St. Gregory teaches, along with all the great Fathers of the Church, the vision of Christ in glory which he sees as truly synonymous with the mystery of the precious and life-giving Cross. This is precisely because the Cross reveals to us the Way of Christ and as such is the only way to salvation. The Cross is the way to the cleansing of the passions and the cultivation of the virtues. It is the way to the illumination of the mind, heart and soul. It is the way to the real and true sanctification of the body and to perfect union with God. The vision of Christ in glory is given only when we arrive at the foot of the Cross, in imitation of Christ’s own self-emptying. The vision of Christ in glory is given when we truly understand that He gave of Himself totally and completely in order to show us how to live. This, inevitably, involves repentance, a profound and continuous change of heart and mind on the part of the human person, without which it is impossible to become Christlike.

What this means, in practical terms, is that we are taking up our cross each time we find ourselves in truly difficult circumstances; each time that we are tempted to think or act according to the way of the world; and every time that we resist this impulse for the love of Christ and ask for His help and mercy. Each time we take up our cross, we are striving to change our way of life in accordance with the WAY of living which Jesus showed us by His life.

The fact is that if we wish to be with Christ, then we must become like Him. This is the mystery of the adoption of sons, of which the great Paul speaks, which is offered to each and every one of us. We can never be God. Only God is divine by nature, but as the great St. Maximus says, the person who has been deified by grace will be in every respect as God   is, except for His very essence. This means that we have been created to contain the very Life of the Holy Trinity. That is what is meant by being created in the image of God: to have the God-given capacity of containing and living the divine Life.

This, according to the Eastern Church, is the end and purpose of this earthly life, to learn how to become like God – to become a spiritual person.

The glory of how God created us is that He allows us freely to choose to become like Him. We are not forced to be like our Creator but, rather, are given the help to be like Him if we choose.