The Historical Church

THE ORIGIN, FOUNDATION, AND MISSION OF THE
CHURCH
The Meaning of the Church:
 The word “church” (Latin ecclesia, from the Greek ek-
ka-lein, to “call out of”) means an assembly convoked
by God.
 Faith assembly whose root cause is God‟s free call to
share His divine goodness and love in Christ.
Scriptural Images of the Church
The Flock of Christ
The Church – both visible and invisible
 One complex reality with both human and divine
element, same with Christ Himself its founder.
 Society structured with hierarchical organs
and the mystical body of Christ
 The visible society and the spiritual
community
 Earthly Church (historical Church) and the
Church endowed with heavenly riches
(graces)
The Church – mystery of men’s union with God

Vineyard of God  God, out of his divine love and goodness, created
man and woman in his own image and likeness, and
Temple of God be in union with Him
 Sin = separation from God
Our Mother, the spotless Spouse of the spotless Lamb  Christ – mediator between God and men
 Messianic role of Jesus (King, Priest, Prophet) which
was imparted to the Church
The Church as Mystery  It is the Church wherein Christ fulfills the purpose of
God‟s plan: to unite all things in Him
 A mystery is not something we cannot know nor  Christ (bridegroom) – Church (bride) (Eph 5:32; 3:9-
understand, but rather a reality we can never fully 21)
grasp because there is always more to learn
The Church as Sacrament
 “a reality imbued with the hidden presence of
 Sacrament
God … always open to new and greater
 Visible sign of the invisible grace
exploration”
 Christ
 The Church is the corporate presence of God in
Christ, with a unity created and sustained by the  Sacrament of the invisible God
Holy Spirit.
 The Church is related to each Person of the  Church is the effective sign and symbol of:
Blessed Trinity  Our union with God;
 The unity among men; a prefiguration of the
unity yet to come in heaven
 Of salvation; visible plan of God‟s love for
The Church is mystery because of its relationship to humanity
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit
Church as “sacrament”
 Origin
 Plan of the Father, through Jesus Christ,  It unites inseparable the visible and invisible
working of the Spirit dimensions of the Church
 Structure  A visible sign making present an invisible
 Community reality
 Mission  “sacrament” directly relates the Church to non-
 From the Father, through Christ with the help Catholics
of the Holy Spirit  Tangible sign of Christ‟s presence in the
 Destiny world
 In union with the Trinity  It unites the Church closely with the Eucharist
 Eucharist makes sacramentally present the
body and blood of the Risen Christ

THE CHURCH’S ORIGIN, FOUNDATION AND MISSION
Objectives:
 Discuss the emergence of the Church in the Old
Testament
 Identify the different prefiguration of the Church in the
Old Testament and its meaning
CCC #759
 “The eternal Father, in accordance with the utterly
gratuitous and mysterious design of his wisdom and
goodness, created the whole universe and chose to
raise up men to share in his own life,” to which he
calls all men in his Son
A plan born in the Father’s heart
 The Church is “God’s Family”, redeemed and
reunited in Jesus Christ: the Church is God’s People.
She is “a plan born in the Father’s Heart”
The Church
 Foreshadowed from the world‟s beginning
Was this plan revealed all at once?
 God slowly reveals himself and His plan in human
history
The Church was prepared in marvellous fashion in the
history of the people of Israel
Economy of Salvation/ Salvation History
 Oikos
 House
 Nomos
 Law
God‟s rule in His household
 Theos
 God
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 Logos
 Word
God‟s revelation
Through Economy, Theology is Revealed
Old Testament
 It prepares us for who Jesus is and His plan for us.
The Church is God‟s people redeemed and reconciled to Him
The Church
 Prepared for in the Old Covenant
 In the call of Abraham we see God‟s great
plan at work: to gather together all mankind
to be his family
 Because you have done this, and have not
withheld your son, your only son, I will
indeed bless you, and I will multiply your
descendants as the stars of heaven and as
the sand which is on seashore and by your
descendants shall all the nations of the earth
bless themselves, because you have obeyed
my voice” (Gen 22:16-18)
 After the patriarchs, God formed Israel as his
people by freeing the from slavery in Egypt
“You shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation” (ex
19:6). Israel is above all an “assembly of people” before God, a
qahal-the very reality that the Septuagint translates as
ekklesia, Church
Through economy, theology is revealed
 We learned who God is by what He does
 We learned His plan through His revelation
(Passover should be 10 commandments)
 The Historical Church

SALVATION HISTORY

 God created us because He loves us Renewed his covenant

 Sin
 Freely choose to disobey God‟s laws we turn Abram to Abraham
away from God‟s love
 Asked to be circumcised to as a sign of the covenant.
 Salvation
 Asks for obedience
 Being freed from sin
 Sin separates us from God
 Help through gift of grace
Later on Abraham and Sara had a son called Isaac.
Salvation History
 Faith trust and obedience were tested by sacrificing
 Looking back in the past regarding how God saved his son Isaac.
humanity  Abraham obeys and takes Isaac to Mt. Marayah
 Angel was sent to stop from killing his son because
 Adam and Eve he has already proven himself
 Abel  Promised to multiply Abraham‟s descendants
 Cain (wicked and evil)
 Seth (good and righteous) Isaac had two sons

First Sin  Jacob and Esau

 Jacob was blessed and named Irsrael
 disobedience  Israel had 12 sons and these sons had many
children
Second Sin  Formed the 12 tribes of Israel
(Jewish/Hebrew Nation)
 murder
 Eventually because of famine(scarcity of
Noah and Family (8 people) food) Jewish people moved to Egypt 400
years
 save righteous family and animals by building an arc
 worldwide flood to destroy wickedness  A wicked pharaoh enslaved the Jewish people and
 Animals (2) held them captive because of love God sends Moses
to free the people
Noah’s Sons  With God‟s help Moses led people out of Egypt to the
promised land
 Shem (Good generation)
 Japeth  Take them across the red sea. Took them to Mt. Sinai
 Ham (wicked generation) where God makes the covenant and the promise to
Jewish People. 10 commandments and if they obey,
Descendant of Shem
they will be included in God‟s chosen family
 Abram
 Went to God‟s promised land Canaan (father of all  They lost trust and worshipped a golden calf as a God
nations)  Moses intercedes and because of this and because of
 Sara God‟s love, God forgives them.
 Wife
 Nephew  Travelled 40 years to the promised land. They
disobeyed God many times and had to wait an
 Lot
additional 40 years
Hagar
 Moses died and Joshua leads the people through
 He disobeyed God several times including having a Jerico into the promised land
son Ishmael

 Sin/disobey = suffer consequences = sorrowful/repent
= forgiven
 King of Israel
 Saul (first)
 David (second)
 Is a son of Jesse from a town called
Bethlehem
 David places the covenant w/c was God‟s dwelling
place in earth in the capital city Jerusalem to
emphasize to people God‟s importance
 David will have a son who would be king forever
 David‟s son Solomon will build a temple in Jerusalem
to show that God is the center of life
 Priests offer sacrifices to God as God required and
the Jews would travel to Jerusalem to worship to the
temple throughout the year
 Solomon was good and righteous but becomes
corrupted and the kingdom of David declines
 12 tribes of Israel become divided and largely turn
away from God
 Babylonians invade Jerusalem burned the city,
destroyed the temple and take the Jewish people into
exile.
 Punishment for unfaithfulness and
disobedience
 Messiah would be son of God and son of man. The
messiah will suffer and die but he would destroy
death and satan.
 God will form new and everlasting covenant with
people through the Messiah
 Jesus is a descendant of Adam and Eve, Noah,
Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and King David
 Jesus son of Mary and Joseph
 New and everlasting covenant
 Through Grace that we could enter heaven.
Through Grace we have faith, be obedient
and to love.
 Theology and Economy (talking about God)
 Theos
 God
 Logos
 Word
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Words about God
 Economy is often referred to as country‟s finances
 Oikos
 house
 Nomos
 Law
Salvation History
 God‟s economy is the law or rule of his house, how
God governs his household.
 Basic story of God revealing himself to us in granting
us salvation through His son Jesus Christ
 In Galatians, St. Paul tells us that the Old Testament
was a custodian or a guardian
Pedagogue
 Denotes who teaches and guides a child
 God didn‟t reveal himself all at one he gradually
guided us and taught us about himself throughout the
whole Old Testament
 They point out of new realities in the New Testament
 Type of something greater. Noah‟s ark, points out
Jesus establishing the church which is a safe haven
for the people
 Exodus
 God gives miraculous bread to the people
Types of Christ (David, Noah, Isaac)
 Pointed out to Christ in different ways
 The whole old testament prepares us to who Jesus is
and what he intended to do. Through his Pascal
Mystery, passion, death, resurrection, and ascension.
God saves us from our sins and invites us into his
household, into his family.
 Through the economy, the theology is revealed to us.
Through economy, God‟s identity is revealed to us.
We learn about who God is by what He does.
Old Testament
 Ultimate revelation of God in Jesus
 In Jesus Christ, God gives himself for us completely
through the mystery of Jesus‟ life and death, we find
precisely how God runs his household. We also find
the ultimate theological truth that God is love
 The Historical Church

4 Biblical Images of the Church

1. Kingdom of God
God > creation > man
2. People of God
Adam and Eve (seed) 3. Body of Christ
4. Temple of the Holy Spirit
Communion
KINGDOM OF GOD
● Major theme of Christ‟s own teaching in the
First covenant sign – marriage synoptic gospels.
● The Kingdom of God is the Good News preached to
Form – couple the poor, the gift of God, our “Abba,” (Father) who is
sensitive to the needs and sufferings of every
human being.
● Jesus proclaimed the kingdom; what came was the
Clean and unclean (because of the serpent; horse camels, pig;
Church.
hooves)

Ark floating for 40 days and 40 nights Parables About the Kingdom of God
● a treasure hidden in a field,
Advent ● the leaven raising the dough,
● the tiny mustard seed growing into a tall tree,
Jesus‟ birth and ascension
● a fish net catching the good and the bad

- The Church represents the coming of the Kingdom, the

Tower of Babel (Shem) Kingdom in process.

“YOUR KINGDOM COME” IN THE LORD’S PRAYER

God‟s Kingdom is something already here, but not yet in its
Sign – circumcision fulfillment in glory
Form – tribe
“God has willed to make men holy and save them, not merely
as individuals without any mutual bonds, but by making them
into a single people, a people which acknowledges Him in
Sign – rainbow truth and serves Him in holiness” (LG 9)
Form – family THE CHURCH AS THE “PEOPLE OF GOD” HAS CLEAR
DISTINGUISHING CHARACTERISTICS:

THE INTUITION OF THE CHURCH ● its cause is GOD

Objectives:
1. Relate the preaching ministry of Jesus to the
establishment of the Church
2. Explain the significance of Christ‟s Passion, Death,
and Resurrection in the life of the Church
Galatians 4:4-5
But when the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son,
born of a woman, born under the law, to ransom those under
the law, so that we might receive adoption.
Source: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/galatians/4
● its Head is Christ
● its members are “those who believe in Christ, who
are reborn through the Word of the living God, „of
water and the Spirit‟ in baptism” (cf. Jn 3:3,5)
● its condition is that of the dignity and freedom of
the sons/daughters of God, in whose hearts the
Holy Spirit dwells as in a temple
● its law is Christ‟s new Commandment of love (cf.
Jn 13:34), and the new Law of the Spirit (cf. Rom
8:2);
● its mission
● its destiny

The New People of God is a
1. Priestly
2. Prophetic
3. Kingly People
The Church is not just like a body but IS the Body of
Christ, really made one in him, in his “mystical” Body.
- “Mystical” does not mean “unreal” but rather a
reality not limited to sensible appearances.
Therefore, it is accessible to faith alone because
it belongs to the mystery of God‟s salvific plan
hidden for endless ages but revealed in the
Gospel.
Jesus proclaimed a mysterious and real communion
between his own body and ours: "He who eats my flesh and
drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him."
CHRIST‟S “BODY” CAN REFER TO:
● The physical body of the historical Jesus
● his Eucharistic body
● his mystical body, the Church
The Church as the Temple of the Holy Spirit Unity in
Diversity
- Within Christ‟s Body, the Church, there is a great
variety of members and functions (PCP II 91-94)
“There are different kinds of spiritual gifts but the same Spirit;
there are different ministries, but the same Lord; there are
different works but the same God who accomplishes all of
them in everyone” (1 Cor 12:4- 6)
● Christians no longer have the need for a temple
made of stone because God has made their
community into a living temple, into a sanctuary
of God‟s presence.
Do you not know that you are God‟s temple and the
God‟s spirit dwells in you?...For God‟s temple is
holy, and you are that temple. (1Cor 3:16-17)
Animating the Church as the “Body of Christ” is the Holy
Spirit.
“As Christ is the Head of the Church, so is the Holy Spirit its
soul”
The Holy Spirit makes the Church "the temple of the living
God”
The Holy Spirit is "the principle of every vital and truly saving
action in each part of the Body."
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The Holy Spirit "bestows upon [the Church] varied hierarchic
and charismatic gifts, and in this way directs her."
The Church is born primarily of Christ's total self-
giving for our salvation, anticipated in the
institution of the Eucharist and fulfilled on the cross. "The
origin and growth of the Church are symbolized by the blood
and water which flowed from the open side of the crucified
Jesus.” "For it was from the side of Christ as he slept the
sleep of death upon the cross that there came forth the
'wondrous sacrament of the whole Church.'
Christ Passion and Death
Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take
up his cross each day and follow me. For whoever wishes to
save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake
will find it” Lk.
9:23-24).
● In the celebration of the Eucharist, Christians
share in the blood and body of Christ, and thus
are nurtured and strengthened to remain the
one body of Christ (1 Cor 10:16-17)
● As Christ‟s passion and death brings about our
salvation, it is now the Church role to continue this
saving mission of Christ for the world: to be the salt
of the earth and the light of the world
Christ Resurrection and Ascension in the Life of the
Church
“If Christ was not raised, your faith is worthless.” 1
Corinthians 15: 17
THE RESURRECTION IS THE CENTRAL GOSPEL
MESSAGE ITSELF
● Confirmation of all Christ has done and taugh
● Sharing of Christ‟s life with us as adopted sons
and
daughters of the Father
● The source of that new life for all
The challenge today is NOT in accepting Christ’s
Resurrection, but in living out the Gospel of the Risen
Christ.
The Ascension is a salvific event for us since Christ‟s return
to the Father was necessary for sending the Spirit among us,
and for Christ‟s continued mediating on our behalf as well as
for grounding our hope in our own future resurrection.
The Church continues to awaits His second coming and the its
 The Historical Church

final completion, the union of God and men at the end of time.

The victory accomplished by Christ‟s salvific act has it‟s own

parallelism with God‟s act of saving His people Israel from
slavery.

1. It was God‟s initiative but requires a

response from the people
2. The people has to be organized and given a
distinctive way of life as God‟s own people
3. The victory accomplished by God must be
communicated/proclaim

God instituted not only the salvation, but also its proclamation
to be carried out by those who were saved. This
commissioning is now given to the Church through Christ
command to his disciples

“Go into all the world and preach the gospel to the whole
creation. He who believes and is baptized will be saved”
Mk 16:15-16