The Argument in Brief

This is a brief summary of the argument and ultimately a table of contents for the whole book. The majority of this book is the result of much study, but the theory about how Jesus saved us is based on the “ransom theory” as proposed by the great church father, Gregory of Nyssa in his work “The Great Catechism.” This story is about creation, covenant, the fall, salvation, redemption, resurrection, the kingdom of heaven and ultimately justification. It is the saving work of what Jesus did for us, and the reason that He died for our sins.

Creation

• Chapter 1: Nothing existed before God, and nothing exists without god.
  • God really exists.
  • God is existence itself and all things are held in existence because of Him.
  • God reveals His presence in all things through goodness, truth and beauty
• Chapter 2: God is the creator of all things.
  • The pinacle of god’s creation is life, and the mind, body and soul of His creatures
  • First He created the angels.
  • Next He created all of reality - the universe of planets and stars, and most importantly earth.
  • Next he filled the earth with plants and animals.
  • Finally, He created man in his own image, and made him free.
• Chapter 3: God ordered the universe and all living things with law.
  • Eternal, Natural, Divine, and Human law.
  • These laws govern all things in the universe, and all things are obedient to His divine will.
  • But these laws also govern God Himself - they do not limit Him or reduce His infinite power - they are limitations He places on Himself because of love.
• Chapter 4: God ultimately created everything for love.
  • God is love in all its forms.
  • Love is a relationship, fully given and fully received.
  • Love is not love unless it is free.
  • God does not need us, but we need His love.
  • Love when shared is not divided but multiplied.
  • Love must be shared and needs to be given away.

Covenant

• Chapter 5: The fullest expression of love is covenant.
  • A covenant is an unbreakable bond, a new creation under God.
  • God wanted intimacy with us, to be connected with us in every way, and that way was through the covenant of marriage.
  • God said I will be your God and you will be my people, and He sealed His promise in a covenant.
• Chapter 6: The First Covenant (Adamic) - The Covenant of Marriage.
  • Adam and Eve lived in Heavenly perfection, without sin, but with free will.
  • God is love and His love must be shared - this covenant is an invitation into that union and full communion with the Lord.
  • Sin is our free choice - love & full communion with God is His will for us we must learn to choose Him over ourselves.

The Fall

• Chapter 7: Sadly, love can be rejected.
  • A free choice can lead to the rejection of God’s love.
  • Choice leads to Lust, Greed, and Pride, one after another (aka. three fold concupiscense).
  • And pride invariably leads to the fall.
• Chapter 8: Pride caused Satan and a third of the angels to fall.
  • God showed all the angels His plan for the salvation of man.
  • Satan and one third of the angels said they would not serve, and that choice was permanent and final.
  • Satan and his demons would forever be the antagonist of God and would forever try to destroy His beloved creation.
• Chapter 9: Pride also caused mankind to fall.
  • We chose ourselves, and that sin separated us from God and His protection.
  • Adam and Eve were thus expelled from the garden and would now die.
• Chapter 10: Pride has consequences.
  • Satan chose himself and was cast out of the light of heaven, and seized dominion over the whole world.
  • When we fall we remove ourselves from God’s protection, and by default, choose both spiritual and material death instead.
  • Most importantly, our choice whether we like it or not, puts us directly under the dominion of Satan.

Salvation

• Chapter 11: Even though we rejeccted god, He did not abandon us.
  • Man was fallen and stained by sin, but God still loved us, and wanted us with him in heaven.
  • The story of salvation is God’s plan to restore us to communion with Him, and this gift too comes in the form of a covenant.
  • The covenants were designed to move God’s people, slowly step-by-step, from broken and sinful people in this world to perfected and righteous ones in heaven.
  • However, breaking a covenant has consequences.
  • But God allows us to fall and be restored, and as such we learn about God’s merciful nature and His love for us.
  • He uses these moments as lessons to teach us a better way, and in so doing, He moves us closer and closer to Him.
• Chapter 12: The Second Covenant (Noahic) - The Covenant of Protection
  • The whole world has fallen into sin that cries out to God for justice - only the household of Noah remained faithful.
  • Death is the just consequence for our sin. But God protects those that remain faithful and obedient - this covenant is the sign of that protection.
  • Death is what our sin deserves, but mercy is what God gives those that love Him - We must strive to be worthy of that grace.
• Chapter 13: The Third Covenant (Abrahamic) - The Covenant of Promise.
  • The world again is lost to sin, but a small tribe led by Abram, remained faithful.
  • God loves those that love Him, and honors the faithful, with greatness - this covenant consecrates that promise forever.
  • God wants to give us every good thing, but only in his time, and in His way. We must trust in His plan & persevere to the end.
• Chapter 14: The Fourth Covenant (Mosaic) - The Covenant of Freedom.
  • The nation of Israel has fallen into sin and idolarty, and that infidelity has led them into slavery in Egypt.
  • God will not force you to love Him, rejecting Him leads to slavery - this covenant shows us God's desire to free us from slavery to sin.
  • God wants to draw us out of slavery. It is only by faith that we can hear his voice and be led to the promised land.
• Chapter 15: The Fifth Covenant (Davidic) - The Covenant of Providence.
  • Israel is now strong, living in the promised land, their enemies are defeated, and it has grown into a great kingdom.
  • God delights in our joy, and in joy, this covenant establishes God's kingdom (of temple and throne) forever.
  • God's providence leads to prosperity, but prosperity can lead to temptation - only by humilty that we can resist.
• Chapter 16: The Sixth Covenant (Prophetic) - The Covenant of Warning.
  • Israel is again lost, it's kings are corrupt, the people have been scattered, and their faith has been mixed with pagans cultures.
  • God does not desire to see his sheep scattered, and the wolves chasing them, this covenant is a warning, to return to the faith.
  • God is always offering forgiveness and reconciliation, we only need ask for it, and return to Him.
• Chapter 17: All of the elements of the covenants teach something different about God’s divine nature.
  • The state of the people and the purpose for each covenant reveals God’s infinite mercy and His constant fidelity.
  • The unique elements of each covenant show us His tender care and His eternal concern for our well-being.
  • The consequent results of each covenant serve as a call to bring us into personal relationship with Him, and ultimately full communion.
  • Finally the message of each covenant calls into greater intimacy with him, they help us achieve greater holiness, and lead us to salvation.

Redemption

• Chapter 18: Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of all of the covenants.
  • The coming of the lord Jesus, is prefigured in the the old Testament.
  • God sent His son, the second person of the holy trinity to us and was incarnated as a man.
  • Born miraculously to the immaculate virgin, Mary.
  • He grew in wisdom and knowledge, and lived a completely human life.
  • Jesus was 100% man and 100% Divine.
  • And while His divinity was somewhat limited in His human form, He always responded in perfect human obedience to the father.
  • But He felt the full weight of temptation to sin and He experienced every human emotion and feeling and doubt - but He never sinned.
  • Jesus was the answer to our fall and our redemption.
• Chapter 19: Jesus begins His ministry and forms His new church.
  • Jesus gathers His disciples.
  • Jesus assigns Peter His Pope (& Steward).
  • Jesus appoints his Apostles (His Bishops).
  • Jesus establishes his new church in the upper room on the eve of His passion.
• Chapter 20: Jesus bargains with the devil.
  • Jesus battles with the devil, In the garden of gethsemene, offering His passion and death for our sins.
  • He makes a bargains with the Devil saying: “I will die for them, take me, the son of God as a ransom for the souls of all of the lost and damned.”
• Chapter 21: The Devil accepts the bargain.
  • The devil in this moment, saw only a, weak & frail human man, not the 2nd person of the trinity, God Himself.
  • Satan lusted after the idea of being the lord over the soul of God’s only son, and in exchange handed over all of the souls of the lost and the damned.
• Chapter 22: Jesus pays the ransom.
  • But for Jesus this would not be a simple exchange, He would ultimately endure the full depravity of our sins, and ultimately cost Him everything.
  • He would have to endure the greatest suffering any human has ever felt, and then die in excrutiating pain.
• Chapter 23: Jesus descends into Sheol.
  • Like many before him, He would then descend into Sheol to Join the dead, but this is where the wager with the Devil ended.
  • Jesus is GOD, He cannot be held by the confines of death, He cannot be enslaved by one of His own creations.
  • He outsmarted the evil one, He freed all of those souls locked in the prison of death, and raised them all up to Heaven.
• Chapter 24: Jesus ascends into Heaven.
  • But more importantly for all of us today, He opened up the gates of Heaven, to anyone who believes in Him.
  • Because of God’s love, and Jesus’ sacrifice, His offer of salvation overcomes death and His “salvation” is thus granted to anyone that asks for it.
• Chapter 25: 7th Covenant (Messianic) - The Covenant of Eternal Communion.
  • The temple & throne are lead by usurpers, Israel is controlled by foriegn kings, and the people are weighed down by heavy burdens.
  • Jesus in this final covenant, comes to saves us from slavery to sin, and open the gates of heaven to all those that believe in the Lord.
  • Only by God's infinite love and mercy can we find salvation, and peace in heaven.

Resurrection

• Chapter 26: Jesus Overcomes Death.
  • If Jesus’ body had stayed in the tomb, nothing on earth would have ever changed - Jesus had to come back, to show us that He had overcome the finality of Death.
  • His resurrection proves that He is God and cannot be held by death.
• Chapter 27: Jesus shows us how we too can overcome death.
  • By joining our will with His, we too can overcome the cost of our sins and the grasp of death, and enter into eternity in Heaven with God forever.

Kingdom of Heaven

• Chapter 28: The Church Triumphant.
  • From the moment Jesus died on the cross He began a new epoch, and began the work of building the Kingdom of Heaven.
  • Jesus in his ministry said that the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand, and indeed it is.
  • Jesus is the cornerstone of the great Temple in Heaven, and every soul that dies in a state of friendship with the Lord will eventually go to heaven.
  • Each one of them will become the bricks that are laid side by side next to that great cornerstone (Jesus) to make the walls of that great church of God.
• Chapter 29: The Church Suffering.
  • When Jesus overcame death, He also overcame the devils hold on all of the souls under his dominion.
  • But the degree to which we are close to God in heaven is still our choice, and that is the point of purgatory.
• Chapter 30: The Church Militant.
  • But while the devil was defeated in Jesus’ death on the cross, the war between Heaven and Hell had just started.
  • Satan’s dominion over the lost sinful souls was forever gone, but the battle for the souls had just begun.
  • Corrupting souls and stealing them away from eternity with God in Heaven is the only thing gives the Devil any pleasure.
  • So, saving souls is our role in this great war.
• Chapter 31: The Lost & The Damned.
  • The Devil knows that he lost and he knows what awaits him …, Hell!

Justification

• Chapter 32: We must get right with God, and then strive to stay right with Him.
  • We are indeed saved by Jesus’s death on the cross.
  • We are made right with God through baptism and participation in the sacraments.
  • We grow in holiness by living a life pleasing to God, and by cooperating with His grace.
• Chapter 33: And in that sanctification you will find the peace of Christ
  • We were saved, we are being saved, and we will be saved - this is sanctification.
  • Jesus died for your sins so that you could be with Him in the eternity of Heaven forever.