Chapter 6: Who is this Jesus?
God’s plan of salvation is to provide for us the ultimate sacrifice to end all sacrifices for sin. Since death can only be atoned for with death, one had to take our place and die for our sins. A scapegoat if you will. The sacrifices of old, were always innocent animals who were not responsible for the sins of the people. These were sacrificed to God to provide a covering for sin. But God provided a Lamb to wash away our iniquity.
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. 17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. 18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
19 And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. 20 For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. 21 But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.
John 3:16-218 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.
Revelations 13:8
Who is the Lamb that was slain from the foundation of the World? John the Baptist when he came preaching called Him the Lamb of God.
19 And this is the record of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, Who art thou?
20 And he confessed, and denied not; but confessed, I am not the Christ.
21 And they asked him, What then? Art thou Elias? And he saith, I am not. Art thou that prophet? And he answered, No.
22 Then said they unto him, Who art thou? that we may give an answer to them that sent us. What sayest thou of thyself?
23 He said, I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord, as said the prophet Esaias.
24 And they which were sent were of the Pharisees. 25 And they asked him, and said unto him, Why baptizest thou then, if thou be not that Christ, nor Elias, neither that prophet?
26 John answered them, saying, I baptize with water: but there standeth one among you, whom ye know not; 27 He it is, who coming after me is preferred before me, whose shoe’s latchet I am not worthy to unloose.
28 These things were done in Bethabara beyond Jordan, where John was baptizing.
29 The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. 30 This is he of whom I said, After me cometh a man which is preferred before me: for he was before me. 31 And I knew him not: but that he should be made manifest to Israel, therefore am I come baptizing with water.
32 And John bare record, saying, I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it abode upon him. 33 And I knew him not: but he that sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me, Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending, and remaining on him, the same is he which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost. 34 And I saw, and bare record that this is the Son of God.
35 Again the next day after John stood, and two of his disciples; 36 And looking upon Jesus as he walked, he saith, Behold the Lamb of God!
John 1:19-35
Behold the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world!! Behold the Lamb of God! When the priests and Levites who we know all about from our previous chapter, that they handled the animal sacrifices of the people, heard of a man calling for repentance and baptizing with water, they went to question him.
We can see from verse 23 of the book of John, in chapter one, that John the Baptist called himself the voice of one crying in the wilderness, as said the prophet Esaias. Esaias is the same as Isaiah. Isaiah was one of the prominent prophets of the bible. According to the book of Isaiah:
3 The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. 4 Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain: 5 And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.
Isaiah 40:3-5
About 700 years before the birth of Christ, Isaiah prophesied countless times about the coming of someone. This someone, was called Lord and God! Prepare ye the way of the Lord! Make straight a highway for our GOD! Every valley shall be exalted, every mountain and hill shall be lowered, every crooked path shall be made straight, why? The KING is coming! The glory of the Lord is to be revealed and all flesh shall see it! Who was the voice crying in the wilderness? John the Baptist. Isaiah prophesied about this, 700 years before the birth of Christ.
So, to figure out who Christ is, we must examine the prophecies of Isaiah:
2 The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined. 3 Thou hast multiplied the nation, and not increased the joy: they joy before thee according to the joy in harvest, and as men rejoice when they divide the spoil. 4 For thou hast broken the yoke of his burden, and the staff of his shoulder, the rod of his oppressor, as in the day of Midian. 5 For every battle of the warrior is with confused noise, and garments rolled in blood; but this shall be with burning and fuel of fire. 6 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, Counseller, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. 7 Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.
Isaiah 9:2-7
Look at verse 2. The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light! They that dwell in the shadow of death, upon them the light has shined! And how did they react after the Light came? Men rejoiced as one who has taken a harvest or as one who has taken spoil of the enemy after a great battle has been fought and victory procured (verse 3). Why all this rejoicing? Because the yoke of burden has been broken, the rod of the oppressor (verse 4). Imagine after the Emancipation Proclamation, the rejoicing that must have taken place amongst African American slaves, during the days of President Abraham Lincoln! Can you hear the voice of rejoicing and the exultation? Isaiah then describes the battle. While battles and wars are waged with noise of confusion as one side gains victory over the other and vice-versa until an ultimate victory is had, this particular battle was a non-contest battle. An obliteration and devastation in the camp of the oppressor! (verse 5). Why?
Look now especially at verses 6 and 7. This gives the ‘why’ and the ‘how come’. For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given; the government of the world shall be upon his shoulder, he shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, Mighty God, THE EVERLASTING FATHER, The Prince of Peace! There shall be no end to the increase of his government; it will be ordered and established with judgement and justice FOREVER!
This chapter is one of the most eye-opening in the entire bible. And in the myriad of biblical translations that exist, verses 6 and 7 are pretty much consistent. Everlasting Father! I once talked to a guy about this portion of scripture and he argued that while he agreed that this verse refers to Jesus Christ, but that he is called Mighty God, not Almighty God. I asked him who Everlasting Father would be. Everlasting Father is the term reserved for God, the Almighty God. So, Isaiah is saying here, that this child to be born is called God!!
For this reason, Jesus has always evoked a lot of consternation. Jews who deny that Jesus is the Christ need to study Isaiah with all diligence. Some of them say that the while the Old Testament was written in Hebrew, the New Testament was written in Greek, the language of the reigning Romans and therefore is less accurate. But Isaiah is the Old Testament! Written in Hebrew!! So you are without excuse!
Everyone or at least most people who have a concept of God, think of Him as a Supreme Being, and whatever language or adjective they use to describe Him, it is as the greatest entity in creation, or a supreme being. And because of this, saying Jesus is also that supreme being may evoke objections to whatever perceptions they already have.
So, if He is called God, why then does John say in verses 32 – 35 of John chapter 1:
32 And John bare record, saying, I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it abode upon him. 33 And I knew him not: but he that sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me, Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending, and remaining on him, the same is he which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost. 34 And I saw, and bare record that this is the Son of God.
35 Again the next day after John stood, and two of his disciples; 36 And looking upon Jesus as he walked, he saith, Behold the Lamb of God!
John 1:32-35
Isaiah says He shall be called Everlasting Father, and John says in verse 34, the Son of God and in verse 35, the Lamb of God. Are these the same or different?
Look at Isaiah 11:
1 And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots: 2 And the spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD; 3 And shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of the LORD: and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears: 4 But with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth: and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked. 5 And righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his reins.
Isaiah 11:1-5
And verse 10:
10 And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek: and his rest shall be glorious.
Isaiah 11:10
Jesse was the father of David, King of Israel, after Saul. This says that a person shall come from the lineage of David. If we go back and look at God’s promise to David, because of his faithfulness, we see that God made this promise. Not only that, but verse 10 also tells us that the gentiles (all non-Israelites) shall seek Him:
4 And it came to pass that night, that the word of the LORD came unto Nathan, saying, 5 Go and tell my servant David, Thus saith the LORD, Shalt thou build me an house for me to dwell in? 6 Whereas I have not dwelt in any house since the time that I brought up the children of Israel out of Egypt, even to this day, but have walked in a tent and in a tabernacle. 7 In all the places wherein I have walked with all the children of Israel spake I a word with any of the tribes of Israel, whom I commanded to feed my people Israel, saying, Why build ye not me an house of cedar?
8 Now therefore so shalt thou say unto my servant David, Thus saith the LORD of hosts, I took thee from the sheepcote, from following the sheep, to be ruler over my people, over Israel: 9 And I was with thee whithersoever thou wentest, and have cut off all thine enemies out of thy sight, and have made thee a great name, like unto the name of the great men that are in the earth. 10 Moreover I will appoint a place for my people Israel, and will plant them, that they may dwell in a place of their own, and move no more; neither shall the children of wickedness afflict them any more, as beforetime, 11 And as since the time that I commanded judges to be over my people Israel, and have caused thee to rest from all thine enemies. Also the LORD telleth thee that he will make thee an house. 12 And when thy days be fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, I will set up thy seed after thee, which shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I will establish his kingdom. 13 He shall build an house for my name, and I will stablish the throne of his kingdom for ever. 14 I will be his father, and he shall be my son. If he commit iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men, and with the stripes of the children of men: 15 But my mercy shall not depart away from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away before thee. 16 And thine house and thy kingdom shall be established for ever before thee: thy throne shall be established for ever.
17 According to all these words, and according to all this vision, so did Nathan speak unto David.
2 Samuel 17:4-17
Look at the marvelous promise that God made to David!!
David was pondering aloud one day, in discussions with Nathan the prophet, why the ark of the covenant (which held the tables of the ten commandments which God gave to Moses was kept) was in a tent while he slept in a house and he purposed in his heart to build a temple to the Lord, so that the Lord’s presence could live in a house. God ultimately promised that David’s house and kingdom would be established FOREVER; also, the throne of David would be established FOREVER. David recounted this promise of God to his sons, and it was widely known.
22 And Solomon stood before the altar of the LORD in the presence of all the congregation of Israel, and spread forth his hands toward heaven: 23 And he said, LORD God of Israel, there is no God like thee, in heaven above, or on earth beneath, who keepest covenant and mercy with thy servants that walk before thee with all their heart: 24 Who hast kept with thy servant David my father that thou promisedst him: thou spakest also with thy mouth, and hast fulfilled it with thine hand, as it is this day. 25 Therefore now, LORD God of Israel, keep with thy servant David my father that thou promisedst him, saying, There shall not fail thee a man in my sight to sit on the throne of Israel; so that thy children take heed to their way, that they walk before me as thou hast walked before me.
1 Kings 8:22-25
Following Solomon’s prayer for the dedication of the temple which he built to house the ark of the covenant, God confirmed his promise again to Solomon, that he promised David his father:
1 And it came to pass, when Solomon had finished the building of the house of the LORD, and the king’s house, and all Solomon’s desire which he was pleased to do, 2 That the LORD appeared to Solomon the second time, as he had appeared unto him at Gibeon. 3 And the LORD said unto him, I have heard thy prayer and thy supplication, that thou hast made before me: I have hallowed this house, which thou hast built, to put my name there for ever; and mine eyes and mine heart shall be there perpetually. 4 And if thou wilt walk before me, as David thy father walked, in integrity of heart, and in uprightness, to do according to all that I have commanded thee, and wilt keep my statutes and my judgments: 5 Then I will establish the throne of thy kingdom upon Israel for ever, as I promised to David thy father, saying, There shall not fail thee a man upon the throne of Israel.
1 Kings 9:1-5
While the earthly sons of David, Solomon, Uzziah, Hezekiah, etc. looked to this promise and God did fulfil it that someone from the lineage of David always sat on the throne, yet even after those kings that lived, hear what God is prophesying by the mouth of Jeremiah:
14 Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will perform that good thing which I have promised unto the house of Israel and to the house of Judah. 15 In those days, and at that time, will I cause the Branch of righteousness to grow up unto David; and he shall execute judgment and righteousness in the land. 16 In those days shall Judah be saved, and Jerusalem shall dwell safely: and this is the name wherewith she shall be called, The LORD our righteousness.
17 For thus saith the LORD; David shall never want a man to sit upon the throne of the house of Israel; 18 Neither shall the priests the Levites want a man before me to offer burnt offerings, and to kindle meat offerings, and to do sacrifice continually.
19 And the word of the LORD came unto Jeremiah, saying, 20 Thus saith the LORD; If ye can break my covenant of the day, and my covenant of the night, and that there should not be day and night in their season; 21 Then may also my covenant be broken with David my servant, that he should not have a son to reign upon his throne; and with the Levites the priests, my ministers. 22 As the host of heaven cannot be numbered, neither the sand of the sea measured: so will I multiply the seed of David my servant, and the Levites that minister unto me.
Jeremiah 33:14-22
So, you see by the mouth of Jeremiah, God is still saying the PARTICULAR promise He made was yet to be fulfilled, which means something even greater than the biological sons of David was coming, which would fulfil the promise. We know this, because Jeremiah was sent to warn Judah of the taking away of Judah into captivity. Israel had already been taken captive of the Assyrians and were exiled and Judah was to be taken captive of Babylon. Yet, God is still saying this. Meaning that His promise to David was yet to be fulfilled. Meaning there was a king to come. The King.
The biological sons of David were merely a precursor, or a shadow of the coming King to sit upon the throne of David. Why were they only a shadow? Because in verse 15, God tells Jeremiah that He would cause THE BRANCH of righteousness to grow unto David. Jeremiah was prophesying just before Judah was taken into captivity, after the reign of the righteous kings of Judah, who ruled after David’s righteousness. But none of them even David could be called THE BRANCH of righteousness.
After the book of Jeremiah came the book of Lamentations of Jeremiah for the captivity of Judah by Babylon. So, God sent this word through Jeremiah that even though Judah was about to go into captivity, He would yet confirm His promise to David. And the tell-tale sign? To Him shall the gentiles seek. Why would the gentiles seek Him? Because His own would reject Him! And God reconfirms His promise again:
25 Thus saith the LORD; If my covenant be not with day and night, and if I have not appointed the ordinances of heaven and earth; 26 Then will I cast away the seed of Jacob, and David my servant, so that I will not take any of his seed to be rulers over the seed of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob: for I will cause their captivity to return, and have mercy on them.
Jeremiah 33:25-26
Here, God was confirming by Jeremiah the prophet, that in the future, He would confirm his covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah. The house of Israel constituted the 10 tribes, while Judah consisted of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin. This occurred after the people revolted from under Jeroboam, the son of Solomon, when Solomon began to marry several wives of the heathen nations around them who worshipped idols (which God said not to do, since they would pollute the land with their Idols). So, while God allowed Solomon to live peacefully, according to the promise He made to David, his father, under Jeroboam his son, ten tribes were wrenched from him to become the house of Israel, while the house of Judah and Benjamin remained under him.
So, here God was remembering His promise to David and ensuring that Jeremiah would prophesy concerning it, just like Isaiah did; so that when it happens people would know about it. God was saying that a king was coming UNTO the lineage of David (see verse 15 of Jeremiah 33), who would execute judgement and righteousness in the land and God uses the words: Branch of Righteousness, just like Isaiah did in Isaiah chapter 11. He affirms that so long as day and night exist in the earth, this thing would surely come to pass. In verses 25 and 26, He says only if Day and Night DON’T exist, only then will He not take one of the seed of David to be rulers over the seed of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (the forefathers of the house of Israel and the house of Judah).
So, will God lie? Absolutely not!
19 God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?
Numbers 23:19
So, not only do we believe God’s word, but He also says that He watches over His word to fulfil it.
12 Then said the LORD unto me, Thou hast well seen: for I will hasten my word to perform it.
Jeremiah 1:12
I will hasten my word to perform it. The Amplified translation gives us more context of this verse:
12 Then the Lord said to me, “You have seen well, for I am [actively] watching over My word to fulfill it.”
Jeremiah 1:12 (AMP)
Jesus said in the book of Matthew:
35 Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.
Matthew 24:35
And again, in chapter 5:
17 Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. 18 For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.
Matthew 5:17-18
David testifies of this also in Psalm 138:
1 {A Psalm of David.} I will praise thee with my whole heart: before the gods will I sing praise unto thee. 2 I will worship toward thy holy temple, and praise thy name for thy lovingkindness and for thy truth: for thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name.
Psalm 138:1-2
God has magnified His word more than His name. The fulfilment of the promise of God was finally coming to pass! And so, John the Baptist was sent to “prepare the way of the Lord”, as a voice crying in the wilderness. He began to do this, just as Jesus was getting ready to begin his ministry at the age of 30. But we have other things to discuss surrounding His birth. First, the miraculous birth of John the Baptist:
5 There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judaea, a certain priest named Zacharias, of the course of Abia: and his wife was of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elisabeth. 6 And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless. 7 And they had no child, because that Elisabeth was barren, and they both were now well stricken in years.
8 And it came to pass, that while he executed the priest’s office before God in the order of his course, 9 According to the custom of the priest’s office, his lot was to burn incense when he went into the temple of the Lord. 10 And the whole multitude of the people were praying without at the time of incense. 11 And there appeared unto him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense. 12 And when Zacharias saw him, he was troubled, and fear fell upon him. 13 But the angel said unto him, Fear not, Zacharias: for thy prayer is heard; and thy wife Elisabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John. 14 And thou shalt have joy and gladness; and many shall rejoice at his birth. 15 For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink; and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother’s womb. 16 And many of the children of Israel shall he turn to the Lord their God. 17 And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.
18 And Zacharias said unto the angel, Whereby shall I know this? for I am an old man, and my wife well stricken in years.
19 And the angel answering said unto him, I am Gabriel, that stand in the presence of God; and am sent to speak unto thee, and to shew thee these glad tidings. 20 And, behold, thou shalt be dumb, and not able to speak, until the day that these things shall be performed, because thou believest not my words, which shall be fulfilled in their season.
Luke 1:5-20
Now, for proper context, you will remember from the last chapter on a brief history of Israel, that the ten tribes that constitute the house of Israel had been scattered into all the world, and that Judah was taken into Babylonian captivity for 70 years. Eventually, under the edict of Cyrus, King of Persia, the house of Judah (the tribes of Judah and Benjamin) was allowed to return to their land. They lived in the land then, under the direction of the Levites (which were originally living among each of the tribes and their purpose was to instruct the people among whom they lived in matters of the Law). From these Levites, two sects evolved, called the Pharisees and the Sadducees.
The former is believed to be the stricter sect who ended up furthering the religion of Judaism and believed in a resurrection from the dead. The Sadducees were more conservative and didn’t believe in any type of resurrection from the dead. They were more interested in political influence and scoffed at some of the ideas which were introduced into Judaism by the Pharisees as coming from Zoroastrianism, the religion of the Persians when they were held in captivity.
Nevertheless, in all this, scripture doesn’t say specifically to which sect Zacharias belonged or leaned, but verse 6 states that both he and his wife were righteous before God and blameless, in keeping His commandments, and he was High Priest. Just like Abraham and Sarah before him, Elisabeth his wife was barren and God sent the angel Gabriel, who appeared to Zacharias to prophesy the birth of a son, who shall go in the spirit and power of Elias (Elijah) and prepare the people for the coming of the Lord. As High Priest, if anyone should be conversant with the scripture, he should have been, right? He should have been familiar with the books of Moses and the writing of the prophets. If he was (as he should have), he should immediately recall the prophesy of Isaiah! Gabriel told him the child would walk in the spirit and power of Elijah. Instead of asking the same question Abraham did, he should have asked Gabriel which of the prophesies was being fulfilled.
1 Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God. 2 Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned: for she hath received of the LORD’S hand double for all her sins.
3 The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. 4 Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain: 5 And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.
Isaiah 40:1-5
Look at verse 3. Prepare ye the way of the Lord! Make straight in the desert a highway for our God! This is what Gabriel had just told him. The presence of Gabriel filled him with fear. He should have known that if this wasn’t very important, God wouldn’t be sending His angel to him. Moreover, not only should the high priest have known this, even the common people knew this:
10 And his disciples asked him, saying, Why then say the scribes that Elias must first come?
11 And Jesus answered and said unto them, Elias truly shall first come, and restore all things. 12 But I say unto you, That Elias is come already, and they knew him not, but have done unto him whatsoever they listed. Likewise shall also the Son of man suffer of them. 13 Then the disciples understood that he spake unto them of John the Baptist.
Matthew 17:10-11
Rather than ask about scripture, he asks Gabriel the same question Abraham asked. But Abraham didn’t have any history to fall on. He didn’t have the writings of the prophets. History was being written, so God excused his unbelief:
15 And God said unto Abraham, As for Sarai thy wife, thou shalt not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall her name be. 16 And I will bless her, and give thee a son also of her: yea, I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; kings of people shall be of her.
17 Then Abraham fell upon his face, and laughed, and said in his heart, Shall a child be born unto him that is an hundred years old? and shall Sarah, that is ninety years old, bear? 18 And Abraham said unto God, O that Ishmael might live before thee!
19 And God said, Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed; and thou shalt call his name Isaac: and I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his seed after him. 20 And as for Ishmael, I have heard thee: Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly; twelve princes shall he beget, and I will make him a great nation. 21 But my covenant will I establish with Isaac, which Sarah shall bear unto thee at this set time in the next year. 22 And he left off talking with him, and God went up from Abraham.
Genesis 17:15-22
When Sarah heard it, she laughed as well:
10 And he said, I will certainly return unto thee according to the time of life; and, lo, Sarah thy wife shall have a son. And Sarah heard it in the tent door, which was behind him.
11 Now Abraham and Sarah were old and well stricken in age; and it ceased to be with Sarah after the manner of women. 12 Therefore Sarah laughed within herself, saying, After I am waxed old shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also?
13 And the LORD said unto Abraham, Wherefore did Sarah laugh, saying, Shall I of a surety bear a child, which am old? 14 Is any thing too hard for the LORD? At the time appointed I will return unto thee, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son.
15 Then Sarah denied, saying, I laughed not; for she was afraid. And he said, Nay; but thou didst laugh.
Genesis 18:10-15
Neither Abraham nor Sarah had any scripture to fall back on. But Zacharias the high priest did. So, he was punished with dumbness until the birth of the child for his unbelief of the scripture, even though he was High Priest!
Just six months later, the angel Gabriel was sent again to earth:
24 And after those days his wife Elisabeth conceived, and hid herself five months, saying, 25 Thus hath the Lord dealt with me in the days wherein he looked on me, to take away my reproach among men.
26 And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth, 27 To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary. 28 And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women. 29 And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be. 30 And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God. 31 And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS. 32 He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: 33 And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.
34 Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?
35 And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.
36 And, behold, thy cousin Elisabeth, she hath also conceived a son in her old age: and this is the sixth month with her, who was called barren. 37 For with God nothing shall be impossible.
38 And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her.
Luke 1:24-38
Another miracle was about to happen! A virgin would have a child! Gabriel was sent to Elisabeth’s cousin, Mary, who didn’t know of Elisabeth’s condition since she had been hiding herself. Elisabeth wasn’t supposed to be able to have a child anymore. She’d experienced an event known as menopause and there she was! And this angel brought more startling news. Not only was her cousin pregnant, but she, Mary, would also give birth: and a virgin! Was she excused for her doubt? Most certainly! There was no precedent for this; moreover, she wasn’t high priest or anything. The angel is now revealing that there is more than one way for a woman to conceive a child. The power of God would overshadow her, and she would be impregnated. But this wasn’t all that the angel said. He also quotes scripture, confirming the word of the Lord in 2nd Samuel chapter 17 and Isaiah chapter 9, that the child would have the throne of David and that His kingdom would be an everlasting kingdom, without end! Now, I’m very sure that some of the people reading this have watched some movie on Greek mythology where a god has carnal knowledge of a woman. Genesis 6 also confirms that the sons of God knew women carnally:
1 And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them, 2 That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose. 3 And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years. 4 There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown.
Genesis 6:1-4
Now, I believe that when these sons of God took wives unto themselves, they had to take the form of humans to do it and have carnal knowledge of the women same as was portrayed in the movies. The sons of God “came in” unto the daughters of men, means they had carnal knowledge of the women. But there is absolutely nothing in the scriptures to say that this is what happened with Mary. God didn’t have any carnal knowledge of Mary whatsoever. The power of the Highest overshadowed her. This is what happened. How exactly? In the same way the world was created. Look at Genesis 1:
1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. 3 And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.
Genesis 1:1-3
And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters: The Spirit overshadowed the waters and then God called the light into existence. In the same way, the Spirit of God would overshadow Mary and called her conception into being and she conceived.
Now, let’s pause here. I know there may be some who are reading this who may be skeptics, atheists, agnostics and scientific, or whatever other similar adjective. Others may be of some other religion or philosophical bent that makes it hard to believe this. If you have any doubt about the veracity of this claim, I want you to pause here and do a google search of the following events that happened in our recent history in the 20th century, for which there is no scientific explanation:
“Azusa Street Revival”. Watch the YouTube videos of eye-witness accounts of what happened during the period 1906 – 1915. Next, do a google search on: “Hebrides Revival” to see what happened between 1949 – 1952.
Back to this book.
Angel Gabriel also said some startling things: Look at verse 33. He shall reign over the house of Jacob FOREVER and of His kingdom, there shall be NO END. We are talking about a child to be born to a woman, right? So, how would this child reign forever and how would his kingdom not have an end? Let’s rewind back to the prophesy of Isaiah:
6 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, Counseller, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. 7 Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.
Isaiah 9:6-7
Isaiah prophesied of a child to be born, who would be called EVERLASTING FATHER, of whose government, there shall be NO END to its increase, FOREVER. This is the fulfillment of the prophesy! Despite how mind-boggling this all was, Mary accepted the angel’s words. Did she have some doubts? I bet she did! But those were probably overshadowed by the angelic presence and the incredible things she was hearing; but she had some recourse, didn’t she? She could assuage her doubts by visiting her cousin! Is Elisabeth really pregnant? Yes or no! And that’s exactly what she did, with haste.
39 And Mary arose in those days, and went into the hill country with haste, into a city of Juda; 40 And entered into the house of Zacharias, and saluted Elisabeth. 41 And it came to pass, that, when Elisabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; and Elisabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost: 42 And she spake out with a loud voice, and said, Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb.
43 And whence is this to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? 44 For, lo, as soon as the voice of thy salutation sounded in mine ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy. 45 And blessed is she that believed: for there shall be a performance of those things which were told her from the Lord.
46 And Mary said, My soul doth magnify the Lord, 47 And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour. 48 For he hath regarded the low estate of his handmaiden: for, behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed. 49 For he that is mighty hath done to me great things; and holy is his name. 50 And his mercy is on them that fear him from generation to generation. 51 He hath shewed strength with his arm; he hath scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts. 52 He hath put down the mighty from their seats, and exalted them of low degree. 53 He hath filled the hungry with good things; and the rich he hath sent empty away. 54 He hath holpen his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy; 55 As he spake to our fathers, to Abraham, and to his seed for ever.
56 And Mary abode with her about three months, and returned to her own house. 57 Now Elisabeth’s full time came that she should be delivered; and she brought forth a son. 58 And her neighbours and her cousins heard how the Lord had shewed great mercy upon her; and they rejoiced with her.
Luke 1:39-58
Verse 39 opens with Mary arose in those days, but then says, “in haste”. More than likely, she went immediately, in haste; not waiting around for a month before she went. We know already from the timeline that Elisabeth was already 6 months pregnant when the angel visited Mary. In verse 56, we know that Mary stayed on for 3 months, waiting for the baby to be born. So, Mary did go in haste to see Elisabeth, maybe the day after or a few days after at the most, if not immediately after the angel’s visit, only to find out she was already pregnant! The power of the Highest had already overshadowed her! How? From Elisabeth’s testimony. Otherwise, how else would Elisabeth know to say what she said? Afterall she wasn’t there when Gabriel visited Mary! The baby, full of the power of God, leapt for joy in Elisabeth’s womb and Elisabeth was filled with this power and began this strange salutation! Not only this, but Mary also found out that her cousin was indeed pregnant as she was told by the angel.
Now we fast forward thirty years from that point to John the Baptist, now a grown man, preparing the way of the Lord as it was foretold by the prophets.
29 The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. 30 This is he of whom I said, After me cometh a man which is preferred before me: for he was before me. 31 And I knew him not: but that he should be made manifest to Israel, therefore am I come baptizing with water.
32 And John bare record, saying, I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it abode upon him. 33 And I knew him not: but he that sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me, Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending, and remaining on him, the same is he which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost. 34 And I saw, and bare record that this is the Son of God.
35 Again the next day after John stood, and two of his disciples; 36 And looking upon Jesus as he walked, he saith, Behold the Lamb of God!
John 1:19-35
We see here that John was referring to a person. A man! So, Jesus came as a man. John calls Him the Son of God (note the capital ‘S’ in scripture, as opposed to the small ‘s’ when referring to the sons of God who took wives. (Also, when the sons of God appeared in heaven before God, in the case of Job). In these cases, sons would mean angels, spirits, or saints in heaven. But Son refers to something more.
1 And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them, 2 That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose. 3 And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years. 4 There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown.
Genesis 6:1-4
Also, in the book of Job:
6 Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan came also among them. 7 And the LORD said unto Satan, Whence comest thou? Then Satan answered the LORD, and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it.
8 And the LORD said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil?
Job 1:6-8
But concerning Jesus, John calls him THE Son of God and THE Lamb of God.
In the book of Revelation, we have a reference to the Lamb. Several references actually:
1 And I saw in the right hand of him that sat on the throne a book written within and on the backside, sealed with seven seals. 2 And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, Who is worthy to open the book, and to loose the seals thereof? 3 And no man in heaven, nor in earth, neither under the earth, was able to open the book, neither to look thereon. 4 And I wept much, because no man was found worthy to open and to read the book, neither to look thereon.
5 And one of the elders saith unto me, Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Juda, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof. 6 And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth. 7 And he came and took the book out of the right hand of him that sat upon the throne.
8 And when he had taken the book, the four beasts and four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps, and golden vials full of odours, which are the prayers of saints. 9 And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation; 10 And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth.
11 And I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne and the beasts and the elders: and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands; 12 Saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing.
13 And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever.
14 And the four beasts said, Amen. And the four and twenty elders fell down and worshipped him that liveth for ever and ever.
Revelation 5
Look at verse 5. The Lion of the tribe of Juda, the Root of David…and “in the MIDST” of the throne. Which throne? The throne from verse 1, where One sat, stood a Lamb that had been slain. The is the Lamb which the elder called the LION of the tribe of Juda, the ROOT of David. In verse 7, the Lamb took the book from the hand of Him that sits upon the throne; immediately the 24 elders and 4 beasts that surround the throne fell down before the Lamb in WORSHIP; including millions of angels, singing a song: Worthy is the Lamb that was slain, who has redeemed us to God by His blood out of all people and has made us kings and priests unto our God; and we shall reign on the earth. Look at verse 13: And every creature sang praises to Him that sits upon the throne and to the Lamb, FOR EVER and EVER.
So, who is this Lamb? John the Baptist told us already!
Okay, so Jesus is the Lamb of God. But why did Isaiah say He shall be called “The Mighty God, The Everlasting Father”?
6 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, Counseller, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. 7 Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.
Isaiah 9:6-7
Again, we turn to the revelation given to John (not John the Baptist; he was beheaded, but John one of the apostles of Jesus Christ):
9 I John, who also am your brother, and companion in tribulation, and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was in the isle that is called Patmos, for the word of God, and for the testimony of Jesus Christ. 10 I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet, 11 Saying, I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last: and, What thou seest, write in a book, and send it unto the seven churches which are in Asia; unto Ephesus, and unto Smyrna, and unto Pergamos, and unto Thyatira, and unto Sardis, and unto Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea.
12 And I turned to see the voice that spake with me. And being turned, I saw seven golden candlesticks; 13 And in the midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle. 14 His head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow; and his eyes were as a flame of fire; 15 And his feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and his voice as the sound of many waters. 16 And he had in his right hand seven stars: and out of his mouth went a sharp twoedged sword: and his countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength.
17 And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not; I am the first and the last: 18 I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death. 19 Write the things which thou hast seen, and the things which are, and the things which shall be hereafter; 20 The mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest in my right hand, and the seven golden candlesticks. The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches: and the seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven churches.
Revelation 1:9-20
John heard a great trumpeting voice say: “I am alpha and omega (beginning and end) (verse 11), the first and the last (verse 17). I am He that liveth and was dead and am alive forevermore! (Verse 18). And the person he saw was like the Son of Man. He looked a like a man with hair as white as wool and feet the color of fine brass. We already know from other verses, that John called Him the Lamb of God, and in Revelation 5, He is also called the Lamb. But here, He calls Himself Alpha and Omega.
Do we find any other references in scripture to Alpha and Omega?
5 And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful. 6 And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely. 7 He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son.
Revelation 21:5-7
So, He that sits upon the throne also calls Himself Alpha and Omega, just as in chapter one of Revelation, we see the same reference, in verse 11 (Read the above verses from chapter one again, carefully). Are there two Alphas and Omegas? Or is this the reference to the same person? Let’s look again in Revelation 22:
1 And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. 2 In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. 3 And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him: 4 And they shall see his face; and his name shall be in their foreheads. 5 And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever.
Revelation 22:1-5
Look at verse 1. A pure river of water of life, proceeding out of the throne (singular) of God and of the Lamb. So, two persons, one throne! Look at verse 3: And there shall be no more curse: but the throne (singular) of God and of the Lamb shall be in it…Again, a shared throne! By God and the Lamb!! Now, let’s look further at chapter 22:
12 And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be. 13 I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last.
14 Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city. 15 For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie.
16 I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star.
Revelation 22:12-16
So, we see in verse 13, that someone is calling Himself Alpha and Omega and verse 16 tells us who: Jesus is! Again, reiterating what He said in chapter 1 when John His apostle first saw Him. So, He shares the throne with God and the same name: Alpha and Omega, with God. Isaiah the prophet also told us, that He is called: The Mighty God, The Everlasting Father!! So, what can we conclude? In Revelation 1, Jesus says He is He that liveth and was dead….and is alive forevermore… Was God ever dead? Absolutely not…. So, who is Jesus!?!
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 The same was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. 4 In him was life; and the life was the light of men. 5 And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.
John 1:1-5
This is the same apostle John, one of the disciples of Jesus, who wrote the book of Revelation:
Look at verse 1: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was WITH God and the Word WAS GOD. How can A be with B and A, also be B? Herein lies the mystery of God’s triune nature. A is with B, but A = B. This is the great mystery. 2 distinct persons, but they are the same in essence. If this sounds preposterous and mind-boggling, let’s look at some further scripture:
24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.
John 4:24
So, verse 24 above tells us that God is a Spirit. Yet, look at the book of Genesis:
1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. 3 And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.
Genesis 1:1-3
Look at the second part of verse 2. And the Spirit OF God moved over the face of the waters…Yet we know that God Himself is also a Spirit. So, God the Spirit, has a Spirit. Because of verses such as these, some erroneously think that the Spirit of God is the power of God. God’s Spirit (power) moved over the waters and then God said, “Let there be Light”. If that were true, then the following verses would make no sense:
3 And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years.
Genesis 6:3
Why would an inanimate source of power (say electricity) strive with a human being? Unless the Spirit is an animate source of power? The following verse will get rid of such a notion also:
7 I will mention the lovingkindnesses of the LORD, and the praises of the LORD, according to all that the LORD hath bestowed on us, and the great goodness toward the house of Israel, which he hath bestowed on them according to his mercies, and according to the multitude of his lovingkindnesses. 8 For he said, Surely they are my people, children that will not lie: so he was their Saviour. 9 In all their affliction he was afflicted, and the angel of his presence saved them: in his love and in his pity he redeemed them; and he bare them, and carried them all the days of old. 10 But they rebelled, and vexed his holy Spirit: therefore he was turned to be their enemy, and he fought against them.
Isaiah 63:7-11
Look at verse 10: But they rebelled and vexed His Holy Spirit! Another word for vexed? Grieved. This is how verse 10 reads in the Amplified:
But they rebelled And grieved His Holy Spirit; Therefore He changed into their enemy, And He fought against them.
Isaiah 63: 10(AMP)
Can an animate or inanimate power be grieved? To be grieved is to be hurt deeply. Can any power source be grieved deeply? There is one more verse which should put all remaining doubt to rest:
31 Wherefore I say unto you, All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men: but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men. 32 And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come.
Matthew 12:31-32
So, can a power take offense? Can a power forgive or not? The Holy Ghost or the Holy Spirit OF God is of the same nature and essence as God, yet distinct, with His own personality. Note that I say His, not “Its” because the Holy Spirit of God is not inanimate! In the same way, as John1:1 states: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was WITH God and the Word WAS God. The Word was One with God and also has His own personality distinct from God. Verse 2 of John 1 reiterates: The same (The Word) was in the beginning with God. And verse 3: All things were made by Him. By whom? By the person being spoken of in verse 2: By the Word!!
All things were made by the Word, and without Him was not anything made that was made!
10 He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. 11 He came unto his own, and his own received him not. 12 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: 13 Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth. 15 John bare witness of him, and cried, saying, This was he of whom I spake, He that cometh after me is preferred before me: for he was before me. 16 And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace. 17 For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. 18 No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.
John 1:10-18
Look at verse 10: He was in the world, AND THE WORLD WAS MADE BY HIM!! This reiterates verse 3: All things were made by Him, and without Him was not anything made, that was made! Look at verse 14. The Word was made flesh and dwelt among us. This is the same Word that made the world, that was made flesh. God the Father was never made into flesh. So, who is the Word?
In verse 15, John bare witness of Him. Which John? Not the author of this book, the apostle John, but John the Baptist! What was John’s witness: Behold the Lamb of God!! This is the one who coming after me is preferred before me, for He was before me!
So, who is the Word! JESUS!!
So, am I saying that Jesus of Nazareth a mere man is God?
This is the reason why He was crucified. Because of this “blasphemy”. And because of this stumbling block, till today, Jews reject Him, Muslims deem Christians as heretics and Jehovah’s Witnesses are confused. Now, pay very close attention because the time has come to demystify this great mystery.
First, look back at verse 14 of John 1:
“And the Word WAS MADE flesh.” So, the Word is not originally flesh. But rather was MADE INTO flesh. What is flesh? Man!!
3 And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years.
Genesis 6:3
Look at Genesis 6:3. God is saying that His Spirit shall not strive with man, BECAUSE He is flesh. So, contrary to what many people think, man IS NOT A SPIRIT. Man is primarily flesh. People think that man is a spirit in an earthen vessel, but Genesis 6:3 in one stroke, gets rid of this idea. Yet, man has a soul and a spirit. We’ve visited this at length in chapter 3. You may return there as often as you need to, to get back up to speed.
So, John 1:14 is telling us that the Word was made into flesh. Why? So that He could walk the earth. Yet, John 1:1 tells us that the Word WAS God and the Word was WITH God; In the beginning. And all things were made by Him (verse 3). So, before he was made flesh, what was He? SPIRIT!!
This is the stumbling block of the Jews and Muslims alike. How can God be a man? The idea that the Almighty would become a man is preposterous to both religious Jews and Muslims alike. Yet, there it is.
1 Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. 2 In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also. 4 And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know.
5 Thomas saith unto him, Lord, we know not whither thou goest; and how can we know the way?
6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
7 If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him.
8 Philip saith unto him, Lord, shew us the Father, and it sufficeth us.
9 Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father? 10 Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works. 11 Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me: or else believe me for the very works’ sake.
John 14:1-11
Look at verse 1 again. You believe in God, believe also in me. This illustrates the distinction between the Father and the Son, or the existence of a duality. He distinguishes between God and Himself. Look at verse 7: If ye had known me, you should have known the Father; henceforth you know Him and have seen Him. This prompts Philip to ask that Jesus show them the Father and what was Jesus’s response? He that has seen me has seen the Father!! What did Jesus mean by this? Was He discussing a physical resemblance? But if God is a Spirit, can we discuss the physical look of a spirit? By the definition of a spirit, we are discussing something that is not of a physical nature. So how can Jesus mean his physical appearance? He doesn’t mean this and clarifies further: The Father dwells in me and does the works that I do. What works? The miracles! The dead coming to life at His command, the multiplying of the loaves of bread and fish to feed thousands, the control of the weather, the healing of the sick, the leprous, the blind, the lame, and so on and so forth.
But the Word is God according to John 1:1, and the Word was made flesh (John 1:14), and we say that Jesus is the Word, then why does Jesus Himself say:
28 Ye have heard how I said unto you, I go away, and come again unto you. If ye loved me, ye would rejoice, because I said, I go unto the Father: for my Father is greater than I.
John 14:28
He clearly states that His Father is greater than He is….so how can He be the Word and the Word be God? How can He be God and yet God is greater than Him? How can A = B and A > B at the same time? How can He be God and yet, state in John 14:1, “Ye believe in God, believe also in me”? So, how can He be the same as God? This, this right here is the bone of contention of several religious people all over the world. How can He say the Father is greater than Himself, AND still be God? This sounds blasphemous. But this is the explanation…
3 When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained; 4 What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him? 5 For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honour. 6 Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet: 7 All sheep and oxen, yea, and the beasts of the field; 8 The fowl of the air, and the fish of the sea, and whatsoever passeth through the paths of the seas.
9 O LORD our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth!
Psalm 8:3-9
In this Psalm, David provides the explanation. What is man that thou art mindful of him, or the son of man that thou visitest him? In verse 5, Thou hast made him a little lower than the angels. And this is the explanation. All flesh is less than spirit, even as angels are “higher” than man as they are spirit. In the same vein, when the Word was made flesh, He became flesh through and through and also had to be lower than the angels. And if lower than the angels, by default, lower than God the Father. Hence, Jesus states in John 14:28, “…My Father is greater than I…” But in the beginning, according to John 1:1, He was one with the Father. Do you understand?
So, while on earth, as a man, the Son is less than the Father. So, the Lord on earth was subject to all human passions, all human comforts and joys, all human misery and sorrow, all human pain and suffering! He also tells us that the Father in Him, does the miracles. Because no flesh (that is, no man) can do a single miracle, unless God is with him! Yet God so loved us that He sacrificed this part of Himself for us. That He by whom all things were made, should suffer at the hands of His creation; should come as a man and suffer the indignity of our ignorance. We, who are the work of His hands!! Look at what the prophet Isaiah has to say:
1 Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the LORD revealed? 2 For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. 3 He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
4 Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. 5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. 6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.
7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth. 8 He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken. 9 And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth.
10 Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand. 11 He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities. 12 Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.
Isaiah 53
Who do you imagine Isaiah is talking about here? Who is this man of sorrows, acquainted with grief? He had no form or comeliness, nor beauty that we should desire him…The Lamb of God! The Son of God! He was smitten of God! Afflicted! Stricken! Beaten with stripes! All we like sheep have gone astray and the Lord has laid the iniquity of us all on Him! He is the Sacrifice for our sin!! He was oppressed and afflicted, yet He opened not His mouth!! Look at verse 10: YET IT PLEASED THE LORD TO BRUISE HIM. God did this for you and me. So that we may live and not die.
Earlier, I asked the question: How many people take the place of their friends in jail? How many take their place on death row? How many fathers go to the gallows for their sons or daughters? Yet it pleased the FATHER that the Son take our place. He doesn’t want any to perish but that we should live. No human can EVER love us like God loves us. Yes, you that are reading this. Every suicide bomber, serial killer, rapist, adulterer, liar, homosexual, thief, murderer, slanderer, hater of parents, hater of God, every kleptomaniac, nymphomaniac, drunkard, deceiver, perjurer, pedophile, liar, Jesus did this for you. He paid the price for us all, to assuage the wrath of God, because God is Holiness personified and we cannot be in His presence defiled, otherwise, we will die. Why will you still resist so great a salvation? Why will you risk it all for so brief a life of pleasure?
This is like the experiment psychologists did on some kids, where they asked the kids not to eat a cookie or some marshmallows and monitored those that had self-restraint and those that didn’t. It turns out the former group went on to lead much more successful lives than the latter group. In this case, neglecting this salvation will spell the difference between life and death.
There is no greater love and no higher price that can be paid for your soul. Why will you continually delay? Satan doesn’t want you to live. He only wishes death on all humanity because the breadth and depth of God’s love fills him with envy and hatred.
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. 17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.
John 3:16-17
Today is the day of salvation! Harden not your heart! Accept the sacrifice of Jesus for your sin to reconcile yourself back to God, then, repent of all your ways and live according to his word. Don’t think that you are righteous in your own eyes.
1 {To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David.} The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good. 2 The LORD looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, and seek God. 3 They are all gone aside, they are all together become filthy: there is none that doeth good, no, not one.
Psalm 14:1-3
I have discussed this before. The penalty of sin is death. You told the tiniest lie: death. You stole someone’s pen: death. All of us have sinned, every single one of us. And the penalty for the tiniest sin is death. Don’t fool yourself. Only the blood of Jesus cleanses us from all our sin and if we sin after having repented, He advocates for us. He is our lawyer! Why would you try to do it on your own, when there is a 99.999999% certainty that you will fail? Who goes into business when there is a 99.9999999% chance of failure? Only a madman! Why will you reject the 100% guarantee of success? Who will go to a murder trial and reject legal counsel and take the stand by themselves? Is this not the evidence of insanity?
Let’s demystify this still further.
5 Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:
6 Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: 7 But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: 8 And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. 9 Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: 10 That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; 11 And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Philippians 2:5-11
Paul, in his letter to the Philippians clarifies this even further: Jesus, being in the FORM of God made himself of no reputation and took the form of a servant and was made in the likeness of man and was obedient unto death. But what does Paul mean when he says in the FORM of God? Understanding this is so crucial and I will explain here, with no other than science!
Mitosis to be exact. In mitosis, a single cell divides into daughter cells and each daughter cell possesses the same attributes as the parent cell. Each daughter cell is a 100% replica of the parent with no genetic deviation. Within everyone, this cell replication occurs throughout our lives. When our red blood cells die, new red blood cells are formed which continue to carry the DNA of the old red blood cells, preserving who we, our genetic identity. Unfortunately, when rogue cells which we call cancerous cells form in the body, they also multiply by the same process and try to hijack the normal cells by creating a new species of human. If these cancerous cells are not destroyed, the organism will die as the one body cannot have two masters, or two identities.
Now, despite each daughter cell having the same genetic makeup (or form), each cell serves different purposes. Cells that serve the heart are different that cells that serve the skin, liver, pancreas, brain and so forth. In the same vein, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost have three distinct personalities, but share the same DNA (form) of the parent: God the Father. This same God-like substance flows through all three, hence all three are one in this sense, but are yet unique and distinct, where in this case, God the Father is the parent cell if you will, of God the Son and God, the Holy Spirit, because scripture calls Him the Father of all spirits.
In the same vein, just as you and I are composed of billions of cells each unique in purpose but still one in essence with unique DNA different from any other individual, even from a twin born in the same womb, the Godhead is ONE, but consists of three distinct persons for 3 distinct functions. Yet all three are one.
How is each unique individual formed? Initially, by meiosis. In meiosis, there is a fusing together of unique material from two separate parents to form the new entity. Once this new entity is formed with its own unique characteristics, mitosis takes over to ensure the growth and development of the new entity. Now this is a very high-level explanation of the subject from high school biology and I’m sure there are intricacies that specialists in the field can get into, but that would be irrelevant. The concept is as I’ve outlined here.
This is an explanation of how the Word was with God and the Word was God. This is the only way I’ve found to explain this mystery. And it remains valid because of the following scripture:
18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness; 19 Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them. 20 For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse: 21 Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. 22 Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, 23 And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things.
Romans 1:18-23
In math and science, we solve and understand the unknown by observing the things we know. In the same vein, we understand God and the invisible things by the things that are CLEARLY seen, being understood by the things that are made (verse 20). Hence, we understand the mystery of the Godhead from the evidence in our own bodies in our own cells, from the science of our biology, even with meiosis and mitosis, such that WE ARE WITHOUT EXCUSE. Lest the wrath of God fall on you, you who have read this and now understand from the point of view of biology, ARE NO LONGER WITHOUT EXCUSE!
And why would a good God sacrifice His own Son? This is another stumbling block for a lot of people. It goes back to the fact that sin must die from the presence of God. Sin is so sinful, so wicked, so vile, it is the very cancer we use radiation and chemo-therapy against. It is the very abnormality that tries to hijack the individual. And just like cancer, we must kill the cancerous cells or else risk losing the individual. Sin is just that. Hence death is the prescription. You don’t “eat fruits and veggies, get adequate sleep and exercise”, to curb cancer, no, no, and no. The cancer must be killed. In the same vein, sin must be annihilated. And because God so loves us, He gave His all and the Father sent the Son to die for us, like the sacrificial animals to purge us of our sin.
Not only does the sacrificial death of Jesus cleanse us from our sin, according to Revelation 1:18, He holds the keys to hell and death.
18 I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.
Revelation 1:18
What is the benefit of this? To understand the benefit, we must go back to the beginning, to the garden of Eden. When God created man, He gave him dominion over all the earth and all creatures of the earth:
26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.
28 And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.
Genesis 1:26-28
Unfortunately, when man sinned through disobedience, he lost it all. Instead, the devil through subtility usurped man’s dominion over the earth and its creatures, by making man who had the dominion, subject to him. How did man become subject to the devil? By neglecting God’s word. Once man neglected God’s rule over him, he unwittingly yielded himself to another, more subtle, sneaky, abominably wicked, despicable, virulent and cancerous master, sin. Sin became his master and like a virus, brought the plague of death through separation from God.
So, in Revelation 1:18, Jesus, now has the keys of hell and death, means that in Him, there is salvation from the death caused by sin and from the punishment of God for disobedience; hence, freedom from BOTH HELL and DEATH, the twin consequences of sin because through Him, man is reconciled back to God. Through Him, man can come back to having fellowship with God. So, when the first Adam sinned and brought death by sin, the second Adam, Our Lord Jesus Christ, brought Life, by His death. The first Adam, through his disobedience, led all of humanity into slavery to sin, the second Adam, Jesus Christ, leads all who will take the free gift of salvation, out of death and into Life, through His obedience to the Father.
12 Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light: 13 Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son: 14 In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins:
15 Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature: 16 For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: 17 And he is before all things, and by him all things consist. 18 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. 19 For it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell;
Colossians 1:12-19
Look at this beautiful scripture. God has translated us from darkness into the kingdom of His Son, in whom we have redemption through His blood sacrifice on the cross. What is this redemption? Salvation through forgiveness of our sins. The slate is wiped clean, and God will no longer remember our iniquity but will see the purity of Jesus when He looks upon us! Isn’t that fantastic? Do you now see why this is called the Good News?
Not only that, see, in verse 15, Jesus is called the firstborn of every creature. What does this mean? It points to His position as the second Adam. This fallen man, that natural man is fashioned after the Adam who was first created, the first Adam. But because that Adam sinned, sin and death is ruling and reigning on all humanity. But God started again!! He sent His Son into the world, to be born of a woman, a chaste virgin. Now, just as paternity is determined from the father. Every child carries the DNA of the father and so paternity is determined by comparing the DNA of a child and its father, Jesus was not born of man. If He had, then, He would have inherited the same propensity for sin. Rather, His DNA was directly from God, meaning that He didn’t inherit the proclivity to sin like the rest of humanity. This is His divinity. This is what makes Him the perfect sacrifice for sin. And so, Jesus the man is the new creation of God. The perfect man, who is obedient to God in all things AND has both natural and supernatural qualities!
Recall meiosis? To form a new individual, genetic material is obtained from each parent to form the new creature. This Jesus contained both the genetic material of God the Father and of his virgin, chaste mother. This is what makes him “the FIRSTBORN” of every creature. That is, the firstborn of every NEW creature. Creation 2.0!
Hence in this new creation of God, God’s plan of salvation was to start again, since the first Adam failed. So, a second Adam, born of God, through a virgin is the firstborn of this new creation, and is the image of the invisible God and is the head of this new body, this new church, this new creation, as its beginning, not only the firstborn of the new creation, but also the firstborn from the dead. Moreover, it pleased God that in Him should all fullness dwell. We turn to the Amplified translation to expatiate on this word “fullness”:
19 For it pleased the Father for all the fullness [of deity—the sum total of His essence, all His perfection, powers, and attributes] to dwell [permanently] in Him (the Son)
Colossians 1:19 (Amplified)
This is reiterated again in the 2nd chapter:
9 For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.
Colossians 2:9
Colossians 1:16-17 also details what John told us in John 1: That by Him (Jesus), ALL Things consist, in heaven, on earth and beneath the earth, both visible and invisible and He is before ALL things! Who is before all things but God Himself? John 1:1: In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God! Hallelujah!! What we see here is that we have the MOST QUALIFIED PERSON in this position. God Himself. So, we can put ALL our trust AND HOPE in Him. Unlike the first Adam, the second Adam is absolutely WORTHY!!
The writer of the book of Hebrews expatiates beautifully on this matter:
1 God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, 2 Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds; 3 Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high; 4 Being made so much better than the angels, as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they.
5 For unto which of the angels said he at any time, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee? And again, I will be to him a Father, and he shall be to me a Son? 6 And again, when he bringeth in the firstbegotten into the world, he saith, And let all the angels of God worship him. 7 And of the angels he saith, Who maketh his angels spirits, and his ministers a flame of fire.
8 But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom. 9 Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity; therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.
10 And, Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the works of thine hands: 11 They shall perish; but thou remainest; and they all shall wax old as doth a garment; 12 And as a vesture shalt thou fold them up, and they shall be changed: but thou art the same, and thy years shall not fail.
13 But to which of the angels said he at any time, Sit on my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool?
14 Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation?
Hebrews 1
This first chapter of Hebrews is so beautiful and continues to reiterate what God has been saying in the rest of the scriptures. God in time past spoke through His prophets: Moses, Samuel, Daniel, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Elijah, Malachi, etc. But finally, He sent His Son! By whom He made ALL things! Who is the heir of ALL things!! Look at the amazing verse 8. But unto the Son, the Father says: THY THRONE O GOD, IS FOREVER AND EVER!! THOU HAST LOVED RIGHTEOUSNESS AND HATED INIQUITY THEREFORE GOD(SON), THY GOD (FATHER) HATH ANNOITED THEE WITH THE OIL OF GLADNESS ABOVE YOUR FELLOWS…. And look at the affirmations of verse 10. Thou (Jesus) laid the foundations of the earth the heavens are the works of your hands!! Do you see this? Are you reading this? How much more proof do you need to believe? Now, when we go back and read the creation story of Genesis 1, we understand how it all came about:
1 In the beginning God (the Son) created the heaven and the earth.
2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God (God, the Holy Spirit) moved upon the face of the waters. 3 And God (The Father) said (to the Son), Let there be light: and there was light. (God the Son made it so)
Genesis 1:1-3
Like we discussed earlier, some erroneously regard the Spirit of God as some kind of force, or activation energy, something inanimate. But if this was correct, then why does Jesus say:
15 If ye love me, keep my commandments. 16 And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; 17 Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.
John 14:15-17
Note that Jesus did not say: because it seeth IT not. Rather, He used the personal pronoun: because it (the world) seeth HIM not. Can an inanimate force be a HIM?
30 And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.
Ephesians 4:30
Can electricity or other energy source be grieved? What about coal or natural gas? So, both Genesis 1:2 and Ephesians 4:30 make reference to the Spirit of God. Is this Spirit of God not a part of God? And what substance is He? A Spirit substance. What substance is God?
God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.
John 4:24
So, God is a Spirit. The Spirit of God is a part of God which is also a Spirit. And the Son? As the Word, before He was made flesh, was also a Spirit being, but as a man on earth, he was the Body.
Our Lord Jesus Christ is the Image of the Invisible God as discussed previously. (Colossians 1:15) in whom rests the full measure of the Godhead bodily (Colossians 2:9). So, our Lord is the Body (FLESH), in whom all of God (Father AND Spirit) dwells and these three are one.
5 Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me: 6 In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hast had no pleasure. 7 Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me,) to do thy will, O God.
Hebrews 10:5-7
“…a body hast thou prepared me”. This body is the flesh that was made. So that the WORD, which was with God from the beginning, which was God, could walk on the earth, in the form of a man, as flesh (The Word was made flesh). A spirit needs a body to walk on earth. God (The SPIRIT) needed a body to walk in the earth, to relate and interact with us. He did this in the form of Jesus Christ. People who dabble in the occult may get possessed by an evil spirit, because the evil spirit seeks a body to walk in the earth. The earth is the domain of all creatures of flesh and to interact in this domain, man was formed. Only flesh has legal rights from God. God Himself – as blasphemous as this may sound – cannot LEGALLY operate in the earth, because by His word, man was giving dominion in the earth. Let’s look again in the book of Genesis:
26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.
28 And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.
Genesis 1:26-28
You see, God gave man dominion over all the earth, such that even God would not (not could not, but would not) violate His own word, because He has utmost respect for His word, even more than His name!
Therefore, since the first Adam fell out of submission to God, the first Adam gave this dominion, or rather, LOST this dominion over the earth to the devil, by yielding to sin. Hence, the second Adam, in the person of Jesus Christ, returned to regain authority over this earthly realm for you and I! His purpose was not just to deliver us from sin and cleanse us of all our unrighteousness, but also to deliver us from The Curse of the Law.
What is this Curse?
Every act of disobedience to God has a Curse attached to it, such that the devil and his angels have legal grounds to inflict mayhem on the earth. We see this mayhem every day, on a macro-scale in wars, pestilences (or plagues), murders, rapes, hurricanes and tornadoes and all manner of atrocious crimes and on the micro-scale as physical and mental maladies on the individual, including sickness, depression, mania, and so forth, which continues to fuel macro-level events. Deuteronomy 28 goes into a lot of detail on the Curse of the Law, please spend some time in acquainting yourself of it.
But man, also consists of soul and spirit. By his spirit, man has access to the spirit realm, by his soul man can send communications from the spirit realm to his body. In the same vein, a body of flesh was prepared that the Holy One of God could dwell amongst us!
26 And God (The Father)said, Let us (Father, Son and Holy Ghost) make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
27 So God (Jesus, The Son) created man in his (Jesus’) own image, in the image of God (Jesus) created he him; male and female created he them.
28 And God(The Father) blessed them, and God (The Father) said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.
Genesis 1:26-28
We already know from other scriptures, that Jesus did the creation. But in His own image? Yes, because He knows the end from the beginning and He is the creator of all things, He knew what form He would take:
8 Remember this, and shew yourselves men: bring it again to mind, O ye transgressors. 9 Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me, 10 Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure:
Isaiah 46:8-10
Knowing the end from the beginning, Jesus knew what form He would take, and man was created in this image. Man was not created in the image of the Father or the Holy Spirit as they are Spirit. Rather, man was fashioned in His image, the image of the perfect man. Yet, The Father instructed, create man in the image of God (Our image). In this vein, man was created as a tripartite being. Just as The Father, the Son and the Spirit are One, Man, consisting of His Soul and Spirit and Body are also One. How do we know that man was created with Soul and Spirit?
7 And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.
Genesis 2:7
What is this breath of life that was breathed in? Spirit! And once the SPIRIT encountered the clay (BODY), the man became a living SOUL. Man consists of an outer body and an inner man or spirit that interact through his soul: his will, intellect, and emotions. So, the soul of man is akin to the Father, because this is the seat of the will and the mind and intellect. The spirit of man is akin to the Holy Spirit of God and the body of man is akin to the Son, who is obedient to the mind (or soul).
But how do we know this? Look at the following scriptures:
11 For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God.
1 Corinthians 2:11
So, the spirit of man is akin to the Spirit of God, so to speak. David also speaks of the spirit, in the book of Psalms:
6 Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom.
Psalm 51:6
What is this hidden part? This is where the true nature of man is revealed. Who are you when you take off your public mask? Who are you really when you think no one is watching? That is the hidden man. And just as 1st Corinthians 2 says, “For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him?” Note that he is called a man. For what MAN knows the things of a MAN, save the SPIRIT of MAN? So, the spirit of man is a man!! Peter calls him the hidden man. In the same vein, what knows the things of God, but the Spirit of God? In other words, What GOD knows the things of GOD, save the SPIRIT of GOD? So, the Spirit of God is God!
3 Whose adorning let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting the hair, and of wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel; 4 But let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price.
1 Peter 3:3-4
Peter was discussing women’s adorning of the outer man via the plaiting of hair, wearing of gold and apparel, and saying they need to focus on the hidden man of the heart, which is the spirit and ornament themselves with a meek and quiet spirit.
12 Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light: 13 Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son: 14 In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins:
15 Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature: 16 For by him were all things
Colossians 1:12-15
What does one see when one looks in a mirror? An image of a body. From John 1:3, we know already that the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us. The Word was made into a human body.
5 Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me:
Hebrews 10:5
So, our body is related to the Son.
The soul comprises the will (to do and make decisions), the intellect (to think, ponder, ruminate) and the emotions (to feel). We say this is akin to the Father, because the Son is always obedient to the Father; just as we cannot make our bodies do anything unless our mind agrees. You cannot drive without your will to drive. Can Michael Jordan go play basketball unless his will commands it? In the same way, the Son is obedient to the Father in ALL Things. Of course, when we discuss the will, intellect, and emotions, we think of both the conscious and subconscious mind. While the conscious mind is in full control of the will, the subconscious may be thought of as the intersection of mind and spirit. The spirit of man knows the deep things of man and the subconscious is where the spirit interacts with the soul. Is the subconscious the spirit? Maybe, maybe not. Does the subconscious know the deep things of the man? Maybe. Otherwise, the spirit is even deeper than the subconscious. In the spirit lies conscience and intuition and the true nature of the man is found here.
God is very specific when He deals with man’s sin.
20 The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him.
Ezekiel 18:20
It is the SOUL that will die, not the body or the spirit. Even though the physical body does die a physical death, but even spirit beings have a body. But the soul has freewill to choose to direct the body to do what is right or what is wrong. So, as the decision-maker, the soul is the one that gets either punishment or praise.
Finally, both the soul and spirit are encapsulated in the body. In like manner, we know from scripture that:
9 For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.
Colossians 2:97 For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.
1 John 5:7
This Body of Christ encapsulated both the Soul and Spirit of God, the fullness of the Godhead. And these three are one, just as a man is incomplete without his soul. A soulless man is what? A zombie?
Who is the Word? He that was in the beginning with God. And the Word was God and the Word was made flesh: Jesus is the Word. These three are one.
This is the reason why Jesus himself was crucified, for declaring that He, a “mere” man was One with the Most High.
54 Jesus answered, If I honour myself, my honour is nothing: it is my Father that honoureth me; of whom ye say, that he is your God: 55 Yet ye have not known him; but I know him: and if I should say, I know him not, I shall be a liar like unto you: but I know him, and keep his saying. 56 Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw it, and was glad.
57 Then said the Jews unto him, Thou art not yet fifty years old, and hast thou seen Abraham?
58 Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am.
59 Then took they up stones to cast at him: but Jesus hid himself, and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by.
John 8:54-59
Look at verse 58. Jesus told them: Before Abraham was, I AM. Not I was, but I am. The Jews were upset with this because they are familiar with the One who calls Himself I am.
13 And Moses said unto God, Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, What is his name? what shall I say unto them?
14 And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.
Exodus 3:13-14
In the same way, we cannot sperate our bodies from our minds, emotions, will, conscience. The outer man or body interacts with his environment with the five senses. All that information goes to his soul which consists of his intellect (or brain to process what is brought in from the senses), a will for decision-making (we have free will to choose what to focus on) and his emotions to derive pleasure and pain from said knowledge. He is also comprised of the Inner Man which is the seat of his conscience and intuition, where revelations occur. It doesn’t matter whether a person is raised in the jungle or in the holiest place. All humans have all three. Some consciences may be deadened through continually doing wicked things, but they still have one. This constitutes the spirit of man.
Okay. So, does this mean that Jesus only existed as the Body of the Godhead?
No. Remember, in the beginning was the Word. And the Word was with God. He was manifested in this form as the Perfect Man but has eternally existed with the Father before the World began. As what? As a Spirit. God is a Spirit, the Son is Spirit and the Spirit of God is a Spirit. These three are One and have eternally existed from the very beginning. Look at this:
4 I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do. 5 And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.
John 17:4-5
Before the world was, both Father and Son existed! Jesus confirms this again with this scripture. The Lord Jesus continues to affirm His oneness with the Father and for this He was crucified:
30 I and my Father are one.
31 Then the Jews took up stones again to stone him.
32 Jesus answered them, Many good works have I shewed you from my Father; for which of those works do ye stone me?
33 The Jews answered him, saying, For a good work we stone thee not; but for blasphemy; and because that thou, being a man, makest thyself God.
34 Jesus answered them, Is it not written in your law, I said, Ye are gods? 35 If he called them gods, unto whom the word of God came, and the scripture cannot be broken; 36 Say ye of him, whom the Father hath sanctified, and sent into the world, Thou blasphemest; because I said, I am the Son of God? 37 If I do not the works of my Father, believe me not. 38 But if I do, though ye believe not me, believe the works: that ye may know, and believe, that the Father is in me, and I in him. 39 Therefore they sought again to take him: but he escaped out of their hand.
John 10:30-39
Before the Lord, no one was able to do the works that He did. Only the prophets before Him could do similar works. And not even up to one percent of the works that He did. The religious Jews knew this. They also knew that the prophets were sent from God. And so, Jesus used this argument. If you don’t believe that I am who I say I am, believe because of the works. Flesh and blood cannot do these works. Only because of God could He do the works. Only because of God could the prophets do the works. This was His argument. People came out in droves seeking Him. Those possessed with demons were delivered. The blind could see, the deaf could hear, the lame were walking, lepers completely healed, feeding the five thousand, feeding the four thousand, raising the dead. No one had ever done these many works. Yet they continued to deny him. As people of all religions of the world today still deny Him.
Look at John’s testimony concerning the things that Jesus did:
24 This is the disciple which testifieth of these things, and wrote these things: and we know that his testimony is true.
25 And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written. Amen.
John 21:24-25
What he was saying here in verse 25, is that he did so many things that if they were all listed would fill many books. And yet the religious Jews refused to believe. Why? Because they loved power, and they loved money. They loved to be in control of the people. Animals which were to be sacrificed for sin were only to be purchased from the synagogue. Were these cheap and affordable? Certainly not! Not only this, but the temple also had money changers. One would need to exchange the common currency for temple currency, to purchase an “approved” animal for sacrifice. Was it a 1:1 exchange rate, certainly not! So, these religious Jews enriched themselves at the expense of the people.
12 And Jesus went into the temple of God, and cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold doves, 13 And said unto them, It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves.
Matthew 21:12-13
Not only did He do this, but He was also very critical of them. He wasn’t going to join the boys club and continue to fleece the sheep like they had been doing. He was changing things! And making them look bad in front of the people. So, they hated Him and chose to ignore the multitude of works though it stared them in the face. Rather, they covered up their hatred of Him by labelling Him a blasphemer.
1 Then spake Jesus to the multitude, and to his disciples, 2 Saying, The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat: 3 All therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do; but do not ye after their works: for they say, and do not. 4 For they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men’s shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers. 5 But all their works they do for to be seen of men: they make broad their phylacteries, and enlarge the borders of their garments, 6 And love the uppermost rooms at feasts, and the chief seats in the synagogues, 7 And greetings in the markets, and to be called of men, Rabbi, Rabbi.
8 But be not ye called Rabbi: for one is your Master, even Christ; and all ye are brethren. 9 And call no man your father upon the earth: for one is your Father, which is in heaven. 10 Neither be ye called masters: for one is your Master, even Christ. 11 But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant. 12 And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted.
13 But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in.
14 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye devour widows’ houses, and for a pretence make long prayer: therefore ye shall receive the greater damnation.
15 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves.
16 Woe unto you, ye blind guides, which say, Whosoever shall swear by the temple, it is nothing; but whosoever shall swear by the gold of the temple, he is a debtor! 17 Ye fools and blind: for whether is greater, the gold, or the temple that sanctifieth the gold? 18 And, Whosoever shall swear by the altar, it is nothing; but whosoever sweareth by the gift that is upon it, he is guilty. 19 Ye fools and blind: for whether is greater, the gift, or the altar that sanctifieth the gift? 20 Whoso therefore shall swear by the altar, sweareth by it, and by all things thereon. 21 And whoso shall swear by the temple, sweareth by it, and by him that dwelleth therein. 22 And he that shall swear by heaven, sweareth by the throne of God, and by him that sitteth thereon.
23 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone. 24 Ye blind guides, which strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel.
25 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess. 26 Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also.
27 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men’s bones, and of all uncleanness. 28 Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.
29 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye build the tombs of the prophets, and garnish the sepulchres of the righteous, 30 And say, If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets. 31 Wherefore ye be witnesses unto yourselves, that ye are the children of them which killed the prophets. 32 Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers.
33 Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell? 34 Wherefore, behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: and some of them ye shall kill and crucify; and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city: 35 That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar. 36 Verily I say unto you, All these things shall come upon this generation.
37 O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not! 38 Behold, your house is left unto you desolate. 39 For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.
Matthew 23
Jesus didn’t mince words with them because they were a stumbling block to the people coming to know God. They put up roadblocks so that the people would only go to worship as a last resort and not willingly and only through them. Why would the people want to go and worship when they were always fleeced by these religious Jews?
These same roadblocks are erected in ALL the major religions of the world. Every one of them. They all without exception point AWAY from Christ and rather say: do good, do good. If doing good alone would suffice, the Father would never have sent the Son. See verse 34. Jesus says, Behold I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes; meaning He is not a prophet as some erroneously claim! He is the one who sends the prophets. And who is it that sent the prophets, but God!!
So, Jesus is One with the Father as I have explained as much as I can. Look again at the scripture in John 14.
6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
7 If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him.
8 Philip saith unto him, Lord, shew us the Father, and it sufficeth us.
9 Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father? 10 Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works. 11 Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me: or else believe me for the very works’ sake.
John 14:6-11
What does it mean to be one with the Father? It is because He has perfect Union with the Father. The Father is a Spirit, the Son is a Spirit, and the Spirit of God is a Spirit and these three are one. Jesus uses the argument again of the works. So that Philip and the other disciples may believe that He wasn’t lying.
So, if He is one with the Father, why the term Son? Because He is the Image of the Father through whom we can come to the Father and know Him. He does all that the Father wants and is obedient to Him in all things. Therefore, He is the Son, a term used to describe the relationship within the Godhead in terms that a finite man being can understand just as a dutiful human son knows and obeys his earthly father.
28 Ye have heard how I said unto you, I go away, and come again unto you. If ye loved me, ye would rejoice, because I said, I go unto the Father: for my Father is greater than I.
John 14:28.
Verse 28, My Father is greater than I, explains His Sonship and His coming to the earth as flesh. I have spoken of these things before. How He is still one with the Father while being a Son, obedient to the Father.
19 Then answered Jesus and said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do: for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise. 20 For the Father loveth the Son, and sheweth him all things that himself doeth: and he will shew him greater works than these, that ye may marvel. 21 For as the Father raiseth up the dead, and quickeneth them; even so the Son quickeneth whom he will. 22 For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son: 23 That all men should honour the Son, even as they honour the Father. He that honoureth not the Son honoureth not the Father which hath sent him.
John 5:19-23
These verses illustrate the obedience of the Son to the Father and the reason why He is called the Son.
This is perfectly in line with the declaration of Moses:
4 Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD:
Deuteronomy 6:4
And by this we can understand the duality within the throne of God as spoken of in the book of Revelation:
1 And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. 2 In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. 3 And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him: 4 And they shall see his face; and his name shall be in their foreheads. 5 And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever.
Revelation 22:1-5
Look again at verse 1. A pure river of water of life proceeds out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. This is one throne for one God. Father and Son as One. Also, in verse 3: But the throne (singular) of God and of the Lamb shall be in it…So, where is the Holy Spirit in all this?
6 And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth. 7 And he came and took the book out of the right hand of him that sat upon the throne.
Revelation 5:6-7
In the midst of the throne, there is the Father sitting on the throne with the Son (the Lamb) standing at the right hand of the Father as a Lamb with seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God. So, are there seven Spirits of God now? Think of this as seven manifestations of the Spirit of God. Even though some theologians say that there are seven Spirits of God as individual persons. Jesus however used the singular, when discussing the Spirit:
15 If ye love me, keep my commandments. 16 And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; 17 Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.
John 14:15-17
I will give you a Comforter that He (singular) may abide with you forever. Even the Spirit of truth…Now, you see in verse 17, Jesus names the Spirit as the Spirit of truth which one may regard as a particular Spirit, to give the theologians the idea that there are indeed seven spirits. Yet Isaiah the prophet tells us who they are, and a Spirit of truth is not mentioned:
1 And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots: 2 And the spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD;
Isaiah 11:1-3
So, when Jesus walked the earth as a man, the full measure of the Spirit of God rested upon Him: The Spirit of the Lord (1), The Spirit of Wisdom (2), The Spirit of Understanding (3), The Spirit of Counsel (4), The Spirit of Might (5), The Spirit of Knowledge (6), The Spirit of the Fear of the Lord (7). In all these, no Spirit of Truth is mentioned. Hence, I submit that the seven Spirits of God are but manifestations of the Spirit of God, who may be called the Spirit of Truth.
31 Wherefore I say unto you, All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men: but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men. 32 And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come.
Matthew 12:31-32
Here, Jesus speaks about the Holy Ghost (singular), not Holy Ghosts(plural).
So, God the Father sent Jesus, God the Son into the world, not to condemn the world (the world was already condemned), but to reconcile the world to Himself. This is God’s plan of salvation: To begin anew with a new creation, of which the Man Jesus being the second Adam is the firstborn of this new creation. How do we become partakers of this new creation?
Part 2 following, shall detail this process.