God is a spirit, and they who worship Him must worship in spirit and in truth. (Jesus, John 4:24).
The One who exists is the source of all existence. The One who has life [zoe] in Himself is the source of all life. The One who is alive [zao] is the God of all the living | of those who are alive [zao].
His name is YHVH. "By the word of YHVH were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath (Hebrew: ruach, i.e Spirit) of His mouth." (Psalm 33:6).
THE LOGOS (WORD) OF GOD
"For all things were created by Him, the things in the heavens, and the things on the earth, the visible and the invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers, all things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and by Him all things consist."(Colossians 1:16-17).
- The creation bears witness to the Word of God which created it.
- The Word of God bears witness to God (the Father).
- The Comforter, the Holy Spirit bears witness to God (the Father) and the Word of God. (1 John 5:10).
The Greek word Logos (Strong's Greek Dictionary # G03056) means:
(a) something said (including the thought); by implication a topic (subject of discourse); and
(b) reasoning (the mental faculty); and
(c) motive; by extension a computation and
(d) specifically (with the article in John) the Divine Expression (that is Christ):
The wisdom of God is a characteristic of Logos / The Word of God:
Proverbs 8:22-36
"The LORD possessed Me in the beginning of His way, before His works of old. I was anointed from everlasting, from the beginning, before the earth ever was. When there were no depths, I was brought forth; when there were no springs heavy with water. Before the mountains were settled, before the hills, I travailed; before He had made the earth, or the fields or the highest part of the dust of the world.
When He prepared the heavens, I was there; when He set a circle upon the face of the deep; when He set the clouds above; when He made the strong fountains of the deep; when He gave to the sea its limit that the waters should not pass His command; when He appointed the foundations of the earth; and I was a workman at His side; and I was daily His delight, rejoicing always before Him; rejoicing in the world, His earth; and My delight was with the sons of men.
And now listen to Me, O sons; for blessed are those who keep My ways. Hear instruction, and be wise, and do not refuse it. Blessed is the man who hears Me, watching daily at My gates, waiting at the posts of My doors. For whoever finds Me finds life, and shall obtain favour from the LORD. But he who sins against Me wrongs his own soul; all who hate Me love death."
The Word of God existed with God from before all creation.
Christ's apostle John wrote,
Christ's apostle Paul wrote,
"There is to us only one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in Him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom are all things, and we by Him." (1 Corinthians 8:6).
Because He is the Word of God clothed in a human body, the Son of God is the quintessential human, the second man and the last Adam (1 Corinthians 15:45 & 47), but He is also uniquely the only Son of God, "begotten" [G3439 monogenes] of God the Father (He was not begotten of a human father like all other humans have been, ever since Adam’s first son).
G3439 (monogenes), translated as "begotten" in the King James Bible, is made up of different Greek words:
G3441 mono:. sole. The only one. One of its kind.
G1080 gennao: to conceive, to be conceived, to be born, to procreate.
G1096 ginomai: to become (come into being), to come to pass.
John 1:14 tells us that "the Word became [givnomai] flesh (translated as "was made flesh" in the KJV) and was tabernacled among us, and Paul wrote that “in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily.” (Colossians 2:9). G1096 γίνομαι givnomai (became flesh) means to come into being or be brought to pass, or to come to pass.
Hebrews 2:14-16 teaches us:
For verily he took not on him the nature of angels; but he took on him the seed of Abraham."
Through His mother, Jesus is the seed of (the) promise in Abraham. He partook of flesh and blood, taking on Himself flesh and blood - the DNA of which had already been created by God through Him, who is the Creator of all things.
His body was not created in the womb of Mary, but having no human father, He is "begotten" (G3439 monogenes) of God. He took the seed of Abraham on Himself.
Paul wrote,
Only Jesus, of Whom John said He is the Word of God, who is God (John 1:1-3 & 14), was "revealed in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory".
This is why the King James Bible translates "Who" (or "which" - G3738) in 1 Timothy 3:16 as "God was manifest in the flesh" - a translation which has produced controversy in the church because later translations translate it as "He was manifest in the flesh" - but the controversy is about the word that should be used in that verse - not about the fact of the Divinity of Jesus the Messiah.
John wrote,
"In the bosom of the Father": Jesus alone dwells in the light which is unapproachable to created human beings - the light whom no man has seen, nor can see (1 Timothy 6:16).
Peter wrote that before the world was created, He (Jesus the Messiah) was foreknown and foreordained (1 Peter 1:20) to become the Saviour of all mankind.
The will of the incarnate Word of God has always been the will of the Father:
"For as the rain comes down, and the snow from the heavens,
and does not return there, but waters the earth,
and makes it bring out and bud,
and give seed to the sower and bread to the eater;
so shall My word be, which goes out of My mouth;
it shall not return to Me void, but it shall accomplish what I please,
and it shall certainly do what I sent it to do." (Isaiah 55:10-11).
Because He is the Son of God, the incarnation of the Word of God in Whom dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily, Jesus is "the shining splendor of God's glory, and the express image of His essence, upholding all things by the word of His power", who is "the image of the invisible God, the First-born of all creation.
"No one has seen God (the Father) at any time; the only-begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him (dwelling, as only the Son of God does, "in unapproachable light, whom no human has ever seen or is able to see." (John 1:18 & 1 Timothy 6:16).
The apostle Paul asks,
"For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor? or who has first given to him, and it shall be rendered to him? For of him, and through him, and for him are all things: to him be glory for ever. Amen." (Romans 11:34-36).
HISTORICAL APPEARANCES OF THE WORD OF GOD
In human form:
In the book of Genesis we read of how the Word of God appeared to Abraham as he sat by his tent door in the plains of Mamre. It is written that three men stood by Abraham. Two angels appeared with Him, who left and journeyed to Sodom, while Abraham remained speaking with the LORD.
In the form of fire:
The Word of God appeared to Moses in the midst of a burning bush, and spoke with Moses.
Conception of Jesus
When the Word of God was conceived in the womb of a virgin, an angel told her betrothed husband:
"Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take to you Mary as your wife. For that in her is fathered of the Holy Spirit." -- Matthew 1:20.
Isaiah 45:21-25 and Titus 1:1-4:
God our Savior
The Son of God our Savior:
When the angel told Joseph that what was conceived in her womb was of the Holy Spirit of God, he added,
"And she shall bear a son, and you shall call His name JESUS: for He shall save His people from their sins." -- Matthew 1:21.
Isaiah 45:21-25
"Who has declared this of old? Who has told it from then? Is it not I, YHVH? And there is no other God besides Me; a just God and a Savior; there is none besides Me.
Turn to Me, and be saved, all the ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is no other. I have sworn by Myself, the word has gone out of My mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, that to Me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear.
He says, Only in YHVH do I have righteousness and strength; even to Him he comes. And they are ashamed, all who are angry with Him. In YHVH shall all the seed of Israel be justified, and shall glory."
Philippians 2:5-11
"Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon 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 unto death, even the death of the cross. 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; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."
* Paul calls God Savior in the verses below.
* Paul calls Jesus Savior in the verses below:
Titus 1:1-4
"Paul, a servant of God (Greek: θεός theós) and an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the faith of God's elect, in the acknowledging of the truth which is according to godliness on hope of eternal life, which God. who cannot lie, promised before the eternal times, but revealed in its own times in a proclamation of His word,
with which I was entrusted by the command of God (Greek: θεός theós) our Savior, to Titus, a true child according to our common faith. Grace mercy and peace from God (Greek: θεός theós) the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ our Savior."
John 1:1 says the Word of God is God. Jesus is the Word of God who became flesh:
2 Corinthians 5:19
"God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation."
1 Timothy 3:16
"And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory."
John 1:14 says that the Son of God is the incarnation of God (the Logos), which John 1:1 says is God, and was with God in the beginning.
Talking about human sin, Paul asked, "O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?" (Romans 7:24).
Jesus' apostles once asked Him, "Who then can be saved?", to which Jesus replied,
"With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible." -- Matthew 19:25-26.
Jesus bore (our) sin for us:
1 Peter 2:24
"He Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that dying to sins, we might live to righteousness; by whose stripes you were healed"
1 Corinthians 5:19-21
“Then we are ambassadors on behalf of Christ, as God exhorting through us, we beseech you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For He has made Him who knew no sin, to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him."
1 Timothy 2:5
"For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus"
1 Corinthians 10:2-4
And all were baptized to Moses in the cloud and in the sea, and all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank of the spiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ.
Hebrews 1:1-3
"God, who at many times and in many ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by HIS Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, by whom also He made the worlds, who being the shining splendor of His glory, and the express image of His essence (Greek: hypóstasis), and upholding all things by the word of His power, having made purification of our sins, He sat down on the right of the Majesty on high."
"No one has seen God at any time; the Only-begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has made Him known." (John 1:18).
THE HOLY SPIRIT
Jesus said,
John 3:5-8
"Truly, truly, I say to you, Unless a man is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, You must be born again. The Spirit breathes where He desires, and you hear His voice, but you do not know from where He comes, and where He goes; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit."
Cultists say that the Holy Spirit is a 'force', which is extremely denigrating, besides the fact that:
- No created human being can be spiritually born [gennao] of a 'force' and receive eternal life [zoe] from a 'force'. A created human being can be born of the Spirit of the living [zao] God who has eternal life [zoe] in Himself and be given eternal life [zoe], which is in Christ.
- A 'force' cannot be grieved: "And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you are sealed until the day of redemption." (Ephesians 4:30).
- A 'force' cannot comfort those who believe in and follow Jesus, and teach them all things and bring all things to their remembrance, whatever He said to them: "Jesus said, "But the Comforter, the Holy Spirit whom the Father will send in My name, He shall teach you all things and bring all things to your remembrance, whatever I have said to you." (John 14:26).
- A 'force' cannot bear testimony of anyone to the heart and mind of anyone, or make the one who rejects its witness guilty of calling God Himself a liar: "And when the Comforter has come, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He (the Spirit of truth) shall testify of Me." (John 15:26). "He who believes on the Son of God has the witness in himself. He who does not believe God has made Him a liar, because he does not believe the record that God gave of His Son." (1 John 5:10).
"There is one body and one Spirit, even as you are called in one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in you all." (Ephesians 4:4-6).
So the Bible tells us about:
- God (the Father); and
- The Word of God; and
- The Holy Spirit of God, and
- The Son of God (The Logos or Word who became flesh), but:
"There is to us only one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in Him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom are all things, and we by Him." (1 Corinthians 8:6).
And as we have been told,
"No one has seen God at any time; the Only-begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him." (John 1:18).
1 Timothy 3:16
"And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen by angels, preached among nations, believed on in the world, and received up into glory."
"All things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given to us the ministry of reconciliation; whereas God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and putting the word of reconciliation in us." (2 Corinthians 5:18-19).
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