We know from the Creed that the Orthodox Church is Apostolic by nature; that is, we are directed by Christ to go into the world and spread/share the Good News of His Gospel message. Apostolic Succession, however, means that the Church can trace a direct line of apostolic ordination and episcopal continuity back to the time of Christ. In other words, just as Christ laid His hands upon His Apostles, and the Apostles laid hands to ordain their successors, there is an unbroken chain through history to Christ that is imparted at the time of a priest’s ordination through the “laying on of hands” (kirotonia in Greek) by the bishop. Yet this mystical, sacramental act also entails the protecting, preserving, and transferring in fullness of all direct teachings, theology, and doctrine of the Apostles, which has been continuously handed down through this same unbroken chain.
It is through apostolic succession that the Orthodox Christian Church is the spiritual successor to the original body of believers in Christ that was composed of the Apostles.
