Finding the Gap that separates Humanity from Divinity

We certainly would agree that the two entities do not have a common denominator allowing both an equal position in worldly realities. If this were so, then the Incarnation of Jesus Christ would not have been necessary since the ransom needed to be paid could have come from a human sacrifice.

Yet, looking through the scriptures we see where Jesus in his Prayer before his Passion details the deep theological premise of the spiritual connection of his Father and him as one, and the same connection of his disciples with both Father and Son. “I pray not only for them, but also for those who believe in me through their word, so that they may all be one, as you Father, are in me and I in you, that they also may be in us, that the world may believe that you sent me.” (Jn 17: 20 - 21).

It is a theme that opens to the finite mind that there is more than just black and white, or up or down in the life of Christ and his closeness to his Father and our deep understanding of the special grace the Creator God has given to those of us who believe.

There is a gap that cannot be identified since the boundaries separating us is not an impossible trek to circumvent.

God is all Love and therefore all pure and holiness surrounds his Omnipotence. For any of us to stand before Him we must attain purity as well. Once we reach that level of sanctity we shall be like Him; not divine, but in the realm of his divinity. Remember the words spoken when the deacon or priest prepares the chalice for communion. “Through the mystery of this water and wine may we come to share in his divinity as he humbles himself to share in our humanity.” Already we have an invitation to become one with Christ as the bread and wine become the Body and Blood of the Son of God.

It is never just a block of words with some abstract meaning when the living Body and Blood enters our being and the savior who shed his Blood and died for our salvation has a deeper essence than just a wafer that is real flesh and blood. We have the privilege of being called to the altar of sacrifice that will remain with each one who truly believes in this real presence of Christ.

This is the Gap that was predicted through the prophets, and as Isaiah stated; “I rejoice heartily in the Lord, in my God is the joy of my soul: For he has clothed me with a robe of salvation, and wrapped me in a mantle of justice, like a bridegroom adorned with a diadem, like a bride bedecked with her jewels. As the earth brings forth its plants, and a garden makes its growth spring up, So will the Lord God make justice and praise spring up before all the nations.” (Is 61: 10 - 11).

If there may be a Gap, it is filled with the never-ending grace of Almighty God and we shall become one with the Trinity as our humanity becomes absorbed within his divinity!

Ralph B. Hathaway