Before His Ascension into heaven, Jesus Christ revealed to His Disciples that after He ascended from the earth, the Holy Spirit would descend to them on earth. Ten days after Christ’s Ascension (and fifty days after His Resurrection), the Holy Spirit suddenly descended in power upon the Twelve, gathered together.
A strong, roaring wind from heaven swiftly rushed into the presence of the Disciples. Fire in the form of tongues rested over each of them. They were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages as the Spirit enabled them. As Christ had promised, the Holy Spirit enlightened the spiritual intellect of the Disciples, leading them into all Truth, and empowered them to carry out their mission fully as Apostles throughout the world. (This is event is called Holy Pentecost.)
The Apostle Peter stood up and explained to a crowd of assembled people from all kinds of different countries and cultures that this event they were witnessing had been foretold centuries before by the Holy Prophets. Although Peter spoke in his own language, by the power of the Holy Spirit each person understood his words in their own native language. This miraculous sign showed that God called all humanity together, united in Truth and Love within His Church, that we might be healed and receive the fulness of Life.
Holy Pentecost is regarded as the birthday of the Church, yet the Church has existed since the beginning. The Church is like a tree that gradually stretched upward through the ages of history until it reached its height, stretching out its strong, broad branches, covering itself in bright flowers, and producing an abundance of sweet, nourishing fruit by the Life-Giving Power of the Holy Spirit.
What is the Church? The Church is a Mystery beyond comprehension. Its depth cannot be reached and its height cannot be measured. The Church is communion with God. It is the heavenly Paradise planted on earth with the Tree of Life at its center. Heaven and earth meet and mingle within the Church. The Church is the assembly of those who belong to Christ, the community of His disciples. It bears His Name: The Church of Jesus Christ. She is a nurturing Mother and a family that cares for one another as children of the ever-loving Father. The Church is the pure Bride of Christ, united with Him in love, and the Body of Christ, carrying out His work on earth. It is the Holy Temple of God, where the true and living God lives on earth. Inhabited and guided by the Holy Spirit, Who knows all things, the Church is the solid foundation of Truth and the Light of Truth in a world darkened by confusion and ignorance.
The Church is one. Only a single Church exists in the universe, uniting all its members. The Church is holy. It is pure and perfect, made sacred by God and lacking nothing. The Church is catholic. It is complete and whole, encompassing the entire Way of Life, containing the whole Truth, and embracing all those who belong to it in all places and all times. The Church is apostolic. Built upon the bedrock of the Holy Disciples and Apostles, every generation of the Church preserves, lives, and transmits the complete, undefiled Apostolic Faith entrusted to them. The Church is orthodox. It holds together correct belief, keeping the Truth that God has revealed, and correct worship, glorifying the true and living God well with a pure heart.
The Church is a gift of Love. When the Divine Physician ascended into heaven, He did not leave us to follow the Way alone, but gave us His Church for our salvation. The Church, filled with the Life-Giving Spirit, is the Hospital on earth that God Himself has established for us that we might be healed.
The healthy, perfected human being is someone who personally lives as a temple of God, whose heart has been enlightened by the Holy Spirit, who is moved and guided on the Way of Life by the Spirit, and whose daily life shows the transformative power of the Holy Spirit. As the Hospital for the soul, the Church contains the complete holistic lifestyle, therapy, and medicine each of us needs to fulfill our potential and purpose.
Now that you have seen what Christ has accomplished of us as human beings, it is time for you to learn exactly what this means for you personally.
Read: John 16.5-13; Acts 1.4-8; 2.1-47; 4.32-5.16; Luke 10.25-37; 1 Timothy 3.14-16; 1 Peter 2.1-9; Ephesians 2.19-22; 5.17-33; 1 Corinthians 3.16; 6.18-20; 12.12-26; Revelation 12
Text copyright © 2017 by Fr. Symeon D. S. Kees