The Deity
The Deity
For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form. (Colossians 2:9—NIV)
I do not pretend to be a theologian. Personally, I do not have much faith in theology. Theology is the study of God. This implies a mental approach to understanding God. It is my point of view that trying to understand God mentally has led to the current errors in Christian thinking.
I think, from something Jesus said, that the only way we can understand God is by experiencing Him.
On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. (John 14:20—NIV)
I make it a point to not write anything merely to explain a passage of Scripture. Everything I write is intended to lead believers into righteous behavior.
My effort in this present essay is to invite people into a closer relationship with the Lord Jesus, our older Brother.
It is my observation that the two current definitions of the Trinity tend to keep people from enjoying a close relationship with the Lord Jesus. I do not like terms such as "Trinity," "rapture," "accept Christ," "the Bride of Christ," and so forth because they are not in the Scriptures. Even though those who employ such terms mean well, there always is a chance that an unscriptural meaning or application will creep in.
The unscriptural term I wish to deal with in this essay is the "Trinity." If my understanding is correct, "Trinity" can be understood in one of two ways, neither of which admits to the close fellowship with Jesus we all desire, and that He desires.
The first understanding is that there are three equal Gods, co-existent, co-eternal, and so forth. This means that Jesus is equal in authority to the Father and originated at the same time as He. This is what I think "Trinity" means.
However, I believe theologians would have a more complex definition. Yet, if I am not mistaken, this is how the rank and file of believers would define the Trinity.
The idea of three equal Gods probably came about in an effort to insure that Jesus is perceived as being fully Divine, and so He is. But to make Him another God equal to the Father thwarts our desire to be a brother and friend of His. We believers are not God, in the ordinary sense of the word, and never shall be. So there is a wall between us and Jesus.
I think this might be a good place in which to interject the idea that "God" is not a name. It is a title. Thus the "Father" is God. So also is the Lord Jesus, because the Father has made Him God.
But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom. (Hebrews 1:8)
Who is saying this? Obviously, the Father.
To whom is the Father giving the Throne and referring to as God?
Obviously, the Lord Jesus Christ.
The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool. (Psalms 110:1)
"The Lord" is the Father. "My Lord" is Jesus Christ, the Lord of David.
From the two verses above, we see that the Father and the Son are two different Persons. Since this is clear, the theologic gymnastics that "prove" Jesus Christ and the Father are the same Person must be the result of a determination to prove the Divinity of Christ.
While the Lord Jesus Christ certainly is Divine, He is the Son of the Father, not the Father Himself. It is understandable that devout scholars want to insure that we assign to the Lord Jesus His full Divinity and authority; but we must not go against the Scriptures!
No matter how well meaning we may be, to go against the Scriptures will eventually cause problems. And the doctrine of the Trinity has caused problems in that it has made the Deity inscrutable and unapproachable.
God the Father is so great He may always be inscrutable. This is why He has given the Lord Jesus to us. If we then make the Lord Jesus part of an inscrutable, unapproachable, Godhead, we defeat God's purpose, which is to make us an integral part of Christ—His brothers and the members of His Body.
If Jesus Christ is one of three Gods, and we never can be God in that sense, He is not actually our brother; although the Bible says being a brother of Christ is our destiny.
For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. (Romans 8:29—NIV)
If we are to take the verse above at face value, then it seems to me there is no need to go into such intricate details about the relationships among the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Jesus is the Firstborn among many brothers. Who is our common Father? God, of course. Is God Jesus' Father? Of course. Is God our Father? Of course. Are we then genuine brothers of our Lord Jesus in that we have the same Father? Of course. I see no mystery here! I see no need to go into verbal acrobatics to explain our relationship to Jesus or Jesus' relationship to the Father.
This means we can have genuine fellowship with the Lord Jesus. There is no wall between us. He has been born of God. We have been born of God.
How is Jesus different from us?
He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross. (Colossians 1:15-20—NIV)
The passage above is one of the clearest expressions in the Bible, in my opinion, that sets forth how Jesus is different from us. None of this is true of any of us.
Yet, what Paul said in Romans is equally true. There is one God. He is the Father of our Lord Jesus. Although the distinctions made above hold true, nevertheless the Lord Jesus genuinely is our older brother.
Jesus is not appalled that we should aspire to be His brothers. He is delighted. It is we who are apprehensive about taking too much on ourselves that we should be the brothers of Christ.
Perhaps it is because His coming is at hand that we now are realizing that Jesus wants to be closer to us than a brother. He wants us to live by His very Life, thinking, speaking, and acting along with Him, in concert with Him.
We have been called to be one in Him in the Father. In other words, God is enlarging His family, the family that has the Father's name. As such we partake of the Divine Nature. As such we will be filled with all the Fullness of God if we follow on to know the Lord.
Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires. (II Peter 1:4—NIV)
We may be staggered at such a thought. But this precisely is what the Bible says about the members of the Royal Priesthood.
Are we then to be puffed up above all semblance of humanity? If being brought into the family of God makes us feel exalted, God has a way of chastening and humbling us, doesn't He?
I stated previously that the Trinity can be understood in one of two ways, neither of which admits to the close fellowship with Jesus that we all desire, and that He desires.
The first is that there are three equal Gods, although this definition is modified somewhat by complicated explanations of theologians; yet this is how it comes across to those of us who are not trained in theology.
The second way in which the Trinity may be understood is that there is but one God in three manifestations. This would mean that Jesus is not a Person in His own right but an expression of the Father.
I am aware that theologians would be dismayed at the way I simplify their profound definitions, but this is the way the ordinary believer is apt to understand them when they claim there is one God in three manifestations.
I will grant that when Christ is conceived and fully formed in a believer, and that believer then is filled with all the fullness of God, and the Scripture teaches clearly this state of being, then we also become a manifestation of the one God. It assuredly was true of the Apostle Paul. He was a manifestation of Christ, hence a manifestation of God!
I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. (Galatians 2:20—NIV)
So there is truth in claiming that Christ is a manifestation of God.
But being a manifestation of Christ does not make Paul, Christ. And being a manifestation of the Father does not make Christ, the Father.
Then too, there are passages that prevent the notion that Christ and the Father are the same Person.
For example:
Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, "My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will." (Matthew 26:39—NIV)
It is my opinion that a person's will is his or her unique identity. So when Jesus cried out, "Yet not as I will but as you will," it seems to me that two different Persons are involved here—the Father and the Son.
How could it be that Jesus is not a unique Person but a manifestation of the Father, and yet ask that the Father's will be done and not His? Does this make sense to you?
Again:
During the days of Jesus' life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission. Although he was a son, he learned obedience from what he suffered and, once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him. (Hebrews 5:7-9—NIV)
Now I ask you, was the Lord Jesus in reverent submission to Himself, which would be the case if Jesus and the Father are the same Person in different forms or manifestations? Would Jesus learn obedience to Himself?
This does not make sense to me. However the following passage does make sense:
Jesus said, "Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet returned to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, 'I am returning to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.'" (John 20:17—NIV)
I believe our misunderstanding of the Deity, and several other equally misleading errors, have come about because theologians have attempted to understand the Scriptures by using human reasoning.
The seventeenth chapter of the Gospel of John is one of my favorite passages of the Bible. Perhaps it is one of yours also. This chapter has several verses that portray the Father and Christ as two different Persons.
These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee. (John 17:1)
How do you feel about this? If the average person read this, would he or she conclude that Jesus and the Father are two separate Persons?
It is my point of view that if a statement of the Scriptures does not mean what it seems to state, it may be true that we are attempting to superimpose on it a scheme of interpretation of our own invention.
If we have to go to aspects of the Greek language that are not known to most of us to arrive at the meaning of the Bible statement, then I am suspicious of our approach.
The Bible was written as holy men of God were moved by the Spirit of God. Therefore an analysis of the Greek nouns and verbs, rather than prayer and fellowship with the Author, may lead us to an incorrect interpretation.
As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him. (John 17:2)
Two distinct Persons, or two manifestations of the same Person? Does the verse above suggest that one of the two Persons has more power and authority than the other?
And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent. (John 17:3)
One Person or two Persons?
And so on and on in Chapter Seventeen.
I view John 17:21-23 as being among the most significant statements of the Bible. I wonder if they are being given enough emphasis in the preaching of today.
That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. (John 17:21)
What can we conclude from this verse:
That the members of the Church may be one in the same manner that the Father is in Christ, and Christ is in the Father.
If the members of the Church are one in the same manner that the Father is in Christ, and Christ is in the Father, and then apply the two current definitions of the Godhead, then the members of the Church either are one person in numerous manifestations, none having a unique personality; or all are co-existent, co-equal persons, none having a higher rank in the Kingdom than any other.
If we were to follow the doctrine of the Trinity, the members of the Church either are one person in numerous manifestations, or are all equal members, co-equal, co-existent, and so forth.
But we note that the members of the Church are to be one in the Father and Christ, just as the Father and Christ are One. The purpose of our being one in the Father and Christ, as the Father and Christ are One, is that the world may believe that it is the Father who has sent Christ.
We realize that the Church of today is not one in the Father and Christ or even one with each other to the extent that the world is impressed that Jesus has come from the Father. This leads us to the conclusion that there are further works of redemption ahead of us until the Father's will has been accomplished.
Could you agree with that thought?
And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one. (John 17:22)
There have been attempts to bring denominations into unity, such as the Catholic and Episcopal bodies. But such attempts will never bring the Christian people into the union with Christ and the Father that exists in the present hour with Christ and the Father.
In order for such Divine union to be brought into being, we must be given the Glory that the Father has given Jesus Christ. It is the Glory that will make us one in the sense that Christ is praying. The efforts of human church leaders to bring about such union will result only in Babylon.
I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me. (John 17:23)
Christ in us, and God in Christ, until the union, the oneness, has been brought to perfection. This obviously is referring to a perfect Deity, into which the Divine Glory has brought us; we no longer being living souls but life-giving spirits. And so it is written:
The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit. (I Corinthians 15:45)
The end result of our being made perfect in Christ is that the world may understand that the Father has sent Christ into the world, and that the Father loves the saints as He loves His firstborn Son.
The world of today staggers on in its chaos, its insanity, its violence, its seeking of power, its sexual lust. Injustice and perversity abound on every hand. The political leaders seek prominence. But their efforts never will bring about justice for mankind.
God's solution to the madness and injustice is to perfect a Royal Priesthood. These people with Jesus Christ as their exalted Head will bring the Presence of God to mankind---justice for the nations.
He shall not fail nor be discouraged, till he have set judgment in the earth: and the isles shall wait for his law. (Isaiah 42:4)
This is why sincere Christians endure a multitude of tribulations. Christ is perfecting us so we can appear with Him and bring righteousness, love, peace, and joy to the peoples of the earth.
The only hope for mankind is the Lord Jesus Christ. He has chosen to be the Head of a perfected Body that can govern the nations in righteousness. His scepter, and the scepter of those with Him, is iron righteousness, fiery holiness, and stern obedience to the Father.
God's Kingdom is coming to the earth. Nothing can prevent this from happening. Let each one of us be sternly obedient to the Lord Jesus Christ, thus hastening His coming to bring peace to the earth.
The Lord Jesus Christ is the Word of God. He also is the bright and morning Star. As He rises in our heart we increase in the understanding of the Scriptures, for He Himself wrote the Scriptures. When we try to understand them with our mind, using deductive processes, we invariably misunderstand what the Lord wants to tell us.
Our Lord Jesus came from Heaven to bring us to the Father. He is the Way to the Father. We have so confused the relationship of Christ to the Father we have thought that when we have Christ we also have the Father—and, in some points of view, we also have the Holy Spirit.
In one extremely important sense, when we have Christ we do have the Father and the Holy Spirit. Yet, they are three Persons and they minister to us in different ways.
If I am not mistaken, as we press forward in Christ in the present hour, the Father is going to become much more real to us that has been true in time past. The Father is a unique Person in His own right. He indeed is our Father, just as He is the Father of our Lord Jesus.
All things have been committed to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. (Matthew 11:27—NIV)
The Kingdom of God is at hand. The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are active perhaps as never before. The final conflict between good and evil is beginning even now. The end result will be a new world of righteousness from which sin and rebellion have been barred for eternity.
Let us press on to know the Lord. He shall come unto us as the spring rain. It is time now for the Lord Jesus to show Himself to His fervent disciples to prepare them for His worldwide appearing. New and surprising things are afoot in the spirit world.
Each of us must seek the Lord Jesus right now so we do not miss the day of our visitation.
For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.
Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this. (Isaiah 9:6,7)
That all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. (John 17:21—NIV)