God Who Initiates
The Main Idea
The lecture revolves around a deep spiritual truth: that God, in His love, is always the One who initiates a relationship with the human being. Even if a person drifts away, falls into sin, or does not think about repentance, God visits him with His grace and seeks him and calls him to return.
God Seeks the Human Being
God is the One who began the relationship with Adam after the fall, and called him saying, “Where are you?” He is also the One who sent warnings to cities and peoples; some responded like Nineveh, and others refused like Sodom. Thus God continues to call, but the response is left to human freedom.
The Call to Repentance
In the life of David the prophet, God sent to him someone to awaken him from his negligence until he said, “I have sinned against the Lord.” With Peter the apostle, the Lord’s look affected him and he repented, while Judas could not endure despair. The message is that God’s grace works in everyone, but the fruit depends on the person’s acceptance.
The Ways Grace Works
God sometimes begins with a miracle, or with a word from the Holy Bible, or the influence of a sermon, or a hymn in the liturgy, or even with an incident that awakens the conscience. These are the “visitations of grace” that enter the heart and say to the person: return to God.
A Personal and Continuous Calling
Just as God began with Abraham, Moses, Samuel, Jeremiah, and the apostles, He also begins with every person in a special calling. He stands at the door and knocks, and waits for us to open to Him by our free will.
The Orthodox Spiritual Dimension
From the Coptic Orthodox perspective, the humble love of God is revealed, who seeks the human being despite his weakness and calls him into true communion with Him. Spirituality is the longing of the human heart for the heart of God, and a response of love to a preceding divine love.
The Core Message
God does not wait for us to begin; rather, He begins first, searches for us in love, and calls us to repentance and salvation. The question remains: do we respond to His voice or ignore it?
“For better translation support, please contact the center.”
