Jesus, the tent?
FITZGEREL@aol.com (FITZGEREL@aol.com)
Thu, 15 Oct 1998 15:43:08 EDT
In a message dated 10/15/98 12:10:30 PM Mountain Daylight Time,
Dunemus@AOL.COM writes:
<< << If we say that the spiritual reality was only God in this person,
then I think Jesus loses the divinity that was given Him by the Father. If
we say, the two natures were unified in Christ, we maintain that He is both
God and man. >>
I partially agree with your statement as well. However I don't believe that
the divinity was given to the flesh. I believe that Jesus is God because
when
I step outside of him, I see him physically as a man. A man in every way
like
us "except sinless." But in actuality, God the Father, is dwelling on the
inside. The man was so submissive that every time he spoke, He was under
the
control of the spirit.
If we say that God gave his divinity to the Son (speaking of the Son as
a
man), then we are saying that there are two Gods. God the Father and God
the
Son. This is binitarianism. Bishop S. N. Hancock, Founder of the PCAF
taught this doctrine. The PCAF (Pentecostal Churches of the Apostolic
Faith),
still struggles with this doctrine. Some of it's members are still affected
by this doctrine, even though it's current presiding prelate is oneness.
The term God is not equated to the Son in the scriptures. It says Son
of God. Not God the Son. I think of the Son as the creation, the
handiwork,
and the tool of God. It is certainly the body that God chose to use. And
this body was definitely created by God. God built himself to dwell in. And
this he did.
To wit, God was *in* Christ, reconciling the world unto himself.
Don't misunderstand me. Every fiber of Jesus was God. And every fiber
was a man. But herein lies the difference. The man is not the Spirit, And
the Spirit is not the man. A spirit has no flesh, neither is flesh,
intangible.
Remember that
As flesh - Jesus was born of a woman
As Spirit - He created and chose his mother
As flesh - He had a beginning and an end
As Spirit - He was from eternity past and shall be into eternity to come
As a man - Was tempted in every point like us but without sin
As our God - Could not be tempted with evil
After the flesh - He was David's Son
After the Spirit - He was David 's Father
And this is the kicker!!
As flesh - He didn't know the day nor hour of His own coming to earth
As Spirit - He knew all things. And proved it many times. (Need I give
example?)
Now how could he not even know the day or hour if He didn't have a mind
outside of the Father. By this I mean, If he didn't have a human mind,
spirit and will, separate from the Father's mind, spirit, and will, how is
it possible that he didn't know things that the Father in Him did.
It is only explainable if we understand that in Jesus Christ were two
natures. As A whole, Jesus is God. But getting a little closer we can see
the difference between his divinity and his humanity. Not a separation of
persons. Only of natures. Without this understanding, we arrive at
Binitarianism, And Binitarianism leaves the door open to the possibility of
Trinitarianism.
Conclusions
-The Spirit cannot be flesh
-The flesh cannot be spirit
-God is a Spirit
-The flesh is not God
-The Father is NOT the Son
-Jesus Christ is the Father and the Son
-Jesus is the only God
Marlon
>>
I would just like to add in concurrence with Marlon, that God was not a robot.
That His flesh did indeed have a will of its own. The Bible says that He
learned obedience through the things that He suffered. The Spirit of God that
dwelt within Him experience our plight as Jesus was tempted, and He came for
that purpose. Where once God told Moses to get out of the way so he could
destroy the children of Israel, now through His flesh He has become our High
Priest and is constantly before the throne of God "Spirit" making intercession
for us. When I cry out to Him in repentance, although He didn't sin, yet He
identifies with my weakness, because He robed himself in out weakness. But
because He was God manifested in the flesh, He conquered sin in the flesh.
Because the sting or power of sin is death and when He became sin on the cross
and died, death could not hold him and up from the grave he came, being the
first of many sons of God to cheat death out of its victim. I am thankful
that God shed His blood to satisfy the demands of the sin. Enough for now.
Pastor Fitzgerel