Dn. Raphael St. Gregory the Theologian, also known as Gregory of Nazianzus, was born in 329 in Cappadocia, an area of Eastern Turkey.
In 381 he was elected archbishop of Constantinople. At the time, all the churches of Constantinople were led by the Arians. These heretics believed that Jesus was not always God. Their heresy was from the priest Arius, who many years earlier, insisted that Jesus was not eternal.
So ardent was Gregory’s teaching against them that when he left his episcopal office two years later, he had driven this heresy out of every church in the city.
Because he taught that Jesus is eternal, it may seem strange for him to say, “The Logos knew three births for us.” Here is the explanation:
Christ, The Logos, Eternal God, experienced three births. The first was His incarnation: our immortal God took the body of mortal man. Next came His baptism in the Jordan River just before He began his public ministry. His third birth was His resurrection.
Like Jesus, we too experience three births. Each has a gestation period.
Our first is our natural birth. As you know, babies develop nine months in the womb.
Our second birth is our baptism and annointing with chrism. This too has a gestation period as does our first birth. Adults prepare with conviction, the culmination of believing and learning the saving work of Christ. Babies are baptized shortly after their birth, then their family trains them in the spirit-filled life.
Just as a baby grows into a life of physical and mental action, so Christians grow into a life of active spirituality after their baptism and chrismation. Hence, all Orthodox Christians have an active public ministry which we should think of as the gestation period for our third birth which is yet to come. We prepare for that dreaded day of our own death. This will be our third, final, and wondrous birth.
Just as a baby in the womb grows in anticipation of its birth, just as a believer prepares for his baptism and chrismation, so we grow in hope of the day of our death—birth really—into the next life.
Are you preparing for your next birth?
Death comes for everyone, sometimes when it’s least expected. Those who live the faith will emerge to a healthy, eternal life with Jesus.
Will those who ignore or neglect who they are in Christ be born with some sort of impairment? A child without oxygen in the womb, if it survives, has a tough time. Can it be different for those who are not receiving the breath of the Holy Spirit in this life? The Bible does not teach of any impairment in Heaven, however it does speak to the shame of a life not lived for Christ. Our life in Christ is a dynamic ministry, not stagnant.
Let us encourage one another as we prepare for our next birth. May ours be a healthy, joyous resurrection into our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!