7.3

Therefore He teaches all of us who hasten to our own Creator to train our dispositions and the faculties of our senses, so that we may recognize our dignity and discern good from evil, and so that you may know all the dispensations of Jesus that He gave out of His own love, becoming like us in every way except sin.

Because of the abundance of our wickedness, the pressure of evil, and the burden of our inconstancy, His coming became foolishness to some, a stumbling block to others, a benefit to others, wisdom and power to others, and resurrection and life to still others. Let this also be clear to you: His coming has become judgment for the whole world. For He says, “Behold, days are coming, says the Lord, and they will all know Me, from the least to the greatest, and I will make it heard to the ends of the earth,” so that every mouth may be stopped and the whole world become subject to God. For although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as their own Creator. Because of their foolishness, they could not grasp His wisdom. Instead, each of us sold himself to his own pleasures in evil and became their servant.

Therefore Jesus emptied Himself of glory and took the form of a servant, so that His servitude might set us free. We had become foolish and in our foolishness committed evil, so He took on the form of foolishness to make us wise. We were poor, and in our poverty all strength had failed us; therefore He took the form of poverty so that through His poverty He might make us rich in all wisdom and understanding. Not only this, but He also took the form of our weakness so that through His own weakness He might make us strong. He became obedient to the Father in all things unto death, even death on a cross, so that through His death and humility He might bring about the resurrection of all and destroy the one who had the power of death, that is, the devil.

Therefore, if we truly set ourselves free through His coming, we will be found disciples of Jesus and will be established as heirs of the divine inheritance.