|
The Nature of God
Introduction Even though our finite minds are incapable of truly comprehending the fact that God has always existed, we may still be able to explain one of the most misunderstood truths of the nature of God, especially among Christians, by setting up a hypothetical case where we assume that God did have a beginning. I will remove this basic assumption before the full explanation, and I can show that it does no damage to the scriptures.
In the Beginning Let us believe that, upon the realization, or manifestation, of God, that instantaneously God divides Himself into three Spirits, and instantaneously arrogates ( or appropriates ) to Himself, the “titles” of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit - the Triune God: One God manifested in three distinct Persons. Here are a few scriptural references that God does exist in three distinct personages:
1. When Jesus said the Comforter could not come to the Apostles unless He, Jesus, would go to the Father. ( John 16:7 )
2. After Armageddon, at Jesus receiving the kingdoms of the Earth from the Father ( the Ancient of Days ) ( Daniel 7:13,14 )
3. When Jesus says “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” ( Mark 15:34 )
4. When Jesus sits at the right hand of the Father on His throne. ( Acts 2:34 )
The attribute that God “divides Himself” is scriptural. Let us look at John 3:16:
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. John 3:16
The key word here is “begotten”. Counterfeit bibles like the NIV have removed this very critical word from this passage. Let’s consider what it means. The Greek word for “begotten” according to Strong’s Concordance, involves four Greek words ( Strong’s numbers as noted ):
# 3439 monogenes, from 3441 and 1096; only-born, i.e., sole:- only ( begotten, child )
# 1096 ginomai; a prol. And mid. Form of a prim. Verb; to cause to be ( “gen”-erate ), i.e., ( reflex. ) to become (come into being), used with great latitude ( lit., fig., intens., etc. ): - arise, be assembled, be ( come, -fall, -have self ) be brought ( to pass ), be (come (to pass), continue, be divided, be done, draw, be ended, fall, be finished, follow, be found, be fulfilled, + God forbid, grow, happen, have, be kept, be made, be married, be ordained to be, partake, pass, be performed, be published, require, seem, be showed, x soon as it was, sound, be taken, be turned, use, wax, will, would, be wrought.
# 3441 monos, prob. From 3306; remaining, i.e., sole or single; by impl. Mere:-alone, only, by themselves.
# 3306 meno, a prim. Verb; to stay ( in a given place, state, relation, or expectancy ):- abide, continue, dwell, endure, be present, remain, stand tarry ( for ), x thine own.
Let’s consider the Greek word monos first. As applied to our description of God Himself, we see that this definition establishes that God is alone, and yet, God is by themselves. Could this not describe that our one God consists of three distinct Spirits? Secondly, there is only one Son of God. Now, if we consider monogenes, we see that the Son is of the Father, that is to say, the Son is seen to come out of the Father (for the Son had no mother ), and thus is “of the same substance” as the Father, yet the Son does not have a mother.
The next word, meno, gives us additional insight into the Nature of God. Meno is an interesting word that undergirds monogenes, and that serves to describe some of the Son’s attributes; He is seen to stay ( is a Rock in any situation or expectation ); He also abides and/or dwells ( forever ), and is omnipresent ( be present ).
But, it is the fourth word that completes the full definition of monogenes, ginomai, which is the one that may bring us to a better understanding of God than is perhaps commonly believed. There are at least three very important implications presented to us by this word ginomai:
In the first place, the Son is seen to “be ordained to be”. But by whose authority does this ordination of the Son take place ? It is by none other than by God Himself, as He was to do also later:
For when God made promise to Abraham, because he could swear by no greater, he sware by himself, Saying, Surely blessing I will bless thee, and multiplying I will multiply thee. Hebrews 6:13,14
So, God “ordained Himself to exist in three Spirits”, having all power and sovereignty to do so.
Secondly, because the Son is begotten of the Father, we can consider that the Son was “caused to be” by the Father, in the instantaneous second when God manifested Himself in three Spirits.
Thirdly, we see the awesome ability of God to “divide Himself” at will, and that, by being “begotten” of the Father, the Son became the second Person of the Trinity, fully coequal with the Father. Some may object that Jesus ( the Son in the flesh ), by always being obedient to the Father, was thus subservient to the Father, but this would be a violation of the scriptures, for the Son’s title in Isaiah is
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. Isaiah 9:6
Jesus agreed with the Father, from before the foundation of the world, that He would be the sacrificial Lamb who would “take away the sin of the world”, when as yet there was no world and no sin!!
According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: Ephesians 1:4
And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations. And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. Revelation 13:7,8
The Son’s position in the Trinity is by choice, and not by chance. The Son chose to become the Lamb of God, which required obedience to the Father, so that He could obtain the “Pearl of Great Price” - the Church of Jesus Christ. This did not make Jesus any less than the Father in all aspects of the Father. Moreover, by submitting Himself to the Father, He was demonstrating to us how we should submit as believers to Him
As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world. John 17:18
Now, consider that the Holy Spirit divides Himself every time a soul accepts Christ:
That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ. In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory. Ephesians 1:12-14
Therefore, we see that God replicates Himself by the Holy Spirit as each conversion takes place. But God’s ultimate plan is for all believers to “be one” with Him !! All believers will ultimately “be one” with God the Father, just as Jesus “is one” with the Father now:
And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are. That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. John 17:11,21
However, in the end, after all this division has taken place, we all unite into one with God. What a marvelous plan!! Could we not cast all the basic laws of mathematics into these scenarios? First, we have the division of God; secondly, we have the recording of each soul being conceived on earth into the Book of Life by Jesus’ will ( Jesus is the Light of the world ):
There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe. He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. John 1:6-9
Thirdly, we have the division of the Holy Spirit into believers whereby their names will be found in the Book of Life by the blood of Jesus Christ at the Great White Throne Judgment; Fourthly, we have the multiplication of believers and the subtraction of souls who never accepted Jesus as their Savior from the Book of Life, and lastly, the coming together into One in eternity.
Begotten Revisited Notice that ginomai and meno are verbs, not nouns! All the words that describe meno are verbs! Now that we have solid definitions of these Greek words, we can proceed to explain the meaning of “only begotten”.
Firstly, it should be crystal-clear, to anyone that knows the English language, that “one and only” have nothing to do with representing a verb, they are both nouns or adjectives. Removing the word “begotten” ( which is clearly a verb ), removes any intimate connection between God the Father and God the Son. All believers are sons of God, but we are certainly not begotten of the Father as Jesus is. I will start by stating a hypothetical situation. Please do not jump to conclusions before reading the whole matter ( Proverbs 18:13 ).
We know that God is eternal, and is not bound by time as we are. But purely for illustrative purposes, let us suppose that God did have a beginning. Further, let us make the assumption that, upon the “realization” of God, that God instantly decided that He would exist in three Spirits, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit - the Triune God. Now, let us drop the beginning assumption, and consider that God has always existed in these three Spirits. This understanding, I believe, constitutes the state of existence of the Trinity with which any born-again believer in Jesus Christ can identify with. Notice that in the definitions above, that one meaning of ginomai is to “be divided”. This conforms to my hypothetical explanation, where God divided Himself into three Spirits. Notice that practically all the words that describe meno aptly describe attributes of Jesus Christ as well. And all of these words are clearly verbs.
We can see clearly, then, that substituting “one and only” for “only begotten” in John 3:16 not only robs Jesus’ of His Deity, but that it also keeps us from understanding this extra dimension of God’s nature, the ability to “divide” Himself. This should not come as a surprise to any born-again believer, for such an one received the Holy Spirit in full upon salvation. Salvation provides us with the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in its fullest manifestation, and will remain so as long as we continue to keep God’s commandments. So what is this, except it be that the Holy Spirit continually divides Himself so as to indwell more and more believers ?
A further insight which we can glean from the monogenes transliteration from begotten is the additional meaning of “ordained to be”. Jesus was “spiritually ordained to be” at the realization of God by God’s own sovereign power and will ( under the assumption that God had a beginning ). However, as we dispense with this temporary artifice of beginning at some point in time, we confidently assert, as the Bible teaches, that Jesus has always been the Son, having had no beginning, yet coequal with the Father. I believe it is impossible to comprehend the Trinity ( as we have come to accept it by faith ), without resorting to some artifice, such as making the temporary assumption that God did have a beginning. Pastors who strut before congregations promoting the NIV while shunning the King James Bible are “wise in their own eyes” and will receive their due reward:
Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight! Isaiah 5:21
Those who cling to “counterfeit” bibles translated by ecumenical translators* whose goal is to change the Word of God to reflect their own agenda, and not that of the Lord’s, have their reward. And that reward, I believe, is not too far in the future. This treatise has not addressed the Nature of God in the flesh ( Jesus ). Lord willing that subject will be dealt with later.
* These are people who are willing to compromise and change the Word of God so that it will be palatable to all religions by providing a common-ground theological version of the bible.
** There does not seem to be a consensus by believers as to what, or who, is the Pearl of Great Price. My belief is that the Pearl represents the Church of Jesus Christ. I believe this because no greater price exists than the price paid by Jesus on the cross, and He reminds us in His Word that “we are bought with a price”. Believers do not pay a great price for salvation at all; their existence and salvation has been granted freely by their Creator, and no wealth is ever acquired by man other than that which has been gained by exploiting God’s resources. So, even if man gives up everything that he owns, he is only giving back that which he never truly owned. Here are some thoughts from the Wikipedia Encyclopedia:
“These Christians typically believe the Assembly is the symbol of bride or wife of Christ, ( the Church ). The pearl itself is a beautiful, single entity, formed through suffering in the heart of the oyster ( in the same way that believers endure lack of wealth or comfort ) and like the Church, will be put on display in a coming day. Unlike precious stones which must be cut and polished to reveal their clarity and beauty, the pearl is perfect as it comes from the oyster - the hand of man could only spoil it - symbolizing the formation of the Assembly by the hand of the Holy Spirit of God.”
Questions/Comments? mail to: comment@thechristianlight.org
|