Ultimately, the tale of this creation is the beginning of separation from God through the sin of Adam and the reconciling of Adam and his children to God through the work of Jesus Christ.
Hence, Adam was created in total intimacy with God, which he rejected. Christ, while yet God, took upon himself the form of Adam and suffered the consequences of Adam’s sin, which in turn reconciled us all to God.
Hence, it is at the heart of the Christian life to embrace that communion with God through the mediation of Jesus Christ. Because Christ reconciles us to God, embracing relationship with him is the function and purpose of our existence. Furthermore, because Christ is God, embracing relationship with him becomes even more critical.
Protestantism incorrectly describes Catholicism as adding extras that only serve as barriers between us and Christ. Our separate brethren incorrectly realizes that by rejecting the sacraments, they are rejecting a powerful and visible expression of our relationship with him.
American evangelicals have a tendency to view a “personal relationship” with Christ as having feel-good emotions concerning him, feeling his presence in day-to-day life, and asking him advice on all of their decisions. While these are not bad things, they forget the mystery and majesty that Christ veiled in himself when he became a human, and therefore they also forget the majesty and glory that he assumed once more when he ascended into Heaven. It kind of turns into a, “What has Jesus done for me in my life? How do I talk to Jesus throughout the day? How do I hear Jesus speaking to me throughout the day?” Again, these are not bad things. These are in fact good things, but the wholeness of the Christian life is lost when these things become the focus and meaningless catchphrases like “all you need is Jesus” become the religion, and the entirety of the Christian religion is abandoned.
For the catholic/orthodox Christian, the “personal relationship” is not the means to salvation - it is the salvation. The personal relationship which Adam had with Christ was lost, and we, wallowing in our sin here on earth, are still separated from it. The sacraments are the physical means by which Christ once again descends from Heaven and dwells with us.
Baptism, the first sacrament, is the means by which we are reconciled to God’s favor. It is not the physical taking of a bath that saves us, but the cry of our conscience towards God, in acknowledging that we have sinned, turning from our sin, and accepting the death of Christ as our own death. It is our rebirth as new men, into brotherhood with Christ, the firstborn from the dead. It is Christ who washes our sins away in this sacrament. We are united to his crucifixion and burial through it, but also to his resurrection. Hence, the relationship becomes deeper because you and Christ both experience the same sinlessness, death, and resurrection.
Chrismation, the second sacrament, is the means by which God continues to make himself presence in our life. Unlike the mantra by which the Protestants say we must “invite Jesus into our heart”, the catholic Christian invites the Holy Spirit to indwell him through the Sign of Faith being marked on the forehead by the hands of the priest, who acts as Christ. In each person of the Trinity, the fullness of the Godhead dwells, and their perfect unity with the other two persons make them present as well. As the Spirit of Christ indwells you, Christ himself is present permanently. Protestants, while they express a desire for Chrismation in “inviting Jesus into your heart”, they lack the fullness of understanding and physical reality that the sacrament provides.
The Eucharist, the third sacrament, is a means by which Christ continues to physically dwell among us. Indeed, Catholics frequently answer the personal relationship question by pointing to this, saying, how can one be more intimate with another person than by eating their flesh and drinking their blood? Protestants have abandoned this sacrament. They can no longer physically ingest Christ. The “remembrance” of Christ’s death is meaningless for them, and most Protestant churches have communion once a month at best. Christ insisted that we will abide in him and he will abide in us if we eat his flesh and drink his blood. I do not recall the name of the saint who said, “Eucharist is the one food that when eaten, you become it instead of it becoming you.” We are transformed into Christ’s Body, quite literally, by making his Body the nourishment of ours.
