God Became Man
ONE
To appreciate who Jesus is and what he has done for us we need to know what God’s original plan for humans was and what happened. In Genesis 1:28 we are told we were made in the image of God, which means God created us not only with a body but with a soul making us capable of sharing in the very life of God and becoming like Him. Made in the Image of God we needed something very special to become like God. To become like God He would need to share His divine life with us, which we did in Genesis 2:7 “Then the Lord God formed man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life.” This breath of life in Hebrew is the Holy Spirit. By breathing the Holy Spirit into Adam and Eve God placed His divine life in their souls, making them share in the Divine Nature as an adopted son and daughter of God. This is what God wanted, to share His divine life with us so that we would be like him as his sons and daughters forever.
TWO
St John Paul II “This is truly the key for interpreting reality”
The Devil seeks to destroy the Fatherhood of God by spreading a lie that sows doubt in His Goodness. Genesis 3:1-7
The serpent said to the woman, "Did God say, `You shall not eat of any tree of the garden'?" And the woman said to the serpent… ‘God said, `You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.'" But the serpent said to the woman, "You will not die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."
The implication is this: God is keeping you from happiness by his moral law. God is not a loving Father. He is a Master and you are his slaves. God told you not to eat of the Tree b/c He does not want you to become like Him. It’s God’s laws that are keeping you from Freedom and Happiness.” The devil sows doubt in the Goodness of God. We have all given in to the lie and we distrust Him
CCC 397 Man, tempted by the devil, let his trust in his creator die in his heart and, abusing his freedom, disobeyed God's command…All subsequent sin would be:
1. And a lack of trust in His goodness
2. Disobedience toward God
THREE
CCC 398 In that sin man preferred himself to God and by that very act scorned him. He chose himself over and against God, against the requirements of his creaturely status and therefore against his own good. By the gift of the Holy Spirit that was breathed into the souls of our first parents they were meant to be fully "divinized" by God in glory. But seduced by the devil, they wanted to "be like God", but "without God, before God, and not in accordance with God".
Scripture portrays the tragic consequences of this first disobedience. Adam and Eve immediately lose the gift of the Holy Spirit that makes them like God – sharers in His grace, His divine life. They become afraid of the God of whom they have conceived a distorted image - that of a God jealous of his prerogatives rather than a Father who wants to share everything with us.
The harmony in which they had found themselves, thanks to original justice, is now destroyed: the control of the soul's spiritual faculties over the body is shattered; the union of man and woman becomes subject to tensions, their relations henceforth marked by lust and domination. Harmony with creation is broken: visible creation has become alien and hostile to man. Because of man, creation is now subject "to its bondage to decay". Finally, the consequence explicitly foretold for this disobedience will come true: man will "return to the ground", for out of it he was taken. Death makes its entrance into human history.
FOUR
John Chapter 1 In the beginning was the Word: and the Word was with God and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things came to be, not one thing had its being but through him. All that came to be had life in him and that life was the light of men, a light that shines in the dark, a light that darkness could not overpower…The Word was the true light that enlightens all men; and he was coming into the world. He was in the world that had its being through him, and the world did not know him. He came to his own domain and his own people did not accept him. But to all who did accept him he gave power to become children of God.
The Son of God became a little baby in Jesus in a humble cave in Bethlehem so that we could become something very great – adopted sons and daughters of God. What wonderful exchange.
FIVE
When Jesus was born on Christmas Day a marvelous exchange took place: God became man so that we might become adopted sons and daughters of God.
There is a short prayer in every Mass where the priest places one drop of water into the wine
In this ritual
· The wine represents Christ
· The water represents our humanity (notice only the water is blessed)
As the Priest pours one drop of water into the wine
· That one drop of water is transformed into wine
This signifies the great exchange going on during Mass
1. We are the One Drop
2. We are offering ourselves to Christ
3. He will give us His divine life in the Eucharist
4. That we may be transformed
By the mystery of this water and wine may we come to share in the divinity of Christ who humbled himself to share in our humanity.
God created every person to share in His Divine life and become like Him. We reject this gift by sin, but Jesus makes it available constantly through baptism, Confession and the Eucharist we receive in Mass. Do we appreciate the lengths God has gone to give us this great gift: Becoming a helpless little child, living an ordinary human life, suffering grievously and being put to death on the Cross. But that was not far enough. His love wanted to go further – so God makes Himself bread in each Mass so that we can share in the Life of God.