, a man is capable of committing good or evil, to sin or lead a correct life – on earth his freedom and choice are accomplished.
After death, alas, there is no such thing, there a soul is powerless to change itself – it only reaps the fruit of its earthy life and naturally plunges into the environment of the eternity, akin to its spiritual state, – to be precise ,– not finally, not endlessly.
This state might be changed by the Church prayers.