The Lord our God is One Lord
Writer: Evangelos D. Kepenes (25/11/2016) Biblical references from: ESV2011, AKJV, LXXE, and others if they fit better
with the Greek text
“Hear, O Israel, The Lord our God
is one Lord.” (Deut. 6:4)
The
meaning of “The Lord our God is one (Grk: Eις) Lord,” is opposed to
the meaning of “dyad or dyadic is,” “triad or triadic is,”
etc.
An (Εις) = adjective
of masculine gender, cardinal number:
one.
Dyad = numerical noun of feminine gender: two (= a set of two similar units).
Dyadic = adjective of masculine gender: two (= a set of two similar
units).
Triad = numerical noun of feminine gender: three (= a set of three similar units).
Triadic = adjective
of masculine gender which refers to the triad:
three (= a set of three similar units).
Note: In Greek adjectives have gender
In
order to understand the meaning of “The Lord our God is one Lord,” a phrase that the spirit of God, [“God is
Spirit”], said to the people of Israel through Moses, we need to know the worship
habits and doctrines of that time that people
devised to explain mainly the forces of nature.
The
practice of worship to the devised
gods was always carried out by the clergies,
which strengthened each authority.
The Theocratic powers always
functioned as manipulators and as a means of subjugating people; and the
emperors were the link between heaven and earth, resulting in their
deification, since they were considered sons of gods. People’s ignorance
and fear of the unknown and mystery,
which the clergies systematically
cultivated, contributed to this situation.
The
prestige, power, and economic robustness of an empire were seen as the result
of the people’s worship to its patron gods, whom the authorities could upgrade,
modify, and merge with others (theocracy)
if it was in their interest to do
so.
The
following excerpts can give us an idea of what was happening.
Mesopotamian Mythology
“Mesopotamian
Mythology is the mythology of the people -Sumerians, Akkadians, Babylonians, Assyrians - who lived in the valley of Mesopotamia.
It seems
that the first phase of the Mesopotamian religion was naturalistic -that is,
the worship of the forces of life. Man translated these forces of life into the
spirits of euphoria and fertility represented by a couple, just like people’s life. Man also created gods / spirits for all things necessary for
people’s life, such as the spirits of grain, forest, vines, springs, etc. Their
mortal gods died and were born again, just like the seasons whose productive power they represented.
Mesopotamian
religion does not have a single origin but responds to the very constitution of
the country. The most ancient countries of Sumer (Shinar Valley), which had
their autonomy at the time of their formation, annexed the neighboring states
one after another, each of which had its
local clergy, which had already formed a tradition. The priesthood of each city had established
its own theory of the genealogy of its gods
as well as a different patron god for
protection from the other cities. As the states slowly became more and more
integrated, the pantheon of the one came close to the pantheon of the other.
The gods
of Sumer then came in contact with the gods of the Semitic invasion -Akkades- and were
mixed. So the list of gods doubled.
There were double names and tangled generations that nevertheless represented
the turmoil that existed in the lives of both peoples. As the years went by,
discreet processes had to be made,
but the great reform came in the
years of the first dynasty of Babylon. The priesthood
and the leadership decided to formally unite the two concepts by proposing Marduk (a trivial god until then) as the new official, great god of the state and Babylon. With great mastery, the clergy reduced neither the number nor the value of the earlier gods; simply picked one and raised him above the others without,
however, abolishing the old ones.
Then the poem of Creation was written which "explains" the predominance of Mardouk and generally proposes another
genealogy and mythology, the new and common pretty much for all.”
Source
Anu
“In
Sumerian mythology, and later in Assyrians and Babylonians, Anu or An was the
god of the sky and the constellations, the king of the gods, the spirits and
the demons. Anu was considered to have the power to judge those who had
committed crimes. He was the father of the Anunnaki. In art, he is usually
depicted as a jackal. The basic symbol of Anu is a crown with horns.
Anu was
the oldest god in the pantheon of the Sumerian mythology, and he was a Triad
along with Enlil, god of the sky, and Enki, god of the waters. Anu is often associated with the
city of Uruk, the corresponding biblical Erech, and therefore it is believed to have been his original
worship center. The deity of Inanna-Ishtar, also worshiped in Uruk, was often considered to be
his companion for this reason.”
Source
Greek triadic deities
Indicatively, we will mention the triple goddess Hecate mentioned in Greek
mythology as the queen of the sky, earth and sea, protector of justice, army, hunters, fishermen, flocks with the
synergy of her lover Hermes, and protector of newborn
babies, hence the name kourotrofos
(= child nurturer). In the ancient statues, she was depicted with three faces and in the pots holding two
torches. In her honor, people celebrated Hecatea at three way crossroads outside their cities.
Other than the above perceptions were that the brother gods Jupiter or Zeus, Pluto and
Poseidon had distributed the kingdoms; Jupiter was the god of the sky, Pluto
was the god of the underworld, and Poseidon was the god of the waters. [Justin
the Philosopher, Exhortation to the Greeks (730)]
From the
above we can see that:
·
Polytheism arose from people’s need to interpret natural phenomena, love, wisdom, arts, beauty, etc., by inventing
gods of various specialties and responsibilities, donors of good or evil
things, supposedly protecting them, their cities,
their families, their flocks, their boats, their army, their occupations, etc.
(cf. today)
·
The clergies always
exercised power over any authority,
since the emperors supported their perpetuation through the blessings and the
oracles of their false prophets.
· The authorities without the support of the clergy
could not be respected by the
people. (cf. today)
· The gods always complied
with the modern needs and policies of the authorities. (cf. today)
·
The inventions of the triadic gods were purely arose from polytheism, implying co-governments hierarchically structured in three similar units (three gods), in
the way people-kings ruled together.
·
Biblical cities
such as Erech (Uruk), Nineveh, Babylon
and others, were worship centers of triadic
imaginary gods.
The sun’s disc and its phases
The
natural sun and its three phases,
sunrise, culmination and sunset, were the reason for the creation of triadic deities as the New
International Encyclopedia informs us.
“The triad became the
world’s most widespread number of
deity ... The worship of the sun is one of the oldest forms of religion, and
the ancient man sometimes distinguished between the rising, the culminating and
the setting sun. The Egyptians, for example, separated the solar god into three
deities: Horus - the rising sun, Ra - the culminating sun, and Osiris - the
setting sun.” (Egyptian deities)
Therefore, the word of the Lord God to Israel through Moses “Hear, O Israel, The Lord our God is one
Lord” was made to overturn this mindset of the polytheists; a mindset which the
Israelites from Chaldea also had, who, even in the time of Ezekiel’s ministry,
worshiped the sun. (Ez. 8:15)
And Josiah the king of Juda “he took
away the horses that the kings of
Judah had given to the sun, at the
entering in of the house of the LORD, by the chamber of Nathanmelech the
chamberlain, which was in the suburbs, and burned
the chariots of the sun with fire.” (II Kings 23:11)
Hear, Israelites, your own Lord
God (unlike the others) is one Lord
(not a dyad – dyadic or triad - triadic).
It is worthwhile to observe the prayer of king Jude Hezekiah when he prays to
be freed from the Assyrians:
“So now, O
LORD our God, save us, please, from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the
earth may know that you, O LORD, are God
alone.” (You are not together with others – that is, you are
not dyadic or triadic). (II Ki. 19:19)
Agreement with the New Testament
Our Lord Jesus Christ answering a question from one of the secretaries
confirms:
“And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel;
The Lord our God is one Lord.” (not dyad - dyadic or triad –
triadic). (Mark 12:29)
And the secretary responding also confirms:
“And the scribe said to him, Well, Master,
you have said the truth: for there
is one God; and there is none other but he.” (Mark 12:32)
And elsewhere he said:
“And call no
man your father on the earth: for one is
your Father, which is in heaven.”
(Mat. 23:9)
And Paul said:
“One God and
Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.” (Eph. 4:6)
And James also wrote:
“You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the
demons believe—and shudder.” (2:19)
So whoever believes that the Lord
God is not dyadic or triadic but ONE is right; besides, the demons believe the same thing, and for
that reason they are horrified (they shiver from fear). If, hypothetically, God was dyadic or triadic, then the demons would not
be horrified.
Therefore, the father of lies
has every reason to deceive for
centuries by distorting the truth that the Lord God is ONE (and not a triad - triadic or dyad - dyadic).
Concepts of God’s triadicity apart from
the above
(a) Cabalistic
thoughts
“The Truth is where
Cabalists talk about the veils of the Absolute. The Truth was named in a number
of ways: some named it God in general, others named it Father - God, Absolute,
Unexpressed, Negative Existence, and some even more vaguely "superior
power.” The variety of names and adjectives suggests that the totality of God
remains incomprehensible to the human intellect. This knowledge - acceptance is
ancient. The ancient peoples had realized that behind the one whom they called
father - God there was "something" in which their central God remained
accountable. Probably one more superior God, unintelligible even by their
supreme God, let alone by themselves. That’s why they mention or hint at him
but they do not deal with him, they do not try to interpret him because such an
interpretation would be arbitrary. The Cabalistic approach does not escape
this. It admits its ignorance and speaks of three veils that give a hint to
God, but in essence, like all veils, they conceal him. These veils are
Negativity, Unlimited, and Unlimited Light.
These three symbolic veils
do not stand out and are not distinct from each other. As a Father, Son, and
Holy Spirit, He is a "consubstantial and inseparable Triad," others and even the highest
insider of this solar system (and others greater than him) cannot enter into
their secrets.”
Source
(b) Hermes Trismegistus
“There is one deity in the world”
Hermes is mentioned as an omniscient during the reign of Sostros. The following
was written by John Malalas (7th - 8th century):
“Hermes Trismegistus the Egyptian, a man
with incredible wisdom, said that the name of the unintelligible and creator
has three hypostases in a single deity,” thus giving the triadic of
God’s hypostasis, which was then integrated in Orthodoxy.
Source
(c) Holy Trinity
“The Triadic God is described as a Triune Unit which
is manifested by actions and works in creation and history. He has three faces,
but these three faces are not three separate gods, otherwise Christianity would
not be a monotheistic but a tritheistic religion. According to the doctrine,
the reason that the triadic God is one, although with three hypostases, is the
absence of space and time. Space and time differentiate human hypostases from
each other so that different faces to be different people. But because space
and time are created (God’s creations), God is not subject to them. So we have
the mystery (incomprehensible to people) of the Triune Unit.”
Source
It follows from the above that the acceptance of the Triadic Doctrine (Triune Unit) entails the acceptance of ignorance, the
unintelligible, the incomprehensible, the mystery, and the introduction of new mathematical and grammatical rules. If
someone has in mind or sees three
veils, three angels, or three ships in a row, this doesn’t mean
that God is a triad - triadic. Also, the justification that
God is triadic, because he is not subject to space and time, leaves the possibility
that he is also, tetradic, pentadic,
hexadic, etc.
What is the chaff to the wheat? (Jer. 23:28)
The Holy Scripture is profitable for
instruction
“All scripture
is given by inspiration of God, and is
profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man
of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished to all good works.” (II Tim. 16-17)
The words of the Lord are simple,
pure, and comprehensible; they illuminate and they are able to make the man wise, and they are inconsistent with
these human triadic, polytheistic perceptions. (cf. Mat.
15:9)
“And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O
Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord.”
(Mark. 12:29)
“Your word is a lamp
to my feet, and a light to my path.”
(Ps. 119:105)
“The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the LORD is sure,
making wise the simple.” (Ps. 19:7)
“Lead me in your
truth, and teach me: for you are
the God of my salvation; on you do I wait all the day.” (Ps. 25:5)
“And we know that the Son of God has come and has
given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true; and we are in him
who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. He
is the true God and eternal life.” (I John 5:20 Esv2011)
Note: The AKJV quotes by mistake “This is the true God.” (Grk txt: Ούτος = He)
The apostles preached neither a
triadic god nor an earthly Jesus,
but they preached through the Holy Spirit that Jesus Christ is the true God
and eternal life.
The prophecy of Isaiah for the Son
“For unto us a child is born, unto us a
son is given: and the government shall be upon
his shoulder: and his name shall be
called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince
of Peace.” (Is. 9:6)
For unto us a child is born
The pronoun “us” is in the
dative (giving) case of the person
and indicates the person who benefits from something, the person for the sake of whom an action takes place.
“Born” is the past participle
of the verb “to bear,” which means that the child, Jesus, was not born by us, but by God who is Spirit, for us.
Similarly the phrase “unto us a
son is given.” The Savior was not born by an earthly man so that he can give
him to save the world; God who is Spirit
and everlasting did that.
Otherwise, the Savior would be an earthly
man, unable to save, and not the heavenly Lord Jesus Christ. (I Cor.
15:47)
"For this is the way God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life." (John 3:16 NET)
Only - begotten = born alone||without any others||without
having any brothers or sisters. [Dictionaries: Scarlatos Vyzantios’ ancient
Greek dictionary and Pantazidou Homeric dictionary]
The created
and earthly Adam is also called son of
God (Luk. 3:23/38). So if the born
son of God Jesus had Adam’s earthly
nature, he wouldn’t be the only-begotten Son of the Father full of
grace and truth. Besides:
“That which is
born of the flesh is flesh; and that
which is born of the Spirit is spirit.”
(Gen. 1:27, Is. 1:2, John 1:14, 3:16)
“Thus it is written, “The first man Adam became a living being”; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit. But it is not
the spiritual that is first but the
natural, and then the spiritual. The first man
was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man is (The Lord) from heaven.”
(I Cor. 15:45-47 Esv2011)
The
only-begotten son of God
An only-begotten
son of God is defined as He who was born through the Holy Spirit in the
womb of Mary, he was given birth by her “where is he
that is born king of the Jews?”
(Mat. 2:2), and was given the name Jesus
by the Lord’s commandment through an
angel. The only-begotten son of the Father that was sent to the world, Jesus, had no brothers or sisters born
of the Holy Spirit in the womb of a woman, as he was, but:
“But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: Which were
born, not of blood (Grk txt: Bloods) nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the
will of man, but of God.” (John 1:12-13)
“He that believes on him is not condemned: but he that
believes not is condemned already,
because he has not believed in the name
of the only begotten Son of God.” (John 3:18)
James, Joseph, Simon, Judas and Jesus’ sisters had
the same mother but a different father.
“Is not this the carpenter's son? “as was supposed,” is not his mother called Mary? and his brothers,
James, and Joses, and Simon, and Judas? And his
sisters, are they not all with us? From where then has this man all these
things? And they were
offended in him.” (luk. 3:23, Mat. 13:55-57, 12:47-50)
The birth of Jesus
“And the angel said to her, Fear not, Mary: for you
have found favor with God. And, behold, you shall conceive in your womb, and bring
forth a son, and shall call his name JESUS. He shall be
great, and shall be called the Son of
the Highest: and the Lord God shall give to him the throne of his father
David: And he shall reign over the house of Jacob
for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end. Then said
Mary to the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man? And the angel
answered and said to her, The Holy Ghost
shall come on you, and the power of the
Highest shall overshadow you: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born (of you) shall be
called the Son of God.” (Luke 1:30-35 AKJV)
Note: In the verse
of Luke 1:35, Grk txt omits (of you). Let’s read
the same verse in different Bible Versions:
·
“And the angel answering said to her, [The]
Holy Spirit shall come upon thee, and power of [the] Highest overshadow
thee, wherefore the holy thing also
which shall be born shall be
called Son of God.” (Darby)
·
“And the Angel aunswered, & saide vnto her: The
holy ghost shall come vpon thee, & the power of the hyest shall ouershadowe
thee. Therefore also that holy thyng
whiche shalbe borne, shalbe called the sonne of God.” (Bishops)
·
“And the angel responding said to her; The Holy Ghost
shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee;
therefore, indeed, that holy thing that
is begotten shall be called the Son of God.” (Godbey)
·
“The angel answered her,
"the holy spirit shall descend upon thee, and the power of the most high
shall over-shadow thee: wherefore thy
holy offspring shall be called the son of God.” (Mace)
· “And the angel,
answering, said to her, The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of [the]
Most High will overshadow you; wherefore
also the Holy Thing that is begotten shall be called [the] Son of
God.” (Worrell)
The angel did not tell Mary that the holy one who would be
born of her would be called the son of God, but he told her that the holy
one who would be born in her would be called the son of God.
The same is confirmed to her husband, Joseph, by the angel of the Lord
in a dream. In Matthew chapter one
and verse twenty we read:
·
“And reflecting upon these things, behold a messenger
of the Lord appeared to him saying, Joseph, thou son of David, thou shouldest
not fear to take to thyself Mary thy wife: for
that begotten in her is of the Holy Spirit.” (SLT)
·
“And he meditating on these things, behold an angel of
the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying; Joseph, son of David, do not
fear to receive Mary thy wife; for that
which is begotten in her is of the Holy Spirit;” (Godbey)
·
“And he having pondered these [things], behold—
[an] angel [of the] Lord appeared [to] him in [a]
dream saying “Joseph, son [of] David, do not fear to take Mary [as]
your wife, for the [child] having been fathered in her is by [the] Holy Spirit.” (DLNT)
·
“But while he pondered on these things, behold, an
angel of [the] Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, Joseph, son of
David, fear not to take to [thee] Mary, thy wife, for that which is begotten in her is of [the] Holy Spirit.” (Darby)
· “Το γαρ εν αυτή
γεννηθέν εκ πνεύματος έστιν αγίου.” (Nestle-Aland, Greek txt)
This was the reason he was called the
only-begotten son of God,
because the holy one born in the
womb of Mary was from the Holy Spirit not of bloods nor of the will of the
flesh, nor of the will or power of man or woman.
Continuing, the angel said to Joseph: “And she shall bring forth a son, and you shall
call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.” Joseph believed the angel’s message. “And knew her not till she had brought forth her firstborn son: and he called his name JESUS.” (Mat. 1:21-24)
“And when eight days were accomplished for the
circumcising of the child, his name was called Jesus, which was so
named of the angel before he was conceived
in the womb.” (Luke 2:21)
The earthly Mary neither
conceived through ordinary means “And Adam knew Eve his wife, and
she conceived and bore a son, and called his name Seth,
saying, For God has raised up to me
another seed instead of Abel, whom Cain slew” (Gen. 4:25, LXXE), nor received
a fertilized egg (embryo) in order to give birth to a demigod
according to the customs of the
Olympians in Greek mythology, nor impregnated by herself as Hera did with Hephaestus who was born
through parthenogenesis and his father was the dispute and discord according to
the ancient doctrines, nor gave birth to
an earthly son, but
she conceived miraculously and gave birth to the heavenly Jesus who was
born by his Father, the eternal Holy Spirit, within her.
“And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all
things he might have the preeminence.”
(Col. 1:18)
“And to the angel of the church of the Laodiceans
write; These things said the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God;
(The new spiritual creation).” (Rev. 3:14)
“Therefore if
any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are
passed away; behold, all things are become new.” (II Cor. 5:17)
“For in Christ
Jesus neither circumcision avails any thing, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature.” (Gal. 6:15)
Emmanuel
The first-century church of God “which he
obtained with his own blood” recognized Jesus as the only true God and called him “Emmanuel,” that is, “God is with us.” (Acts 20:28, Ι John 5:20, Isaiah
7:14, 8:8)
This was the reason why the Jews
wanted to kill him, because they
thought of Jesus as the son of Joseph and Mary and did not believe that he was
the only-begotten of the Holy Spirit.
“Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him,
because he not only had broken the sabbath,
but said also that God was his Father,
making himself equal with God.” (John 5:18)
“The Jews answered him, saying, For a good work we
stone you not; but for blasphemy; and because that you, being a man, make yourself
God.” (John 10:33)
The opposed
Jews did not believe in the teaching of the apostles
The teaching
“For let this be in mind among you, which also in
Christ Jesus; Who, being in
the form (image) of God, thought not robbery to
be equal to God. But emptied
himself, taking the form of a servant, born
in the likeness of men: And found in fashion as man, he humbled himself,
being obedient until death, and the death of the cross.” (Philip. 2:5-8 SLT)
Here,
Paul is not talking about a pre-existing Son, but about the
only-begotten of the Father (the Holy
Spirit), the one who was born by Mary, who was given the name Jesus, the one who was already
resurrected when Paul wrote the letters.
“For the impossibility of the law, in that it was weak
by the flesh, God having sent his own Son in
the likeness of the flesh of sin, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: That the
justification of the law be filled up in us, not walking according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.” (Rom. 8:3-4)
Jesus was a Heavenly Man, from Heaven, “the image of the invisible God,” and not from the earth,
not earthly. (Col. 1:15)
“Thus it is written, The first man Adam became a living being; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit.” (I Cor. 15:45)
What Jesus who was born by Mary
testifies about himself
“Jesus said to them, If God were your father ye would
have loved me, for I came forth from God
and am come [from him] ; for neither
am I come of myself, but he has sent me.” (John 8:42 Darby)
“No one has ascended into
heaven except he who descended from
heaven, the Son of Man.” (John
3:13)
For I came down
from heaven, not to do my own will, but
the will of him that sent me.” (John 6:38)
“I am the
living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he
shall live for ever: and the bread that
I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.”
(John 6:51)
“And Jesus said to them, You are from beneath (from
earth); I am from above (from heaven): you are of this world; I am not of this
world.” (John 8:23)
“The bread that I will give is my flesh (Grk txt: Sarx 4561).” The flesh / body of Jesus
was from heaven (the manna in the
wilderness was also from heaven), and when Paul, apostle of Jesus, wrote about the
mystery of piety “God was manifested in flesh” (I Tim. 3:16, Anderson), he did not disagree with Jesus neither he preached an earthly
savior. [Note: AKJV quotes "God was manifested in the flesh" (Greek text omits the)]
Paul wrote: “For the impossibility of the law, in that it was weak by
the flesh, God having sent his own Son in
the likeness of the flesh of sin, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh.”
(Rom. 8:3)
An earthly man could never assert for himself similar testimonies.
Actions of Jesus that were impossible to
be carried out by an earthly man
·
“For he taught them as one having authority,
and not as the scribes.” (Mat. 7:29)
·
“Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered to,
but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.” (Mat. 20:28)
·
“For whoever will save his life shall lose it: but
whoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it.” (Luk. 9:24)
·
“And when he saw their faith, he said to him, Man,
your sins are forgiven you.” (Luk. 5:20)
· “Therefore does my Father
love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again. No man
takes it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and
I have power to take it again. This
commandment have I received of my Father.” (John 10:17-18)
· Meanwhile the disciples
were urging him, saying, “Rabbi, eat.” But he said to them, “I have food to eat
that you do not know about.” (John 4:31-32)
·
“But whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him
shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well
of water springing up into everlasting life.” (John 4:14)
·
“And after six days Jesus takes Peter, James, and John
his brother, and brings them up into an high mountain apart, And was
transfigured before them: and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment
was white as the light.” (Mat. 17:1-2)
·
“And they feared exceedingly, and said one to another,
What manner of man is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?” (Mark.
4:14)
Jesus was not an angel
“For to which of the angels said he at any time, You are my Son, this day have I
begotten you? And again, I will be to him a Father, and he shall be to me a
Son?” (Heb. 1:5)
“Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself:
handle me, and see; for a spirit has not flesh and bones, as you see me have.”
(Luk. 24:39)
The body of Jesus, the only-begotten son of God, was
special, separate, unique, it was made in the likeness of man
“But made himself of no reputation, (Grk txt: emptied
himself) and took on him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of
men: And being found in fashion as a man, he
humbled himself, and became obedient to death, even the death of the cross.”
(Philip. 2:7-8)
The blood of
Jesus
The body of the heavenly man Jesus, produced a unique
divine blood
“Whom God has set forth to be a propitiation through
faith in his blood, to declare his
righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance
of God;” (Rom. 3:25)
“In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins,
according to the riches of his grace;” (Eph. 1:7)
“Take heed therefore to yourselves, and to all the
flock, over the which the Holy Ghost has made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he has
purchased with his own blood.” (Acts
20:28)
“How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself
without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living
God?” (Heb. 9:14)
What the apostles said and wrote
“For in him the
whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, and you have
been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority.” (Col. 2:9-10)
“For it pleased the
Father that in him should all fullness dwell; And, having
made peace through the blood of his cross, by
him to reconcile all things to himself; by him, I say, whether they be
things in earth, or things in heaven.” (Col. 1:19-20)
“For not all
flesh is the same, but there is one kind for humans, another for animals,
another for birds, and another for fish. There are heavenly bodies and earthly
bodies, but the glory of the heavenly is of one kind, and
the glory of the earthly is of another.” (I Cor. 15:39-40)
“It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual
body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. Thus it is
written, “The first man Adam became a
living being the last Adam became
a life-giving spirit.” (I Cor. 15:44-45, ESV2011)
The apostles were sent neither
to preach Homer or Middle Platonism, nor to preach a demigod (son of a god and a mortal
woman). There were many such gods both in the Greek pantheon and in the pantheon of other tribes. But they preached
Jesus Christ as the living God and true
savior of the world. (I John 5:20, Rom. 9:5, Titus 2:13, Rev. 1:8)
More testimonies
(a) John the Baptist
John the Baptist said that Jesus was above all because He had come from
heaven.
“He must increase, but I must decrease. He who comes from above is above all. He who is
of the earth belongs to the earth
and speaks in an earthly way. He who
comes from heaven is above all. He bears
witness to what he has seen and heard, yet no one receives his testimony. Whoever
receives his testimony sets his seal to
this, that God is true.” (John
3:30-33)
And Jesus said that
among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the
Baptist.
“Truly, I say to you, among those
born of women there has arisen no one greater than John the Baptist. Yet
the one who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.” (Mat. 11:11)
If Jesus was a
man according to the perception of
the disagreeing Jews he wouldn't have said that John was the greatest among
those born of women, but he would have said, “I am the greatest
among those born of women.”
(b) The teaching of the Apostle Paul about resurrection
"So also is the resurrection
of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption: It is sown in
dishonor; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power: It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural
body, and there is a spiritual body. And so it is
written, The first man Adam was made a
living soul (natural body); the last Adam was made a quickening (live-giving)
spirit (spiritual body). However, that
was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that
which is spiritual. The first man
is of the earth, earthy; the second
man is the Lord from heaven. As is the
earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are
they also that are heavenly. And as we
have borne the image of the earthy,
we shall also bear the image of the
heavenly.” (I Cor. 15:42-49)
The distinction between the earthly and the heavenly
is evident, the earthly man is seeded
with human sperm and is born as a
psychic body "in wear, in unrighteousness, in sickness," and
while living on earth, he is spiritually
dead because of sin. But the first earthly Adam “was a type of
the one who was to come,” that is, a pattern of the spiritual man Jesus. (Rom. 5:14)
The heavenly man Jesus Christ
“became a Spirit that gives life” in
order to rebirth, give life, resurrect, and let the spiritually dead man “have
life, and have it to the full.” (John
10:10)
“But Jesus said to him, Follow me; and let the dead bury their dead.” (Mat. 8:22)
“And as they were speaking to the people, the priests
and the captain of the temple and the Sadducees came upon them, greatly
annoyed because they were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection from the dead.” (Acts 4:1-2)
“Even when we were
dead in our trespasses, made us
alive together with Christ— by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.” (Eph.
2:5-6)
“In him also you were circumcised with a circumcision
made without hands, by putting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision
of Christ, having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the
powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead. And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the
uncircumcision of your flesh, God made
alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses.” (Col.
2:11-13)
“For this my son was dead and has come to life, was lost and has been found. And
they began to make merry.” (Luk. 15:24, Darby)
“Do not present your members to sin as instruments for
unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for
righteousness.” (Rom. 6:13)
This work of salvation -the remission of sins and the resurrection of the spiritually dead
earthly man- would have been impossible if Jesus had a human, earthly, perishable nature.
Jesus Christ is the word of life
that became flesh/body; he is the truth,
and the life, and the imperishable seed that gives eternal
life.
James informs the Jewish Christians:
“Of his own
will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind
of first fruits of his creatures.”
(James to Hebrews 1:18) (Beget = to create children, to give
birth)
And Peter in
his first letter to the Hebrews said:
“Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible,
by the word of God, which lives and
stays for ever.” (I Peter to the Hebrews 1:23)
The teaching of the first church about
the Word of life
“To me, though I am the very least of all the saints,
this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, and to bring
to light for everyone what is the plan of the
mystery hidden for ages in God who created all things.” (Eph. 3:8 Esv2011)
“In the beginning was
the Word, and the Word was with towards God, and the Word was God God was the Word. He was in the
beginning with towards God. All things were
made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life,
and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” (John
1:1-5 Esv2011)
Note: Grk txt omits, with, instead is “προς τον” (Nestle-Aland). Προς with
accusative (τον), to, toward,
denoting direction toward a thing (Liddell Scott)
“That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen
with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning
the word of life the life was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim
to you the eternal life, which was with towards Father and was made manifest to us.” (I John
1:1-2)
Compare: “And
the Word became flesh,” “God was
manifest in flesh,” “life was made
manifest.” (John 1:14, I Tim. 1:16, I John 1:2)
The Jewish writer did not write about a different
pre-existing god-word, but, he wrote
about the word that was the eternal life, the life of the eternal God / the Father, which was manifest.
Jesus
addressing the Jews said to them:
“For as the Father has life in himself; so has he given to
the Son to have life in himself;”
(John 5:26)
“Jesus said to her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believes in me,
though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whoever lives and believes in me shall never
die. Believe you this?” (John 11:25-26)
Nor did the
Jewish writer abolish the scriptures that said:
“As concerning therefore the eating of those things
that are offered in sacrifice to idols, we
know that an idol is nothing in the world, and that there is none other God but one.” (I Cor. 8:4)
“For ever,
O LORD, your word is settled in heaven.”
(Ps. 119:89)
“And God said to Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said,
Thus shall you say to the children of Israel, I AM has sent me to you.” (Ex. 3:14)
“I am the LORD: that is my name: and my glory will I not give to another, neither my
praise to graven images.” (Is. 42:8, 48:11)
“Thus said the LORD the King of Israel, and his
redeemer the LORD of hosts; I am the
first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God.” (Is. 44:6)
“Thus said the LORD, your redeemer, and he that formed
you from the womb, I am the LORD that makes all things; that stretches forth
the heavens alone; that spreads
abroad the earth by myself;” (Is.
44:24)
“You are my witnesses, said the LORD, and my servant
whom I have chosen: that you may know and believe me, and understand that I am
he: before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me I, even I, am the LORD; and beside me there is no savior.” (Is.
43:10-11)
“Listen to me, O Jacob and Israel, my called; I am he; I am the first, I also am the last.” (Is. 48:12)
The
God-breathed scriptures and the philosophy of people
The apostles were not
teachers of heresy “denying the only Master and Lord, Jesus Crist” and they knew the scriptures that said:
“For the wisdom
of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, He takes the wise
in their own craftiness. And again,
The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are vain.” (I Cor. 3:19-20)
“For it is written, 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? has not God made foolish the wisdom of
this world?” (I Cor. 1:19-20)
“For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it
pleased God by the foolishness of
preaching to save them that believe.” (I Cor. 1:21)
The writers of the New
Testament letters were not in agreement
with the polytheistic gentiles, who, according to the Greek theological
thinking, believed in a hierarchical union of member gods where the high god does not create but gives birth to God the Word who is the cause of
creation. The apostles never wrote:
Brothers, just like Zeus gave birth to his son Hermes and sent him to difficult
and critical missions making him the intermediary between the gods and the
people, so did ours, the one god. The
pagans believed these fables.
“And when the people saw what Paul had
done, they lifted up their voices, saying in the speech of Lycaonia, The gods are come down to us in the
likeness of men. And they
called Barnabas, Jupiter; and Paul, Mercurius, because he was the chief speaker.” (Acts 14:11-12)
Nor did they perform a philosophical analysis by
accepting the sophistries about the
"Word" of Middle Platonism in order to spread the latest Platonic
trends mixed with the teaching of Jesus. This was achieved by the fanatical Hellenistic
Jewish philosopher Philo who lived in Alexandria, Egypt -whose library attracted all the
philosophical trends- and considered the
“Word” to be the “idea of ideas,” “the firstborn son of the uncreated
Father” and “second, inferior god.” These teachings were given to the christians of the second centrury by the
so-called apologists, who adopted
the Philonian Word of Middle Platonism, which, along with Plotinus, evolved
into Neoplatonism, which post-evolved into “patristic theology”. The apologists compromised the comparative Greek theology with Christianity,
teaching, like Justin, that:
“And the first power after God the Father and Lord of all is
the Word, who is also the Son; and of Him we will, in what follows,
relate how He took flesh and became man.” (Justin Philosopher
A' Apology chap. 32)
“What sober-minded man, then, will not acknowledge that we are not
atheists, worshipping as we do the Maker of this universe, and declaring,
as we have been taught .… Our
teacher of these things is Jesus Christ, who also was born
for this purpose, and was crucified under Pontius Pilate, procurator of Judæa,
in the times of Tiberius Cæsar; and that we reasonably worship Him, having
learned that He is the Son of the true God Himself, and holding Him in the
second place, and the prophetic Spirit in the third, we will prove.”
(Justin Philosopher A' Apology chap. 13)
"I shall attempt to persuade you, since you have understood the
Scriptures,[of the truth] of what I say, that there is, and that there is said
to be, another God and Lord subject to
the Maker of all things; who is also
called an Angel, because He announces to men whatsoever the Maker of all things--above whom
there is no other God--wishes to announce to them." (Justin Philosopher
Dialogue with Tryfo chap. 56)
Eventually, this mixing
of human earthly wisdom with the wisdom that is from above gave birth to
theological battles and great heresies in the 2nd, 3rd and 4th centuries.
The formers of the new Byzantine-type Christianity
were wounded by the Philonian love to Plato, damaging the basic idea of the bible that God is love, and that He is One, with the sad
effect of the Hellenization of the monotheistic early Christianity, its
nationalization and protection from the Roman empire, its armed enforcement, the discovery of the incomprehensible triune unit with the prevalence of the ontological equality between the Father
and the Son, and the introduction of new
theological terms, non-existent in
the sacred biblical texts, such as: consubstantial – undivided –
inseparable – two natures – first, second, third person – holy trinity, have
mercy on us – blessed virgin – ever virgin – coeternal – co-everlasting –
incarnation [incarnate = to give
physical substance to someone// reincarnate//
metempsychose (Stamatakos Grk dictionary)]
etc.
The Word became flesh
“And the Word
became flesh and dwelt among us, and we
have seen his glory, glory as of
the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:14)
Note: It doesn't say "the Word took flesh," as the apologists
and philosophers were saying, but it says: "the Word became flesh."
Grammar says that
the predicate (flesh) through the
middle voice linking verb (became)
attributes a property to the subject
(the word).
That is, the flesh / man Jesus
became a property (an attribute) of the word
of life “I am the resurrection and
the life.” Mary’s biological participation is absent, otherwise it would say [the word was made flesh by Mary].
The body of
Jesus was the temple of God. When
the Jews asked for a sign and Jesus said:
"Destroy this temple, and I will raise
it again in three days," the Jews thought that he was telling them about
the temple of Solomon. “But he spoke
of the temple of his body.” (John 2:19-21)
The heavenly body of Christ is the true tent
“But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and more perfect tent ( not made with
hands, that is, not of this creation).”
(Heb. 9:11 ESV2011)
In the Old Testament, God
filled with his presence the inside of the tent of the tabernacle, and from there, between the two cherubs on
the mercy seat, he spoke to Moses
within the people’s earshot. (Ex. 25:22)
In the New Testament, the temple of the body of the Son of
God is the true tent “not made with hands, that is, not of this creation,” where the whole
fullness of deity dwells, and through
this body, the one God the Father speaks and acts. (cf. Rev. 21:22)
“Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new
and living way that he opened for us
through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house
of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full
assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and
our bodies washed with pure water.” (Heb. 10:19-22)
In this passage we see the prominent spiritual function of the heavenly flesh of Jesus, which allows
us to enter in Holy Spirit into the true holies in heaven. (For more see: http://www.thefulfillmentofpromise.com/comprehend-the-apostle-and-high-priest-of-our-confession-jesus)
And we beheld His glory
“And the glory
of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together, for the
mouth of the LORD has spoken.” (Is. 40:5)
“That which was from the beginning,
which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked on,
and our hands have handled, of the Word
of life; For the
life was manifested, and we have
seen it, and bear witness, and show
to you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested to us;” (I John 1:1-2)
“God was manifest in flesh.”
(I Tim. 3:16)
Was
manifest = he made
himself visible.
In flesh = dative. Here we have the dative of the instrument or
means (manner), through which, with
what, e.g.
He tells us in what way he
was manifest. “The word was made flesh.”
So God manifested himself in flesh
- (heavenly) body. (John 6: 51)
Glory as the only-begotten from the
father
The only-begotten son is: “He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his
nature …” (Heb. 1:3)
So, the only-begotten son was the radiance of the glory of the Father and the imprint of his hypostasis (one
hypostasis), he was the living image
(portrayal - imprint) of the
invisible Father, the self of God who is Spirit, the one the Father commanded us to call Jesus (Savior). “For him hath God the
Father sealed.” (John 6:27)
Whoever saw the body of Jesus, saw the
Father
“Philip said to him, Lord, show us the Father, and it suffises us. Jesus said to
him, Have I been so long time with you, and
yet have you not known me, Philip? he that has seen me has seen the Father; and how say you then, Show
us the Father? Believe you not that I am in the Father,
and the Father in me? the words that I
speak to you I speak not of myself:
but the Father that dwells in me, he does the works.” (John 14:8-10)
“And he said to them, You are from beneath; I am from above: you are of this world;
I am not of this world. I said
therefore to you, that you shall die in your sins: for if you believe not that I am he, you shall die in your
sins.” (John 8:23-24)
“John to the seven churches which are in Asia: Grace
be to you, and peace, from him which is,
and which was, and which is to come; and from the seven
Spirits which are before his throne;” (Rev. 1:4)
“I am Alpha
and Omega, the beginning and the ending,
said the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the
Almighty.” (Rev. 1:8)
The fullness of Jesus
The fullness of
the son was his heavenly Father. “For in him
dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily.” (Col. 2:9)
“And of his fullness have all we received, and
grace for grace.” (John 1:16)
“To wit, that God
was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, not imputing their
trespasses to them; and has committed to us the word of reconciliation.” (II
Cor. 5:19)
Remission of sins, salvation, cure, consolation, liberation from
passions, grace, mercy, love, faith, Holy Spirit, everything was and is given by the one God, the Father, the fullness of Jesus, who
was and is his body. (cf. Col. 1:19-22)
That is what the apostles were taught by the Lord “Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the
Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.” (II Cor. 3:17)
Testimonies of Jesus and the apostles
“Jesus said to him, Have I been so long time with you,
and yet have you not known me, Philip? he
that has seen me has seen the Father.” (John 14:9)
“And whatever you shall ask in my name, that will I
do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.” (John 14:13)
“But Jesus answered them, My Father works till now,
and I work. Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill
him, because he not only had broken the sabbath, but said also that God was his Father, making himself equal with God.” (John 5:17-18)
“Then answered Jesus and said to them, Truly, truly, I
say to you, The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he sees the Father do:
for what things soever he does,
these also does the Son likewise.”
(John (5:19)
“For as the Father
raises up the dead, and vivifies them; even so the Son vivifies whom he will. For the
Father judges no man, but has
committed all judgment to the Son, That
all men should honor the Son, even
as they honor the Father. He that
honors not the Son honors not the Father which has sent him.” (John
5:21-23)
“For as the Father
has life in himself; so has he given
to the Son to have life in himself;” (John 5:26)
“For the bread of God is he which comes down from heaven, and gives life to the world.”
(John 6:33)
“Then said they to him, Where is your Father? Jesus
answered, You neither know me, nor my Father: if you had known me, you
should have known my Father also.” (John 8:19)
“All things are
delivered to me of my Father: and no man knows who the Son is, but the
Father; and who the Father is, but the Son, and he to whom the Son will reveal him.” (Luke 10:22)
“And he said to them, You are from beneath; I am from above: you are of this world;
I am not of this world.” (John 8:23)
“Then said they to him, Who are you? And Jesus said to them, Even the same that I said to you from the beginning. I have many
things to say and to judge of you: but he that sent me is true; and I speak to
the world those things which I have heard of him. They understood not that he spoke to them
of the Father.” (John 8:25-27)
The Jews could not accept
what Jesus said to them, they were
resting in their religion, their biological origins, their customs and
practices, their feasts, their temple, and their worship according to their
traditions, and “They understood not
that he spoke to them of the Father.”
“But as many as received
him, to them gave he power to become
the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: Which were
born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.” (John 1:12-13)
The true servants of Christ
and housekeepers of the mysteries of
God wrote to those who “received”
him, saying:
“For God, who commanded the light to shine out of
darkness, has shined in our hearts, to
give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” (II Cor. 4:6)
“And we know that the Son of God has come and has
given us understanding, so that we may
know him who is true; and we are in
him who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life. Little
children, keep yourselves from idols.” (I John 5:20)
Amen