Perhaps the biggest question bothering the minds of many people is the identity of God. People all over the world speak of God. They describe Him as the Creator, the Savior, the Almighty, the Most High, the Majestic Being, the All in All, etc. They give Him name as Allah, Bathala, Zeus, etc. People believing in the Bible identify Him as: Yahweh, Jehovah, I am that I am, The Almighty, Lord, Rose of Sharon, Lily of the Valley, El Shaddai, Jesus Christ, etc. Traditional Christianity describes God as: A Spirit, infinite, eternal, and unchangeable; in His being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth.
The Jews did not recognize their God
The Jews believe in one God. However, this is not enough for even the devils do.
James 2:19 "Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe..."
Jesus Christ rebuked the Jews for not being able to identify the God that they were worshipping. There was division among the Jews because of Him. Yet they professed to believe in the God of their father Abraham:
John 8:54-55 "Jesus answered...my Father that honoureth me; of whom ye say, that he is your God: Yet ye have not known him..."
Who is the Father and Who is Jesus Christ? Who is the Holy Spirit? Who is the God of the Old Testment? Who is the God of the New Testament? What is His name?
Warning from those not knowing God
Jesus Christ warned His disciples of people who cannot identify Him and the Father.
JOHN 16:2-3 "They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service. And these things will they do unto you, because they have not known the Father, nor me."
Who can identify and introduce God? If in the eyes of Jesus Christ the Jews did not recognize God when they had access to the Scriptures, how could they possibly recognize the true God? Jesus Christ said, "I and My Father are one," (John 10:30). "He that hath seen me hath seen the Father." (John 14:9) If seeing and listening to Jesus Christ "did not open the eyes" of the Jews so as to recognize God, how could the true God be identified? In the eyes of the Jews, the Teachers of the Law were the recognized authority to explain the word of God. But they themselves did not recognize God.
Well, one may argue that because the Jews were very religious, they were therefore greatly influenced by their religious leaders who shut their eyes so as not to recognize the very God of their forefathers. Christ emphasized, "if ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also." The key to knowing God, therefore, is the proper identification of Jesus Christ.
Caesarea Philippians did not recognize Jesus.
There is another place where the people were like the religious people of Judea and other towns of Israel. They saw and listened to Jesus Christ, yet they were not able to identify Him also. I am referring to the people at Caesarea Philippi. This is a town at the extreme northern boundary of Palestine, about 48 kilometers inland from Tyre and 80 kilometers SW of Damascus. Augustus Caesar presented it to Herod the Great who built a temple there in honor of the emperor. Herod’s son, Philip the tetrach, enlarged the town and named it Caesarea Philippi to distinguish it from other Caesarea.
MATTHEW 16:13-14 "When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am? "And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets."
On close observation, it seems that Christ, indeed, was true to His words: "Heaven and earth shall pass away, but My words shall not pass away." Can we not see this thing happening in our time? People have access and are serious reading the Holy Bible. Why can they not agree as to Who Jesus and the Father are? Do not different people differ in their perception about Jesus? Some say, "Jesus is only a minor God." Others say, "Jesus is only a man and never a God." And many say, "Jesus is but a part or is the third person of the Holy Trinity." Still others say, "The name of the Father and the Holy Spirit is Jesus Christ." All of them, however, know that Jesus is the son of Mary, the child born in Bethlehem, grew in Nazareth, preached and performed many miracles in the different towns of Israel. He was hated by the religious leaders, that caused His arrest and torture. He was ridiculed and made to carry a cross where He was crucified. On the third day, He rose again from the dead. He ascended into heaven and is expected to come back again.
What difference are the people at Caesarea Philippi and the Jews, who all saw and heard Him speak, from the people in our time who all profess the truth about the physical Christ? Are we not now witnessing the prophecy of Jesus that He came not to bring peace but division?
LUKE 12:51 "Suppose ye that I am come to give peace on earth? I tell you, Nay; but rather division:"
Who can identify and introduce God in order to clearly recognize Him? In the case of Peter, did he recognize Jesus?
MATTHEW 16:15-16 "He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God."
Do not the people who have varied perceptions of Jesus Christ also profess "He is the Christ and the Son of the living God?" It would seem, therefore, that professing Jesus as "the Christ and the Son of the living God," if it simply comes from man’s own personal perception would not identify Jesus and the Father.Truly so, Jesus candidly told Peter that his profession of Him as the "Christ and the Son of the living God,’ did not come from his personal competence; rather it came as a revelation from the Father.
MATTHEW 16:17 "And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven."
Jesus Christ is giving the message that the recognition of Him and the Father is only by divine revelation!
Prophecy fulfilled in our time.
Jesus Christ gave this warning to His Chosen. False prophets will come in His name and will perform wonders and miracles:
MATTHEW 24:4-5 "...Take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in my name..."
MATTHEW 24:23-25 "Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not. For there shall arise...false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. Behold, I have told you before."
Apostle Paul repeated the warning of our Lord.
2 CORINTHIANS 11:4 "For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him."
The warning must be very urgent, because our Lord emphasized the importance of recognizing God as a prerequisite to loving Him. This cropped up when a Teacher of the Law asked our Lord as to which is the first commandment of all:
MARK 12:28-29 "And one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, and perceiving that he had answered them well, asked him, Which is the first commandment of all? And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord:" (Then our Lord began enumerating "love God and love your neighbor" [Mark 12:30-31])
If man cannot identify the "One Lord and One God," and if God can only be recognized by divine revelation, how do we go about getting that revelation? Let us now ask God as we have done before. "LORD, WHO ARE YOU? USING OUR HUMAN PERCEPTION IN READING OUR SACRED SCRIPTURES, WE CANNOT TAKE YOUR ‘PLURALITY’ FROM OUR MIND. NO MATTER HOW MUCH WE TRY FIGURING OUT YOUR BEING ONE, OUR FINITE MIND IS TOO LIMITED TO COMPREHEND IT. LIKE PETER, LORD, PLEASE GIVE US THE REVELATION TO KNOW YOU."As if God is saying, "Could you trust Me and My words?"
James 1:5-8 "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord. A double minded man is unstable in all his ways."
"Could you renounce your human wisdom and philosophy because these will stand on the way to My revelation? Do you believe Me if I tell you that ‘there is no need for any man to teach you’ if you have the anointing of My Spirit?"
1 JOHN 2:27 "But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie..."
"Could you renounce the foolish notion of a Natural Man? Remember, spiritual things cannot be intellectually, emotionally, or sensually (of the senses) discerned. The things about Me can only be spiritually discerned. And this is revealed by ‘comparing spiritual things with spiritual:’
Only One God
We believe that there is only one God. Could there be two or three? Let us ask God how He expressed Himself as ONE. "LORD, HAVE YOU STATED IN ABSOLUTE TERMS THAT, INDEED, YOU ARE ONE? As if God is saying, "Look at the following verses if I do not speak of MYSELF as the one and only God."
DEUTERONOMY 32:29 "See now that I, even I, am he, and there is no god with me..."
ISAIAH 43:10 "Ye are my witnesses, saith the LORD, and my servant whom I have chosen: that ye may know and believe me...before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me."
"My prophets also wrote about Me being ALONE:
PSALMS 86:10 "For thou art great, and doest wondrous things: thou art God alone."
DEUTERONOMY 4:35 "Unto thee it was showed, that thou mightest know that the LORD he is God; there is none else beside him."
1 CORINTHIANS 8:4 "...and that there is none other God but one."
Who is the Christ?
Everybody says "Jesus is the Christ," and yet people cannot agree on His identity, as stated. To repeat, there are some who say, "Jesus is only a minor God;" others say, "Jesus is only a man and never a God;" still others say, "the name of the Father and the Holy Spirit is Jesus Christ;" and many people say, "Jesus is a part or only one of the three persons of God."
Let us ask the question: "LORD, WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY CHRIST, ASIDE FROM THE ANOINTED ONE AS EVERYONE PROFESSES HE IS?"
As if God is saying, "Have you not read that the Christ was to come in order to SAVE? The Jews think He would save literally-physically from their political enemies. Remember I am speaking ‘spiritual things.’ If I were to ask you, Who is the Christ in the following?
LUKE 2:11 "For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christthe Lord."
"Do you accept that the Christ is the Savior? Again, if I were to ask you, ‘Who is the only Savior, and no one else?’ Do you believe what is written?"
ISAIAH 43:11 "I, even I, am the LORD; and beside me there is no saviour."
"Would you believe that I am the one speaking? Did I not talk to Moses and told him ‘I am that I am?’
EXODUS 3:14 "And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you."
"Could you recognize Me now that I am the One relating to Noah, to Abraham, to Moses, to Joshua, to the Judges, to David, to Solomon, and to the prophets? Did not My people call Me the FATHER?
ISAIAH 63:16 "Doubtless thou art our FATHER...thou, O LORD, art our FATHER, our redeemer..."
ISAIAH 64:8 "But now, O LORD, thou art our FATHER; we are the clay, and thou our potter; and we all are the work of thy hand."
"Did I not cause prophet Isaiah to write that, ‘I, even I, am the Lord, and beside Me there no savior?’ Have you realized that I, the FATHER, am talking? Have you heard Me speak, ‘I am the only Savior?’
"When Peter, therefore, called the One in front of him ‘in the flesh in the person of JESUS,’ Who do you think did he recognize? The FATHER is the SAVIOR! The FATHER is the CHRIST! JESUS is the FATHER ‘in the flesh!’"
We tell the Lord, "LORD, DO YOU MEAN THAT THE CHILD BORN IN BETHLEHEM IS THE FATHER IN THE FLESH? HOW COULD THAT BE? ARE YOU, THE FATHER AND THE SON, NOT RELATING WITH EACH OTHER? YOU EVEN SAID, ONE WAS SENT BY THE OTHER. LORD, PLEASE EXPLAIN AND OPEN OUR EYES SO THAT WE CAN RECOGNIZE YOU, AND OPEN OUR EARS SO THAT WE CAN UNDERSTAND WHAT YOU ARE SAYING."
The God of the Jews as Testator
As if God is saying, "Now, I will tell you My plan so that through it you can recognize Me. Do not forget that I made a COVENANT or a TESTAMENT with Abraham:
GENESIS 17:7 "And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee."
The Spiritual Seeds of Abraham
We ask God: "LORD, WAS YOUR COVENANT EXCLUSIVE ONLY TO THE DESCENDANTS OF ABRAHAM? HOW ABOUT US WHO BELONG TO OTHER NATIONALITIES? WE DO NOT EVEN HAVE A SINGLE DROP OF ISRAELI BLOOD."
GALATIANS 3:29 "And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise."
As if God is saying, "Do not forget that I am speaking ‘spiritual thing.’ I tell you, to be a physical descendant of Abraham is not a guarantee of being his spiritual seed. Do the Jews belong to Christ? They did not even believe Him! Now, regarding your question. I ask you. Could you be of Christ if you do not recognize Him/Me? The first step, therefore, is for you to belong to Christ before you become the ‘seed of Abraham and heir or beneficiary to My Testament.’
We ask God, "LORD, WHAT IS YOUR TESTAMENT AND ITS SIGNIFICANCE? As if God is saying, "Do you not know that you are lost and, therefore, I have to redeem you? I created you in My image, but that image was shattered when you fell into sin. The importance of My Testament is to redeem you. That is, to restore you back in My image."
We ask God, "LORD, HOW DO YOU FULFILL YOUR TESTAMENT? WHAT IS THE TERM OR CONDITION FOR ITS FULFILLMENT?"
HEBREW 9:16 "For where a testament is, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator."
"LORD, WE CANNOT UNDERSTAND. DO YOU MEAN THAT YOU, AS TESTATOR, HAVE TO DIE IN ORDER TO FULFILL YOUR TESTAMENT? HOW COULD YOU, THE FATHER WHO IS A SPIRIT, DIE? As if God is asking, "Is there anything impossible with Me? Would you believe Me if I tell you that I revealed Myself in the flesh?
1 TIMOTHY 3:16 "And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh..." (KJV or Authorized Version of 1611 only)
"LORD, OUR FATHER, DO YOU MEAN THAT YOU ARE IN THE PERSON OF JESUS CHRIST?" As if God is saying, "Yes, I manifested Myself in the flesh in the person of JESUS CHRIST, precisely to fulfill My Testament with My death! If I, the Father, is not Jesus the man, His death would not have fulfilled My Testament. Have you forgotten that ‘where a testament is, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator?’ Who is the Testator? Am I not the One? The Father? Who is Jesus? Am I not, in the flesh? Now relate the following two verses:"
1 CORINTHIANS 8:6 "But to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him."
MARK 12:29 "And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The LORD our God is one LORD:"
"Do you not know that this was already revealed even in the Old Testament?
DEUTERONOMY 6:4 "Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD:"
God seems to convey the concept that The Lord and The God are not two but one and the same. God, the Father, and the Lord, Jesus Christ, are but forms or manifestations of God needed for the fulfillment of His Testament. We have many questions to ask God about this startling revelation.
Only One Creator
As if God is saying, "Look at the following verses if the SINGLE CREATOR does not point to Me, both in the form of Spirit as Father, and in the flesh as Jesus Christ:""Referring to Me, as the Father:"
NEHEMIAH 9:6 "Thou, even thou, art LORD alone; thou hast made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth, and all things that are therein..."
ISAIAH 44:24 "Thus saith the LORD...I am the LORD that maketh all things; that stretcheth forth the heavens alone; that spreadeth abroad the earth by myself;"
"Referring to Me, in the flesh as Jesus Christ:
COLOSSIANS 1:15-16 "Who is the image of the invisible God...For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible...all things were created by him, and for him:"
EPHESIANS 3:9 "And to make all men see... hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ:"
Only One Savior
As if God is saying, "Look at the following verses if the SINGLE SAVIOR does not point to Me, both in the form of Spirit as Father, and in the flesh as Jesus Christ:"
"Referring to Me, as the Father:
ISAIAH 43:11 "I, even I, am the LORD; and beside me there is no saviour."
ISAIAH 45:21 "Tell ye, and bring them near; yea, let them take counsel together... have not I the LORD? and there is no God else beside me; a just God and a Saviour; there is none beside me."
PSALMS 106:21 "They forgot God their saviour..."
"Referring to Me, in the flesh as Jesus Christ:
LUKE 2:11 "For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christthe Lord."
TITUS 2:13 "Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great Godand our Saviour Jesus Christ;"
JUDE 25 "To the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and forever. Amen."
"Perhaps you cannot comprehend with your finite mind how I am One, when what you perceive are two persons or entities. You try to recognize Me with your intellect and with your senses. This was what I told you before, that Peter did not recognize Me with his ‘flesh and blood,’ but by the revelation of the Father."
"Am that I Am"
As if God is saying, "Look at the following verses if the SINGLE I AM does not point to Me, both in the form of Spirit as Father, and in the flesh as Jesus Christ:"
"Referring to Me, as the Father:
EXODUS 3:14 "And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you."
"Referring to Me, in the flesh as Jesus Christ:
JOHN 8:58 "Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am."
The First and the Last
As if God is saying, "Look at the following verses if the ‘FIRST and the LAST’ does not point to Me, both in the form of Spirit as Father, and in the flesh as Jesus Christ:"
"Referring to Me, as the Father:
ISAIAH 44:6 "Thus saith the LORD the King of Israel...I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God."
"Referring to Me, in the flesh as Jesus Christ:
REVELATION 1:8 "I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty."
"Did I not talk to Abram, before he became Abraham, and introduced Myself as the Almighty?
GENESIS 17:1 "And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the LORD appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect."
We question God
We ask God: "LORD, YOUR EXPLANATION IS STILL NOT CLEAR TO US. MANY QUESTIONS ARE NOW BOTHERING OUR MINDS. IF YOU, THE FATHER, IS ALSO THE SON JESUS, WHY DO YOU RELATE TO EACH OTHER? EXAMPLE: YOU SPOKE TO THE SON JESUS IN THE FOLLOWING:
MATTHEW 3:17 "And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."
"ON THE OTHER HAND, THE SON JESUS KEPT ON TALKING TO YOU:"
JOHN 17:1 "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:"
MATTHEW 26:39 "And he went a little farther, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt."
LUKE 23:34 "Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do. And they parted his raiment, and cast lots."
"NOT ONLY THAT, THE SON JESUS EVEN REFERRED TO YOU THE FATHER AS HIS GOD!"
JOHN 20:17 "Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God."
"IS IT NOT ALSO TRUE THAT THE SON JESUS ONLY DEPENDED UPON YOU?"
JOHN 5:19 "Then answered Jesus and said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of himself..."
JOHN 6:38 "For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me."
JOHN 14:28 "Ye have heard how I said unto you, I go away, and come again unto you...because I said, I go unto the Father: for my Father is greater than I."
As if God is saying, "Everything you have mentioned is true for all these things are written in My sacred book. You see Me and My Son Jesus as two because it is the dictate of your intellect. Is it not? May I remind you, however, what I told you before. Can human wisdom and philosophy and logic sufficient means to recognize Me? Have you forgotten that I condemn these things in matters pertaining to Me and My words? How did Peter recognize Me? Was it with his ‘flesh and blood?’ Could you accept these?
1 CORINTHIANS 1:19-21 "...I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent. Where is the wise? where is the scribe? where is the disputer of this world? hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God..."
1 CORINTHIANS 3:18-21 "Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you seemeth to be wise in this world, let him become a fool, that he may be wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, He taketh the wise in their own craftiness. And again, The Lord knoweth the thoughts of the wise, that they are vain. Therefore let no man glory in men...
COLOSSIANS 2:8 "Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ."
Jesus said, "I am the Way"
As if God is saying, "Do not many people believing in My sacred book, the Holy Bible, profess that I, the Son Jesus, amthe way? And everybody claims they ‘pass through Me.’ People take pride in professing they have accepted Me as their Lord and Savior. But how many of you understand the great message of ‘I AM the Way?’
JOHN 14:6 "Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me."
"Does not this ‘line’ give a deeper meaning when you relate it to what Peter wrote about Me?
1 PETER 2:21 "For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps:"
"What do you think is the great lesson I revealed to Paul when he wrote:
ROMANS 8:29 "For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren."
"In many verses, or more appropriately ‘lines in the verses,’ you read that ‘I and my Father are one,’ or ‘I and My Son are one.’ (I wonder whether that makes any difference.) You have seen there is only one Creator, only one Savior, and ‘I am that I am’ referring both to Me and My son, and "I am the first and the last’ both referring to Me and My Father."
"Needless to repeat, I transposed My form, from Spirit to flesh, in order to execute My plan of salvation to whoever will believe Me. You found how I fulfilled My Testament that necessitated the death of the Testator by manifesting Myself ‘in the flesh.’
"Is it not wise for Me to show the WAY, by example, to My Chosen Few? Could I do it in My form as Father? Do you not have a convincing alibi to My command: "Be ye holy; for I am holy" if I remain a Spirit?
LEVITICUS 11:44 "For I am the LORD your God: ye shall therefore sanctify yourselves, and ye shall be holy; for I am holy..."
1 Peter 1:16 "Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy."
"Will you not have a plausible excuse for being a physical person if I did not manifest Myself in the flesh with My command?
MATTHEW 5:48 "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect."
"This is the second reason why I manifested Myself in the flesh. To show you the Way, as your model, I became a Son, the eldest Son, in My physical manifestation for you to follow My example. That is why, I prayed to the Father. I asked wisdom from the Father. I know nothing that did not come from the Father.. I supplicate the Father for spiritual strength. I totally submit to the will of the Father. I acted like ‘a little child’ before the Father. And do you know how old is ‘a little child’ to Me?"
ISAIAH 28:29 "Whom shall he teach knowledge? and whom shall he make to understand doctrine? them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts."
"Look at My prophets and Apostles if they did not act like little children as I did:"
In the Old Testament:
JEREMIAH 1:6-9 "Then said I, Ah, Lord GOD! behold, I cannot speak: for I am a child. But the LORD said unto me, Say not, I am a child: for thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee, and whatsoever I command thee thou shalt speak. Be not afraid of their faces: for I am with thee to deliver thee, saith the LORD. Then the LORD put forth his hand, and touched my mouth. And the LORD said unto me, Behold, I have put my words in thy mouth."
"In the New Testament:
2 TIMOTHY 3:15 "And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus."
As if God further says, "To whom is wisdom endowed? To people who profess to be ‘spiritual adults’ or to the spiritual babes?"
MATTHEW 11:25 "At that time Jesus answered and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes."
"Now you understand why, as Son in My physical manifestation, I acted like a ‘little child’ before the Father. But many of you saw Me and the Father differently. You accentuated the physical relationship, instead of the purpose of the subordination. Many of you misconstrued the relationship as distinction of persons instead of the manifestations."
"I ask you now. Was My Testament fulfilled if I, the Father-testator, did not manifest Myself in the ‘flesh?’ If I, the Father-testator, were not the man-Son, why did His death fulfill My Testament, when the terms required the death of the Testator?
HEBREW 9:16 "For where a testament is, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator."
"Anyone, therefore, who sees Me as distinct and different from My Son, My Testament in the perception of that individual is not yet fulfilled. That is why I gave this sweeping statement:
JOHN 8:24 "I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins: for if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins."
We ask God: ‘LORD JESUS CHRIST, WHO IS THE HE THAT YOU ARE REFERRING TO?" As if God is saying, "Have you not read how I kept on saying ‘I AM HE,’ to indicate that I am the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, Who is now in the flesh? If I am not the Father in the flesh, I should have refused worship. Remember, only God should be worshipped and served."
MATTHEW 4:10 "Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve."
"In My human manifestation as MAN, have you not read how I accepted worship from different people, before and after My death and resurrection?"
"From the Wise Men from the East, when I was a child."
MATTHEW 2:11 "And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh."
"From a blind man who received his sight."
JOHN 9:38 "And he said, Lord, I believe. And he worshipped him."
"From My Apostles in the ship."
MATTHEW 14:33 "Then they that were in the ship came and worshipped him, saying, Of a truth thou art the Son of God."
"From My Disciples after My death and resurrection."
LUKE 24:52 "And they worshipped him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy:"
"None of My servants ever accepted worship, for I alone is worthy of that supreme honor. Peter refused this honor from Cornelius."
ACTS 10:25-26 "And as Peter was coming in, Cornelius met him, and fell down at his feet, and worshipped him. But Peter took him up, saying, Stand up; I myself also am a man."
"Even angels do not deserve worship."
RFVELATION 22:8-9 "And I John saw...And when I had heard and seen, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel which showed me these things. Then saith he unto me, See thou do it not: for I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren the prophets, and of them which keep the sayings of this book: worship God."
"My enemy, Satan, deceives the people of the world in order to appropriate My glory of being worshipped."
REVELATION 12:9 "And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world..."
"I AM HE"
As if God is saying, "Look how people missed the great message of My (Father) reference to the Son in the following:"
ISAIAH 46:4 "And even to your old age I am he..."
ISAIAH 41:4 "...I the LORD, the first, and with the last; I am he."
ISAIAH 43:25 "I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins."
ISAIAH 48:12 "Hearken unto me, O Jacob and Israel, my called; I am he; I am the first, I also am the last."
As of God is saying, "Look how people missed the great message of My (Son Jesus) reference to the Father in the following:
JOHN 13:19 "Now I tell you before it come, that, when it is come to pass, ye may believe that I am he."
JOHN 18:6 "As soon then as he had said unto them, I am he, they went backward, and fell to the ground."
JOHN 8:28 "Then said Jesus unto them, When ye have lifted up the Son of man, then shall ye know that I am he..."
"How many of you know the true meaning of ‘when ye have lifted up the Son of man?’ Many people equate this to their praise, resplendent words and songs and sacrifices for Me. Have they forgotten that their prayer is even abomination to Me if they do not listen to My words?"
PROVERBS 28:9 "He that turneth away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer shall be abomination."
"And their sacrifices? Do I need them? Which is more than all burnt offering and sacrifices? Do you still remember what I told the Scribe who asked Me which is the first of all the commandments?
MARK 12:28 "And one of the scribes came...perceiving that he had answered them well, asked him, Which is the first commandment of all?"
MARK 12:29-33 "And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart... this is the first commandment. And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour...is more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices."
MARK 12:32-33 "And the scribe said unto him, Well, Master, thou hast said the truth: for there is one God...And to love him...and to love his neighbour as himself, is more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices."
"Why do many of you, especially your religious leaders, not take up this PREREQUISITE to ‘loving Me’? This is to identify Me as ‘ONE LORD AND ONE GOD?’ Did I not call that as the ‘first of all the commandments’ if only to emphasize that you can never truly love God before you clearly recognize Me as ‘One Lord and One God?’ Now you are already boasting of ‘loving your neighbor’ which is the last in the sequence. Did the Scribes and Pharisees recognize the ‘One Lord and One God?’ It is good this particular Scribe asked about the FIRST COMMANDMENT OF ALL!"
The beneficiaries to the Testament
We all know that a Testament is made in order to give or distribute the inheritance to beneficiaries. We will now ask God what the inheritance is in His Testament: "LORD, WHAT IS THE INHERITANCE IN YOUR TESTAMENT?"
EZEKIEL 44:28 "And it shall be unto them for an inheritance: I am their inheritance..."
JOSHUA 18:7 "But the Levites have no part among you; for the priesthood of the LORD is their inheritance..."
"LORD, FIRST WE WANT TO ASK YOU, TO WHOM ARE YOU REFERRING TO THEM WHO ARE ENTITLED TO THE INHERITANCE? As if God is saying, "Don’t you know that these are the Levites, the priests?
NUMBERS 8:14 "Thus shalt thou separate the Levites from among the children of Israel: and the Levites shall be mine."
NUMBERS 16:10 "And he hath brought thee near to him, and all thy brethren the sons of Levi with thee: and seek ye the priesthood also?"
As if God is saying, "If people are thinking of literal-physical Levites and Priests, I tell you, these are the spiritualLevites and Priests to Me. Remember I am speaking ‘spiritual things’:"
1 PETER 2:5 "Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood..."
1 PETER 2:9 "But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood...a peculiar people..."
REVELATION 1:6 "And hath made us kings and priests unto God..."
"The spiritual Levites and Priests, therefore, are the real believers, the real Christians in your time -- all the time. Even in the Old Testament I already revealed the spiritual Levites and Priests. But people keep on thinking literally-physically of My words."
EXODUS 19:6 "And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation..."
As if God is saying, "You will note that I was talking to the Israelites, as a nation. The Jews also think of themselves as My chosen people; so do many people to this day. This is, however, the ‘letter’ in My words. Don’t you know that I am speaking ‘spiritual things?’ Have you forgotten that My ‘words are spirit’ and the ‘laws are spirtual.’ The Jews during My time did not even recognize Me! How could they be My people spiritually? This will run counter to the ‘first commandment of all:’ ‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord.’"
The Inheritance in the Testament
EZEKIEL 44:28 "And it shall be unto them for an inheritance: I am their inheritance..."
"LORD, DO YOU MEAN YOU ARE GIVING YOURSELF FOR AN INHERITANCE? HOW COULD THAT BE? WERE NOT THE ISRAELITES VERY MUCH FRIGHTENED WHEN YOU TALK TO THEM? AND NOW YOU ARE PROMISING YOURSELF TO BE THEIR POSSESSION."
EXODUS 20:18-19 "And all the people saw the thunderings, and the lightnings, and the noise of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking: and when the people saw it, they removed, and stood afar off. And they said unto Moses, Speak thou with us, and we will hear: but let not God speak with us, lest we die."
As if God is saying, "In the fulfillment of My Testament, how could I, a Spirit, fulfill it with My death. You found that I manifested Myself in the flesh. Should I not do the same thing in order to give Myself as the Inheritance of My chosen people? I changed My manifestation in such a way that they will not be frightened. Now, watch how I revealed Myself as the Inheritance:"
JOHN 7:39 "(But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.)"
"You found that I am the Holy Spirit that is pictured as a dove!"
MATTHEW 3:16 "And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him:"
"Have you noticed here how, in My human manifestation, I set the example of being the beneficiary of the Testament? The Son Jesus, as model, had to receive the inheritance like you who will believe Me. I changed My manifestation taking the characteristics of a dove. With My characteristics like that of a dove, perhaps, no one will ever shy from Me. No wonder, My Disciples received Me wholeheartedly at Pentecost. Like a dove, I am very sensitive."
EPHESIANS 4:30 "And grieve not the holy Spirit of God..."
"Look how I, as creator, AM in this manifestation:"
GENESIS 1:1-2 "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth...And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters."
Christ’s Coming
We ask God: ‘LORD, WE READ THAT YOU, JESUS THE MAN, PROMISED YOUR DISCIPLES THE FOLLOWING:
MATTHEW 28:20 "Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am (Jesus) with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen."
We read that you ascended physically into heaven several days after your resurrection:
ACTS 1:9-11 "And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he (Jesus) was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight. And while they looked stedfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel; Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven."
"LORD, HOW COULD YOU FULFILL YOUR PROMISE OF BEING WITH YOUR DISCIPLES TILL THE END OF THE WORLD? IS IT NOT THAT YOU HAVE NOT YET ‘COME IN LIKE MANNER AS YOU HAVE GONE TO HEAVEN,’ AS TOLD BY THE TWO MEN IN WHITE APPAREL?As if God is saying, "The trouble with you is you use your human wisdom and depend on your fellowmen in trying to understand My words, instead of relying on My explanation. Can you relate My promise of being with My Disciples with the descend of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost? Who is to be with My Disciples? Is it not the Holy Spirit? Who promised to be with My Disciples? Am I not the One? Could I fulfill My promise in My human manifestation? Paul received this revelation:"
2 CORINTHIANS 3:17 "Now the Lord is that Spirit..."
"Would you believe Me if I tell you that the Holy Spirit purchased you with His own blood?"
ACTS 20:28 "Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood."
As if God is saying, "This must be foolishness to the Natural Man. But to you who have received Me as inheritance, you are given wisdom to understand spiritual things, by ‘comparing spiritual things with spiritual.’""People are waiting for My second coming, thinking of what the two men in white apparel told My Disciples. They missed the difference between ‘My coming’ and ‘My appearance.’ I have already come at PENTECOST! That fullfilled My promise of being with My Disciples till the end of the world. However, I will appear as the two men in white apparel told My Disciples:"
HEBREW 9:28 "So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time ..."
The NAME of God
We have many questions about the name of God. We ask Him: ‘LORD, YOU HAVE CALLED YOURSELF MANY NAMES LIKE, ALMIGTHY, ‘I AM THAT I AM,’ JEALOUS, JEHOVAH, LORD, LILY OF THE VALLEY AND ROSE OF SHARON, JESUS CHRIST, KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS."ALMIGHTY
GENESIS 17:1 "And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the LORD appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty God..."
I AM
EXODUS 3:13-14 "And Moses said unto God, Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, What is his name? what shall I say unto them? And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM..."
JEALOUS
EXODUS 34:14 "For thou shalt worship no other god: for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God:"
JEHOVAH
EXODUS 6:3 "And I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, by the name of God Almighty, but by my name JEHOVAH was I not known to them."
PSALMS 83:18 "That men may know that thou, whose name alone is JEHOVAH, art the most high over all the earth."
LORD
ISAIAH 42:8 "I am the LORD: that is my name: and my glory will I not give to another..."
LORD GOD
EXODUS 3:15 "And God said moreover unto Moses, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, The LORD God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath sent me unto you: this is my name for ever..."
ROSE OF SHARON/LILY OF THE VALLEYS
SONGS 2:1 "I am the rose of Sharon, and the lily of the valleys."
JESUS CHRIST
PHILIPPIANS 2:9-10 "Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth;"
KING OF KINGS/LORD OF LORDS
REVELATION 19:16 "And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS."
"LORD, AFTER YOU HAVE INTRODUCED YOURSELF AS ONLY ONE, REVEALED ONLY IN DIFFERENT MANIFESTATIONS, NOW WHAT IS YOUR NAME?"As if God is saying, "It is the people who perceived Me to have many names. They take My words literally. But I keep on saying, I speak spiritual things. Have you not read that I have not yet revealed My name in the Old Testament?"
ISAIAH 52:6 "Therefore my people shall know my name: therefore they shall know in that day that I am he that doth speak: behold, it is I."
"LORD, TO WHOM DID YOU REVEAL YOUR NAME? WHAT IS IT?" As if God is saying, "Did I not send My Apostles to baptize those who will believe in My name?
MATTHEW 28:19 "Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:"
"Because of spiritual deafness, you could not follow My command. You, therefore, baptized those you think they have believed in Me by saying: ‘I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.’ Have you noticed that you only repeated My command? Did I not tell you that you have to baptize in the NAME of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost? You should have given the NAME of the Father, so with the NAME of the Son, and the NAME of the Holy Ghost."
"Have you noticed that My Apostles did not follow My command, that is, to teach and to baptize, until they received Me at Pentecost? It is not because they were tired, lazy, or negligent. They were spiritually ignorant like you. However, after they received the INHERITANCE, in My humble manifestation of the Holy Ghost with the characteristics of a dove, then they began to teach and to baptize as I commanded them.""Do you know in what NAME I, in the Holy Spirit manifestation, ‘was sent?’
JOHN 14:26 "But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things..."
"Have you noticed how I declared the NAME of the Father in My physical manifestations?
JOHN 17:6 "I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world..."
JOHN 17:26 "And I have declared unto them thy name, and will declare it..."
"All along, was I (Jesus) not introducing Myself as the Son of man? Watch Simon Peter how he followed My command:"
ACTS 2:38 "Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost."
"Philip baptized in the name of Jesus Christ:
ACTS 8:12 "But when they believed Philip preaching the things concerning the kingdom of God, and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women."
"Paul baptized in the same name:
ACTS 19:5 "When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus."
"My NAME, therefore, is JESUS CHRIST! I am the only God and the only Lord."
1 CORINTHIANS 8:6 "But to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things... and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom..."
"Remember there is only One Lord and One God:
DEUTERONOMY 6:4 "Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD:"
MARK 12:29 "And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord:"
Now it is very clear that the Lord is also the God and the God is also the Lord. Nowhere in the entire Bible that distinguishes the Lord from the God, or the God from the Lord.
Son sitting at the Right Hand of the Father
We ask God: "LORD, HOW DO YOU EXPLAIN THE LINES IN THE VERSES THAT THE SON OF MAN IS SITTING OR STANDING AT THE RIGHT HAND OF THE FATHER? HERE WE CAN SEE YOU AS TWO DISTINCT PERSONS."
As if God is saying, "Yes, who among you will not see Me two distinct persons in those statement of truth? The reason is you are using your human wisdom and your senses. Did Simon Peter recognize Me with his ‘flesh and blood?’ Do not forget that I am speaking ‘spiritual things.’ I am speaking the SPIRITUAL LANGUAGE, while you are articulating your Literal-physical Language. Here is My explanation of sitting/standing at the ‘right hand of God.’ ‘Right hand’ means power."
EXODUS 15:6 "Thy right hand, O LORD, is become glorious in power: thy right hand, O LORD, hath dashed in pieces the enemy."
LUKE 22:69 "Hereafter shall the Son of man sit on the right hand of the power of God."
"Does not My word explain why, Me, in My human manifestation, is the power of God?"
COLOSSIANS 2:9 "For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily."
"When I was in My human manifestation, you have not seen the fulfillment of this truth yet. It is because I was showing the way to My brethren as their example. Example in humility, inadequacy, weakness, lack of knowledge, and total dependence on the Father. But the fulness of the Godhead in My physical body will be witnessed by all in the White Throne Judgment:
ISAIAH 9:6 "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..."
"Am I not the child born in Bethlehem in My human manifestation? Is not the Counsellor pointing to the Holy Spirit? And, now I am known as the Everlasting Father, the Almighty. What do you think does ‘government upon My shoulder mean?’ Is it not the totality of My power? That is why My name is JESUS CHRIST, the one Lord and one God! That is My name in My human manifestation. That is My name in My Father-Spirit manifestation. And that is My name in My Holy Spirit form that is now dwelling in the real Christians. How many of you can comprehend this great revelation about Me without My guidance? Now you understand why I told Simon Peter, ‘flesh and blood hath not revealed that unto you.’ How do you recognize Me now in the following?"
1 JOHN 5:7 "For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one." (KJV only)
"Let us create man in our image"
The "plurality of the persons" of God is perceived by the people in the folllowing verses.Upon creation:
GENESIS 1:26 "And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness..."
At the baptism of Jesus:
MATTHEW 3:17-18 "And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him: And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."
For the fulfillment of the Testament by the Son:
JOHN 17:14 "I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do."
For the "distribution" of the Inheritance:
JOHN 14:26 "But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you..."
JOHN 16:7 "Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you."
JOHN 14:23 "Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him."
Are the Father and the Son really two distinct persons? Where will the concept of the "plurality of God" be in the following? Only ONE is residing in the real Christians!
1 CORINTHIANS 6:19 "What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God..."
1 CORINTHIANS 3:16 "Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?"
"The Natural Man is fully justified in concluding that I am composed of two or more persons."
1 CORINTHIANS 2:14 "But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned."
"The reason is, he is using his intellect and senses in trying to identify and recognize Me. I cannot be recognized nor identified with ‘flesh and blood.’ Only by divine revelation can I be fully and clearly recognized. The truth is founded on the Rock:"
JEREMIAH 24:7 "And I will give them an heart to know me, that I am the LORD: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God: for they shall return unto me with theirwhole heart."
JEREMIAH 31:34 "And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD..."
HEBREW 8:11 "And they shall not teach every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest."
"I am revealing Myself to My chosen people because they have come to Me with their whole heart. I, therefore, am never a mystery to them! That is My promise and they can testify of this truth. In fact, that is their distinguishing characteristic. And their clear recognition of Me goes with it their clear understanding of My words -- for I am the Word.""To prove that I can only be identified and recognized by divine revelation, this is what I say:
MATTHEW 11:27 "...no man knoweth the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him."
JOHN 6:44 "No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him..."
1 CORINTHIANS 12:3 "...and that no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost."
"Almost everybody professes that I, Jesus, am the Lord and the Savior. But, if this did not revealed by the Holy Spirit, or laid open by Me, or brought to light by the Father, I and My Father will forever be a mystery.
"‘Flesh and blood’ or man’s own capability is not enough to recognize Me. What you hear from people who profess to be My apostles that ‘I am a mystery, incapable of clear recognition is true.’ What they do not know, because of spiritual blindness, is I can give any one ‘a heart to know Me’ if he comes to Me with his whole heart."
Where was God when He manifested Himself in the flesh?
Perhaps, the big question that bothers the mind of the Natural Man is, "Where was God when He manifested Himself in the flesh?" Jesus was the Father in the flesh, a real man. He is not half-God, half-man, in order to be a perfect model in showing the Way to His brethren. As such, therefore, He was called the "eldest Son of God," and "the only begotten Son of the Father."
To the Apostles, the question could be gleaned in the request of Philip: "Lord, show us the Father (John 14:8)." Jesus kept on relating to the Father: praying, asking, depending, etc. They knew that Jesus of Nazareth was a real man like themselves, made of "flesh and blood, and of bones." So they wanted "to see" the Father God Who is a Spirit. Jesus told them with a tint of rebuke in His voice, "Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me...how sayest thou then, Show us the Father? Jesus told them, "Believest thou not that...the Father is in me?...the Father dwelleth in me (John 14:10)."
Were the Apostles expected to understand what Jesus told them? Did the Apostles fully recognize God and Jesus at that moment? If they did, they would not have doubted Jesus’ resurrection, and many things He told them before. While the Disciples did not fully comprehend things about God and Jesus, they, however, did not reject what they heard from Him. They "tarried in Jersualem until they were endowed with power and wisdom from on high (Luke 24:49)."
To the Scribes, Pharisees, Sadducees, Elders of Israel, and the Jews in general, the matter was dismissed as plain stupidity and foolishness. Everything that Jesus told them were all hoax and fraud. They were greatly inflamed when Jesus said, "That ye may know, and believe, that the Father is in me, and I in him (John 10:38)." Jesus was accused of blasphemy and that is one cause of His death. At the moment Jesus said, "the Father is in me, They sought to take him; but he escaped out of their hand (John 10:39)." To hear Jesus say, "The Father is in me," must have been very loathsome to the Jews, especially to the Scribes and Pharisees, who did not recognize Him.
To the real Christians of the 20th and 21st centuries, how does the Son’s claim, "The Father is in me," register in their mind? Is it similar to Jesus’ Disciples’ non-rejection and wait-to-know attitude? Or, to the Scribes’, Pharisees’, and Sadducees’ total rejection and repulsive disposition?
To the Apostles, the statement "The Father is in me" did not mean much before Pentecost. To the Scribes, Pharisees, and Sadducees, and the Elders of Israel, it was abominable. What did the statement mean to the Apostles after Pentecost? What does it mean to the people believing in the Bible today?
To the Apostles after Pentecost, the statement meant the revelation of the relationship of the Father and the Son; and the identities of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. The Son showed that His human body, as a perfect example for His brethren, was the temple or the dwelling place of the Father, a Spirit. The Father promised Himself to be the Inheritance in His Testament (Ezekiel 44:28, Numbers 18:20, Psalms 16:5), but what the real believers received was the Holy Spirit (John 7:39, Acts 2:3, 1 Corinthians 3:16 & 6:19).
To the Disciples of Christ, the statement meant seeing themselves in the shoes of the model:
1. Just as the model said, "The Son can do nothing of himself," the Disciples saw themselves saying the same thing.
2. While Jesus was in His human body, He told them that He was not the real Teacher, but the Spirit:
JOHN 16:12-13 "I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth..."
The Apostles saw themselves in the shoes of the model. While Jesus spoke the truth, it was not He Who could make the believers understand, but the Holy Spirit; so with the "brethren." This is the rationale behind:
1 JOHN 2:27 "But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you..."
This is God’s divine justification for dispensing with human teachers and human trainors for Christ’s chosen servants:
EPHESIANS 4:11 "And he (Jesus, not any man or group of men) gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;"
The Apostles, putting themselves in the shoes of the model, including Paul who was appointed by the "spiritual" Christ, replayed the life of the "physical" Jesus. Just as the Son said, "The Father is in me," so the Disciples claimed being "filled" with the Holy Spirit. "The Father or the Holy Spirit is in us:"
ACTS 13:52 "And the disciples were filled with joy, and with the Holy Ghost."
HEBREWS 10:15 "Whereof the Holy Ghost also is a witness to us..."
Is this not the same for the Son, a real human being, changing only the Holy Ghost to Father?
JOHN 5:36-37 "But I have greater witness...the Father hath sent me. And the Father himself, which hath sent me, hath borne witness of me. Ye have neither heard his voice at any time, nor seen his shape."
The Son was endowed with power and wisdom by the Father, as the Apostles were endowed with power and wisdom by the Holy Spirit!
ACTS 10:38 "How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power... for God was with him."
Where was God when He manifested Himself in the flesh? The "flesh" was in front of the very people professing to know the God of Abraham. The "flesh" was with the chosen people of God humbly demonstrating the Way for them. God was never gone, He is a spirit. The spirit God was in the presence of both the believers and the unbelievers. The "flesh" testified to this:
JOHN 8:29 "And he that sent me is with me: the Father hath not left me alone; for I do always those things that please him."
WHO IS THE FATHER? WHO IS THE PROMISED INHERITANCE? WHO IS RESIDING IN THE PHYSICAL BODY OF THE DISCIPLES AFTER PENTECOST? WHO WAS RESIDING IN THE PHYSICAL BODY OF THE SON JESUS? WHO IS RESIDING IN THE PHYSICAL BODY OF THE REAL CHRISTIANS TODAY?
Just as the "flesh" said, "The Father hath not left me alone," so the real Christians also say, "the Holy Spirit is dwelling in us, Who teaches and makes us understand great things about Him." But all these "spiritual things" are foolishness to the NATURAL MAN:
1 CORINTHIANS 2:14 "But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned."
Using the sense of SIGHT (at the baptism of Jesus) and the sense of HEARING (at the ‘conversation’ of the Father and the Son), and trying to comprehend with the INTELLECT (grammatical plurality of God), is it not a "foolish question" to ask, "WHERE WAS GOD WHEN HE MANIFESTED HIMSELF IN THE FLESH?" We heard this question from the Apostles before Pentecost. But never after Pentecost!
Jews waiting for the Messiah
Until now the Jews are still waiting for the promised Messiah. The Messiah came in the person of Jesus Christ. They saw and heard Him speak. But they did not recognize Him! The reason is they "did not come to their God with their whole heart."
Has that truth passed away in our time? Just as the Jews were entrusted with the Laws or words of God, traditional Christianity is likewise entrusted with the words of God in the Bible. Are not so-called Christians today in the different religious sects, also waiting for the second coming of the Messiah?
The God Abraham, the only Savior, came in the form of man and He was not recognized by the Jews. Jesus Christ came in the form of Spirit, the Holy Spirit, and He also is not being recognized by so-called Christians. The Jews are still waiting for their Messiah, just as so-called Christians are waiting for the coming of Jesus, the Messiah. Can they now both claim "having come to the Lord with their whole heart" that the promised heart to know Him would have been given to them? Who is telling a lie? God or man?
The Jews, because they did not recognize their Messiah, rejected and killed Him! Can we not see the same thing today how, thousands of Christian religious sects, because they do not recognize the TRUTH Who is the spiritual Messiah, reject and "kill" Him with their man-made doctrines? Later, we will ask God to confirm this sweeping statement.
Bible doctrines vs. Man-made dogma
People are made to believe that dogma and teachings supported by scriptural verses are Bible doctrines. That concept is the cause of the proliferation of Christian denominations. All these creeds, because they are man-made, are in accord with the mind and are pleasant to the feeling. They are, however, irreconcilable, or one way or another find contradiction to what is written in the Bible.
God-formulated doctrines, on the other hand, because they are expressed in the Spiritual Language, do not find such appeal to the feeling. They are, in fact, repulsive to the rational consciousness of man. They are, however, in perfect harmony with what is written in the Bible. This is what makes the Word of God perfect and true:
2 PETER 1:21 "For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost."
PSALMS 12:6 "The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times."
ISAIAH 45:19 "I have not spoken in secret, in a dark place of the earth... I declare things that are right."
Examples of man-made doctrines
Man has concocted many doctrines regarding the identity of God in the Bible. All of them are logical conclusions to what is written in the Bible. They, however, find some contradiction, one way or another, to what is written in the Holy Scriptures. Examples:
The Arian doctrine
Doctrine of the identity of God, espoused by Arius who lived in the second century. Arius preached that Jesus is only a man and never a God. He supports his tenet with the many verses indicating that, indeed, Jesus is a man, while God is a Spirit. Among them are the following:
NUMBERS 23:19 "God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man..."
JOHN 4:24 "God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth."
JOHN 20:17 "Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God."
(Plus many more verses.)The contradiction to what is written is found in the following. Worship is absolute and exclusive to God. It is Jesus Himself Who uttered this doctrine:
MATTHEW 4:10 "Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve."
If indeed Jesus is not the "Father in the flesh," why did He accept worship when only God deserves this supreme honor and glory? This cannot be delegated nor transferred to any creature as that is the sole domain of the Creator. How can the Creator delegate this ultimate glory when, in fact, one of His titles is Jealous:
EXODUS 34:14 "For thou shalt worship no other god: for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God:"
Another inconsistency is, if Jesus is not the "Father in the flesh," why was the Testament of the Father fulfilled with the death of the Son, when the term of the covenant requires the death of the Testator?
HEBREW 9:16 "For where a testament is, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator."
It is for this fallacy of the doctrine that Jesus made this sweeping statement:
JOHN 8:24 "I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins: for if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins."
The Jehovah doctrine
This doctrine teaches that the Father whose name is JEHOVAH is the Almighty God. "The reading ‘JEHOVAH’ can be traced to the early Middle Ages and until lately said to have been invented by PETER GALLATIN (1518 A.D.), confessor of Pope Leo X..." The King James or Authorized version of the Bible, from which these verses were taken, was published in 1611 A.D.
PSALMS 83:18 "That men may know that thou, whose name alone is JEHOVAH, art the most high over all the earth."
This doctrine teaches that Jesus Christ is only a mighty or minor God who is subject to Jehovah.ISAIAH 9:6 "For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given...his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God...The Prince of Peace."
Among the many verses, indicating that Jesus is subject to Jehovah, are the following:
JOHN 14:28 "...I said, I go unto the Father: for my Father is greater than I."
JOHN 6:38 "For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me."
JOHN 5:19 "Then answered Jesus and said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do..."
Like the Arian doctrine, this doctrine is very clear to the mind of its aherents that, indeed, Jesus is only a minor God for there is a more powerful and supreme God.
The fallacy of this doctrine which finds contradiction to what is written are the following verses, among others:
DEUTERONOMY 32:39 "See now that I, even I, am he, and there is no god with me..."
ISAIAH 43:10 "Ye are my witnesses, saith the LORD, and my servant whom I have chosen: that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I am he: before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me."
Holy Spirit "a force of God" doctrine
This doctrine teaches that the Son Jesus is also the Father God, and the Holy Spirit is only a force of God. The Arian and Jehovah doctrines also embrace this tenet as far as the Holy Spirit’s role is concerned. The suporting verses are the following, among others:
JOHN 14:26 "But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will sendin my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you."
JOHN 16:13 "Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will show you things to come."
The fallacy of this doctrine that finds contradiction to what is written are the following, among others:If the Son Jesus is not the Holy Spirit, then He would have lied to His disciples when He promised to be with them till the end of the world:
MATTHEW 28:20 "Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen."
It is the Holy Spirit that descended upon the Disciples, and resides in the real Christians till the end of the world!
1 CORINTHIANS 6:19 "What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you..."
And, what is this revelation given to Paul regarding the Son and the Spirit? Should this verse be stricken out or "deducted" from the Scriptures?
2 CORINTHIANS 3:17 "Now the Lord is that Spirit..."
If the Holy Spirit is not the Father Who promised Himself to be the inheritance in His testament, why did the Disciples of Christ receive the Holy Spirit at Pentecost instead of the Father?
JOHN 7:39 "(But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.)"
ACTS 2:1-4 "And when the day of Pentecost was fully come...And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind...And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost..."
The Trinity Doctrine
The Trinity Doctrine, often referred to as the Athanasian creed, is a rebuttal to the Arian Doctrine. Athanasius, a Roman Catholic bishop, was the one who defended the dogma in the Council of Nicaea in 325 called by Constantine I. With many Bible verses, Athanasius succeeded in proving that Jesus, indeed, is God. Among them are the following:
1. Jesus is the truth, and is the true God:
1 JOHN 5:20 "And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life."
2. God laid down His life, and the people saw it was Jesus Who died on the cross:
1 JOHN 3:16 "Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren."
3. Jesus revealed to John the apostle that He is the Almighty:
REVELATION 1:8 "I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty."
4. Many of the Jews discerned that Jesus was professing Himself to be God:
JOHN 10:33 "The Jews answered him, saying, For a good work we stone thee not; but for blasphemy; and because that thou, being a man, makest thyself God."
Can Jesus profess something that He was not? Can Jesus tell a lie?
5. Jesus received the greatest accolade that properly belongs to God -- that of being worshipped. Only God deserves worship, according to Jesus Christ Himself:
MATTHEW 4:10 "Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve."
And, Jesus Christ accepted worship!FROM CHILDHOOD:
MATTHEW 2:11 "And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh."
IN HIS ADULTHOOD:
JOHN 9:38 "And he said, Lord, I believe. And he worshipped him."
AFTER HIS RESURRECTION:
MATTHEW 28:17 "And when they saw him, they worshipped him..."
BEFORE HIS ASCENSION:
LUKE 24:51-52 "And it came to pass, while he blessed them, he was parted from them, and carried up into heaven. And they worshipped him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy:"
AFTER HIS ASCENSION:
REVELATION 1:18 "I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death."
REVELATION 5:14 "...And the four and twenty elders fell down and worshipped himthat liveth for ever and ever."
Following is a summary of the doctrine of the Trinity:
"The central and characteristic Christian doctrine of God is that He exists in Three Persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. ("Holy Ghost" is the traditional English translation of Sanctus Spiritus and means the same as "Holy Spirit.") At the same time, the Christian church insists that God is One in "substance" (Latin substantia, existence or inner essence), and thus combines in a "mystery’ (a formula or conception which really transcends human understanding) the truth set forth in the Holy Scriptures. It is held that although the doctrine is beyond the grasp of human reason, it is, like many of the formulations of physical science, not contrary to reason, and may be apprehended (though may not be comprehended) by the human mind.
The simplest affirmation is that God is ‘Three in One, and One in Three...’ GOD IS FATHER, AND THE FATHER IS GOD; GOD IS SON, AND THE SON IS GOD; GOD IS SPIRIT, AND THE SPIRIT IS GOD...(But the Father is not the Son and the Spirit, the Son is not the Father and the Spirit, and the Spirit is not the Son and the Father, and yet there is only ONE GOD.)
The full development of TRINITARIANISM took place in the West, in the Scholasticism of the Middle Ages, when an explanation was undertaken in terms of philosophy and psychology, especially of the recovered ARISTOTELIANISM of the 13th century. The classical exposition is found in the works of St. Thomas Aquinas, whose views on this subject had dominated most of later Christian theology, both Roman Catholic and Protestant."
Comments on the Trinitarian Doctrine
1. Why did it take more than 300 years to formulate a doctrine for the identity of God? Did not the Apostles of Christ, in 30-96 A.D., expound on the singularity of God and Jesus Christ?
2. Why did the work of Aristotle, a noted pagan philosopher, find its place in this doctrine?
3. And why did the academe, "Scholasticism of the Middle Ages," become the center for the development of this concept? Is God’s revelation confined only to a special place like the schools, and to a certain sector of society, like the intellectual elite? Is this scriptural?
JOHN 16:12-13 "I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now." "Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth..."
JAMES 1:5-8 "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord. A double minded man is unstable in all his ways."
4. Why did it need philosophy to expound on the identity of God?
Colossians 2:8 "Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ."
Is the Holy Scripture, which is accepted as containing the Word of God, not enough to fully introduce God?
Isaiah 8:20 "To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them."
"Mysteries" spawned by the Trinitarian Doctrine
The doctrine teaches that the Three Divine Persons of God -- the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit -- are co-equal in omniscience, in omnipotence, and in everything.
1. Why did the Son say that the Father is greater than He, if they are co-equal in omnipotence?
JOHN 14:28 "... I go unto the Father: for my Father is greater than I."
Thus, the mystery!
2. Why did the Son say that the Father knows something that He does not know, if they are co-equal in omniscience?
MARK 13:32 "But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father."
Thus, the mystery!
3. The doctrine teaches that the Son is just as omnipresent as the Father and the Holy Spirit. Why was the Son not found in all places of Israel, or in every place for that matter? Thus, the mystery!
4. The doctrine teaches that the Holy Spirit is co-equal in omniscience with the Father and the Son. Why does the Son say that the Holy Spirit cannot speak on His own?
JOHN 16:13 "Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak..."
Thus, the mystery!
5. The doctrine teaches that the Son will be seen in heaven "sitting at the right hand of the Father," citing several verses in support thereof. Since the doctrine also teaches that the person of the Son is not the person of the Father, and each person is a God, how could there be one God sitting on a single throne?
REVELATION 4:2 "And immediately I was in the spirit; and, behold, a throne was set in heaven, and one sat on the throne."
Thus, the mystery!
6. Jesus Christ revealed to John the apostle that there is only one throne in heaven, and the one in the midst of the throne is the "Lamb of God." How could the doctrine explain the three distinct persons of God, in relation to the single throne, and the one in the midst of the throne? Thus, the mystery!
7. God states in the Old Testament that there is only "one God and one Lord," and this truth is confirmed by Jesus Christ. Since the doctrine teaches that the person of the Father, Who is God, is not the person of the Son and the Holy Spirit; and whose individual persons are also God, how could there be ONE LORD AND ONE GOD? Thus, the mystery!
8. The Bible states that it was the Father Who made a TESTAMENT, or the Testator:
GENESIS 17:1 "And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the LORD appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty God..."
GENESIS 17:7 "And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee."
This covenant requires the death of the Testator!
HEBREW 9:16 "For where a testament is, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator."
How could this Testament or Covenant be fulfilled by the death of the Son, when the doctrine teaches that the person of the Son is not the person of th Father? Thus, the mystery!
9. The doctrine teaches that the person of the Father is not the person of the Holy Spirit. The Father promised Himself as the INHERITANCE in His Testament.
EZEKIEL 44:28 "And it shall be unto them for an inheritance: I am their inheritance..."
Why did the Son say that it is the HOLY SPIRIT Who is to be received as inheritance by the real believers?
JOHN 7:39 "(But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.)"
At Pentecost, the Disciples, indeed, received the Holy Ghost confirming both the statements of the Father and the Son. Thus, the mysterty!
10. The doctrine teaches that the person of the Son is not the person of the Holy Spirit. Why does the Bible say that the "Holy Spirit purchased us with His own blood?" Thus, the mystery!
ACTS 20:28 "Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood."
11. The Father revealed to prophet Isaiah that He is the only Savior.
ISAIAH 43:11 "I, even I, am the LORD; and beside me there is no saviour."
Why did Luke write that the Son is also the Savior?
LUKE 2:11 "For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord."
Since the doctrine teaches that the person of the Father is not the person of the Son, how could there be one Savior? Was the Father telling a lie? Thus, the mystery!
These are some enigma about God propagated by the Trinitarian doctrine. No wonder the doctrine teaches that God is a great mystery. The eminent proponents recognize the inadequacy of the doctrine in clearly identifying God and Jesus Christ, with the admission that, "The understanting of the Trinity is a mystery, a formula or conception which really transcends human understanding." Statements like the following are attributable to great theologians and Bible scholars advocating the doctrine: "If you try to understand the mystery of the Holy Trinity, you will lose your mind; but to deny it will mean the loss of your soul."
Is it far-fetched to presume that the doctrine instills "spiritual blindness" among the adherents as not to "see" God? The doctrine failed to consider the basic truth well established in the Holy Scripture. This refers to the knowledge and wisdom about God and His words:
IN THE OLD TESTAMENT:
ISAIAH 48:16 "Come ye near unto me, hear ye this; I have not spoken in secret from the beginning..."
DEUTERONOMY 29:29 "The secret things belong unto the LORD our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law."
IN THE NEW TESTAMENT:
COLOSSIANS 1:26 "Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints:"
HEBREW 8:11 "And they shall not teach every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest."
True to the promise of God that He did not speak in secret, His chosen people are given the understanding to know Him. To know Him fully and clearly is a prerequisite to loving Him, as our Lord stated in:
MARK 12:29-30 "And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord. And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart...this is the first commandment."
But the Trinity doctrine is a much vaunted concept of recognizing God. The victory of the proponents of the doctrine, in the Nicaean Council of 325 A.D. called by Emperor Constantine I, marked the beginning of the spread of the creed throughout the world. Thus, majority of the known Christian world is dominated by religious sects preaching this gospel of the Holy Trinity. Where now is the truth, "Many are called, but few are chosen?"
The Sabellian or Oneness Doctrine
This doctrine originated from Sabellius, a theologian in the 2nd century A.D., born in Pentapolis, Africa. The doctrine teaches that the name of God is Jesus Christ who is the Father and the Holy Spirit. Thus, oftentimes, this concept is referred to as "Jesus Christ only" doctrine.
Like the other man-made doctrines on the identity of God and Jesus Christ, it encounters many contradictions to what is written in the Holy Scriptures. "Mysteries" inexplicable under the Oneness Doctrine:
1. In spite of the admission of the truth that "God was manifested in the flesh," the doctrine failed to comprehend why and how He is indeed a "real man." The doctrine, therefore, teaches that Jesus Christ, in His physical manifestation, is both God and man at the same time. This is due to His divine power that, the doctrine avers, could not possibly be endowed on a pure man. But, could Jesus Christ Who is both God and man be an ideal model, showing the way, to real and pure men as His brethren? Thus, the contradiction to what is written in the Bible!
2. How deep and profound is the profession of the three manifestations of God making up one Lord and one God of the Bible? Can this avowal stand an incisive inquiry and intensive scrutiny? The Trinitarian doctrine also professes one Lord and one God for the three persons!
3. Why do the proponents of this Oneness doctrine, while openly professing belief in the spiritual nature of the Word of God, sustain the literal-physical application of the Word? The SPIRITUAL LANGUAGE of God and the CONTEXTUAL OR LITERAL-PHYSICAL LANGUAGE OF MAN are clearly differentiated.
4. On the surface, the doctrine strongly and vividly pictures God of the Bible as one Lord and one God. But with the doctrine’s failure to drop the application of the CONTEXTUAL or LITERAL-PHYSICAL word, the warning of Jesus Christ, revealed to John in the island of Patmos, finds relevance:
REVELATION 13:11` "And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon."
"Coming up out of the earth" indicates originating from man. Earth symbolizes man. The doctrine, therefore, is only man-formulated. "Like a lamb" attests to the likeness or similarity to the Lamb of God. The difference, however, lies in the way they speak. The Lamb of God, Jesus Christ, speaks the SPIRITUAL LANGUAGE:
JOHN 6:63 "It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life."
The beast that looks like the Lamb speaks as a dragon. God reveals who the beast that speaks as a dragon:
REVELATION 12:9 "And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him."
The beast therefore is the counterfeit Christ, the False Christ! The Language of the Dragon or Satan is the LITERAL-PHYSICAL LANGUAGE. Do we still remember when he tempted our Lord in the desert? Did he not speak of the "stones to be turned into bread" to satisfy the physical hunger of our Lord? But our Lord countered:
MATTHEW 4:3 "And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread."
MATTHEW 4:4 "But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God."
MATTHEW 4:6 "And saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone."
In his temptation, Satan quoted the Scripture to Jesus. But his understanding was in the "letter" instead of the "spirit" in the words. God set the line dividing the "letter" and the "spirit" in His words:
2 CORINTHIANS 3:6 "Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life."
Satan can perceive only material-physical things. Christ was speaking "spiritual things."
Christ and The Beast
Here is Christ in the book of Revelation:
REVELATION 1:8 "I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty."
Here is the Beast or the False Christ in the book of Revelation:
REVELATION 1:8 "The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition: and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is."
Perhaps no one among the people believing in the Bible will reject that Christ is the "All in All." The Beast refers to Satan, the Old Serpent, the Dragon, also called the Devil. The Scriptures identify Christ as:
HEBREW 13:8 "Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today, and forever."
JESUS CHRIST is the God of the Old Testament in His manifestation as the FATHERGOD, Who is the same God in the New Testament in His form as HOLYSPIRIT, and is the very same God that will be appearing again in Hisbodilyform:
HEBREW 9:28 "So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation."
Distinction should be made between "shall he appear" and he shall come the second time. It is written the Lord does not change. It is therefore indicated that He only changes His form or manifestation in order to fulfill His plan of salvation for those who believe Him:
MALACHI 3:6 "For I am the LORD, I change not..."
And, it is in Jesus Christ, Who is all in all, that the fulness of God is revealed.
COLOSSIANS 2:9 "For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily."
The Lord is the God, and God is the Lord, for there is only "one Lord and one God."
IN THE OLD TESTAMENT:
DEUTERONOMY 6:4 "Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD:"
IN THE NEW TESTAMENT:
MARK 12:29 "And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord:"
It is from this truth about God that the great Counterfeiter is exposed. Can we distinguish the real from the counterfeit?
The real:
"The Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty."
The counterfeit:
"The beast that was, and is not, and yet is."
The Lord "which is" revealed Himself to be the Holy Spirit Who is now relating to His Chosen Few; and "which was" the very same God Who spoke in the past to Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, the Judges, and the Prophets. "Which is to come" definitely refers to the same God, JESUS CHRIST, Who will be appearing for the second time in His bodily form.
The God "that was" refers to the Father God, and "is not" the Holy Spirit Who is the God relating to the chosen at the present time. "YetJESUS CHRIST is" the professed Savior and Lord. Watch if the different doctrines of identifying God and Jesus Christ do not fall within this description!Watch also if the different doctrines of salvation, being preached by the different religious sects, is not founded on this belief!
Jesus Christ revealed the description of the Beast to John the apostle as a warning to many people:
REVELATION 17:8 "The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition: and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is."
The Beast was being worshipped, when it is not the true God, yetis believed to be the Savior and is still being worshipped today "that dwell upon the earth whose names are not written in the book of life."
REVELATION 13:8 "And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world."
Indeed, many RELIGIONS deceive the soul in preaching a false God!
2 Corinthians 4:3 "But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost:"
Author’s Confession
I used to read the Bible casually like many people. From this, I learned great maxims and their moral lessons -- knowledge that helped shape my values in life, and my interaction with other people. That is how the Bible found its place in my little library. Occasionally, I also use some verses to defend my religious beliefs. A sample of this is the summary of all the commandments and words of God into a simple: "Love God...love my fellowmen.
"The Bible as a casual reading material, however, provoked doubts in my mind. This is when I read what Christ told a Scribe (in Mark 12:29) who asked Him, "Which is the first (greatest) commandment of all?"Jesus answered: "The first (greatest) commandment is: Hear, O Israel, THE LORD OUR GOD IS ONE LORD." Then Jesus began enumerating "Love God...Love your neighbor..." (Mark 12:30-31). I have not heard that first (greatest) commandment from my religious leaders before. Questions began bothering my mind about the "ONE LORD AND ONE GOD," whose recognition I now realized is a PREREQUISITE to loving Him. While people profess to believe in one God, religious sects teach different perceptions of the God of the Bible. Unwittingly, I was thinking, people are actually loving a God with different identities - a strange God! Does that satisfy the prerequisite of loving God? I was asking myself. Even the NAME of God varies among different people. In my case, I was taught that God has three divine persons, each person is a God, but one person is not the other two persons. I was contented with this identification of God. More so, I had the comfort of being in the company of many people. What more, I am familiar with the anecdote about St. Augustine who tried to figure out that "ONE LORD AND ONE GOD" as he walked by the seashore. He was rebuked by a child by showing the impossibility of transferring the waters of the sea to a small hole he digged out. I was fully convinced then with what I believed about God; that He is, indeed, composed of three persons. At the baptism of Jesus, the three persons cannot be disregarded.
Later, however, I felt an obsession in pinpointing the identity of the "ONE LORD AND ONE GOD." The prerequisite to loving God cannot be kept out of my mind. Even humanly speaking, how can a person love somebody whom he does not know? Questions began to crop up in my mind: WHO IS THE GOD OF ABRAHAM AND THE CHOSEN PEOPLE IN THE OLD TESTAMENT? WHO IS THE GOD OF THE APOSTLES? WHO IS THE GOD OF THE 1ST CENTURY CHRISTIANS? HOW MANY PERSON/S OF GOD SHALL WE SEE IN HEAVEN? WHAT IS THE NAME OF GOD? I tried asking these questions to my religious leaders. What I got was a cold response. I heard leaders of denominations expound on the subject -- the more questions were added to my mind. I was pushed against the wall, so to speak.
There was no way out but to focus my eyes above. The "mysterious God" must have read my mind without telling Him. That was the turning point of my casual reading of the Bible. To my surprise, my questions seemed to be answered wherever I open my Bible. True, as the anecdote goes, the clear and full recognition of God cannot be comprehended by the inadequate human understanding of "spiritual things" (1 Corinthians 2:14). I did not know this is engraved on the Rock! Peter did not recognize JESUS as the "Christ and the Son of the living God" with his "flesh and blood." His recognition of JESUS was revealed by the Father (Matthew 16:16-17)! Here now is the sixty-four dollar question: people reading the Bible all profess "Jesus is the Christ and the Son of the living God." Yet, they arrive at different perceptions of Him and the Father, making God a great mystery. Only "a revelation from above" can solve the "mystery," as Peter learned almost 2,000 years ago. That is what I read in the Bible.
My casual reading turned into a rigid and serious one. God must have discerned that I went to Him "with a whole heart that now He seems to have given me a heart to know Him" (Jeremiah 24:7). Through the verses, God was introducing Himself! As I opened the Bible, I read that the Father, the God of Noah, made a COVENANT with Abraham (Genesis 17:7). I also read that the one making the covenant or "the TESTATOR had to die to fulfill His TESTAMENT" (Hebrew 9:16). I did not ask my religious leaders anymore how the God of the Old Testament, Who is a Spirit, could possibly fulfill His Testament. God seemed to have known my question without expressing it. I just opened my Bible and there before me is a startling revelation: "And without controversy, great is the mystery...GOD WAS MANIFEST IN THE FLESH" (1 Timothy 3:16, KJV only)! My finite mind questions, "Who is this GOD Who manifested Himself in the flesh?" As I opened the Epistle of Paul to the Christians of Corinth, he wrote, "But to us, THERE IS BUT ONE GOD, THE FATHER...and one Lord Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 8:6)." It was the FATHER, the one and only God, Who manifested Himself in the flesh! My question therefore as to how God could possibly fulfill His Testament by death was getting clearer. It is simple. I knew this before that JESUS, the son of Mary Who grew in Nazareth, performed many miracles, crucified on the cross, is the ONE alluded to as the "GOD IN THE FLESH." Jesus’ statement, "I and My Father are one" now has a different dimension from my religious leaders’ explanation. The claim of the FATHER in Isaiah 43:11 "I, even I, am the Lord; and beside me there is no savior" jibes perfectly with the revelation about Jesus and the Father. My finite mind, however keeps on telling me they are two different persons. There was a battle between the dictate of my intellect and what "is written." This is what is written: "The one and only God, the FATHER (1 Corinthians 8:6) manifested Himself in the flesh (1 Timothy 3:16), now known as the one and only Lord, JESUS CHRIST (1 Corinthians 8:6)!!!
I kept on thinking of the PREREQUISITE to loving God: "Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord." Jesus, the man, accepted worship since childhood from the Wise Men from the East. He accepted worship from His Disciples and other people, before and after His resurrection, for He must, indeed, be the FATHER IN THE FLESH! I never thought of that before and I could not accept it because it is against the dictate of my "flesh and blood." However, verses keep on confirming this unbelievable but spectacular truth: Jesus declared as He lay on the cross, "It is finished!" He must have referred to the fulfillment of the TESTAMENT of the Father! Jesus said, "Ye shall die in your sins, for if ye believe not that I AM HE (John 8:24)." The Father said in the Old Testament, "Even to your old age, I AM HE (Isaiah 46:4)." In Deuteronomy 32:39 God said, "See now that I, even I, AM HE." I could see that all arrows are pointing to JESUS, the man, is the FATHER God in the Old Testament.
However, my "flesh and blood" could not accept because the Father was relating to the Son: "This is my beloved Son in Whom I am well pleased." On the other hand, the Son told the Father, "Father, forgive them for they know not what they do." How could they be one and the same? My finite mind keeps on reminding me. Comes now a choice between the dictate of my intellect supported by the belief of many people, and what "is written" in the Bible. I realized that this is the test for faith in the word. I was ready to accept what "is written" blindly when (Is it divine revelation?) I opened my Bible and, there, I need not close my eyes in believing: JESUS, the Father in the flesh as it "is written," had to show the WAY (John 14:6), by example (1 Peter 2:21), that His brethren be fashioned after Him, as the eldest Son and model (Romans 8:29). My belief that Jesus is, indeed, the Father in the flesh is now standing on the "Rock (1 Corinthians 10:4)." Yes, Jesus had to pray to the Father, ask for wisdom and strength from the Father, fully depend on the Father, even calling the Father "His God (John 20:17)." This is the example Jesus, the man, showed to His Disciples!
By this time, I learned to accept what "is written" although, once in a while, my finite mind keeps standing on the way. One more question that needs an answer: WHO IS THE HOLY SPIRIT? I scanned the Old Testament books and there I read in Ezekiel 44:28/Psalms 16:5 the "Father promising Himself as the INHERITANCE in His testament." I never read in the New Testament where God’s chosen people ever received the Father as their inheritance. The Holy Spirit had to "be sent" (John 14:26) like the Son (John 5:30) that the FATHER could complete His plan for salvation in different manifestations. It was the HOLY SPIRIT that the Disciples received at Pentecost! Now I realized what Jesus told His Disciples that "they would receive the Holy Ghost after He was glorified (John 7:39)." No wonder, the Holy Spirit is pictured as a DOVE because the FATHER had to take the characteristics of: being meek, not frightening, sensitive, that His chosen people would not fear receiving Him. This also fulfilled the promise of JESUS in Matthew 28:20 "Behold, I will always be with you till the end of the world." It has become clearer that, indeed, "The Lord (Jesus) is the Spirit (Holy) (2 Corinthians 3:17)." Are they really three persons as "flesh and blood" dictate? Or, are they one and the same in different manifestations? What is written? "Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord!"
One more riddle in the Godhead that remains unresolved is the NAME of God. Before, when I was still casually reading the Bible, I read many names of the Father in the Old Testament: Jehovah, Yahweh, Lord Almighty, Lord of Hosts, I am that I am, El Shaddai, etc. I found now that those are only titles, for God had not yet revealed His name in the Old Testament. He said in Isaiah 52:6 "Therefore my people SHALL KNOW MY NAME; therefore they SHALL KNOW IN THAT DAY that I AM HE that doth speak, behold, it is I." God revealed His name when Jesus commanded His Disciples to "baptize in the NAME of the Father, in the NAME of the Son, and in the NAME of the Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:19)." The Apostles executed this command when Peter "baptized in the NAME of JESUS CHRIST (Acts 2:38)." Philip "baptized in the NAME of JESUS CHRIST (Acts 8:12)," and Paul "baptized in the NAME of JESUS CHRIST (Acts 19:5)." Nowhere in the Bible can I find the Apostles baptized "in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit." No wonder, "Every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess the powerful name of JESUS CHRIST" for that is the name of GOD in the Old Testament (Isaiah 45:23), and also the name of God in the New Testament (Philippians 2:10-11)!
The last riddle in the "mystery" of God is, "How could the Son be sitting at the right hand of the Father" when they are one and the same as it "is written"? I never asked my religious leaders anymore. I just trusted what "is written" more than the opinion of the men I was made to believe before are authority of the Bible. Without asking God, He knew what was bothering me. I simply opened my Bible and, there, God explains "right hand of the Father" to mean POWER OF GOD (Exodus 15:6). Jesus told His Disciples as confirmation, "HEREAFTER, (i.e. in the future), shall ye see the Son of man sitting on the RIGHT HAND OF POWER (Matthew 26:64)." Indeed, the Everlasting Father in His physical form (Isaiah 9:6) is the "right hand of God" for in JESUS, the person of God, dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily (Colossians 2:9).
Now I realized that "my neighbor need not tell me, ‘Know the Lord,’ for I am the least of God’s people who fully and clearly recognize my God (Hebrew 8:11)." He is no longer a mystery to me as I was made to believe before. The "plurality" of God at the baptism of Jesus and in the phrase "Let us create man in our image," is but the dictate of my "flesh and blood."
My clear recognition of God surprisingly brought with it my clear understanding of His words. I am convinced that, indeed, "God is the Word (John 1:1)," and "Jesus Christ is the Word of God (Revelation 19:13)." Before, I tried to understand the word of God in the Bible LITERALLY using my intellectual capability. Now I simply rely on God’s explanation as it "is written." (James 1:5-8) Perhaps, one could hardly comprehend what I mean by this. But this revelation of God confirms that His LANGUAGE IS SPIRITUAL (John 6:63), and the laws in the Old Testament have great SPIRITUAL MESSAGE (Romans 7:14). A demonstration of this kind of language is the "power to move a mountain to the sea by a simple faith as big as a mustard seed (Matthew 21:21)." Using my own understanding of the word before, Jesus could be telling a lie for no one yet has succeeded in fulfilling His promise. Likewise, Jesus must be telling a lie when He said, "I did not come to destroy the law and the prophets (Matthew 5:17)," when, to my understanding, He nullified the law on "tooth for a tooth, eye for an eye (Matthew 5:38-39)." Jesus preached love not revenge. All these have been cleared to my mind now with God’s SPIRITUAL LANGUAGE, which He gave me as a bonus in fully recognizing Him! Is this not the fulfillment of the Father’s "I have not spoken in secret from the beginning (Isaiah 48:16)," and Jesus’ "explanation of His words to His disciples (Mark 4:34)," and the "Spirit of Truth’s guidance into all truth (John 16:13)?"
One example of how God explains His words to me is about what John wrote in the following:
1 JOHN 4:7-8 "Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love."
To follow my own understanding of the verses, it appears that "loving my fellowmen is already the true recognition of God." However, deep in my heart, God still remains a great mystery. Reading the Bible, it is clearly stated that the Father is God, the Son Jesus is also God, so is the Holy Spirit. The interaction of the three cannot be comprehended how they are one; neither do I know the one name of God.
With God’s revelation through His words, I realized that what John wrote is already the end of the sequence stated by our Lord. The first is TO KNOW GOD. After recognizing the "one Lord and one God" comes the second in the sequence which our Lord called the 1st commandment. This is TO LOVE GOD. Only after having loved God can His chosen truly LOVES HIS NEIGHBOR. This is the last in the sequence which our Lord called the 2nd commandment in Mark 12:29-31.
Expressing the great revelation in man’s language, I compare the sequences to the evolution of a tree. A tree starts from its roots. Then the trunk is developed from where the fruits sprout. The value of the tree is measured by its fruits. No real fruits ever come out without the trunk and the roots. If ever, the fruits are not real. They are fake, counterfeit. The counterfeit looks like the real in every way.
To know God, the first in the sequence, corresponds to the roots. Without knowing God, there can never be real love for Him, just as the trunk can never be developed without the roots. Love of fellowmen corresponds to the fruits, from which the value of the tree is measured. So does God says, "The greatest of them all is love." (1 Cor. 13:13) The edible part of the tree are the fruits.
Love of fellowmen was demonstrated by Jesus Christ, as the model. He fed the hungry, clothed the naked, and released the prisoners from prison. Human understanding takes this literally-physically. But the word of God is "spirit." Did we find Jesus set free a physical prisoner? He said, "know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." He must have clothed the naked with the garment of salvation. And He fed the hungry with the word of God, the real food.
This is Christ’s version of "love for fellowmen" which His chosen do not even realize:
MATTHEW 25:35-36 "For I was an hungered, and ye gave me meat...Naked, and ye clothed me...I was in prison, and ye came unto me."
MATTHEW 25:37-39 "Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungered, and fed thee? ...When saw we thee...naked, and clothed thee?...in prison, and came unto thee?"
MATTHEW 25:40 "And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me."
How many people "see" the great spiritual message of "love?" Jesus Christ called the religious leaders, "Blind leading the blind."
Testing the spirit
God gave His chosen few the following "instruments" of testing the spirit:
1 JOHN 4:1-3 "Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world. Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God: And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world."
Who is Jesus Christ who manifested Himself in the flesh? Was He the Father or the Son? Who made the Testament? Was He the Father or the Son? What is the name of the Father? Can the Testament be fulfilled other than the Testator or the Maker? Can the Father fulfill His TESTAMENT without manifesting Himself in the flesh? The Testament requires the death of the Testator.
While people believing in the Holy Bible all profess that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh, they recognize Him in different "configurations:" To some, Jesus Christ is only a little or a minor God; to a few Jesus Christ is only a man and never a God; to many, Jesus Christ is recognized as the third part, or only one of the three persons of God. A prophecy is being fulfilled.
2 CORINTHIANS 11:4 "For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him."
There are some people who may profess that the Father, Whose name is Jesus Christ, is the one Who manifested Himself in the flesh. The Bible gives an appurtenant test in such cases:
REVELATION 13:11 "And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon."
The appearance of the counterfeit is similar to the real Christ. The counterfeit, however, is exposed by the kind of "language" that he speaks. The Lamb, the real Christ, speaks the SPIRITUAL LANGUAGE. The counterfeit, or the dragon, the old serpent, called the Devil or Satan, speaks the LITERAL-PHYSICAL LANGUAGE.
Christ a stumblingblock
The physical Jews are the descendants of Abraham. It is to them that the word of God was entrusted. It is for this reason that Jesus said, salvation comes from them:
JOHN 4:22 "Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews."
SALVATION, as it is written, is found only in one NAME:
ACTS 4:12 "Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other NAME under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved."
This namerefers to JESUS CHRIST! When our Lord therefore spoke of the Jews, was He speaking literal-physical thing? If so, then it will contradict:
GALATIANS 3:29 "And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise."
The physical Jews until now do not believe in Jesus Christ! How could they "be of Christ’s?" It is very clear therefore, that He was referring to spiritual Jews.
The spiritual Jews are those people to whom the Word of God is entrusted, and who preach salvation by the name of JESUS CHRIST. There is only one group that answers this qualification: CHRISTIANITY! But God has this to say:
1 CORINTHIANS 1:23 "But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks foolishness."
Truly so, CHRISTIANITY is divided into thousands of denominations, with varied perceptions of God. Preaching the real Christ is, indeed, a stumblingblock. Traditional Christianity, composed religious sects, is content with "simply" loving God and loving the fellowmen -- oblivious of the prerequisite:
MARK 12:29 "And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord:"
Content with believing in one God, many people have the false sense of spiritual security. Unknown to them, that is only the level of:
JAMES 2:19 "Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe..." "
Christ, therefore, must be seeing traditional Christians today as He saw the physical Jews in His earthly sojourn.
The spiritual Greeks, on the other hand, are the different religions who do not even believe in the Holy Bible. How could CHRIST have any place in their doctrines? To them, preaching CHRIST, indeed, is foolishness.
CONCLUSION
It was demonstrated that no one among the people at Caesarea Philippi who saw and heard Jesus was able to identify Him. Their perception of being John the Baptist, Jeremiah, Elijah, and one of the prophets was never near to the truth. Could this not be true in North America? South America? Europe? Africa? Asia? Middle East? Far East? Other parts of the world? How do people in these places identify Jesus? Only a man?Both God and man?Half-God half-man? A minor God? Plus "1001" other concepts!
Yet, all of them are one in saying, "Jesus was the child born in Bethlehem, the Son of Mary, grew in Nazareth, preached and performed many miracles in many places in Israel, wrongly accused, ridiculed, tortured, crucified on the cross, resurrected from the dead on the third day, ascended into heaven, and coming back again.
The Jews also spoke of the promised Messiah. They were, however, rebuked by Jesus Christ for "not knowing their God."
JOHN 8:54-55 "Jesus answered... it is my Father that honoureth me; of whom ye say, that he is your God: Yet ye have not known him..."
Only a handful of Jews were able to recognize their Messiah and God. These are, during the entire ministry of Jesus, the 120 Disciples who were in the upper room waiting for the Holy Spirit to dwell in them! Today, how many are in the "upper room" waiting for the INHERITANCE? Many? Or, only a few?
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