Elsa
your post from Jun 10,2004 05:19
Post subject:Question
Is the one I wrote the following statements for however they may lean towards this post also;
Elsa,
The question you are posing is not a new question, since the fall of mankind we have been trying to understand what makes God tick. The more people who genuinely seek the answer to their spiritual questions the more interpretations we receive. I have my interpretation that to me is in line with what has been revealed to me through Bible study, prayer and in some cases divine revelation. However, what was or is divine revelation to me may be old news to another. The Bible tells us that God is light, 1John1:5 and in light there is no darkness. This statement is in its self, for some very puzzling, and yet for others self-explanatory.
What I am trying to do is prepare you for a soul searching, will surrendering, almighty God acknowledging answer search. I will do my best to reveal the truth that God has shown me, but in order for you to know weather or not it is truth, you must never cease your search for a relationship with God through personal Bible study and prayer.
First, I notice your Bible translation must be a very modern simplified English edition. Could it be the Living Bible? Quite often in efforts to simplify understanding the translator causes more confusion.
I am not saying I know the best Bible translation, personally I check with several different translations to compare a verse that is difficult to understand. One of my, quickly becoming favorites, is the Amplified version.
I like the way it covers as well as possible all possible meanings of a word translation.
Have you ever heard of a Christian term "Trinity"? This is a term we, scratch that, some of us Christians use to proclaim "The God Head". Meaning, God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.
I know this may be difficult to understand but in truth, this is only one of many heavenly things that may be found difficult to understand in our current fallen state.
God the creator Father spoke, God the Son went, and God the Holy Spirit did! I could hear you and others who read this saying, WHAT? What are you talking about?
My daughter went to a Bible Camp, there one of the teachers explained the Trinity as being three sides to one thing. In the case of God we understand there to be three distinct characters that make up one Almighty God.
Some say that if God and Jesus are one then why does the Bible say that Jesus sits on the right of God? I admit that merely saying, well that is a heavenly thing that I will understand when I see them myself did not calm my seeking heart. And one day, in a by the way kind of attitude, the answer came to me. I have tried to share this with others within my Church however they do not accept it as possible, however for me, I know, without knowing, that it is truth.
Speaking of Jesus Christ, the Bible tells us in 1 Peter 1:20 that He was chosen before the creation of the world to be our Savior.
There are many scripture references that speak about the divinity of Christ, and in closing I will give a list for personal research, however at this point I will give my beliefs as to the reason Christ sits on the right of God.
I believe that there is a trinity, I believe there always has been these three that make one. And I believe that God knowing all things, knew before He spoke the first word towards creating the creation as we know it, that mankind would fail in righteousness. I believe that God in His desire to have a planet of forever friends not only planed the creation before He started, but in addition, He planed our redemption before He began to create.
I spoke once of Christ sitting across the table from God and sipping on a cup of hot chocolate, as He listened to God tell Him how things were going to turn out on this planet. God told Him, and that’s the way it is, either you go down there, be born an innocent helpless baby, go through the same trials and tribulations as them, teach them by example my love, be falsely accused, beaten and nailed to a cross after living a short sin free human life to pay for their sins. Or we just scrap the whole plan. Jesus swirling the last swallow of hot chocolate around in His cup swallows it down. Sits it hard down on the table, slides His chair back from the table, stands up and says, Lets Do It!
I know that the scenes are not Biblical, but the mission that Christ took on is. Christ was willing to give up His position in the God Head, to become our Savior. He was willing to take off divine eternity and put on perishable flesh, taking a risk of being separated forever.
When Christ became flesh He was just as Vern arable as us, He was tempted as we are, He hungered, He thirst, and yes, He felt joy and pain. The difference in Him and us is that no matter what the devil tried to trick or discourage Him, He placed God's will first. Moreover, what is God's will? That none perish, that all may come to repentance and live. Christ in humane flesh was willing to take a chance of being forever separated so that we could be forever reconnected.
It required a human to fulfill God's requirements and pay the penalty of sin. The devil would have yelled, foul, no fair, your not playing by the rules. Your just winning because your bigger and stronger, I told you He is a bully. God had to let the devil play out his hand by his rules to prove to all creation the truth about the devil and his accusations.
And I believe that the reason that Christ sits on the right of God is that the flesh He put on, the flesh that He was killed wearing, His flesh that was resurrected, and the perfect sin free flesh that He still was in when He ascended to Heaven. is the same state that he is in now in Heaven as He stands showing the nail marks and the scars that paid for our freedom. And this is the same perfect, sin free flesh He will be in when he comes to destroy evil forever.
The great rip in creation between man and God has been nailed back together through the willing self sacrifice payment for our sins that Christ did on Calvary a little over 2000 years ago.
You mentioned that God showed or spoke about Himself being God more in the Old Testament then He ever thought about doing in the New Testament.
Let us not forget that God has a plan of redemption, He has done all of the doing that needs to be done to place us back in the Heavenly family. But the God who planed creation, the God who planed our redemption, is the same choice giving God that He has always been.
God has worked hard to prove His love and goodness, and His desire to bless and prosper mankind since the very beginning. However, man has chosen self over God repeatedly. When God brought Israel out of bondage, He told them you will be my people and I will be your God.
Instead of Israel accepting God as God and walking in His love and care. They chose to be like the very ones that God chose them to be witnesses to. God wanted them to be a nation of priest spreading truth over the whole world. Instead Israel became proud and lustful, the gods that they were to destroy they began to worship.
Exodus 20:5 tells us that God is a jealous God.
When I first started reading the Bible the thing that stood out most to me is that God suffered greatly whenever He was forced to punish an unrepentant sinner. Moreover, this, my dear friend, is the weapon the devil uses against God repeatedly at our hands. The Bible tells us he knows his time is short, and it seems that the only thing that drives him is to cause the most pain possible to God before he and his followers are dealt with permanently.
The Divinity of Christ; Matthew 1:23, John 1:1, John 17:5,24, John 8:58, Exodus 3:14, Luke 5:20-24,
John 20:28, Hebrews 1:5-9, Isaiah 9:6, Micah 5:2, 1Timothy 6:15,16, Revelations 1:18, Philippians 2:5-12
I know this is not going to sit well with some, but hey my oppinion was asked, and in my oppinion I believe that the Bible is God's word. I believe He has redeamed me, and I believe that one day any question that may be too dificult to answer now will become as clear as glass. When God completes the work that He has started in me then will I know as I am known.
God bless your hunger for His truth that it might never be quenched.
Brother Jerry-The Berlin Bear