The Story of Salvation

The Story of Salvation

Creation God created man. He created Heaven and earth, the plants and trees as well as different types of birds and animals. Then on the sixth day, when everything was prepared to receive man, God said: “Let us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth” (Genesis 1:26).

God image God didn’t create man in His image in terms of physical appearance, but He actually gifted him with special qualities and abilities compared with those of other creatures... these are: •An intellect so that he may know God and believe in Him. •A heart and emotions so that he may love God and all of humanity. •An immortal spirit, to share in eternal life with God. •A will, to follow the path that he chooses (Free will).

Free will The gift here is the will of man and his freedom... because when God asked Adam not to eat from the tree, He did not force him to do anything, but gave him complete freedom so that he would either obey God and therefore enjoy with Him everlasting life or disobey Him - with his will - and eat from the tree and therefore receive the Divine punishment: “... but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it, you shall surely die” (Genesis 2:17).

Death Sin is at its core “a separation from God” Because God is perfect in holiness and has no sin in Him at all. God is also the spring of life. Therefore if sin separates from God, then the result is death and there are many different kinds of death:

Types of death Spiritual death: is separation from God and His fellowship. Moral death: is losing the Divine image and the corruption of human nature. Physical death: is the end of man’s life on earth, leading to his return to the dust out of which he was created (Genesis 2:19). Everlasting death: is perishing eternally.

Justice Just as God is perfect in His love and His mercy, He is also perfect is His justice. God’s justice in this case requires the death of man who sinned because “the wages of sin is death” Romans 6:23

Why do we bear Adams sin? The sin of Adam led to the corruption of human nature which we all have inherited given that we are the descendants of Adam. Since then, man has fallen in a series of sins because of his corrupted nature: “They have all turned aside; they have together become unprofitable; there is none who does good, no, not one” Romans 3:12.

Mans situation As a result of the sin of man: 1. All of humanity was sentenced to the penalty of death, and 2. Human nature became corrupt.

The solution The solution is simple; someone had to redeem man, that is to say, to die, willingly instead of man because as the Holy Bible says: “Without shedding of blood there is no remission” Hebrews 9:22

Sacrifice in the Old testament In the Old Testament, the Jews used to offer sacrifices. They used to bring offerings to the door of the sanctuary and the one presenting the offering would place his hand on top of its head confessing his sin. Then the offering would die in place of its owner. But, of course, the sacrifice is not enough neither are all the offerings in the world enough to make up for the sin of man because it was directed at God, the unlimited...

Redeeming requirements The redeemer must: • Be a man, because the one who sinned was a man. Therefore you can’t use an animal or an angel. • Die, because the wages of sin is death as we said before. • Be without sin, because if he was a sinner, then he would be in need of one to redeem him also... and also a sinner cannot expiate for another sinner, because both of them would be deserving of death. • Be unlimited... because Adam’s sin was directed at God the unlimited. And its penalty therefore should be unlimited. The propitiation must also include all humanity from Adam to the end of ages. • Be a creator... so as to renew the nature of humanity once more and return it to its original image before sin entered it.

Incarnation Incarnation is evidence of God’s love for man. God wanted to dwell within us and become united with us, to teach us the way to eternal life and protect us from the enemy. For God’s descent to man is possible, but for us to ascend to Him it is impossible: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).

How did the incarnation happen? By God (the Divinity) taking a physical body (humanity) through dwelling in the womb of the Virgin and forming that body from her blood with the exception that it was a body without sin. And so He became a human like us having a human spirit, a human body and a human soul but having no sin. And as we say in the Holy Liturgy: “He resembled us in everything except sin alone.”

How did redemption happen? Redemption and the salvation of all humanity took place when Christ died for all of us on the wood of the cross, having been buried in a tomb, after three days He arose from the dead.

Died? Does God die? Of course not... but remember that His Divinity was united with His humanity. This humanity (the body) is what died on the cross, which means that the spirit was separated from the body, and He was buried in the tomb, as we say in the prayer of the ninth hour, “O Lord who tasted death in the flesh”...

Nature of Christ Characteristics In Divine Nature In Human Nature Death Immortal Dies Food Does not feel hungry Feels hungry Tiredness Does not feel tired Feels tired Pain Does not feel pain Feels pain Knowledge Knowledge Knows all things Grows in wisdom Misunderstanding the reality of the union of the two natures complete unity without any of each nature losing any of its properties led to heresies throughout history