Sect. 208The Supernatural Order in Mankind and in the Whole of Creation Raised to Higher Perfection by Christ and His Work—position of Christ in the Plan of the UniverseThe Supernatural Order in Mankind and in the Whole of Creation Raised to Higher Perfection by Christ and His Work—position of Christ in the Plan of the Universe
I. The ultimate result of the work of Christ is the restoration of the supernatural order originally instituted for the salvation of mankind. But Scripture also gives as a result the final completion or crowning perfection of man and all things. Thus, Christ not only restored the original order, but raised the whole of creation to a higher standard of perfection.
1. The economy of our salvation received through Christ a new and more powerful basis. What formerly was grace, pure and simple, is now bought at its proper value by the Redeemer’s merits; and these same merits are an effective means for preserving grace when obtained, and for recovering it when lost. Moreover, the Divine Principle of Salvation is engrafted upon mankind and made one with us: His titles to heavenly bliss and glory are ours as His co-heirs (Rom. 8:14–17).
2. The supernatural kingdom of God on earth exists for the glorification of God as the Eternal Father by a people of saints, able to perform that service worthily. In the person of Christ this kingdom possesses a member Who is God, and therefore able to tender to the Father the worship of infinite value due to Him. And as all the saints are one body, whose head is Christ, their worship participates in the perfection of His worship. They constitute not only a kingdom of priests (Ex. 19:6). but “a royal priesthood” (1 Pet. 2:9). They are the Temple consecrated with the Blood of the High Priest, in which, without intermission, the all-holy victim burns for the glory of God, and for the good of the people bought with His Blood. The new covenant, therefore, is more perfect than the old, both in the way it was established and in the way it works.
3. Pre-Christian grace established between God and man a union of friendship, akin to the union between members of the same household. Christ has raised the moral union to the highest type of “matrimonial communion.” When the Logos wedded our flesh and blood, we were made, in a mystic sense, one person with Him, and through Him organically connected with the Father. Hence our sonship participates in a higher degree in the Sonship of the Logos, both as regards our claims to the inheritance and as to the spiritual life we draw from the Father. We also enter into closer communion with the Holy Ghost, who proceeds from the Son and dwells in us as in His temple (1 Cor. 3:16).
II. The supreme perfection of the communion with God. as re-established by Christ, lies in this, that it makes every justified Christian another Christ. “Christianus alter Christus,” is a favourite saying of the Fathers. As the whole body of the faithful form, with Christ as their Head, one mystical body, so each individual saint is built up after the model of the Head: he is anointed with the same Divine Spirit, made a partaker of the Divine Nature, and transformed into the image and likeness of God. The nobility which is natural to the Divine Son becomes his by adoption. In the simple order of grace, the sanctified are, indeed, the anointed of God, but not in the same manner as sanctified Christians. With the former grace as a quality infused into the soul precedes the indwelling of the Holy Ghost. In Christ and His sanctified members the anointing Spirit is the source of created grace. The sacramental character of Baptism stamps us as members of Christ, for in its innermost essence this character is a copy of the anointing and sealing of the humanity of Christ with the Logos. The characters of Confirmation and Order intensify the membership and increase the flow of the Spirit. The three characters give the Christian a share in the royal and holy dignity proper to Christ—a share in His prophetic office in as far as this consists in being a living witness of the glory of God—and lastly, a share in His priestly and kingly functions.
III. The fulness of perfection achieved by Christ in the supernatural order belongs primarily to mankind. But as Christ is Head also of the Angels, and consequently their Mediator, they too participate in the fruits of His work. The glory of their Head reflects upon themselves; their worship is enhanced by being united to His worship; their graces and privileges are more their own since they rest upon His merits. The material world itself is raised in perfection through the greater perfection of man, for whose service it exists. Christ, then, unites the whole of creation into one sanctuary, of which He is the foundation and the keystone; and all rational beings He gathers into one family, or one body, of which He is the Head.
IV. We are now able to understand the full significance of St. Paul’s admirable description of the work of Christ, Eph. 1:9, 10: “That He might make known unto us the mystery of His will, … in the dispensation of the fulness of times, to re-establish all things in Christ, that are in heaven and on earth, in Him.” The sense of this ἀνακεφαλαίωσις (restoration, rejuvenation, summing up) is that the whole of creation, bound up together and perfected in Christ as its Head, is led back in the most perfect manner to God, its first principle, from whom sin had partly led it away. The influence of Christ on the supernatural order appears here as restoring and perfecting; its reason, form, and effects are indicated, and the organic connection between the whole orders of nature and supernature is set forth. Christ is the Crown, the Centre and the Foundation of a new and higher order of things; He is the Lord and King of all things, and, next to God, their highest end, according to 1 Cor. 3:22, 23: “All things are yours … and you are Christ’s; and Christ is God’s.”
Whether the Incarnation would have taken place if Adam had not sinned was much discussed between Thomists and Scotists. St. Thomas (3, q. 1, a. 3) holds that it would not; Scotus (In. 3, dist. 3) that it would. In favour of this latter opinion, see also Suarez, De Incarn., tom. i. disp. 5; St. Francis of Sales, Treatise of the Love of God, bk. ii. chap. iv.
I. The ultimate result of the work of Christ is the restoration of the supernatural order originally instituted for the salvation of mankind. But Scripture also gives as a result the final completion or crowning perfection of man and all things. Thus, Christ not only restored the original order, but raised the whole of creation to a higher standard of perfection.
1. The economy of our salvation received through Christ a new and more powerful basis. What formerly was grace, pure and simple, is now bought at its proper value by the Redeemer’s merits; and these same merits are an effective means for preserving grace when obtained, and for recovering it when lost. Moreover, the Divine Principle of Salvation is engrafted upon mankind and made one with us: His titles to heavenly bliss and glory are ours as His co-heirs (Rom. 8:14–17).
2. The supernatural kingdom of God on earth exists for the glorification of God as the Eternal Father by a people of saints, able to perform that service worthily. In the person of Christ this kingdom possesses a member Who is God, and therefore able to tender to the Father the worship of infinite value due to Him. And as all the saints are one body, whose head is Christ, their worship participates in the perfection of His worship. They constitute not only a kingdom of priests (Ex. 19:6). but “a royal priesthood” (1 Pet. 2:9). They are the Temple consecrated with the Blood of the High Priest, in which, without intermission, the all-holy victim burns for the glory of God, and for the good of the people bought with His Blood. The new covenant, therefore, is more perfect than the old, both in the way it was established and in the way it works.
3. Pre-Christian grace established between God and man a union of friendship, akin to the union between members of the same household. Christ has raised the moral union to the highest type of “matrimonial communion.” When the Logos wedded our flesh and blood, we were made, in a mystic sense, one person with Him, and through Him organically connected with the Father. Hence our sonship participates in a higher degree in the Sonship of the Logos, both as regards our claims to the inheritance and as to the spiritual life we draw from the Father. We also enter into closer communion with the Holy Ghost, who proceeds from the Son and dwells in us as in His temple (1 Cor. 3:16).
II. The supreme perfection of the communion with God. as re-established by Christ, lies in this, that it makes every justified Christian another Christ. “Christianus alter Christus,” is a favourite saying of the Fathers. As the whole body of the faithful form, with Christ as their Head, one mystical body, so each individual saint is built up after the model of the Head: he is anointed with the same Divine Spirit, made a partaker of the Divine Nature, and transformed into the image and likeness of God. The nobility which is natural to the Divine Son becomes his by adoption. In the simple order of grace, the sanctified are, indeed, the anointed of God, but not in the same manner as sanctified Christians. With the former grace as a quality infused into the soul precedes the indwelling of the Holy Ghost. In Christ and His sanctified members the anointing Spirit is the source of created grace. The sacramental character of Baptism stamps us as members of Christ, for in its innermost essence this character is a copy of the anointing and sealing of the humanity of Christ with the Logos. The characters of Confirmation and Order intensify the membership and increase the flow of the Spirit. The three characters give the Christian a share in the royal and holy dignity proper to Christ—a share in His prophetic office in as far as this consists in being a living witness of the glory of God—and lastly, a share in His priestly and kingly functions.
III. The fulness of perfection achieved by Christ in the supernatural order belongs primarily to mankind. But as Christ is Head also of the Angels, and consequently their Mediator, they too participate in the fruits of His work. The glory of their Head reflects upon themselves; their worship is enhanced by being united to His worship; their graces and privileges are more their own since they rest upon His merits. The material world itself is raised in perfection through the greater perfection of man, for whose service it exists. Christ, then, unites the whole of creation into one sanctuary, of which He is the foundation and the keystone; and all rational beings He gathers into one family, or one body, of which He is the Head.
IV. We are now able to understand the full significance of St. Paul’s admirable description of the work of Christ, Eph. 1:9, 10: “That He might make known unto us the mystery of His will, … in the dispensation of the fulness of times, to re-establish all things in Christ, that are in heaven and on earth, in Him.” The sense of this ἀνακεφαλαίωσις (restoration, rejuvenation, summing up) is that the whole of creation, bound up together and perfected in Christ as its Head, is led back in the most perfect manner to God, its first principle, from whom sin had partly led it away. The influence of Christ on the supernatural order appears here as restoring and perfecting; its reason, form, and effects are indicated, and the organic connection between the whole orders of nature and supernature is set forth. Christ is the Crown, the Centre and the Foundation of a new and higher order of things; He is the Lord and King of all things, and, next to God, their highest end, according to 1 Cor. 3:22, 23: “All things are yours … and you are Christ’s; and Christ is God’s.”
Whether the Incarnation would have taken place if Adam had not sinned was much discussed between Thomists and Scotists. St. Thomas (3, q. 1, a. 3) holds that it would not; Scotus (In. 3, dist. 3) that it would. In favour of this latter opinion, see also Suarez, De Incarn., tom. i. disp. 5; St. Francis of Sales, Treatise of the Love of God, bk. ii. chap. iv.
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