Whilst surfing the Net I came across a periodical called
Glad Tidings It
deals with subjects such as
- The One God,
- Jesus Christ
- Kingdom Focus
- Christian Living; + other subjects.
What follows is a combination of four articles on the subject of
The One God by Sean Finnegan.
I have added a few colors and
amendments.
Enjoy!!
(Scriptures taken from the New American Standard Bible unless otherwise
noted)
Only The Father Is God
by Sean Finnegan
Jesus knew that this was his last time with the disciples
before he would be taken into custody. He prayed just before he made his way
across the Kidron Valley to the Garden of Gethsemane. The disciples listened
earnestly; ... As he prayed he did not look down, instead he looked up to
the Father. In the beginning of his prayer, he made an extraordinary statement
about eternal life.
He said, "This is
eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom
You have sent." (John 17:3). According to this verse, there are two who must be
known: the only true God, and Jesus Christ. Jesus considered the Father to be
the only God and he considered himself to be distinct from that only God. This
simple truth is elevated to the highest degree when he prefaced the statement
with, "This is eternal life...." That is to say, eternal life depends on one’s
understanding of God and His Son.
In addition, Paul the apostle was
inspired by God to write along the same lines in his first letter to Timothy.
I Timothy 2:3-6 NASB
This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior,
who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.
For there is one God,
and one mediator also between
God and men,
the
man Christ Jesus,
who gave himself as a ransom for all,
the testimony given at the proper
time.
There are two closely linked desires of
God listed:
1) for all to be saved, and
2) for all to come to know the truth.
In
verse four "the truth" does not refer to all true things in general but a very
specific truth. The next two verses explain "the truth" that God desires all men
to know.
The first
ingredient is that there is only one God. The second is that the man Christ
Jesus is the one mediator between the one God and mankind. The third is that
Jesus gave himself a ransom for all at the right time.
There is no confusion between Jesus and
God; they are fully distinct in nature and in function. According to the
greeting of this letter (I Timothy 1:2), God is the Father, and Jesus
Christ is our Lord. Just a few verses earlier then where we are now, it
says that the only God is immortal. (In the word "immortal," the prefix,
im, means not; and mortal means
can die; thus immortal means cannot die.) However, the third ingredient of "the
truth" is that Jesus gave himself as a ransom for all. In order for Jesus to
die, he must be mortal. Therefore, we conclude that the one God (the
Father) is completely distinct from the one man (Christ Jesus). It is
as important to recognize this distinction, as it is to understand that Christ
gave himself as a ransom for all.
A third text that offers clarity on this
issue can be found in I Corinthians. The context concerns idolatry and eating
the foods that are sacrificed to idols. Paul recognizes that there are many who
are called gods.
I Corinthians 8:6 NASB
Yet for us there is but
one God, the Father,
from
whom are all things and we exist for Him;
and one Lord, Jesus Christ,
by whom are all things, and we exist through him.
This text leaves no wiggle room for
complicated definitions of God. He is the Father Who created all things. He is
the source from which everything, including Jesus, originated. He is the one
God, and we are able to come to Him through the one Lord, Jesus Christ. The
Father made everything, and we experience all things through Christ.
There are many other places in the New
Testament that speak of God as the Father. Consider the following scriptures:
John 1:18; 4:23 and 24; 6:27; 8:41 and 42, 54; 20:17; Romans 1:7; 15:6; I
Corinthians 1:3; 8:6; 15:24; II Corinthians 1:2 and 3; 11:31; Galatians 1:1,3
and 4; Ephesians 1:2 and 3, 17; 4:6; 5:20; 6:23; Philippians 1:2; 2:11; 4:20;
Colossians 1:2 and 3; 3:17; I Thessalonians 1:1, 3; 3:13; II Thessalonians 1:1
and 2; 2:16; I Timothy 1:2; II Timothy 1:2; Titus 1:4; Philemon 3; James 3:9; I
Peter 1:2 and 3; II Peter 1:17; II John 1:3; Jude 1:1; Revelation 1:5 and 6.
The overwhelming weight of Scripture
teaches that only the Father is God. He is the awesome Creator of everything in
existence. He is the most powerful Being in the universe. He has no equal, as
even Jesus confessed (John 10:29; 14:18). He is called the "one God and Father
of all who is over all and through all and in all" (Ephesians 4:6 NASB). About
two thousand years ago, He brought into existence His perfect Son who would save
mankind from destruction. Jesus, the perfectly obedient one, followed God’s plan
flawlessly. As a result today we have access to the Father through him.
Jesus Has A
God
by Sean Finnegan
Jesus is fully human. He was born (Luke 2:11), grew in wisdom
(Luke 2:52), learned obedience (Hebrews 5:8), became tired (John 4:6), slept
(Mark 4:38), had limited knowledge (Mark 5:30; 13:32), and died (Philippians
2:8). Jesus also prayed frequently (Matthew 14:23; Mark 14:32-39; Luke 6:12;
John 11:41; 12:28; 17:1ff); he would go up to a mountain alone to spend time
with his God. Jesus provides the supreme example of how we should live our lives
because he is just like us. The only differences are that he was
supernaturally begotten and he never sinned. However, there is much
disagreement on this issue of who Jesus is today.
There are many verses in the Bible that
make it clear that God is the Father of Jesus Christ.
Romans 15:6
So that with one accord
you may with one voice
glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ.
II Corinthians 1:3
Blessed
be the
God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
the Father of mercies and God of all comfort,
II Corinthians 11:31
The God
and Father of the Lord Jesus,
He
who is blessed forever, knows that I am not lying.
Ephesians 1:3,17
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ,
who has blessed us with
every spiritual blessing
in the heavenly places in Christ,
That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ,
the Father of glory,
may give to you a spirit of
wisdom
and of revelation in the knowledge of him.
Ephesians 3:14 (KJV)
For this cause
I bow my knees
unto the Father of
our Lord Jesus Christ,
Colossians 1:3
We give thanks to
God,
the Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ,
praying always for you,
I Peter 1:3
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ,
who according to His great
mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope
through the
resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
II John 1:3
Grace, mercy
and peace will
be with us,
from God the Father
and from Jesus Christ, the Son of the
Father,
in truth and love.
However, we will concentrate on the four
places in Scripture in which Jesus used the words "my God."
Perhaps a brief survey of these four texts will provide insight into the
relationship between Jesus and his God
(Mark 15:34; Matthew 27:46; John
20:17; Revelation 3:12).
The first two places are Mark 15:34 and
Matthew 27:46. They will be considered together because they are two
corresponding records of the same historical event – the crucifixion.
Mark 15:34
At the ninth hour Jesus
cried out with a loud voice,
"ELOI, E L O I , L A M A SABACHTHANI?"
which is translated,
"MY GOD, MY
GOD, WHY HAVE YOU FORSAKEN ME?"
Matthew 27:46
About the ninth hour
Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying,
"ELI, ELI, LAMA SABACHTHANI?"
that is,
"MY GOD, MY GOD, WHY HAVE YOU FORSAKEN ME?"
Jesus is pictured crying out in agony
while he hung in excruciating pain. Hospitals are like this today. A while back
a friend of mine had his appendix removed. While we were waiting in the
emergency room for the doctor, I experienced an eerie mixture of sounds. Some of
the patients were snoring; several were crying out for God; and still others
were muttering under their breath, "Lord, have mercy." Jesus was facing death,
and he called out to his God, just as the rest of us would have
done. He quoted the first line of a psalm that was well-known to him. Psalm 22
contains detailed prophecy about what he was experiencing during his
crucifixion. When David wrote the psalm, he was going through some very
difficult times; he felt that he was near death. He cried out to "my God."
Yahweh is the God of David (Psalms 25:1 and 2). Jesus identified with this psalm
of David. He called out to the same God (Yahweh) as David did.
The third place in which Jesus said
"my God" is found in the Gospel of John.
John 20:17
Jesus said to her,
"Stop clinging to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father;
but go
to my brethren and say to them,
'I ascend to My Father and your
Father,
and My God
and your God.' "
In this brief interchange Jesus explained
his view of God succinctly and matter of factly. If someone asked Jesus, "Who is
God?" he would say, "My God and your God." It is just as simple
as that. There is no need for complex definitions or paradoxes. Jesus had and
still has a God – the Father.
The last text to consider is found in the
book of Revelation. The letter to the church at Philadelphia concludes with the
following statement.
Revelation 3:12
He who overcomes,
I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God,
and he will not go out from it anymore;
and I will write on him the name
of My God,
and the name of the city of My God,
the new Jerusalem,
which comes down out of heaven from My God,
and my new name.
Four times
over, the term "my God" is repeated by Jesus. Even in his resurrected and
glorified position, he still recognizes that the Father is his personal
God.
Though the Father has granted all authority in heaven and earth to
him (Matthew 28:18), Jesus still keeps clear Who his God is.
If we are going to follow Jesus, then we
should have the same God that he had. From the texts considered it is clear that
he had only one God, the Father. Jesus never once prayed to or called the holy
spirit his God. The Father never called the Son His God. Every time that Jesus
used the words "my God," they were always in reference to the Father. Let us
seek to follow Jesus in every area of our lives, especially when it comes to our
relationship with God.
Jesus Died
by Sean
Finnegan
Someone once asked the question: "Can God microwave a burrito so
hot that He cannot eat it?" To answer yes implies that God cannot eat extremely
hot burritos. To answer no implies that God cannot heat it to such a level.
This sort of question is flawed because it consists of a
contradiction. It is similar to saying, "Can God make a square circle?"
The definition of "square" is that there are four right angles with equal sides,
whereas the definition of "circle" is that there are no right angles and only
one side. Thus, the question involves a contradiction of definition and
is therefore meaningless. Sometimes we ask questions like this in the
realm of theology. The reasoning usually starts with the assumption "God can do
anything," and quickly progresses to "He could become man and die if He wanted
to."
I believe that the statement, "God died," is just as
meaningless as the burrito question.
It is my position that there are certain attributes that God
cannot change. For example, God cannot lie, cheat, steal, covet, become weak,
commit suicide, die, etc. This is because these sorts of qualities contradict
God’s attributes by definition. So let us consider how the Bible defines God
with respect to mortality and see what can be concluded.
Isaiah 57:15
For thus says the high and exalted One
Who lives forever,
whose name is Holy, "I dwell on a high
and holy place,
And also with the contrite and lowly of spirit
In order
to revive the spirit of the lowly
And to revive the heart of the contrite.
Daniel 4:34
But at the end of that period, I,
Nebuchadnezzar,
raised my eyes toward heaven
and my reason returned to me,
and I blessed the Most High and praised
and honored Him who
lives forever;
For His dominion is an everlasting dominion,
And
His kingdom endures from generation to generation.
I Timothy 1:17
Now to the King eternal,
immortal, invisible,
the only God,
be honor and glory
forever and ever.
Amen.
I Timothy 6:15 and 16
... He who is the blessed and only
Sovereign,
the King of kings and Lord of lords,
who alone
possesses immortality
and dwells in unapproachable light,
whom no man has seen or can see.
To Him be honor and eternal dominion!
Amen.
(Also see Deuteronomy 32:40; Psalms 41:13; 102:12, 24-27; Isaiah
40:28; etc.)
God lives forever; He is immortal.
("Immortal" means
cannot die.)
This is part of Who God is. If He died, then He would
have to cease being God. There is just no way around it. In fact, death
can be a test of deity. If someone claimed to be God, then he or she
should also be immortal. If this person were shot with a gun, then he should not
die. In fact, no matter what was done to him or her (including dropping a
nuclear bomb on the head), such a person would continue to live–all because if
someone claims to be God, he must be immortal. This does not mean that all
immortal beings are God, but it does mean that if someone claims to be God, then
he better be immortal.
I once discussed this apparent contradiction (how could Jesus be
God if he died) with an assistant pastor in a local church. He told me that
Jesus did not really die, just his body did. Jesus continued to live. His soul
(mind/consciousness) left his body upon death. Thus, Jesus died but continued to
live. This is certainly an interesting proposition. But, how would you test it
to see if it were true or not? How do the Scriptures speak of the death of
Christ? Are special words used that would imply that his soul migrated,
ascended, or escaped? Consider the following verses.
Matthew 17:22 and 23
And while they were gathering together
in Galilee,
Jesus said to them,
"The Son of Man is going to be
delivered
into the hands of men;
and they will kill him,
and he
will be raised on the third day."
And they were deeply grieved.
John 10:11
"I am the good shepherd;
the good shepherd
lays down his life for the sheep."
John 18:32
to fulfill the word of Jesus which he spoke,
signifying by what kind of death he was about to die.
John 19:33
but coming to Jesus, when they saw that
he was already dead,
they did not break his legs.
Revelation 1:17 and 18
When I saw him, I fell at his feet
like a dead man.
And he placed his right hand on me, saying,
"Do not be
afraid; I am the first and the last,
and the living One;
and I was
dead,
and behold, I am alive forevermore,
and I have the keys
of death and of Hades."
(Also see Mark 9:31; Luke 9:22; John 15:13; 18:31; Acts 2:23 and
24; 3:15; 5:30; 7:52; I Corinthians 15:3; I Thessalonians 4:14; etc.)
No fancy or ethereal words are used.
Jesus died; they killed him; he laid down his life (soul); he said of
himself, "I was dead." Jesus died just like the millions of humans who
preceded him. It is as simple as that. If "died" really meant "continued to
live," then we are back to square circles–meaningless definitions.
The Bible teaches repeatedly that death is like sleep (Daniel
12:2; John 11:11-14; Ephesians 5:14). There is not any activity, planning,
knowledge, or wisdom in death (Ecclesiastes 9:10). In fact, those who are dead
do not think at all (Ecclesiastes 9:5). Death is like dreamless sleep–a
cessation of consciousness. The only escape from death is
resurrection (John 5:28 and 29; I Corinthians 15:21- 23; I
Thessalonians 4:14-17).
If Jesus did not really die, then are our sins
really [forgiven?] The Old Testament, which serves as our schoolmaster, may
shed some light on what being a sacrifice for sin means.
Leviticus 4:14-16, 18 and 19
when the sin which they have
committed becomes known,
then the assembly shall offer a bull of the herd
for a sin offering
and bring it before the tent of meeting.
Then the
elders of the congregation shall lay their hands on the head of the bull before
YAHWEH,
and the bull shall be slain before YAHWEH.
Then
the anointed priest is to bring some of the blood of the bull to the tent of
meeting;
...and all the blood he shall pour out at the
base of the altar of burnt offering
which is at the doorway of the tent of
meeting.
He shall remove all its fat from it and offer it up in smoke on the
altar.
Could you wound, maim, or nearly kill the sacrificial animal for
it to take effect? Absolutely not! The animal must die because, as Paul said,
"the wages of sin is death" (Romans 6:23). Someone had to die. Fortunately, God
in His grace allowed animals to be substituted for the people who sinned. Yet,
as the book of Hebrews explains in detail, the sacrifices of the Old Testament
pointed to Christ and what he would do on behalf of mankind.
Hebrews 7:26 and 27
For it was fitting for us to have such a
high priest [Jesus],
holy, innocent, undefiled,
separated from sinners
and exalted above the heavens;
who does not need daily, like those high
priests,
to offer up sacrifices, first for his own sins and then for the
sins of the people,
because this he did once for all when he offered
up himself.
Hebrews 9:24-26
For Christ did not enter a holy place made
with hands,
a mere copy of the true one,
but into heaven itself,
now to appear in the presence of God for us;
nor was it that he
would offer himself often,
as the high priest enters the holy place year by
year with blood that is not his own.
Otherwise, he would have needed to
suffer often
since the foundation of the world;
but now once at the
consummation of the ages
he has been manifested to put away sin by
the sacrifice of himself.
In order for our sins to be [sacrificed] for, Jesus had to
die (cease to live) as our substitute sacrifice just like the animals
in the Old Testament. Jesus’ death makes possible our forgiveness,
justification, reconciliation, and escape from the wrath to come.
Romans 5:6,8-10
For while we were still helpless,
at the
right time Christ died for the ungodly.
But God
demonstrates His own love toward us,
in that while we were yet sinners,
Christ died for us.
Much more then, having now been
justified by his blood,
we shall be saved from the wrath of God through him.
For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of
His Son,
much more, having been reconciled,
we shall be saved by his life.
Colossians 1:21 and 22
And although you were formerly
alienated
and hostile in mind,
engaged in evil deeds,
yet he has
now reconciled you
in his fleshly body through death,
in order to
present you before him holy and blameless and beyond reproach
I Thessalonians 5:9 and 10
For God has not destined us for
wrath,
but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ,
who died for us,
so that whether we are awake or
asleep,
we will live together with him.
Taking all of this into account, we can conclude the following:
1. God cannot die;
2. Jesus died;
3. If he did
not really die, then our sins are not really [sacrificed] for;
----------------------------
Jesus is not God.
I do not think there is a way around this conclusion. If there is,
then I would like to know.
( You can email me : sean@KingdomReady.org).
This seems
to be the best way to understand Jesus’ death. If Jesus is not God, but
God’s supreme representative commissioned to speak His words and
perform His will, then how remarkable is it that he obeyed his whole life
through to the death! He could have failed. He could have given in to
temptation. Yet, he humbled himself to the disgrace of a criminal’s death on a
cross.
And, having died, he remained asleep, totally
unconscious of his three-day sojourn in utter darkness, until at once God
Himself shattered the darkness by raising His beloved Son from death to life
eternal.
It is a beautiful story, which I believe is cheapened when
Jesus is thought to be God – one who would not have been able to fail, could not
really be tempted, and did not really die.
Jesus Confirmed the
Shema
by Sean Finnegan sean@KingdomReady.org
Fact: All Jews believe that God
is one.
The Jewish people use the Hebrew
Scriptures (our Old Testament) as their chief source of religious information.
In this set of sacred Scripture are dozens of statements concerning the
exclusive nature of God. Consider a few of these below:
Exodus 20:2 and 3
"I am
Yahweh
your God,
who
brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.
You shall have no other gods before Me."
Deuteronomy 4:35, 39
To you it was
shown that you might know
that Yahweh, He is God; there is no other
besides Him.
Know therefore today, and take it to your heart,
that Yahweh, He is God in heaven above
and on the
earth below;
there is no other.
Isaiah 45:5 and 6
I am
Yahweh, and there is no other;
Besides Me there is no God.
I
will gird you, though you have not known Me;
That men may know from the
rising to the setting of the sun
That there is no one besides Me.
I am Yahweh, and there is no other,
Jeremiah 10:10
But Yahweh
is the true God;
He is the living God and the everlasting King.
At His wrath the earth quakes,
And the nations cannot endure His
indignation.
One of the primary expressions of Jewish
faith, recited twice daily in prayer, is called the Shema
["shema" is the Hebrew word meaning "hear" or "listen"]. This section of
Scripture (see below) is called the Shema because that is its first
word.
Deuteronomy 6:4 and 5
Hear
[Shema], O Israel!
Yahweh is our God, Yahweh is
one!
You shall love Yahweh your God
with all your heart
and with all your soul
and with all your might.
At times, the children of Israel strayed
from this bedrock creed of worshipping only Yahweh. When this happened, the
prophets reproved the people with fiery words of judgment.
Judges 10:13 and 14
Yet you have
forsaken Me and served other gods;
therefore I will no longer deliver you.
Go and cry out to the gods which you have chosen;
let them deliver you
in the time of your distress.
Ezekiel 16:35-38
Therefore, O
harlot, hear the word of Yahweh.
Thus says the Lord Yahweh,
"Because
your lewdness was poured out
and your nakedness uncovered
through your
harlotries with your lovers
and with all your detestable idols,
and because
of the blood of your sons
which you gave to idols,
therefore, behold, I will
gather all your lovers
with whom you took pleasure,
even all those whom you
loved
and all
those whom you hated.
So I will gather them against you from every direction
and expose your nakedness to them
that they may see all your nakedness.
Thus I will judge you like women who commit adultery or shed blood are
judged;
and I will bring on you the blood of wrath and jealousy."
Israel is repeatedly likened to a
traitor, an adulterous wife who takes all that God gives her and then sneaks out
to have relations with the other gods. The message is simple: return to Yahweh
as your sole God, and you will be delivered; worship someone or something else,
and you will be punished severely. Yahweh is jealous–He does not want His people
to have any other gods (Deuteronomy 4:24; 5:9; 6:15; 32:16, 21).
Fact: Jesus is a Jew.
Mary was a Jew; Joseph was a Jew. Eight
days after Jesus was born, he was circumcised (Luke 2:21) according to the
Jewish rite handed down by Abraham. Then they offered the appropriate sacrifice
(two turtledoves) for a firstborn son (Luke 2:24). Jesus was taught the Jewish
Scriptures. He followed the Jewish law. He went to the temple in Jerusalem at 12
years of age (Luke 2:42). Later, he became a Jewish rabbi who traveled from town
to town proclaiming that the God of the Jews was soon to intervene in the normal
functioning of human affairs and establish the
Kingdom of God on earth (a very Jewish concept often called by Jews
today "the messianic age"). Jesus was known to be the Jewish Messiah who
would reign on the throne of David (the Jewish ancestor who reigned
over Israel). There is little doubt that Jesus was (and still is) a Jew.
He never once preached a sermon
redefining the number of persons in the Godhead. He was completely consistent
with the Jewish environment within which he operated. He had been told about the
perils of forsaking Yahweh as the one true God of Israel. He had read the
prophets and was intimately acquainted with the God about Whom they spoke.
Fact: Jesus explicitly confirmed
that God is one.
Although it is often supposed that
through Jesus’ words and actions he opened people’s eyes to see his deity, what
does the Scripture say? We are not left to guess if Jesus believed the same as
the Jewish people, because he explicitly confirmed the Shema of Deuteronomy 6:4.
Mark 12:28-30
One of the scribes
came and heard them arguing,
and recognizing that he had answered them well,
asked him,
"What commandment is the foremost of all?"
Jesus answered,
"The foremost is,
'HEAR [Shema], O
ISRAEL!
THE LORD OUR GOD IS ONE LORD;
AND YOU SHALL
LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD
WITH ALL YOUR HEART,
AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL,
AND
WITH ALL YOUR MIND,
AND WITH ALL YOUR STRENGTH.' "
This statement leaves no wiggle room for
additional persons in the Godhead. The LORD (Yahweh) our God is
one, and He is the One deserving all our love. Yet, this is not an
isolated incidence of confirmation.
John 17:3 This is eternal life,
that they may know You, the only true God,
and Jesus Christ whom You
have sent.
Here, Jesus used different words to
convey the same simple truth. Jesus prays to his Father (John 17:1) and makes a
categorical statement: the Father is the only one who is truly
God.
Conclusion: Followers of Jesus
should believe God is one.
As followers of Jesus, we should adopt
his beliefs as our beliefs. This is the chief task of a disciple (to imitate his
master). Jesus never quoted (or even heard of) the Athanasian Creed, wherein it
is stated that God is a trinity. I know that most modern Christians define God
as the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Nevertheless, what did Jesus say? Whom did
Jesus worship? He worshipped the Jewish God as revealed in the Hebrew
Scriptures. The New Testament never redefined God (although Jesus did amplify
God's Fatherly role). Let us be like Jesus who proudly answered those who
questioned him with a firm declaration of the Shema.
If the
Shema is the creed of Jesus,
then perhaps it should be our creed as
well.
