And he proceeds1 to inculcate it, writing concerning the Word:
Since the Word has unfolded himself everywhere—above2 and below, in depth and in breadth: above, indeed, by the creation of things; below, by assuming human nature; in depth, when he descended into hell; and finally in breadth, insofar as he illuminated the whole world by his coming—all things assuredly have been filled with the knowledge of God. For that very reason he did not, immediately upon coming, τὴν θυσίαν τὴν ὑπὲρ πάντων ἐπετέλει, παραδιδοὺς τὸ σῶμα τῷ θανάτῳ, καὶ ἀνιστῶν αὐτό, offer the victim for all by handing his body over to death and then raising it from the dead; for thus he would rather have concealed himself from us. But he exhibited himself as visible through it, performed works of such a kind, and produced signs which demonstrated that he was not man but God the Word. Ἀμφότερα γὰρ ἐφιλανθρωπεύετο ὁ σωτὴρ διὰ τῆς ἐνανθρωπήσεως, ὅτι καὶ τὸν θάνατον ἐξ ἡμῶν ἠφάνιζε, καὶ ἀνεκαίνιζεν ἡμᾶς· καὶ ὅτι ἀφανὴς ὢν καὶ ἀόρατος, διὰ τῶν ἔργων ἐνεφαίνετο, καὶ ἐγνώριζεν ἑαυτὸν εἶναι τὸν λόγον τοῦ πατρός, τὸν τοῦ παντὸς ἡγεμόνα καὶ βασιλέα.
For by assuming humanity the Savior benignly accomplished these two things: he both drove death away from us and renewed us; and he himself, who by his own nature could neither appear nor be seen, appeared through works and openly showed himself to be the Word of the Father and the ruler and king of the universe.
Then elsewhere3, reducing to a summary the causes τῆς σωματικῆς ἐπιφανείας, of the corporeal advent by which the Word appeared to men, he enumerates precisely these:
That it belonged to no other to render incorrupt that which had been corrupted than to the Savior alone, who also in the beginning had made all things from nothing; nor did it belong to another to restore the likeness of the image according to which men were made, except to the Image of the Father; likewise, it belonged to no other to endow the mortal with immortality except our Lord Jesus Christ, who is life itself; finally, it belonged to no other to instruct men in the knowledge of the Father and overthrow the worship of idols except the Word, who both administers all things and alone is the true Only-begotten Son of the Father.
Ἐπειδὴ δὲ καὶ τὸ ὀφειλόμενον παρὰ πάντων ἔδει λοιπὸν ἀποδοθῆναι· ὠφείλετο γὰρ πάντας, ὡς προεῖπον, ἀποθανεῖν, δι᾽ ὃ μάλιστα καὶ ἐπεδήμησεν· τούτου ἕνεκεν μετὰ τὰς περὶ τῆς θεότητος αὐτοῦ4 ἐκ τῶν ἔργων ἀποδείξεις, ἤδη λοιπὸν καὶ ὑπὲρ πάντων τὴν θυσίαν ἀνέφερεν, ἀντὶ πάντων τὸν ἑαυτοῦ ναὸν εἰς θάνατον παραδιδούς, ἵνα τοὺς μὲν πάντας ἀνυπευθύνους καὶ ἐλευθέρους τῆς ἀρχαίας παραβάσεως ποιήσῃ, δείξῃ δὲ ἑαυτὸν καὶ θανάτου κρείττονα, ἀπαρχὴν τῆς τῶν ὅλων ἀναστάσεως τὸ ἴδιον σῶμα ἄφθαρτον ἐπιδεικνύμενος. Since, moreover, what was owed by all had to be paid—for all, as I said before, owed it to die, and this was the principal cause of his coming—therefore, after he had proved his divinity by his works, he then offered the sacrifice for all, when on behalf of all he handed his own temple over to death, that he might render all free and immune from the ancient transgression, and show himself stronger than death, exhibiting his own incorrupt body as the firstfruits of the resurrection of all.