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dying in him we will also live with him, as Paul says. For about this, Gregory the Theologian also speaks thus: “What the sun is for perceptible things, God is for intelligible things.” For He will be both the age to come and the unsetting day and the kingdom of heaven, a bridal chamber and a nuptial couch and a land of the meek and a divine paradise and a king and a servant, as He Himself has said: “Blessed are those servants, whom their lord, when he comes, will find watching; for truly, I say to you, that he will make them recline and, girding himself, will serve them.”

Therefore, all these things and many more besides these, which it is not possible for anyone to number, Christ will become for those who believe in Him, not only in the age to come, but first in this life, and then afterward also in the age to come. And although here it is more dimly and there more perfectly, nevertheless, the faithful already from here clearly see and receive the firstfruits of all the things there; for neither do they receive all the promises here, nor, while hoping for the whole there, do they remain, being here, without a share in and a taste of the good things to come. But since through death and the resurrection God has arranged to give us the kingdom and incorruptibility and all eternal life, in our souls indeed we already from here undoubtedly become communicants and (314) partakers of the good things to come, such as incorruptible and immortal and sons of God and sons of light and sons of the day and heirs of the kingdom of heaven, inasmuch as we clearly carry it within us - for all these things we already from here receive in the perception of the soul and in knowledge, unless we are in some way reprobate in the faith or deficient in the working of the divine commandments, but not yet in our bodies, but we carry it as corruptible, just as Christ and God before the resurrection, and being contained by it and our soul bound, we cannot now receive the whole glory that is being revealed to us, but beholding in a mirror the unspeakable ocean of glory, we consider that we see one drop of it and because of this we say we see now in a mirror and in a riddle, nevertheless we see ourselves spiritually like Him who is seen by us and who sees us according to the present life; but after the resurrection, the body itself also will be spiritual; just as He Himself raised it from the tomb, having changed it by divine power, so also shall we all receive it as spiritual and we who were previously made like Him in our souls will be made like Him then both bodily and at the same time in our souls, that is, we shall be like Him, men by nature, gods by grace, just as He Himself, being God by nature, became man by His goodness. But those who know this mystery precisely, how can they not long for and desire death, as the Apostle says: “For we who are in this tent groan, eagerly awaiting the revelation of the sons of God.”

For if this is not so and we, while being in the body, do not from here become partakers and communicants of the eternal good things, (315) nor do the elect receive grace, then Christ Himself is a prophet and not God; but also everything that His gospel says is a prophecy about future things and not a gift of grace; and likewise also the apostles were entrusted with a prophecy, but not the fulfillment of what was prophesied, nor did they receive anything nor did they impart it to others. But oh, the ignorance of those who think this way and their darkness! Therefore, according to them, our faith consists of empty words, devoid of works. For if the grace of God that brings salvation to all men appeared in word only and not in deed, and we think that the mystery of our faith has happened in this way, who is more wretched than us? If Christ is the light of the world and God, but we believe that He is seen continually by no man, then who among us is more unbelieving?

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ἀποθνῄσκοντες ἐν αὐτῷ καί σύν αὐτῷ ζήσομεν, καθώς ὁ Παῦλός φησι. Περί τούτου γάρ καί ὁ θεολόγος οὕτως λέγει Γρηγόριος· «Ὅπερ ἐστί τοῖς αἰσθητοῖς ἥλιος, τοῦτο τοῖς νοητοῖς Θεός». Οὗτος γάρ ἔσται καί ὁ μέλλων αἰών καί ἡ ἀνέσπερος ἡμέρα καί βασιλεία οὐρανῶν, νυμφών καί παστάς καί γῆ πραέων καί θεῖος παράδεισος καί βασιλεύς καί διάκονος, καθώς αὐτός οὕτως εἴρηκε· «Μακάριοι οἱ δοῦλοι ἐκεῖνοι, οὕς ἐλθών ὁ κύριος αὐτῶν εὑρήσει γρηγοροῦντας· ἀμήν γάρ λέγω ὑμῖν ὅτι ἀνακλινεῖ αὐτούς καί περιζωσάμενος διακονήσει αὐτοῖς».

Ταῦτα οὖν πάντα καί τούτων ἕτερα πλείονα, ἅ οὐκ ἐξόν τινι ἀριθμήσασθαι, τοῖς αὐτῷ πιστεύουσι γενήσεται ὁ Χριστός οὐκ ἐν τῷ μέλλοντι μόνον αἰῶνι, ἀλλά πρῶτον ἐν τῷδε τῷ βίῳ, εἶθ᾿ ὕστερον καί ἐν τῷ αἰῶνι τῷ μέλλοντι. Εἰ καί ἐνταῦθα μέν ἀμυδρότερον κἀκεῖ τελεώτερον, πλήν ὅμως πάντων τῶν ἐκεῖ ἀπ᾿ ἐντεῦθεν ἤδη τάς ἀπαρχάς οἱ πιστοί βλέπουσι τρανῶς καί λαμβάνουσιν· οὔτε γάρ τάς ἐπαγγελίας ἁπάσας ἐνταῦθα ἀπολαμβάνουσιν· οὔτε, ἐκεῖ τό πᾶν ἐλπίζοντες, μένουσιν, ἐνταῦθα ὄντες, τῶν μελλόντων ἀγαθῶν ἄμοιροί τε καί ἄγευστοι. Ἀλλ᾿ ἐπείπερ διά θανάτου καί τῆς ἀναστάσεως τήν βασιλείαν ἡμῖν ὁ Θεός καί τήν ἀφθαρσίαν καί πᾶσαν τήν αἰώνιον ζωήν δοῦναι ᾠκονομήσατο, ψυχικῶς μέν ἀπ᾿ ἐντεῦθεν ἤδη κοινωνοί καί (314) μέτοχοι τῶν μελλόντων ἀγαθῶν ἀναμφιβόλως γινόμεθα, οἷον ἄφθαρτοι καί ἀθάνατοι καί υἱοί Θεοῦ καί υἱοί φωτός καί υἱοί ἡμέρας καί κληρονόμοι τῆς βασιλείας τῶν οὐρανῶν, ὡς αὐτήν ἐκείνην ἐντός ἡμῶν δηλονότι περιφέροντες - ταῦτα γάρ πάντα ἀπ᾿ ἐντεῦθεν ἤδη ἐν αἰσθήσει ψυχῆς καί γνώσει λαμβάνομεν, εἰ μή τι ἀδόκιμοι τῇ πίστει ἤ ἐλλιπεῖς ἐν τῇ τῶν θείων ἐντολῶν ἐργασίᾳ ἐσμέν , σωματικῶς δέ οὐκέτι, ἀλλά φθαρτόν αὐτό, ὡς ὁ Χριστός καί Θεός πρό τῆς ἀναστάσεως, περιφέρομεν, καί παρ᾿ αὐτοῦ ἐμπεριεχόμενοι καί δεσμούμενοι τήν ψυχήν, οὐ χωροῦμεν νῦν τήν ἀποκαλυπτομένην ὅλην ἡμῖν εἰσδέξασθαι δόξαν, ἀλλά τό ἄρρητον πέλαγος τῆς δόξης ἐνοπτριζόμενοι, ῥανίδα βλέπειν ἐκείνου μίαν ἡγούμεθα καί διά τοῦτο ἐν ἐσόπτρῳ λέγομεν ἄρτι βλέπειν καί ἐν αἰνίγματι, πλήν ὁμοίους ἡμᾶς ἑαυτούς πνευματικῶς ὁρῶμεν ἐκείνου τοῦ παρ᾿ ἡμῶν ὁρωμένου καί ἡμᾶς βλέποντος κατά τήν παροῦσαν ζωήν· μετά δέ τήν ἀνάστασιν, καί αὐτό τό σῶμα πνευματικόν· ὡς αὐτός ἐκεῖνος ἐκ τοῦ μνημείου τοῦτο ἀλλοιώσας θεϊκῇ δυνάμει ἀνέστησεν, οὕτω καί ἡμεῖς πάντες τοῦτο ληψόμεθα πνευματικόν καί οἱ ὁμοιωθέντες αὐτῷ πρότερον ψυχικῶς ὀμοιωθησόμεθα αὐτῷ καί τότε σωματικῶς τε ἅμα καί ψυχικῶς, τουτέστιν ὅμοιοι αὐτῷ ἐσόμεθα, ἄνθρωποι τῇ φύσει, θεοί τῇ χάριτι, καθά δή καί αὐτός ἐκεῖνος Θεός τῇ φύσει, ἄνθρωπος τῇ ἀγαθότητι ἐχρημάτισεν. Οἱ δέ τό μυστήριον τοῦτο ἀκριβῶς ἐπιστάμενοι, πῶς μή ποθοῦσι καί ἐπιθυμοῦσι τόν θάνατον, καθώς φησιν ὁ Ἀπόστολος· «Οἱ δέ ἐν τῷ σκήνει τούτῳ ὄντες στενάζομεν, τήν ἀποκάλυψιν ἀπεκδεχόμενοι τῶν υἱῶν τοῦ Θεοῦ».

Καί γάρ εἰ μή τοῦτό ἐστι μηδέ ἀπ᾿ ἐντεῦθεν ἐν σώματι ὄντες τῶν αἰωνίων ἀγαθῶν ἐν μετοχῇ καί κοινωνίᾳ γινόμεθα, (315) μηδέ τήν χάριν λαμβάνομεν οἱ ἐκλεκτοί, λοιπόν καί ὁ Χριστός αὐτός προφήτης ἐστί καί οὐ Θεός· ἀλλά καί πάντα ὅσα τό αὐτοῦ εὐαγγέλιον λέγει, προφητεία περί μελλόντων ἐστί καί οὐχί δωρεά χάριτος· ὁμοίως δέ καί οἱ ἀπόστολοι προφητείαν ἐνεχειρίσθησαν, ἀλλ᾿ οὐχί τῶν προφητευθέντων ἐκπλήρωσιν, οὐδέ ἔλαβόν τι ἐκεῖνοι οὐδέ ἑτέροις μετέδωκαν. Ἀλλ᾿ ὤ τῆς ἀγνοίας τῶν οὕτως ἐχόντων καί τῆς σκοτώσεως! Λόγοι λοιπόν κατ᾿ αὐτούς ἐστι διακενῆς ἡ πίστις ἡμῶν, ἔργων ἔρημοι. Εἰ γάρ ἡ χάρις τοῦ Θεοῦ ἡ σωτήριος πᾶσιν ἀνθρώποις ἐπέφανε λόγῳ μόνῳ καί οὐ πράγματι, καί οὕτω γεγονέναι νομίζομεν τό μυστήριοιν τῆς πίστεως ἡμῶν, τίς ἡμῶν ἀθλιώτερος; Εἰ τό φῶς τοῦ κόσμου ὁ Χριστός ἐστι καί Θεός, παρά μηδενός δέ τῶν ἀνθρώπων τοῦτον ἀδιαλείπτως ὁρᾶσθαι πιστεύομεν, τίς ἄρα ἡμῶν ἀπιστότερος;