What were the stages of God’s wondrous salvation of His believers, the people of God?

By His foreknowledge, God knew the gifts that first man would enjoy, the devil’s envy of him, and all that would happen to him after. Therefore, God had a plan for saving humanity and restoring what they lost and that was through the following phases:

First: The era after Adam’s fall until Moses received the Law: God spoke to Adam about the Cross when He told the serpent, “On your belly you shall go, and you shall eat dust all the days of your life. I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed: He shall bruise your head and you shall bruise His heel” (Gen. 3:14–15). The people of God knew that this divine promise spoke of the Savior who would be born from the seed of a woman (not from the seed of man), and that He would bruise Satan’s head and abolish his authority over humanity. For this reason, the people of God earnestly waited for the Savior’s coming.

Also, the men of God of the Old Testament resembled the Savior such as: the blood of Abel, who was slaughtered by his brother, was crying out from the ground; Enoch who was taken up to heaven and thus resembled the Savior who is to ascend to heaven from earth and grant the faithful the privilege of ascending to heaven; Noah who was saved along with his wife, three children and their wives and were granted to enjoy the new world after the flood, and their ark became a symbol of the Church of the New Testament; Abraham who offered his beloved son as a sacrifice was a symbol of the Father who has 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); Isaac who carried the wood of the burnt offering was a symbol of Christ who carried His cross; and Jacob who saw the open heavens and the Church of the

922 St. Gregory of Nyssa, Gregory of Nyssa: Homilies on The Song of Songs , ed., Brian E. Daley S.J. and John T. Fitzgerald, trans., Richard A. Norris Jr. (Society of Biblical Literature, 2012) 11: p. 335–337.

New Testament and so he chanted saying, “ this is none other them the house of God and this is the gate of heaven ” (Gen. 28:17).

Second: The era of the Mosaic Law and Prophets: The law explained in detail the sacrifices and their rituals as a symbol of Christ’s sacrifice. The prophets wrote many prophecies about the Savior, His birth, crucifixion, burial, resurrection, and ascension.

Third: The era of the incarnation of the Logos until His ascension: The Lord revealed His divine love to us, so He fed the hungry, healed the sick, comforted the brokenhearted and revealed to them His providence even after His ascension when He sent them the Comforter, the Holy Spirit. He announced to them the Father’s love to all humanity and the Holy Spirit’s work to declare the divine truth and lead the Church to heaven as she struggles in the world.

Fourth: The era between Christ’s ascension until His second coming: Here, He acts as a heavenly high priest. The Apostle Paul spoke about this era in his epistle to the Hebrews (Heb. 6:20) in which he compares between the high priests who were in need of redemption and the unique heavenly High Priest.