The Coming Of The Sons Of God

 There is an approach to life in which I tend to understand the purpose of humanity more objectively. It is more compelling to study creation and ponder its mysteries to uncover the unperceivable order amidst all the randomness and chaos. There is a very profound presence of something greater than we are and yet it is difficult to comprehend that greatness; to make it a reality to behold. We understand, scientifically, that animals are more advanced than plants and man is the most advanced of all the animal species. It’s easy to accept all the facts about his anatomy, physiology, biochemistry and to an extent his psychology. The sociology of man is in a much advanced and organised state than that of other living things. His intellect and his will are way more advanced regardless of how much smaller he is than some of the wildest and largest predators on earth ruled by instincts and stimuli.

 As fate would have it, there is a randomness in creation, one that we see in the disorderly behaviour of animals. The wild is what it is —wild— because animals compete profusely for available resources. Predators feast on preys, scavengers take on the dead and evolution ensures survival of the fittest. It is only man that can take away the disorder in animals and domesticate them to live in our environment. I’ve watched stories on National Geographic Channel of how people tame the unthinkable of beasts: lions, anacondas, tigers, pythons and even crocs. A beautiful movie that we could reflect on is ‘The Life of Pi’, a story of how a young lad tamed a tiger he met while stranded alone in the middle of the sea and in only a life boat after losing his entire family in a ship that was sunken by a storm. In every successful case of domestication there is an expression of joy and peace in the animals as they are seen to find comfort in their tamers. It’s almost as if the animals had always wanted to be treated with love from the onset of their lives. As I wondered why I could sense such admiration for humans by these tamed animals, my mind raced down to spiritual matters and scriptures filled me with words of wisdom.

 In Moses’ creation account, God had brought to being all of creation and the very final touch he added was man. The beautiful plants and the exotic animals would have not fulfilled the order of things God had created until God made something or someone that would bring order to all His creation. Interestingly, in the beginning, God had made many living things in creation and he did not bother to name them. However, the one and only living thing he made and gave a name was man. “For in the day that God created man, He made him in the likeness of God. He created them male and female, and blessed them, and called them Adam [Heb. for Mankind/Humanity] in the day they were created” [Genesis V: 1-2]. Adam was more than just another of God’s creation. He was in the image and likeness of God. God had sired a son in creation. On his arrival he had every privilege the Father had on earth and boy did Adam exercise that right. He took the mantle and created order by naming all of creation, because “whatever Adam called each living creature that was its name.” [Genesis II: 19]. It’s therefore truthful to claim that Adam was undoubtedly the first taxonomist

 This authority to name and order things that was bestowed upon man in the very beginning was so because Adam was the Son of God [cf. Luke III: 38]. Somewhere along the Salvation History, the divine sonship and the privilege to call God “Abba, My Father” was lost. In fact he lost the identity of God and probably lost his very own identity. He became somewhat like Eddard Stark’s bastard son in A Game of Thrones, Jon Snow, who knew his father but not his mother. Adam knew God the Father, his Father, but he had no knowledge of the Motherly Love [Agape] of God the Son and the Holy Spirit. In a sense, we could call him Adam Snow.
 I really love some statements in the book series ‘A Song of Ice and Fire’. I would love to quote a statement by lord Baelish ‘Little Finger’ that reflects my position on the disorder or chaos of this world. “Chaos isn’t a pit. Chaos is a ladder. Many who try to climb it fail and never try to climb it again. The fall breaks them. And some are given a chance to climb but they refuse. They cling to the realms of gods or love [in this case eros]: illusions. Only the ladder is real. The climb is all there is…” You see, the climb is all there really is. Adam saw a pit but in reality it was a ladder. He tried to climb it but failed and he never did again. It broke his purpose and his will to be who he was born to be. He considered himself trapped. Generations upon generations of mankind have been lured away by such illusions as polytheism. Even human love [eros] was a surer form of worship among ancient fertility cults.

 The entire Old Testament is a history of man’s deterioration from the image of God to the image of the Beast. Yet amidst the history of savagery, brutality and wildness therein lay the history of salvation. We lost order and promoted chaos in the world, yet order did not leave the world. It remained and continued to grow like a seed would into a tree. The Sons of God were lost but they were by no means destroyed. For many years they remained hidden and their generations developed, striving to establish the original purpose of order the Creator had destined them to fulfil. They persevered and were resilient in climbing that ladder until about 2000 years ago when the Firstborn Son reveals Himself. Rather than being dragged into the illusory pit of chaos as Adam had been, Christ saw chaos as a ladder. In the midst of all the death and destruction, as a matter of fact the very death and destruction of his earthly body was the symbol of his might and power. St. John the beloved describes how Our Lord prophesies that a chaotic event would be the very destruction of the chaotic rulers of the world. “Now is the judgement of this world; now the rulers of this world will be cast out. And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, would draw all humanity [adam] to myself” [John XII: 31-32]. His very death and resurrection would draw all of adam to Himself. He would bring adam back to order and show adam his salvific purpose on earth. He would make all of adam one with Himself and put in a new spirit so that he could go into the world, save it and bring about the order of the cosmos.

Jesus Christ of Nazareth has once and for all brought order to adam. Until adam would look past his weakness and realise that he isn’t just another animal in the taxonomic table but he is also the Son of God. When all of adam would rise up in one faith and one hope and one love Just like the Father and the Son are One in the Holy Spirit, we would never find the peace of the Sons of God. We would never be able to return all of creation to its initial state of the blissful beautiful Garden of Eden. We need to make efforts to become who we were made to be; who we were born to be. Many of us have received the holy waters of baptism as infants; others have received it as adults. We have all been confirmed by the seal of Christ on our foreheads and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit in our souls. We have been born again and it’s about that time we went into the world to spread the good news and bring order. Chaos has persisted long enough and I affirm that it is not a stumbling block or a pit to fall into. We must climb past the chaos of temptation, anger, addictions, lust, unforgivness. The Firstborn Son is here to help us and He has made us firstborn Sons in His Divine Sonship. The world has waited long enough us, “for the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the Sons of God” [Romans VII: 19]. We are here and it is time to take the mantle we lost in creation but found in Salvation and bring all of creation to order in its Firstborn Son so that we may bring about the peace of God's remaining children. Shalom.

"O the Blessedness of the peacemakers, for they shall be called

Sons of God" [Matthew V: 9] 

—The Godfather