he might show in the ages to come the surpassing riches of his grace in kindness, in Christ Jesus toward us. And his saying on the cross: Father, into your hands I commit my spirit, he commits all men to the Father through himself, those who are made alive in him. For they are members of him, and the many members are one body, which is the Church; as also the blessed Paul writes to the Galatians: For you are all one in Christ Jesus; therefore he commits all in himself, Thus therefore also when he says, The Lord created me as the beginning of his ways, he speaks concerning the Church, which is created in him. For the maker of all things is not a creature and a work, but the work is renewed in the maker, according to what is said by Paul: We are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus. And as he says again: That might be made known now to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places through the Church the manifold wisdom of God, according to the eternal purpose which he accomplished in Christ Jesus our 993 Lord; in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through faith in him. And again he says: Just as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to himself. And again he says also concerning the two peoples: that he might create in himself one new man from the two, making peace, and that he might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity in himself. And when he says: Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone; God, counting himself among men, said this according to his flesh, and with a view to the mind of the one who approached him. For that one considered him only a man and not God, and the reply has this meaning: For if, he says, you consider me a man, and not God, do not call me good; for no one is good. For goodness does not belong to human nature, but to God. And he adds: You know the commandments? And when that one said: Which ones? he said: You shall not commit adultery, you shall not murder, and the rest. He answered, saying: All these I have kept from my youth, what do I still lack? He said to him: If you wish to be perfect, go, sell all that you have, and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven, and taking up your cross, follow me. Through these things, therefore, he showed that goodness belongs to him also; for how can he who does not follow the Good One inherit eternal life? And when he speaks concerning the last day, that No one knows, not even the Son, but the Father, he speaks in a human manner. For if he knows the Father, how is he ignorant of the last day? For no one knows the Father, he says, except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. And if the Holy Spirit knows all the things of God, how is the Son ignorant of the day which he created? And if the ages were made through him, and the times, it is clear that the last day is also found in the ages and times, and it is impossible for him to be ignorant of it. 996 Therefore, whatever humble words have been spoken by the Lord, belong to his poverty, so that we might be enriched in him, not so that in them we might blaspheme against the Son of God. And for this reason the Son of God became the son of man, so that the sons of man, that is, of Adam, might become sons of God. For the Word, begotten from above from the Father ineffably, unspeakably, incomprehensibly, eternally, this same one is born in time from below, from the Virgin Theotokos Mary; so that those who were first born from below might be born from above a second time, that is, from God. He therefore has only a mother on earth, and we have only a Father in heaven. And for this reason he calls himself Son of man, so that men might call God Father in the heavens; Our Father, he says, who art in heaven. Therefore, just as we, the servants of God, have become sons of God, so the Master of the servants became the mortal son of his own servant, that is, of Adam, so that the sons of Adam, being mortal, might become sons of God, according to what is said: He gave them power to become children of God. Whence

ἐνδείξηται ἐν τοῖς αἰῶσι τοῖς ἐπερχομένοις τὸν ὑπερβάλλοντα πλοῦτον τῆς χάριτος αὐτοῦ ἐν χρηστότητι, ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ ἐφ' ἡμᾶς. Καὶ τὸ λέγειν αὐτὸν ἐν τῷ σταυρῷ· Πάτερ, εἰς χεῖράς σου παρατίθημι τὸ πνεῦμά μου, πάντας ἀνθρώπους παρατίθεται τῷ Πατρὶ δι' ἑαυτοῦ, τοὺς ἐν αὐτῷ ζωοποιουμένους. Μέλη γὰρ αὐτοῦ εἰσι, καὶ τὰ πολλὰ μέλη ἕν ἐστι σῶμα, ὅπερ ἐστὶν ἡ Ἐκκλησία· καθὼς καὶ ὁ μακάριος Παῦλος γράφει Γαλάταις· Πάντες γὰρ ὑμεῖς ἕν ἐστε ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ· τοὺς πάντας οὖν παρατίθεται ἐν ἑαυτῷ, Οὕτως οὖν καὶ ὅτε λέγει, Κύριος ἔκτισέ με ἀρχὴν ὁδῶν αὐτοῦ, περὶ τῆς Ἐκκλησίας λέγει, τῆς ἐν αὐτῷ κτιζομένης. Οὐ γὰρ ὁ ποιητὴς τῶν ἁπάντων κτίσμα καὶ ποίημά ἐστιν, ἀλλὰ τὸ ποίημα ἐν τῷ ποιητῇ ἀνανεοῦται, κατὰ τὸ λεγόμενον ὑπὸ τοῦ Παύλου· Αὐτοῦ ἐσμεν ποίημα, κτισθέντες ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ. Καὶ καθὼς πάλιν λέγει· Ἵνα γνωρισθῇ νῦν ἐν ταῖς ἀρχαῖς καὶ ταῖς ἐξουσίαις ἐν τοῖς ἐπουρανίοις διὰ τῆς Ἐκκλησίας ἡ πολυποίκιλος σοφία τοῦ Θεοῦ, κατὰ πρόθεσιν τῶν αἰώνων, ἣν ἐποίησεν ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ τῷ Κυ 993 ρίῳ ἡμῶν· ἐν ᾧ ἔχομεν τὴν παῤῥησίαν, καὶ τὴν προσαγωγὴν ἐν πεποιθήσει διὰ τῆς πίστεως αὐτοῦ. Καὶ πάλιν φησί· Καθὼς ἐξελέξατο ἡμᾶς ἐν αὐτῷ πρὸ καταβολῆς κόσμου, εἶναι ἡμᾶς ἁγίους καὶ ἀμώμους κατενώπιον αὐτοῦ ἐν ἀγάπῃ, προορίσας ἡμᾶς εἰς υἱοθεσίαν διὰ Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ εἰς αὐτόν. Καὶ πάλιν λέγει καὶ περὶ τῶν δύο λαῶν· Ἵνα τοὺς δύο κτίσῃ ἐν ἑαυτῷ εἰς ἕνα καινὸν ἄνθρωπον, ποιῶν εἰρήνην, καὶ ἀποκαταλλάξῃ τοὺς ἀμφοτέρους ἐν ἑνὶ σώματι τῷ Θεῷ διὰ τοῦ σταυροῦ, ἀποκτείνας τὴν ἔχθραν ἐν αὐτῷ. Καὶ ὅταν λέγει· Τί με λέγεις ἀγαθόν; οὐδεὶς ἀγαθὸς, εἰ μὴ εἷς ὁ Θεός· ὁ Θεὸς, συναριθμήσας ἑαυτὸν μετὰ τῶν ἀνθρώπων, κατὰ τὴν σάρκα αὐτοῦ τοῦτο εἶπε, καὶ πρὸς τὸν νοῦν τοῦ προσελθόντος αὐτῷ. Ἐκεῖνος γὰρ ἄνθρωπον αὐτὸν ἐνόμιζε μόνον καὶ οὐ Θεὸν, καὶ τοῦτον ἔχει τὸν νοῦν ἡ ἀπόκρισις· Εἰ μὲν γὰρ ἄνθρωπον, φησὶ, νομίζεις με, καὶ οὐ Θεὸν, μή με λέγε ἀγαθόν· οὐδεὶς γὰρ ἀγαθός. Οὐ γὰρ διαφέρει ἀνθρωπίνῃ φύσει τὸ ἀγαθὸν, ἀλλὰ Θεῷ. Καὶ ἐπιφέρει· Τὰς ἐντολὰς οἶδας; Εἰρηκότος δὲ ἐκείνου· Ποίας; ἔφη· Οὐ μοιχεύσεις, οὐ φονεύσεις, καὶ τὰ ἑξῆς. Ἀπεκρίνατο λέγων· Ταῦτα πάντα ἐφυλαξάμην ἐκ νεότητός μου, τί ἔτι ὑστερῶ; Ἔφη αὐτῷ· Εἰ θέλεις τέλειος εἶναι, ὕπαγε, πώλησόν σου πάντα ὅσα ἔχεις, καὶ δὸς πτωχοῖς, καὶ ἕξεις θησαυρὸν ἐν οὐρανῷ, καὶ λαβὼν τὸν σταυρόν σου ἀκολούθει μοι. ∆ιὰ τούτων οὖν ἔδειξεν, ὅτι καὶ αὐτῷ διαφέρει τὸ ἀγαθόν· ὁ γὰρ μὴ ἀκολουθῶν τῷ ἀγαθῷ πῶς δύναται ζωὴν αἰώνιον κληρονομῆσαι; Καὶ ὅταν λέγει περὶ τῆς ἐσχάτης ἡμέρας, ὅτι Οὐδεὶς οἶδεν, οὐδὲ ὁ Υἱὸς, εἰ μὴ ὁ Πατὴρ, ἀνθρωπίνως λέγει. Εἰ γὰρ τὸν Πατέρα ἐπίσταται, τὴν ἐσχάτην ἡμέραν πῶς ἀγνοεῖ; Οὐδεὶς γὰρ ἐπιγινώσκει τὸν Πατέρα, φησὶν, εἰ μὴ ὁ Υἱὸς, καὶ ᾧ ἐὰν βούληται ὁ Υἱὸς ἀποκαλύψαι. Καὶ εἰ τὸ Πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον οἶδε πάντα τὰ τοῦ Θεοῦ, πῶς ὁ Υἱὸς τὴν ἡμέραν, ἣν ἔκτισεν, ἀγνοεῖ; Καὶ εἰ οἱ αἰῶνες δι' αὐτοῦ ἐγένοντο καὶ οἱ χρόνοι, φανερὸν, ὅτι καὶ ἡ ἐσχάτη ἡμέρα ἐν τοῖς αἰῶσι καὶ χρόνοις εὑρίσκεται, καὶ ἀδύνατόν ἐστιν αὐτὸν ἀγνοεῖν. 996 Ὅσα οὖν εὐτελῆ ῥήματα ὑπὸ τοῦ Κυρίου εἴρηται, τῇ πτωχείᾳ αὐτοῦ διαφέρει, ἵνα ἡμεῖς ἐν αὐτῷ πλουτήσωμεν, οὐχ ἵνα ἐν αὐτοῖς βλασφημήσωμεν κατὰ τοῦ Υἱοῦ τοῦ Θεοῦ. Καὶ κατὰ τοῦτο ὁ Υἱὸς τοῦ Θεοῦ υἱὸς ἀνθρώπου γέγονεν, ἵνα οἱ υἱοὶ τοῦ ἀνθρώπου, τουτέστι τοῦ Ἀδὰμ, υἱοὶ τοῦ Θεοῦ γένωνται. Ὁ γὰρ γεννηθεὶς ἄνωθεν ἐκ Πατρὸς Λόγος ἀῤῥήτως, ἀφράστως, ἀκαταλήπτως, ἀϊδίως, ὁ αὐτὸς ἐν χρόνῳ γεννᾶται κάτωθεν ἐκ Παρθένου Θεοτόκου Μαρίας· ἵνα οἱ κάτωθεν πρότερον γεννηθέντες ἄνωθεν γεννηθῶσιν ἐκ δευτέρου, τουτέστιν, ἐκ Θεοῦ. Αὐτὸς οὖν μητέρα ἔχει μόνον ἐπὶ γῆς, καὶ ἡμεῖς Πατέρα μόνον ἔχομεν ἐν οὐρανῷ. Καὶ διὰ τοῦτο ἑαυτὸν Υἱὸν ἀνθρώπου καλεῖ, ἵνα οἱ ἄνθρωποι Θεὸν καλέσωσι Πατέρα ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς· Πάτερ ἡμῶν, φησὶν, ὁ ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς. Ὥσπερ οὖν ἡμεῖς οἱ δοῦλοι τοῦ Θεοῦ υἱοὶ Θεοῦ γεγόναμεν, οὕτως ὁ ∆εσπότης τῶν δούλων υἱὸς τοῦ ἰδίου δούλου γέγονε θνητὸς, τουτέστι τοῦ Ἀδὰμ, ἵνα οἱ υἱοὶ τοῦ Ἀδὰμ, θνητοὶ ὄντες, υἱοὶ τοῦ Θεοῦ γένωνται, κατὰ τὸ λεγόμενον· Ἔδωκεν αὐτοῖς ἐξουσίαν τέκνα Θεοῦ γενέσθαι. Ὅθεν