Oh, the unspeakable goodness and love of mankind of the Lord who has appeared! Oh, the blessedness of those for whose sake their God and Lord came and appeared to them!

Blessed are the eyes that have seen God in the flesh, and the ears that have heard His divine words, which many prophets wanted to see, and did not see, and hear, and did not hear (Matthew 13:17)! Blessed are we also, although with these sinful eyes we do not see Him, and with these ears we do not hear His sweet voice, but we believe in His coming. Especially blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed (John 20:29). Blessed are we, because for our sake our God came to us, God, being like men, came to men, and came for people's sake. He came to save sinners, which means that we are also among sinners. He came to seek out the lost, and therefore us, since we were among the lost. Blessed be God, Who came to save sinners and to seek the lost!

This treasure of salvation was revealed to us by eyewitnesses who saw Him, and heard Him, and conversed with Him, and lived and communicated with Him, and touched Him, and ate and drank with Him, and were in trouble with Him, heard Him preach the holy Gospel and the kingdom of heaven; they saw how He walked on the earth, and from city to city and from village to village, labored, worked miracles, cleansed lepers, enlightened the blind, raised the dead, and did other supernatural works; we saw how He suffered, died, and died, and was buried, and rose from the dead, and how He ascended into heaven, we saw.

These eyewitnesses preached according to us: Concerning that which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and which our hands have touched, concerning the Word of life, for life has appeared, and we have seen, and testify, and proclaim to you this eternal life, which was with the Father, and which was manifested to us, which we have seen and heard, we declare to you, and so on (1 John 1:1-3). And again: We have proclaimed to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, not following cunning fables, but being eyewitnesses of His greatness. For He received honor and glory from God the Father, when out of majestic glory this voice came to Him: This is My beloved Son, in Whom I am well pleased. And this voice that came from heaven we heard when we were with Him on the holy mountain (2 Peter 1:16-18; Matthew 17:5; Mark 9:7).

This truth, the eyewitnesses and reliable witnesses of it, not only by word and miracles and various signs, but also by their blood, and by various sufferings and deaths, did not doubt it. True and worthy of all acceptance is the word (1 Timothy 1:15), which not one, not two, not three, but many eyewitnesses preached in agreement, and not only preached, but also confirmed it by signs and wonders, and spared not their blood or their souls. Consider this, brother, learn from this, stand firm in this, be of good courage, be strong, and stop your mouths to the blasphemers and godless, of whom there are no longer few, and pray that we, not having seen God, Who appeared in the flesh for our sake, may love Him with all our hearts, and not having seen Him until now, but believing in Him, we may rejoice with ineffable and most glorious joy, finally attaining the salvation of souls by our faith (1 Peter 1:8-9).

Save yourself!

Letter Two

Truly and righteously you answer: the great love of God is that He Himself came to seek and save (Matthew 18:11) man. Here we can righteously proclaim the well-known words of the Psalmist: "Lord, what is man, that Thou hast revealed Thyself to him, or the son of man, that Thou thinkest of him" (Psalm 143:3)?

A wondrous creation of God is man! Created differently from other things. Of all things it is written, God said, and it came to pass; commanded, and it was created (Psalm 32:9). It's not like that about a person, but what? Let us create man. Thus the Triune God advised; as if God intended to do some great deed, He said: Let us make man. What kind of person? In our image and likeness we shall create (Genesis 1:26). Man was honored with great and high honor by his Creator at the time of creation, so that it cannot be higher. All creatures are witnesses to the omnipotence and wisdom of God, but man, moreover, is honored by the image of God and created by His special counsel. Let us learn, brother, our primitive nobility, dignity and superiority.

When this wondrous creature of God, because of the cunning of the serpent and his disobedience, was dishonored and perished – which we cannot mourn – the goodness of God again appeared upon him, again honored him miraculously, again exalted him. How? God Himself, his Creator, came to seek and save him. He did not send an angel or an archangel, but He Himself entered into this work, He Himself put on human flesh, and lived on earth, and suffered, and died for man. You see the goodness of God, you also see the dignity of man. God Himself came for his sake, who was lost, so that the more a man was dishonored by the cunning of the serpent, the more honorable and exalted he was by his Creator.

Glory to God, Who was so well pleased! Glory to God, Who came to save us! May the glory of the Lord be forever!

Let us worship God, Who has come to save us sinners, and let us honor Him with true faith and a grateful heart: let us turn from creation to our Creator, and from the vain world to our God, and let us love Him, and seek Him, and serve Him with a pure heart, so that we may not appear ungrateful.

Save yourself.