To be the revelation of God in Christ.
To be the revelation of God in Christ.
He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he will not go out from it anymore; and I will write on him the name of My God, and the name of the city of My God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God, and My new name. (Revelation 3:12)
Again we see that the promise is to the believer who is living in victory over sin and self-will. Wherever he goes in the creation, it will be as the Presence of God.
It may be true that the idea of the Trinity, the concept that Jesus and the Father are the same Person, will serve as a hindrance to the further work of redemption that is occurring today.
All of the roles and tasks of the Kingdom of God shall be accomplished as God reproduces Himself in sons and daughters.
I understand completely that the Word of God was with the Father in the beginning, and through Him the Father created all members and parts of the creation.
The Word was with the Father. The preposition "with" means "accompanying." It never, to my knowledge means "the same as."
If the Word was the same as the Father, the text should read: "In the beginning was the Word. The Word was God. By Him were all things created."
It never should say, "The Word was with God."
No, the Word was not and is not the same Person as the Father.
Notice the following passage:
"I will surely tell of the decree of the Lord: He said to Me, 'You are My Son, Today I have begotten You. 'Ask of Me, and I will surely give the nations as Your inheritance, And the very ends of the earth as Your possession.'" (Psalms 2:7,8)
Are two Persons mentioned in the passage above, the Lord, and the Lord's Son? Yes, or no?
If the answer is "no, They are the same person," then how can we understand the Bible if it does not mean what it states plainly?
We are co-heirs with Christ, the Bible says. Are we co-heirs with the Lord or with the Son?
Are we the brothers of the Lord or of the Son?
I believe it is time the Bible scholars explained in simple, clear English how the Lord and the Son are the same person, and not in some contorted, mystical manner.
There came a day when the Word was made flesh. Then the Word became God's Son; became flesh and blood. This surely is a mystery. Was the Word still Divine? Most certainly. More importantly, perhaps, was the Son still the same Person as the Word?
I think so. Notice the following"
And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John 1:14)
Now think. Who dwelt among us? Whose glory did we see?
Was it the Glory of the Word or of a different Person?
"The only begotten from the Father." Did the Word beget Himself, or is there another Person referred to as the "Father"?
It was the Word Himself who became flesh.
The Father did not become flesh; the Word became flesh.
Is the Word the Father? Not if the Word was "with" the Father.
Is the Son the Word? Yes, because it was the Word who became flesh and dwelt among us. The Person through whom the Father created all things dwelt among us.
We know Him as Jesus, our Brother, our Savior, our Lord.
Is He still the Word? Absolutely. He is the Word made flesh.
Our fellowship is with the Father and with the Word.
What we have seen and heard we proclaim to you also, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ. (I John 1:3)
They are not the same Person.
The Bride of the Lamb is not the Bride of the Father. You and I are not the brothers of the Father.
But Jesus is filled with all the Fullness of God. Is Jesus therefore the same Person as the Father?
Does being filled with all the Fullness of God make Jesus the Father?
Notice the following:
And to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God. (Ephesians 3:19)
Does our being filled up to all the Fullness of God make us either Christ or the Father?
We know that it does not.
Now here is the point of my thesis.
It is evident from the New Testament that we are to be conformed to the image of Christ, and also destined to be the house, rest, and Throne of God. We have been born of the same Father as the Lord Jesus, and therefore He is not ashamed to call us brothers and sisters.
Because it sounds as though we are trying to be God, I think many believers draw back, believing there is an uncrossable gulf between God and us.
Yet, the Apostle Peter claims we have the Divine Nature.
John 17:21-23 should convince any serious student that we have been called to be One with the Son as He is One with the Father. This fact alone means we are called to be part of Divinity.
Any false humility will only cloud our thinking. We have been born of God. Therefore we are of the same Nature as He, although not as exalted in authority and power.
We are the sons and daughters of God. God is our Father and God, and the Father and God of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Jesus said to her, "Stop clinging to Me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to My brethren and say to them, 'I ascend to My Father and your Father, and My God and your God.'" (John 20:17)
Thus the incarnation is continuing. God, in order to build the kind of Kingdom He desires is reproducing Himself in human beings. The Lord Jesus is the Firstborn of those who are of man and of God.
To be a part of God's Kingdom, which is marvelous and wonderful utterly beyond the meaning of those adjectives, we must be born again.
Why must we be born again?
So that like our elder Brother, the Lord Jesus, we will be both of man and of God. Of such is the Kingdom.