Gifts from God to Humanity
Gifts from God to Humanity (1)
Giving is one of God’s attributes and His benevolence toward us. He continually gives, and by His giving He also teaches us a lesson in giving. Through His giving, He grants us what we give to others, and He also grants us the gift of giving itself. Let us now begin with the story of giving between God and humanity.
The first gift to us is the grace of existence, for He created us from nothingness. He created dust first, then created us from the dust and gave us a rational, articulate soul. Who among us thanks God for all this grace?! Some may say that this is something natural. Yet we thank God who granted us this existence and this nature. It is from God’s generosity and His love that He bestowed existence upon nothingness.
Among God’s gifts is that He prepared for humanity all means of comfort before creating him. He first created for him the nature that brings him comfort: light, water, and plants. He raised the sky as a roof for him and prepared the earth for him to walk upon. For his sake He restrained the sea, subjected to him the nature of animals, and did not leave him in need of anything. Rather, He created for him the sun to grant him light by day, and the moon and the stars to illuminate the night. He created for him the food that he eats, the birds that sing in his ears, and the nature that delights him with its scenery. He also granted him all the energies that help him live.
When God created man, He created him in utmost beauty, in utmost purity, simplicity, and holiness, which added another beauty to him. His body was strong in health, free from all physical diseases and psychological illnesses. He was complete in body, soul, and spirit. Indeed, the very word “disease” had no existence in the linguistic dictionary of humanity nor in practical life.
From God’s generosity as well, He granted man, from the time of his creation, authority over all living creatures on the earth at that time: authority over all the animals of the earth, all the birds of the sky, and all the fish of the sea. This authority, just as it was for our father Adam and our mother Eve, was also for our father Noah and his sons. If humanity lost its authority, that did not occur except after sin. In the life of the first human being, he did not eat the flesh of animals, he did not hunt them, and he did not confine them in cages for the purpose of display. Therefore, there was no enmity between him and them; they did not prey upon him nor harm him. All creation was one family, headed by Adam.
From God’s generosity and love, He granted humanity blessing. He blessed our first parents Adam and Eve, and He blessed our father Noah and his sons. After that, He blessed Abram (Abraham), the father of the fathers. Later, He sent blessing through the mouths of parents. Our father Noah was a blessing to the whole world; were it not for him, the world would have perished at the time of the Flood. But God preserved him for us as a blessing and as a continuation of humanity.
The Lord granted humanity many gifts, and the Lord granted humanity commandments that guide him in how to walk in life. The first of these commandments in written form were those that the prophet Moses presented to the people. Before the prophet Moses, God granted every individual a conscience by which he knows good and evil. When the righteous Abel was killed, God punished his brother for killing him, while the commandment of the prophet Moses that came in the Ten Commandments, “You shall not kill,” was given about fourteen hundred years after the killing of Abel. Likewise, the evils for which God judged the wicked by the Flood were considered evils because they were against the conscience, before God sent any commandment for repentance. We thank God for the consciences that He placed in us from the beginning.
God also granted us the grace of prayer, so that we may have a connection with Him, through which we speak to His Most Holy Majesty. This is from the abundance of His humility and His love, that He allows us—who are dust and ashes—to speak to Him directly. This too is a form of His divine love for humanity, that they speak to Him about their needs so that He may send them to them.
There are special gifts that God granted to some. Just as He granted Solomon the gift of wisdom, so that he was called Solomon the Wise. He granted Samson the gift of strength, so that he was called Samson the Mighty. He granted Moses the gift of prophecy, and his title became Moses the Prophet. He granted some the gift of leadership, and He granted many multiple gifts. How many are those to whom the Lord granted the gift of intelligence: among them are those whose intelligence was in the sciences, so that through their intelligence they reached the sciences of space and ascended to the moon; among them are those whose intelligence was in medicine or chemistry and other sciences. Among people are those whom God granted quick wit, and among them are those to whom God granted the gifts of art in all its details. Everyone who has received a gift from God must not boast in it, but rather return it to God who granted it to him.
Among the greatest gifts with which God bestowed humanity is the work of grace within them. By this grace, they can lead others to do good. These are the pure servants who are strong in guiding people. God’s grace works in them, works with them, and works through them. This grace grants them sound understanding and leads them to it.
Grace is given by God to humanity so that he may live a life of righteousness and virtue. If he does not submit to the work of grace within him and sins and persists in his sin, then grace works within him so that he may repent. Often a person fails to repent except by the power of God working with him, which leads his conscience to repentance, leads his heart to hate sin, to feel remorse for his past actions, and to desire to change his way of life and conduct.
Among the most important gifts of God to humanity is the continuation of life after death, through the resurrection, by which we shall have another life—the eternal life after which there is no death. How profound is the delight that God gives us in the other life, and what God has promised in it—what eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor has it entered into the heart of man. This is undoubtedly the summit of God’s gifts. As for on earth, among God’s gifts for which we thank Him with all our hearts are the care and protection with which He surrounds us, whether His care for us is through the holy angels whom He sends to protect us, or through the righteous among humans whom God commissions to do good for our sake.
Finally, we cannot enumerate the gifts of God. What we have mentioned are merely examples. It suffices the promises that God has promised us in eternity, and all this calls us to thanksgiving. It is not right that we deny the gifts of God, for those who deny have eyes, but they do not see.
An article by His Holiness Pope Shenouda III, published in Al-Ahram newspaper on 6/9/2009.
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