Athanasius on Christmas - Part 3

These are the kinds of ideas that human beings put forward, but the error of this foolish talk is plainly confronted by the divine teaching of the Christian faith.

From it we know that, because there is Mind behind the universe, it did not create itself.

Because God is without any limits, so we know that the universe was not made from pre-existing material but from nothing. There was absolutely nothing at all and yet God created everything through His Word.

He tells us this in Genesis: "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth”.

This is also made clear in that most helpful book “The Shepherd of Hermas”.

“First and foremost believe that there is One God who created and arranged everything. He brought all things from non-existence into existence.”

Paul also indicates the same thing when he says, "By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the Word of God, so that the things which we see now did not come into being out of things which had previously appeared."

Look, God is good and He is the Fountain of all goodness.

It is impossible for One who is so good to be mean or hard-hearted about anything. This good God was completely generous in creation - not grudging existence to any. He made everything from nothing through His own Word, our Lord Jesus Christ - and of all these earthly creatures He had special favour for the human race.

Human beings as animals were essentially temporary… so God gave to humanity a special grace… the grace of being shaped by His own Image - sharing in the rational life of God the Word Himself.

This meant that as reflections and expressions of The Word of God, in a limited way, human beings were able to exist forever in the true & blessed life of the saints in Paradise.

However, human will was free to turn in any direction. So, God made this grace of sharing life with His Word dependent on two things, from the very beginning - a law and a place.

As long as they were in His place and obeyed His law, they would share His life forever.

If they were careful to guard this special favour and held onto the special beauty of their original innocence, then life in paradise was theirs forever - free from sorrow, pain or care. Even beyond that life in the Paradise garden, there was the promise of heavenly immortality.
However, if human beings went astray and they spoiled their God-given beauty with the ugliness of evil, then they would slip back into their natural temporary state… and no longer live in Paradise. Instead they would die outside of Paradise, merely existing in a state of death and corruption.

This is what Holy Scripture tells us, proclaiming the command of God, "You can eat from every tree that is in the garden, but do not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. On the day that you eat it… death will be certain for you.”

"You shall surely die" - not just death, but remaining in a state of death and corruption.