Theosis, holy fire and living water

Follow-up on the "theosis" teaching in dialogue with today's readings from the Daily Office.

1 John 3:2
Beloved, we are God's children now; what we will be has not yet been revealed. What we do know is this; when He is revealed , we will be like Him, for we will see Him as He is.

In many of the Ancient Church Fathers, especially the Eastern Orthodox, the idea that we 'become divine' (theosis) is the primary expression of salvation.  It is not about "going to heaven," it is about becoming "one with God" and participating in His divine life. Several times I have read that the vision of God makes us one with God, something which I found difficult to grasp. Today, reading 1 John, I find the source of this teaching: "we will be like Him for we will see Him as He is."

To be "a child of God" is to share in Jesus' Divine Sonship. We become by God's grace and mercy what Jesus is by nature. This is already true, we have become His children, but it is in process, it is not fully manifested yet. We are like caterpillars; the butterfly glory lies within us, but now we live the caterpillar life until we are wrapped in the cocoon of death. Afterward we will emerge glorious and transformed! When Jesus is revealed and we see Him, we become Him. Perhaps, seeing, which often means to know and understand, is a metaphor? Maybe seeing is participatory because of what we see---divinity, and that unlike seeing created reality, seeing the uncreated Creator has an intrinsic power to transform? I do not know, but I do know that there is power in God which we have not yet encountered or experienced.

Luke 3:16
"I baptize with water... He [Jesus] will baptize you with fire and the Holy Spirit." (John the Baptist)

Ceremonial washing plays a role in many religious traditions. Water is a natural symbol and evokes deep realities: the water of the womb, the water of seas and oceans from which life first emerged, water sustains life for vegetation and animals, and water cleanses. It is easy to see how baptism (this is actually a Greek word which means to dip, to soak, to immerse, to bathe or wash) came into being as a sacrament (visible sign of a unseen spiritual reality). John offered a ceremonial washing to repentant sinners--it was a sign of their desire to be cleansed and made new. Christian baptism is an incorporation into Christ for new life--birth waters--as well as a cleansing from sin and death. Through baptism God makes us His children. The Jesus baptism also includes the Holy Spirit. This is another angle on theosis. The Divine Spirit in Jesus--the actual life breath of God--is given to us as a gift. We are made one with God because we share the same spirit, the same life energy! [In the Fourth Gospel Jesus compares the Holy Spirit to a fountain of water bubbling up within us (and hopefully pouring out of us to bring life to others in His Name).]

But Jesus baptism is also fire. Paradox is the fruit of mystery. The unexplainable is best expressed in opposites which encompass reality in a way that is beyond our grasp. Fire and Water cannot mix together, water drowns fire or fire turns water to steam. One or the other must triumph. In the spiritual sphere, however, the two are metaphorically co-existent (like divinity and humanity). The holy fire of Jesus purifies us, destroys the sin in us, but it also sanctifies and makes us alive. The flame of love, Who is God, engulfs us and we become a living flame ourselves. One Fire, God and us, burning together. In fact, in my favorite description of Hell, the love of God is compared to a burning, consuming fire of love--which torments those who reject Him and gives those who love Him joyful, blissful hearts afire. [Many orthodox thinkers believe hell is ultimately a human 'creation', the result of human sin embracing the demonic and rejecting God. If God's love is an eternal fire, perhaps it makes sense that the love of God is torture for those who do not love Him in return. Eternal love, eternal flames, eternal torment for those who reject theosis and sink deeper and deeper into a God-less human nature slowly transforming into pure darkness, evil, and death in companionship with Satan and his hate filled horde. Eternal flames, eternal love, eternal bliss for those who love Him an become one with Him. The latter is life's purpose and our destiny if we embrace Him.