Cross Training - Agent of Faith - Ireneaus

So let me ask the question again, "who kept the church going after the disciples were gone?"  I know I have already proposed this question to you, but I am so fascinated by the men and women of the early church and their willingness to stand up for this fledgling church.  An individual that rose to prominence during this early part of the second century was a man named Ireneaus.

Ireneaus, like Polycarp and Clement, had a close association with the teaching of the Apostles.  Some believe he was a student of Polycarp, who was also, as you might remember, a student of the disciple John.  Little is really known about him, but what we do know is that he was a giant in defense of the faith.  He was a Bishop to Lyons (Southern France); he fought to keep the date for Easter in accordance with Jewish dates instead of with the equatorial fullmoon; he wrote 5 books against Gnosticism entitled – “Detection and Overthrow of the False Knowledge.

Of course, like the other Early Church Father, Ireneaus also had a heart that beat with the message of Christ.  In particular was his desire to see God's creation, you and I, reconnected to the Divine.  Ireneaus coined a term entitled, "Divinization."  It was a term to describe what Ireneaus saw as God's activity in recreating communion between lost humanity and its Creator.

From the beginning, God's activities, Old Testament and New, always centered around communion between the Divine and humanity.  Those same activities continue in the life of the church through the power and influence of the Holy Spirit in our personal lives.  Ireneaus saw communion with our Creator as a catalyst for personal worship.  Much of what he wrote seemed to suggest that worship to him involved at least three fundemental elements: Study - Obedience - Service.  These three actions were what made up ones worship. I call it the SOS of Worship.  

Justo Gonzalez in his book, "History of Christianity," said it this way - “God’s purpose is to make us ever more like the divine… God’s initial purpose included being united with humankind… Even before the incarnation, and from the very moment of the first sin, God has been leading humanity toward closer communion with the divine.”

Irenaeus knew that a personal / closer communion with the divine would enable us to live in renewed freedom. Renewed freedom starts with forgiveness: personal and corporate. Freedom then is chased in our Worship (SOS) – Study – Obedience – Service. As these become developed and defined the realization of our freedom in Christ will become more pronounced. Our service to Christ would then become more about the fruit and less about the beauty of the tree.