"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God...(John 1:1ff)".
St. Gregory of Nyssa: "The Christian Faith, which in accordance with the command of our Lord, has been preached to all nations by His disciples, is neither of men, nor by men, but by our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, Who being the Word, the Life, the Light, the Truth, and God, and Wisdom, and all else that He is by nature, was made in the likeness of man, and shared our nature, becoming like us in all things, yet without sin. He was like us in all things, in that He took upon Himself manhood in its entirety with soul and body, so that our salvation was accomplished by means of both: He appeared on earth and conversed with men, that men might no longer have opinions according to their own notions about the Self-existent [I AM], formulating into a doctrine the hints that come to them from vague conjectures, but that we might be convinced that God has truly been manifested in the flesh, and believe that to be the only true “mystery of godliness (1 Tim. 3:16).” This was delivered to us by the very Word and God, Who by Himself spoke to His Apostles, and that we might receive the teaching concerning the transcendent nature of the Deity which is given to us, as it were, “through a glass darkly (1 Cor. 13:12)” from the older Scriptures: from the Law, and the Prophets, and the Wisdom Books, as evidence of the truth fully revealed to us. We reverently accept the meaning of the things which have been spoken, so as to accord in the faith set forth by the Lord of the whole Scriptures, which faith we guard as we received it, word for word, in purity, without falsification, judging even a slight divergence from the words delivered to us an extreme blasphemy and impiety. We believe, then, as the Lord set forth the Faith to His Disciples, when He said, “Go, teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit (Matt. 28:19).” This is the word of the mystery [Baptism] by which, through the new birth from above our nature is transformed from the corruptible to the incorruptible, being renewed from “the old man, according to the image of Him who created (Col. 3:9, 10)” at the beginning (Gen. 1:26, 27).
"In the Faith then which was delivered by God to the Apostles we admit neither subtraction, nor alteration, nor addition... For whatsoever is said otherwise than in exact accord with the truth is assuredly false and not true." (St. Gregory of Nyssa (333-398 AD), Bishop of Nyssa from A.D. 372 to 376, and from 378 until his death)
“For
it was the good pleasure of the Father that in Him [Jesus] should all the
fulness dwell—for in Him dwells all the fulness of the Godhead bodily… (Col 1:19, 2:9).”
St. Gregory Nazianzen: “Jesus was baptized as Man, but He remitted sins as God (Matt. 3:13; 9:6)
— not because He needed purifying rites Himself, but that He might
sanctify the element of water. He was tempted as Man, but He conquered
as God (Matt. 4:1-11); yea, He bids us be of good cheer, for He has overcome the world (John 16:33). He hungered, but He fed thousands; yea, He is the Bread that gives life, and That is of heaven (John 6:32-58). He thirsted, but He cried, “If any man thirst, let him come unto Me and drink (John 7:37-39).”
Yea, He promised that fountains should flow from those who believe. He
was wearied, but He is the Rest of those who are weary and heavy laden (Matt. 11:28-30). He was heavy with sleep, but He walked lightly over the sea. He rebuked the winds, He saved Peter as he began to sink (Matt. 14:25-31). He is called a Samaritan and a demoniac, but He saves the one who came down from Jerusalem and fell among thieves (Luke 10:30-37); the demons acknowledge Him, and He drives out demons and sinks in the sea a legion of foul spirits (Luke 8:28–33), and sees the prince of the demons falling like lightning (Luke 10:18).
He is stoned, but is not taken. He prays, but He hears prayer. He
weeps, but He causes tears to cease. He asks where Lazarus was laid, for
He was Man; but He raises Lazarus, for He was God (John 11:34, 43).
He is sold very cheaply for thirty pieces of silver, but He redeems the
world and that at a great price, for the Price was His own blood (1 Pet. 1:19). As a sheep He is led to the slaughter (Isa. 53:7), but He is the Shepherd of Israel, and now of the whole world also (John 10:11-16). As a Lamb He is silent, yet He is the Word and is proclaimed by the Voice of one crying in the wilderness (John 1:23). He is bruised and wounded, but He heals every disease and every infirmity (Matt. 4:23, 9:35).
He is lifted up and nailed to the Tree, but by the Tree of Life He
restores us; yea, He saves even the robber crucified with Him (Luke 23:43); yea, He wrapped the visible world in darkness (Matt. 27:45). He is given vinegar to drink mingled with gall (Matt. 27:34) – He who turned the water into wine (John 2:1–11),
Who is the destroyer of the bitter taste, Who is Sweetness and
altogether desire. He lays down His life, but He has power to take it
again (John 10:17, 18); and the veil is rent, for the mysterious doors of Heaven are opened; the rocks are split, the dead arise (Matt. 27:51, 52).
He dies, but He gives life, and by His death destroys death. He is
buried, but He rises again; He goes down into Hell, but He brings up the
souls; He ascends to Heaven, and shall come again…”For
the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels;
and then He shall render unto every man according to his deeds (Matt. 16:27).” (St.
Gregory of Nazianzus, (330-390); Bishop of Constantinople from 381 to 390. Oration 29, para. 20 - some Scripture references added as unobtrusively as possible for those who want to read these
truths about the Lord Jesus Christ directly from the written word of God)
