Session 1 - The History of Salvation - Man's Life With God

Overview

1. Creation – In the Beginning only God (As Trinity) existed. Man was created in Image and Likeness of God.
2. Fall of Man – Adam and Eve disobeyed God and were cast out of the Garden of Eden and the gates of Heaven were closed.
3. Promise of New Life – God responds through Noah and Abraham
4. Preparation to Return to God. – The prophets speak – “Return to God, await the coming of the Messiah.”
5. Incarnation – God comes to man – the birth of Christ.
6. Redemption – God’s Son gives His life for man - He dies on the Cross , conquers death, and rises from the dead on the third day.
7. Church – the new time with God - The Holy Spirit was sent down on the day of Pentecost.
8. Kingdom of God – Salvation – The Second Coming.

Detailed Explanation of the History of Salvation

The Holy Fathers of the Church teach us the fundamental truth that there was never a time when God did not exist. The hymns of the Church, which we sing on the Feast of the Nativity of Our Lord, echo this understanding in referring to Christ as the Pre-Eternal God.

God has been revealed to us as being a Trinity of Persons  ( Holy Trinity,  The Father The Source  and The Son (Jesus)  who was born of the Father, and the Holy Spirit  Which Proceeded or came out of the Father as well. 

We know from Sacred Scripture that In the Beginning God created out of nothing the heavens and earth, the sea and all that is in it. He also created man (Adam) out of the dust of the earth in the image and likeness of God. He created woman, (Eve) from the rib of Adam and placed them into a Paradise of delight, the Garden of Eden. Adam and Eve were truly blessed in the Garden of Eden, for there was no pain, sickness or death – they instead enjoyed true peace , walking with God in the coolness of the night. Adam was given dominion or power  over creation and was allowed to name the animals. They were given one restriction: not to eat of the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Tempted by Satan in the form of a serpent, Adam and Eve disobeyed God and ate the forbidden fruit. Immediately, their eyes were opened and they became aware of their nakedness and hid. As a consequence of their sin, God cast them out of the garden, closing its gates and left an angel with a fiery sword to guard its entrance. He did so to prevent them from eating the fruit of the Tree of Life and live forever in their fallen state.

From this time on, Adam and Eve and their descendants began to experience sickness, pain, physical death and separation from God. Indeed from the time of the Fall of Adam and Eve until our Lord’s Death on the Cross and Third-Day Resurrection, all who died, even the Righteous, were not permitted to enter Heaven, but instead were imprisoned in hell  awaiting the Lord’s Descent into Hades and conquering Death by death. The only exceptions were Enoch and Elijah who were taken directly to Heaven upon their deaths.

The history of Adam and Eve and their descendants was a difficult one – a time of lament and longing for a return to full communion with God, yet many misused their God-given gift of free will and lived an evil life – so evil that God caused a great flood on the earth to destroy all of mankind except the righteous Noah and his family as well as two of each species of animal who were safely aboard the Ark. After the Flood, God caused a great Rainbow to form in the skies as a sign of His promise to never again destroy creation. Seeking to restore communion with mankind, God worked with a faithful remnant, the People of Israel, to bring this about. He worked patiently to teach humility and obedience by sending them the Law through the Prophet Moses He sent His special messengers, the Prophets, to encourage those who had fallen away to return to the worship of the One, True God and to announce the coming of Christ, the Messiah who would save them.

The History of the People of Israel was a difficult one and involved slavery in Egypt and deliverance and captivity by many other hostile nations. They experienced the triumphal building of the Temple in Jerusalem, under King Solomon, and its destruction during the Babylonian Captivity and rebuilding thereafter. Following the death of King Solomon, the twelve tribes of Israel became separated leaving a division between the Northern Kingdom of Israel and the Southern Kingdom of Judah.

In the fullness of time God the Father sent His Only-Begotten Son, Jesus Christ into the world to teach and preach and lead those who had ears to hear to return to the Kingdom of Heaven, through the faithful living of the spirit of the Law which is love, mercy, forgiveness , and repentance. Having completed His three year public ministry Christ, whom the Church refers to as the New Adam, gave His life on the Cross, for the life and salvation of the world. Upon His death, while His body rested in the Tomb, His soul descended to Hell where He loosed the bonds of those that had been held captive there. He opened the gates of Paradise that had been closed since the Fall of Adam. Through his Third-Day Resurrection and appearance to the Apostles, Christ demonstrated the power of love, over darkness and the triumph of good over evil. Upon His Ascension to Heaven on the fortieth day, Our Lord sent the Most-Holy Spirit down upon the Apostles on the Day of Pentecost to embolden them to fearlessly preach the Gospel to all nations. On this day the New Testament Church, was born to be the Ark of Salvation for those who wish to journey to the Kingdom of Heaven. The Fathers of the Church, enlightened by the Holy Spirit, met in Councils during the first eight centuries to formulate the dogmas and teachings of the Church. In the twenty centuries since the establishment of the Church, the Holy Spirit has led her from the expression of the faith of the apostles to what we experience today in the beauty of our Church and the richness of Her Divine Services. We await, as we proclaim in the Creed, our Symbol of Faith, the Second Coming of Christ at the end of the world to usher in the Kingdom of Heaven in its fullness. When we joyfully participate in the rich life of the Church, in her Iconography, Music and Liturgy, we foretaste the glory of the Kingdom of Heaven and commune with God Himself.

The life in Christ is a joyful struggle. It is in the Church that we seek and find Paradise which our first parents Adam and Eve enjoyed for only a short time. It is in the Church that we grow in the Likeness of God. Truly in the Church, we move, in the words of St. Paul from Glory to Glory.”

Download in PDF Format