Part 1. What Blessings Jesus Christ Granted Us by His Death

Before we speak of this, let us look at what the blessings were that Adam had in Paradise before he committed sin, and what the evil was that befell Adam after he committed sin, and with him all mankind.

The first man, having been created in the image and likeness of God, so long as he had not yet darkened the likeness of God by his self-will, was blessed by that very image and likeness of God: for as God has no end and is eternal, so too Adam was created immortal; God is all-righteous, and Adam was created sinless and righteous; God is all-blessed, and Adam was created blessed, and his blessedness could increase from day to day, more and more, throughout all eternity.

Adam dwelt in a most beautiful Paradise, or garden, planted by God Himself, where he was content with everything, was always in health and would never have known any sickness; he feared no one, and all the beasts and birds obeyed him as their king; he felt neither cold nor heat, and although he labored and worked in Paradise, he did so with pleasure and delight, and knew neither burden in his labor nor weariness in his body.

His soul and heart were filled with the knowledge and love of God; he was always at peace, joyful, and knew and saw no unpleasantness, no disquiet, no torment, and no sorrows. All his desires were pure, rightly ordered, and in harmony; his memory, reason, and all his other powers of soul were perfect; and being innocent and pure, he abode always with God and conversed with Him, and God loved him as His own beloved son. And to put it briefly: Adam was in Paradise, and in Adam was Paradise.

And so, had Adam not transgressed the commandment of his Creator, he himself would have been blessed, and all his posterity would have been blessed forever. But Adam sinned before God, he broke His law—and a most light law at that—and for this God drove him out of Paradise, because God cannot abide together with sin and with the sinner.

And on this account Adam at once lost the well-being that he had enjoyed in Paradise. His soul was darkened, his thoughts and desires were thrown into confusion, his imagination and memory began to grow dim; instead of joys and peace of soul, he beheld sorrow, griefs, vexations, poverty, the most agonizing toils, and unpleasantness of every kind; and at last a sickly old age threatened him, and after it—death. But what is most terrible of all, the devil, who takes comfort in the sufferings of man, was able to hold power over Adam.

The very elements—that is, the air, fire, and the rest—which before had served Adam as means of enjoyment, now became hostile to him: from that time Adam and all his posterity began to feel cold, heat, and the effects of the changing winds and weather. The beasts grew savage and began to look upon men as their enemies and their prey. From that time men began to feel outward and inward sicknesses, which in the course of time became more various and more cruel. Men forgot that they are brothers, and began to fall upon one another, to hate, to deceive, to torment, and to kill. And at last, after every kind of bitter toil and care, they had to die: and since they are sinners, they had to be in hell, and there to be tormented eternally and without cease.

No man, of himself, could or can restore what Adam lost. And what would have become of us, had Jesus Christ, in His mercy toward us, not redeemed us by Himself? And what then would have become of the whole human race?

God, who loves us far more than we love ourselves, in His very great mercy sent to us His Son Jesus Christ, in order to save us. And Jesus Christ became a man like unto us, save for sin.

Jesus Christ by His teaching dispersed the darkness of ignorance and of the errors of the human mind, and enlightened the world with the light of the Gospel. And now everyone, if only he will, may come to know the will of God and the way and the means to his own blessedness.

Jesus Christ by His life showed us the way into the Kingdom of Heaven, which Adam had lost, and at the same time showed how we must seek it and walk along it.

Jesus Christ by His suffering and His death redeemed us from the debts which we owed to God and which we should never have been able to pay, and made us, who had been the slaves of the devil and of sin, into children of God; and the torments which we, as transgressors of the will of God, were bound to suffer, He endured for us, and by His death delivered us from the calamities and torments to come and from eternal death.

Jesus Christ by His resurrection broke down the gates of hell and opened to us the doors of Paradise, which had been shut to all by the disobedience of Adam, and conquered and crushed the power of the devil and of death, our enemies. And therefore those who now die in faith and hope in Jesus Christ pass through death from a life vain, corruptible, and temporal into a life radiant, incorruptible, and unending; and for the conquering of the devil and the driving of him away, we have the Cross and prayer.

Jesus Christ by His ascension glorified the human race: for He ascended into heaven with the body which He will bear upon Himself forever.

And finally, by the grace and the merits of Jesus Christ we are now able to walk into the Kingdom of Heaven and receive reinforcement and help upon this way; all of us, freely and truly, may receive the Holy Spirit and be filled with Him. Without the Holy Spirit it is impossible to pass along that way along which Jesus Christ passed.

Had Jesus Christ not been on earth, no man could have entered the Kingdom of Heaven; but now all of us, and each one of us, may readily enter it—yet enter it we may by no other way than that along which Jesus Christ passed while He lived on earth.

But what the Lord has prepared for us there, in heaven—that no one can either tell or imagine: and of this we can say only that those who believe in Jesus Christ and follow His commandments will, after their death, live with the angels, the righteous, and the saints—there, in heaven—and will see God face to face; they will rejoice with a joy pure, unceasing, and eternal, knowing neither tedium, nor sorrow, nor care, nor torment, nor suffering; and at the last, at the ending of this world, they will rise again with their bodies and will reign eternally with Christ.

And all such blessings Jesus Christ grants not to any one people alone, but to all without exception: whoever only wills it may receive them; the way to it has been shown, prepared, and, so far as is possible, smoothed and made level; and beyond this, Jesus Christ is ready to help us walk along this way and, so to speak, Himself desires to lead us by the hand—and it remains for us only not to resist Him and not to be obstinate, but to give ourselves over wholly to His will: let Him Himself lead us where and how He pleases.

See, then, how Jesus Christ loves us, and how He bestows blessings upon us!

And what if Jesus Christ were now suddenly to appear visibly before us and ask us: My children! do you have love for Me for what I have done for you? do you feel in your hearts thankfulness toward Me? Which of us would not say to Him: Yea, Lord! we love Thee and we thank Thee?

But if you love Jesus Christ and count yourselves thankful to Him, then will you do what He bids you? For whoever loves another, and whoever feels himself thankful, will do everything that pleases his benefactor. Yet Jesus Christ desires of you only one thing—namely, that you follow Him into the Kingdom of Heaven.

Jesus Christ has done everything for us: shall we then not fulfill for Him this one desire of His? Jesus Christ, in order to save us, came down from heaven to earth: shall we then, for Jesus Christ, be unwilling to suffer and to endure a little?

Blessed, yea, most blessed, is he who follows Jesus Christ all his life long; for he will assuredly be there where Jesus Christ Himself abides.

Happy too is he who takes care and strives to imitate Jesus Christ: for he will receive help from Jesus Christ. But unhappy is he who has no desire to follow Jesus Christ, excusing himself by saying that it is hard to follow Him, or that he has not the strength for it: for such a man deprives himself of the grace of God and, as it were, thrusts away the helping hand of Jesus Christ.

But woe shall be to that man who resists Jesus Christ, who is obstinate and, as it were, rises up against Him: for the portion of such a one is in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone!