by
Finis Dake
(1949)
FOREWORD: As I agree with Dake about 99% on this topic of the
facts about Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior, I will not try to
re-invent the wheel but give you Finis Dakes study. Now Dake did
believe that the Holy Sprit was a THIRD bodily person of the
Godhead - which I do NOT believe the Scriptures teach, hence I
have edited those portion where he so taught. I have used *** in
a few places to give emphasis - Keith Hunt.
THE TRUTH ABOUT JESUS CHRIST
The facts ... about God apply to the Lord Jesus Christ in His
preincarnate state as a Spirit Being, for He is one of the ...
distinct Spirit Beings making the Deity or Godhead. Until about
nineteen hundred years ago the second person of the Deity had the
same kind of Spirit body, personal soul, and spirit that the
Father ... still have. At that time one of the ... divine persons
... took human form to redeem the world. This is what has made
the difference between the members of the Godhead during the last
nineteen hundred years. The following study concerns the person
of the Lord Jesus Christ as the manifestation of the invisible
God among men:
1. THE PRE-EXISTENCE OF JESUS CHRIST
The Bible declares that the person we now know as Jesus Christ
was one of the ... divine persons of the Deity and that as God He
had no beginning. It is this time before He became a man that we
refer to as His pre-existence. Technically, there is no such
thing as existence before Him as God, but He existed before He
became a man. Mic.5:1-2 speaks of Him as existing from all
eternity. John speaks of Him as existing in the very beginning
with the Father (John 1:1-5). Jesus speaks of Himself as being
before Abraham and before the world was created (John 8:5,8; 17:
5,24). Paul speaks of Him as existing before all things and as
the Creator and Upholder of all things (Col.1:15-18; Heb.1:1-3,
8; 2:10). God the Father created all things by Him (Eph.3:9) and
the Holy Spirit (Gen.1:2).
II. THE DEITY OF JESUS CHRIST
1. DIVINE NAMES AND TITLES ARE ASCRIBED TO HIM. The following
list of divine names and titles given to Jesus proves that He is
by nature divine and a member of the Godhead. He is called God
and Immanuel (Matt.1:23; John 1:1; 20:28; Acts 20:28); Lord (Luke
19:34; Acts 2:36); Lord of All (Acts 10:36); Lord of Glory
(1 Cor. 2:8); Wonderful, Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting
Father, Prince of Peace (Isa.9:6-7); Christ the Lord (Luke 2:26);
The Son of God (Matt.4:3; 14:33; Luke 22:70; John 1:34; Rom.1:4);
His Son (Matt.22:45; John 3:1618); My Son (Matt.3:17); The Only
Begotten Son (John 1:18; 3:16-18; 1 John 4:9); The First and the
Last, Alpha and Omega, The Beginning and the Ending (Rev.22:12,
13,16); The Lord (Acts 9:17); The Son of the Highest (Luke 1:32;
Mark 14:61); The Bread of God (John 6:33); The Holy One of God
(Mark 1:24); Thy Holy Child Jesus (Acts 4:30); King of Kings and
Lord of Lords (Rev.19:16); Lord and Saviour (2 Pet.3:2); and The
Word of God (Rev.19:13).
These and many other names and titles in Scripture prove the
Deity of Jesus Christ. Some of these are used hundreds of times
in Scripture. We must believe in the divinity of Christ if we are
going to believe the Bible.
2. DIVINE ATTRIBUTES ARE ASCRIBED TO HIM. This is clear from
Phil.2:5-11 where Paul speaks of Christ being in God's form and
that He laid aside this form and limited His attributes and
powers as God to become a man. Then after His earthly limitation
He had these powers given back to Him, as we shall see in Point
VIII below.
3. DIVINE OFFICES ARE ASCRIBED TO HIM. HE is called the Creator
(John 1:3; Col.1:16; Heb.1:1-3); Mediator (1 Tim.2:4-5; Heb.8:6);
Head o f the Church (Eph.1:22; Col.1:16-24); Saviour (2 Pet.
3:2); Judge (2 Tim.4:1); Preserver (Heb.1:1-3); Life Giver (John
10:28; 17:2); Lord and Christ (Acts 2:36); the Resurrection and
the Life (John 11:25).
These and many other offices and works of Christ prove Him to be
divine and one with the Father as part of the Deity. He is called
the fellow and equal to God as to divinity (Zech. 13:7; John
5:17-23; 10:30-38; 17:10).
4. DIVINE CHARACTER IS ASCRIBED TO HIM. All ordinary men are
sinners by nature (Ps.51:5; Eph.3:1-3; Rom.5:12-21). Christ is
holy by birth (Luke 1:35), righteous (Isa.53:11; Heb.1:9),
faithful (Isa.11:5; 1 Thess.5:24), true (John 1:14; 14:6), just
(John 5:30), guileless (1 Pet.2:22), sinless (2 Cor.5:21),
spotless (1 Pet.1:19), innocent (Matt.27:4), harmless (Heb.
7:26), obedient to God (John 15:10; Heb.5:8-10) and to His
earthly parents (Luke 2:51), zealous (John 2:17), meek (Matt.
11:29), lowly in heart (Matt.11:29), merciful (Heb.2:17), patient
(Isa.53:7), long-suffering (1 Tim.1:16), compassionate (Matt.
15:32), benevolent (Acts 10:38), loving (John 15:13),
self-denying (2 Cor.8:9), humble (Phil.2:5-11), resigned (Luke
22:42), and forgiving (Luke 23:34).
5. THE WORKS OF GOD ARE ASCRIBED TO HIM (John 1:3; Col.1:15-18;
Heb.1:1-3,10; John 5:19-23; Rev 3:14).
6. DIVINE WORSHIP WAS GIVEN TO HIM (Matt.4:9-10; 14:33; 28:9;
Luke 24:52; John 5:23; 14:14; Acts 7:59; Rom.10:9-13; Heb. 1:6;
Phil.2:10-11; Rev.5:12-14). Angels and men both worship Him, but
they both refuse all such worship for themselves (Acts 10:25-26;
Heb.1:6; Rev.22:8-9).
7. HIS NAME IS ASSOCIATED WITH THAT OF THE FATHER AND THE HOLY
SPIRIT AS BEING ONE OF ... THE DEITY (Matt.28:19; John 5:19-23;
14:1,23; 17:3; Rom.1:7; 2 Cor.13:14; 1 John 5:7-8; Rev.5:13;
7:10; 20:6).
8. EQUALITY WITH GOD IN DIVINITY IS DEFINITELY STATED (John
5:19-29; Phil.2:5-11).
9. DIVINE CHARACTERISTICS ARE ASCRIBED TO HIM (John 5:19-29;
14:26; Heb.1:9).
10. He is expressly called "God" and "Lord" (John 1:1-3; 20:28;
Acts 2:36; 20:28).
111. THE HUMANITY OF JESUS
1. HUMAN NAMES ARE ASCRIBED TO HIM: Rabboni (John 20:16), Messiah
or Christ (John 1:41; 4:25; Luke 2:26), Jesus (Matt.1:21), Master
(Matt.9:19), Son o f Man (Matt.8:20), Son of Mary (Mark 6:3), and
Son of Abraham and David (Matt.1:1), Seed and Offspring of David
(Rom.1:3; Rev.5:5; 22:16), The Second Man and The Last Adam (1
Cor.15:45-47), The King of the Jews (Matt.2:2), Lamb of God (John
1:29), and other names which prove His humanity.
2. HE IS CALLED A "BABE," A "CHILD," AND A "MAN" (Luke 2:16; Isa.
9:6; Acts 17:31; 1 Tim.2:4-5; Rom.5:12-21; John 8:40; Acts 2:22;
1 Cor.15:21,45-47).
3. PROPHECY THAT HE WAS TO BE BORN OF A HUMAN MOTHER PROVES HIS
HUMANITY (Gen.3:15; Isa.7:14; 9:6-7; 11:1; 53:1-12; Ps.22).
4. HISTORY RECORDING HIS CONCEPTION AND BIRTH OF A WOMAN PROVES
HIS HUMANITY (Matt.1:18-25; 2:2; Luke 1:32-35; 2:1-52; Gal.4:4).
5. HE HAD FLESH AND BLOOD LIKE ALL OTHER MEN (John 1:14; Heb.
2:14-15; 1 John 4:1-6; Luke 24:39; John 19:34).
6. HE HAD A HUMAN BODY (FLESH AND BONE - NO BLOOD NEEDED AS HE
WAS NOW IMMORTAL - KEITH HUNT) EVEN AFTER THE RESURRECTION (Luke
24:39; John 20:27).
7. HE HAD HUMAN LIMITATIONS AND PASSIONS LIKE MEN: He
wept (John 11:35), hungered (Matt.4:1-11), thirsted (John 4:7;
19:28), slept (Matt.8:24), grew weary (John 4:6), sorrowed (Isa.
53:3-4), suffered physical agony (Luke 22:44), craved sympathy
(Matt.26:36-40; Luke 22:15-27), was tempted in all points as men
(Heb.4:14-16), suffered physical death (John 19:30; 1 Cor.15:3),
and endured many human sufferings, as we shall see.
8. HE WAS HUMAN IN ALL THINGS and was subject to physical,
mental, and moral conditions of existence as other men (Heb.
2:14-17; 4:14-16).
9. HE LIVED A NORMAL HUMAN LIFE in total dependence upon God in
prayer and faith for daily grace for body, soul, and spirit, as
all human beings should do (John 5:30-46; 6:57; 7:16; 8:27-29;
Heb.5:7-9; Phil.2:5-10).
10. HE WAS LIMITED IN WISDOM, KNOWLEDGE, AND POWER LIKE OTHER MEN
AND WAS SUBORDINATE TO THE FATHER, as we shall see in Point VIII
below. In fact, His human nature is denied only by antichrists
and demons (1 John 2:18-23; 4:1-6).
IV. THE UNION OF THE TWO NATURES OF JESUS CHRIST
The above-indicated studies on the divinity and humanity of Jesus
Christ prove that He was a Divine-human Being. The orthodox
theory holds that the two natures of Christ were both complete in
themselves yet so organically and indissolubly united that no
third nature is formed thereby. It forbids us to divide the
person and confound the two natures of Jesus Christ. Being truly
divine He is a true representative of God, and being truly human
He is a true representative of man.
Christ constantly spoke of Himself as a single person and not as
two persons in one. There is no interchange of speech between the
two natures as between two persons. The attributes and powers of
both natures are ascribed to the one person so that they are
operated as part of a single individual. There is no double
personality, but one single unit of characteristics of both the
human and the divine. ***Just as any father and mother impart
certain traits to the offspring, making a single person with
characteristics of both parents, so the human and the divine were
united in the one person of Jesus Christ-with one body, soul, and
spirit and with one consciousness and one will.***
The Fatherhood of God and the motherhood of Mary produced a
single personality. After all, it must be remembered that God
made man with the same bodily parts as He has in His Spirit body,
only our bodies are earthly and human and His is spiritual and
divine. He made man with the same kind of soul with feelings,
emotions, passions, desires, and appetites, capable of the same
soul-acts as He Himself was, only our soul is finite and His is
infinite. He made man with a spirit with all the attributes and
powers that He has, capable of the same acts; only our spirits
are finite and His is infinite. In other words, man is endowed
with exactly the same traits, characteristics, attributes,
powers, feelings, and passions as God, only on a finite scale.
With this in mind one can see that the soul and spirit faculties
that were born in Jesus Christ by a divine Father and a human
mother were exactly the same as in any other being like God; so
when Christ acted and used any one attribute or power as a man it
was like the exercise of God in the same aspects, only His
faculties were perfectly untainted with the fall and its effects.
When Christ acted He was like man before the fall and not like
sinful man since the fall. Every fallen man when he is re-created
in Christ and made a new creature is capable of proper exercise
of his faculties in holy and lawful uses....
We may express it this way: man in his unfallen state acted
exactly like God in the exercise of his faculties, only his
attributes and powers were limited. He was capable of the same
powers and acts only on a finite scale. What is finite in man is
infinite in God. Holy man when he is energized and acted upon and
endued with supernatural powers can exercise his natural
attributes and faculties in a supernatural degree or measure,
depending upon what extent he is yielded to and energized by the
Spirit of God. For example, Christ and the disciples when endued
with power from on high were capable of God-action to destroy sin
and sickness as much as if God Himself were doing the work
without using them as instruments.
It must also be remembered that men when born again (begotten
again - not yet born - Keith Hunt) become partakers of the divine
nature and to the extent to which that nature controls and works
in and through their created faculties they live divine lives and
do divine works. In such men the created faculties are liberated
from evil acts and evil powers and become acts of divine energy
through the Holy Spirit. Just as Christ was perfectly helpless in
Himself and acted, spoke, worked, lived, and did all things
through the anointing of the Holy Spirit, the believer to the
extent that he becomes like Christ becomes God-inspired and
God-energized and God-operated ... Thus the Christian fully
living in the fullness of God lives a divine-human life in the
Holy Spirit by the very presence and power of God in the human
soul and spirit.
If we can understand these things, we certainly can understand
how God could become so perfectly human and yet remain so
perfectly divine as to be a perfect union - God and man in one
personality. Whether the divine attributes and powers of God in
Christ were limited and to what extent is a great question in
Christian circles. Whether He laid them aside entirely for a
time, or whether they were possessed by Him and voluntarily
limited will always be a point of controversy. However, this much
is settled that He was limited in the days of His flesh, as we
shall see in Point VIII below; whether He was limited
constitutionally or voluntarily is not the point. It is a fact
that if it were done constitutionally it was nevertheless
voluntary as stated in John 10:18; Heb.10:5-9. He was not forced
to do one thing. Everything was a voluntary action on His part.
It matters not whether it was constitutional, or whether He still
retained all the divine powers and attributes in His person and
chose to limit their use for His time of life on Earth; the fact
remains that He was limited as a man, and if His choice was so
powerful as to do away with all use of them, what is the
difference between laying them aside and still retaining them
without power to use them?
It was important that He limit Himself as a man to set the right
example for man so that he can be inspired to live like God on
Earth by the same means Christ used. For all the arguments about
His having two personalities, two natures in one personality,
human nature without personality, or divine nature without human
traits - ***the fact will always remain that He was both human
and divine, and if some cannot understand the how of it, the fact
of it can be believed and must be if we want harmony of all
Scriptures. *** One certainty is that His human nature had no
separate existence before its union with the divine and is not in
itself a separate personality from the divine person who became
incarnated in human flesh.***
It was not only important that He have two natures, human and
divine, for the sake of man, but also for the sake of God, to be
a true mediator between God and man. His twofold nature gives Him
fellowship with both parties and capability of representing both
to reconcile both. As God He can uphold the dignity of Deity, and
as man He can be truly sympathetic and meet the needs of man.
Because He is God His atonement has infinite value and effect.
A further discussion of the dual natures will be given under
Point VIII below.
V. JESUS CHRIST IS NOT THE FATHER OR THE HOLY SPIRIT
Many are misled in making Jesus the only person in the Godhead
and more than what the Bible says He is and they rob the Father
and the Holy Spirit ... and make them less than what the Bible
says they are, thus depriving them of their rightful and separate
places in the unity of God ...
The following Points prove that Jesus Christ is not the Father or
the Holy Ghost:
1. The Father was in Heaven all the time that Jesus was on Earth;
so the Father could not have been incarnated in Jesus (Matt.
5:16,45,48; 6:1,9; 7:21; 16:17; 18:10; 23:9).
2. Jesus said He would confess men "BEFORE MY FATHER" and "
BEFORE THE ANGELS" and this He could not do if He were not a
separate person from the Father and the angels (Matt.10:32-33;
Luke 12:8-9; Rev.3:2-5). Such language would permit Him to be the
angels as much as it would permit Him to be the Father.
The word "before" means in the presence of, or face to face with,
and requires both the Father and the angels to be distinct
persons from Jesus. This word could never be used if only one
person were involved, any more than it could be in 1,767 similar
expressions in Scripture (Matt.14:6; 17:2; 1 Tim.5:19-20; 6:13;
Rev.4:5-6; 5:8; 7:9,11,15; 8:2; etc.).
3. Jesus always prayed to the Father and addressed Him as a
separate person from Himself (Matt.11:25; 26:39,42-46; Luke
10:21; 22:42; 23:34; John 11:41; 12:28; 17:1-25). In no place do
we read of the Father praying to anyone, but the Son constantly
prays to someone else outside of Himself.
4. The Father was OUTSIDE the body of Jesus protecting Him, so
could not be incarnated in Jesus, or be all of God INSIDE of
Jesus as some teach (Matt.2:12-23; 3:16-17; 17:5; Luke 22:39-46;
John 12:27-30).
5. All the Old Testament prophets quoted in the New Testament
prove that the Father is a separate person from the Son, for it
was the Father who spoke "by the prophets" and "through the
Spirit" CONCERNING the Son (Heb.1:1-3; Acts 3:21; Rom.1:1-4; 1
Pet.1:1-16; 2 Pet.1:21). Note THE SPEAKER and the person SPOKEN
OF in Matt.2:15,23; 4:6; 12:17-21; 22:41; 27:9-11; Luke 4:16-21;
24:27,44-46; John 18:9; Acts 2:22-34; 3:13-24; 4:25-31; 7:2-50;
8:32-37; 10:34-43; 13:23-41; Heb.2:3-9; 5:5-10). Human language
means nothing in the Bible if two ... are not understood in such
statements as these passages.
6. Both Jesus and Satan refer to the Father as a separate person
from the Son. "HE [one person] shall give HIS angels charge
CONCERNING THEE" (Jesus, the Son of the Father, another person,
Matt.4:6).
7. Jesus constantly referred to the Father as a separate person
from Himself and as being separated bodily from Him as far as the
Heaven is above the Earth (Matt.7:21; 10:32-33; 11:27; 15:13;
16:17,27; 18:10-35; 20:23; Mark 12:32; John 5).
8. The New Testament writers called the Father, "The God and
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ," but such could never be if He
were the Lord Jesus Christ (Eph.1:3,17; 3:14; 1 Pet.1:3; Matt.
27:46; John 20:17).
9. The phrases "the Son of the Father" (2 John 3), "his Father"
(Matt.16:27; Rev.1:6; 14:1), "my Father" (used 57 times, Matt.
7:21; John 15:1; Rev 2:27; 3:5; etc.), "my God" (John 20:17; Rev.
3:12), and other like statements made by Jesus of His Father and
by others of God being the Father of Jesus could not be true if
Jesus were the Father and the only person called God. If Jesus
spoke of God the Father as being His Father and His God, then He
either lied or told the truth. Such language demands of us to
believe in another person who is the God and Father of Jesus
Christ. Not once did Jesus or any Bible writer use such terms as
Jesus, the Father, the Father Jesus, spirit-Jesus, Father Jesus,
one person in the Godhead, Jesus only, and other unscriptural
terms used by some people.
10. Jesus in parables illustrates His relationship to the Father
as that of a Son and as a separate person from the Father (Matt.
21:33-46; Luke 20:9-18; John 15:1-10). To believe in only one
person as being both the Father and Son in these passages is to
make Jesus a plain liar. If He said He was "the vine" and the
Father was "the husbandman" (John 15) and if God the Father is
compared to "a certain householder" and the Son is compared to
"his son" and "heir," then this relationship is the truth and
nothing but the truth, thus distinguishing two persons known as
"the Father" and "the Son" (Matt.21:33-46; Luke 20:9-18).
11. Jesus taught men to go directly to the Father in all prayer
and not pray to Him at all: "YE SHALL ASK ME NOTHING .... Ask the
Father IN MY NAME, he will give it you" (John 14:12-15; 15:16;
16:23-28). What could be clearer than that Jesus is not the
Father? If men are commanded to "ASK ME NOTHING" but to "ASK THE
FATHER" instead, then He is not the Father. ***It is one of the
most unreasonable doctrines under the sun to teach that Jesus and
His Father are one and the same person and that the body of Jesus
is the Son and the inner man of Jesus is the Father.*** It is
ridiculous to ask men to pray to one part of a person in the name
of another part of the same person, or to call two parts of one
person by different names - one part called the Father, or inner
part, and another part called the Son, or the body part, one part
to be the authority to go to the other part in prayer, or more
ridiculous still, as some people do, to ignore the Father part
and pray only to the Son, or body part. If the language of Jesus
does not refer to two persons, then we have to conclude that He
did not know how to use the human language.
12. On certain occasions Jesus thanked the Father, "looking up to
Heaven," where the Father dwelled (not looking inside of Himself
to a Father that dwelled within (John 11:41; Matt. 26:25-27; Mark
8:6; 14:23). Was Jesus giving thanks to Himself and teaching us
by example self-praise and self-worship, or was there a real
Father OUTSIDE of Him who dwelled in Heaven as a separate person?
13. Many statements were made concerning the Father that could
not have been true of Jesus: the Father was in Heaven while Jesus
was on Earth (Matt.5:1, 48); the Father knew things that Jesus
did not know (Matt.10:29-31; Mark 13:32; Acts 1:7; Rev.1:1); the
Father was "good," but Jesus did not claim any such quality in
Himself (Matt.19:17); the Father was on a throne, and Jesus was
not (Matt.23:22); Jesus is coming in the glory of the Father and
not in His own glory (Matt.16:27); Jesus prayed to the Father and
never to Himself (Matt.26:39-42; John 17); Jesus prophesied that
He would be exalted at the right hand of the Father (Matt.
26:64), and later the apostles said He was there (Acts 2:33-36;
Eph.1:20; Col.3:1; Heb.1:3; 8:1; 12:2; Rom.8:34). Stephen
actually saw Jesus with his own eyes on God's right hand (Acts
7:56-59). Jesus committed His spirit to God the Father at death,
proving He died, but the Father did not die (Luke 23:46). Others
saw Jesus as a separate person from the Father (Dan.7:9-14; Rev.
5:1-7).
14. Jesus claimed that He was SENT BY God, that HE CAME FROM God,
and that He WAS GOING BACK TO God (Matt.15:24; John 3:16-18, 34;
5:30,36-37; 6:29-40,44,57; 7:16,28-29; 8:16-18,29,42; 9:4; 10:36;
11:42; 12:45,49; 15:21; 16:5; 17:3,8,21-25; Gal.4:4; 1 John 4:9).
These Scriptures would not make sense if only one person were
referred to. The sense in which God sent Jesus is the same sense
in which Jesus sent His disciples (John 17:18; 20:21) and the
same sense in which the Father and the Son sent the Spirit into
the world (John 14:16-17,26; 15:26; 16:7-15). Being sent does not
make the one sent the same person as the one who sends. If so,
then the disciples all became Jesus Christ when they were sent by
Him.....
15. Jesus plainly told Peter that His Father in Heaven was not
"flesh and blood," and He told the Samaritan woman His Father and
His God was "Spirit" (Matt.16:16-17; John 4:24; 19:34). Because
Jesus was flesh and blood and did not claim to be "spirit" ... He
could not be the Father (Luke 24:39; John 19:34; Rom.8:3).
16. Peter received a revelation from the Father in Heaven of the
Sonship of Jesus (Matt.16:17) and also actually heard the
Father's voice from Heaven say of the Son on Earth, "This is my
beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him" (Matt.
17:5). Peter later testified that this voice came from Heaven and
that it was not a voice inside of Jesus (through practice of
ventriloquism). He said later that it came "FROM GOD the Father .
. . FROM the excellent glory . . . FROM Heaven" (2 Pet.1:16-18).
John the Baptist also heard this voice FROM Heaven while Jesus
was on Earth (Matt.3:16-17). They did not say Jesus was the
Father in Heaven speaking, and they never believed such.
17. The Jews never understood that Jesus claimed to be the
Father, but that He claimed to be the Son, thus making Himself
equal with God (Matt.26:64; 27:40-43; John 5:17-35; 6:45;
8:13-38; 10:34-39; 19:7). If He had claimed to be the Father, the
only God, all of God, and the only person of the Godhead, they
would have had a just case against Him, for not one of the
prophets ever foretold this doctrine, but they did say that God
would have a Son as a separate person from Himself.
18. Jesus called the Father "my God" even after the resurrection
(John 10:17; Rev.3:12; Ps.22:1-10). He could not be His own
Father and His own God. If He were the only person in the
Godhead, this would be a false statement.
19. The angel Gabriel, "the angel of the Lord" (whom some sects
say was God Himself) did not know that Jesus was the only person
in the Godhead, for he spoke of a God still in Heaven and called
Jesus only "the Son of God" and "the Son of the Highest" (Matt.
1:18-25; Luke 1:19,27-38; 2:21).
20. All the angels in Heaven were as ignorant as Gabriel, for
they praised and gave glory to a "God in the highest," who was
outside of the baby Jesus in the manger (Luke 2:8-16). It would
not be a sin for us to believe that they, being just from Heaven
and having come from the Father in the highest and having more
intelligence than any man, knew that there was still a "God in
the highest," who was one person, and that Jesus in the manger on
Earth was another person.
21. Zechariah, Elizabeth, Mary, and Simeon were also ignorant of
the theory that the baby Jesus was the Father and all of God, for
they talked TO and PRAISED a "God" outside of the baby Jesus
(Luke 1:36-56,67,79; 2:25).
22. The shepherds also belonged to the ignorant class and were
deceived by the angels, if some human doctrines are right, for
they said, "The Lord hath made known to us" about the baby Jesus.
Jesus was a new-born child - and was not big enough to make
anything known to the shepherds; so if "the Lord" had made known
something to them, then there must be a "Lord" outside of Jesus,
who did this (Matt.2:12; Luke 2:8-38).
23. Mary and Joseph acted in utmost ignorance that all of God was
in the baby Jesus when they brought Him to the temple "to present
him to the Lord" (Luke 2:23). Who was this "Lord," or "Jehovah
God," they presented Him to? How could they present the only Lord
to Himself?
24. In Luke 2:40-52 we have some senseless expressions if there
is only one person in the Godhead. Jesus whom some say is the
only God and Father Himself, says, "I must be about MY FATHER'S
business." Luke said, "The grace of God was upon him. . . . Jesus
increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man."
What Luke really meant, according to some, was that the grace of
Himself was upon Himself and that Jesus the only God and His own
Father increased in wisdom and in favor with Himself and with
man. Common intelligence rebels against such foolishness. Is it
any wonder that the subject of God is so hard to understand if we
prefer such nonsense to good sense?
25. Even demons knew that Jesus was not the Father, for they
called Him "the Son of God," thus demonstrating sense enough to
know there must be a separate person from the Son if there was a
Father who had a Son. They also called Him Christ, thus proving
they had sense enough to know there had to be someone else to
anoint Him and make Him the Christ, or the anointed of God (Luke
4:34,41).
26. John the Baptist knew the Father, but he did not know the Son
in the wilderness, for "the word of God," or of a person called
God, came to him in the wilderness while Jesus was still at
Nazareth and told him how he would know the Son (Luke 3:2; John
1:31-34). Shall we believe that the inner man of Jesus was in
the wilderness speaking to John while only the body of Jesus was
at Nazareth dead? ... Shall we also believe that the Father God
and all of God was in the womb of Mary and yet filled John the
Baptist at the same time? If John was filled with the Holy Ghost
all these years as is clear from Luke 1:15, if he did not know
Jesus, and if he was not filled with Jesus, then Jesus could not
be the Holy Ghost. If John knew the Father and not the Son, knew
God and not Jesus, then Jesus could not be the Father and the God
that John knew. There must have been one person called God that
John knew and there must have been another person called Jesus,
Who was also Deity, that John did not know, thus proving two
persons.....
27. God "gave his only begotten Son," but He Himself remained in
Heaven; so there must be two separate persons referred to in John
3:16-18, 31-36; Matt.5:45-48; 18:19; etc. If it is true, as some
argue, that God the Father is the inner man of Jesus and the Son
was the body of Jesus, that God the Father gave Himself and died
Himself, and that the Father inside of Jesus could say of
Himself, "I created the body you see. I am the Father and this
body is my Son," then the phrase "Son of God" should be
understood as 'body of God;' "sons of God" should be 'bodies of
God;' "my Son" should be 'My body;' "my sons" should be 'My
bodies;' "his Son" should be 'His body;' "his sons" should be
'His bodies;' and "thy sons" should be 'Thy bodies.' It should
make sense in every Scripture to substitute "body" for "Son" and
"Son" for "body." Try "body" for "Son" in Matt.11:27; John 1:18;
3:16-18,35-36; 5:21,25-26; 10:36; Acts 3:13; 8:3; 9:20; Gal.
2:20; Rom.1:9; 5:10; 8:29; Heb.1:2; 11:17, and see how ridiculous
such an idea is.
...............
TO BE CONTINUED
All About Jesus the Christ #2
His Divinity and Humanity
by
Finis Dake
[1949]
If the body of Jesus was the Son of Jesus, and the inner man of
Jesus was the Father of Jesus, then how could the Father say to
the body, "I am the Son [body] of God?" If the Father inside was
talking to the Son outside, then the body could not be the Son.
How could the Son (body) be called "Jesus," as in Matt.1:21;
8:29; Mark 1:1; Acts 8:37; 1 Cor.1:9; 1 John 1:3,7; 3:23; 5:20;
2 John 3, and "Christ," as in Matt.16:16; 22:42; 26:63; Luke
4:4; John 20:31, if these two names have been the names of the
Father from all eternity, as some argue. The Son (body) had a
beginning in Mary 1900 years ago. These names were not the names
of God from all eternity, for they were names given to the Son
when He was born about 1900 years ago. Not one time are these
names used of either person of the Godhead until Jesus was born
and anointed by God the Father.
The word "Jesus" was the human name given to the Son of Mary
eight days after He was born (Matt.1:16,21; Luke 1:31-35;
2:21). It was and is still a common name like John, James, and
other names. Josephus mentions thirteen men who are called Jesus.
Several are mentioned in the New Testament (Acts 7:45; 13:6; Col.
4:11; Heb.4:8; Matt.1:21). Several in the Old Testament are
called "Joshua" and "Joshua" and hundreds of people throughout
history have been called Jesus and Joshua. If the New Testament
had been written in Hebrew instead of Greek Jesus would have been
called Joshua. The word "Jesus" is not an heavenly or divine
name. It is an earthly human name given to the second person of
the Godhead when he became a man. Therefore, it is His name as a
man and not His name as God.
The word "Christ" literally means "anointed" and is a name
applied to Jesus when He became the anointed of God. It is like
the word "Jesus," a name of his humanity, and of His anointing as
a man and not His name as God. It is the same as the Hebrew word
translated "Messiah" (Dan.9:24-27; John 1:41; 4:25). Jesus
became the anointed of God or Christ thirty years after He was
called Jesus. It was predicted in prophecy that God would make
Him the "Anointed" (Ps.2:1-12; 143 11-18; Isa.11:1-2; 42:1-5;
61:1-2). History records that the time He became the "Anointed"
of God was at His baptism (Matt.3:16-17; 12:15-20; Luke 3:21-22;
Acts 10:38). Jesus confirmed the time He became God's "Anointed"
(Luke 4:16:21). Jesus was anointed with the Holy Ghost and not
with oil. He was anointed because He was the Son of the Father
and it proves two persons - the one who anointed Him and the one
who was anointed. Passages such as Luke 2:26; Gal.3:17; 1 Pet.
1:11 should be understood in the same sense as we would say that
President George Washington was a surveyor. He was not this when
he was president, but since he became president we could speak of
any event of his life before he became president as what
President Washington did. So it is with Christ. Since He became
God's Christ we can now speak of Christ doing certain things even
before He was anointed.
28. The Bible never speaks of the Father dying, but it does say
that the Son died (Rom.5:10; Heb.6:6; John 3:16-18). The Son
died in the same sense that other men die ... This proves that
the Father and Son were two separate persons.
29. Jesus was "the only begotten of the Father" and "his only
begotten Son," and He had to be a separate person from the Father
in order to be begotten by the Father, and the Father had to be a
separate person from Jesus in order to beget Him (John 1:14, 18;
3:16-18; 31-36; 1 John 5:1). No person can beget himself, or be
begotten by himself, and no person can be his own father or son.
Neither can any person beget part of himself, or be begotten by
part of himself.
30. Many statements in the gospel of John prove that Jesus did
not claim to be the Father, but He did say that God was His
Father and His God (John 5:8-45; 10:18-36; 14:28; 20:17; Rev.
3:12); that God worked only through Him, and that He COULD DO
NOTHING OF HIMSELF (John 5:19,30); that He not only COULD NOT,
but that He DID NOT DO ANYTHING OF HIMSELF (John 5:30; 6:38;
8:28; 12:49-50); that He did only the Father's will and lived BY
THE FATHER, as men are to do His will and live BY HIM (John
6:57); and that the work of God was to believe on the one whom
the Father had sent (John 6:29; 3:2; 5:18; 8:54; 14:1).
He said that His doctrine was not His, but it was the Father's
(John 7:16-17; 8:26,38; 10:18; 12:49-50; 14:10-11; 17:8,14) and
that if anyone would do the will of God he should know that He
did not come and SPEAK OF HIMSELF, but that He spoke of the
Father who had sent Him (John 7:16-18).
He claimed that His message was true because He did not SPEAK OF
HIMSELF, but that He spoke of the Father (John 7:18; 5:30-38;
14:10-11), that He spoke only what He had HEARD FROM THE FATHER
(John 8:26-28,38-40), that He taught BY THE FATHER and that His
teaching was not of Himself (John 8:28), that He did not PLEASE
HIMSELF, but He lived to please the Father (John 8:29), that He
was the "Son" of the house and not the "Father" of it (John
8:35-36; Heb.3:6), and that He had THE SAME RELATION TO THE
FATHER that the Jews had to their father the devil (John 8:16, 3
5-44; 9:4).
He taught that He, Himself, honored the Father as all men should
(John 8:49); that He did not seek HIS OWN GLORY, but that there
was "one" (not Himself, but ANOTHER, the Father) that honored Him
and sought His glory (John 8:50,54; 12:26-28; 14:12-15; 17:1-5,
10); that He and the Father knew each other, but they were not
each other (John 8:55; 10:15); that the Father loved Him for His
unselfishness (it takes two people to love and be loved, John
10:17-18); that He had received commandments from the Father,
and they were not His own (John 10:18; 12:49-50; 15:10); and
that the Father gave Him His disciples (John 10:29; 17:1-25). He
further claimed that he was equal to the Father as to deity and
some things, but not equal in other things (Mark 13:32; John
5:17-39; 8:13-19,29-42; 19:18,24-29; Acts 1:7; 1 Cor.11:3;
Rev.1:1); that He was not a "Spirit" being like His Father
(Luke 24:39); John 4:24; Phil. 3:21); that He and the Father
were in each other (united as one) in the same sense He and the
believers were one (John 10:38; 14:10-11,23; 17:11,21-23; 2
Cor.5:17); and that He was the only way to the Father (John
14:6). Such simple language as that in all the above listed
passages cannot be understood except in connection with two
separate persons.
31. Jesus said that if He bore witness "of Himself" and if He was
the only one that did bare witness, His testimony would not be
true and He would not expect men to believe it any more than
civil courts would accept only one witness (John 5:21-23,36;
6:38; 7:16-17,28; 8:13-19,37,42,54; 12:44,49-50; 14:10-11;
17:1-25). God repeatedly said in both Testaments that "in the
mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established"
(Num.35:30; Deut.17:6-7; 19:15; Matt.18:16; Luke 24:48; Acts
1:8,22; 2:32; 5:32; 7:58; 10:31; 1 Thess.5:19; Heb.10:28-29;
12:1; Rev.11:5). Would God make a fixed law to establish truth
by two or three separate witnesses and then break His own law and
expect men to have confidence in Him? He would have no grounds to
punish man for rejection of God's witness if God were only one
person.....
Jesus continued by saying that He had greater proof or witness
than John the Baptist who had two witnesses, the Father and the
Holy Ghost (John 1:31-34; 5:36). John did not have the miracles
to confirm his word as did Jesus, who had the same two witnesses
that John had plus the miracles (John 2:11,23; 3:2; 4:54; 5:20,
36; 7:2,26; 7:31; 9:16; 10:25-37,41; 11:42-47; 14:10-12; 15:24).
When Jesus said, "I am not alone, but I [one person] and
the Father [another person] that sent me" and is with me also
bear witness, He simply stated that there were more persons in
the Godhead than He, thus fulfilling the Word of God concerning
more than one witness to establish a fact. He plainly said that
the two witnesses in this testimony were the Father and Himself.
"I am one that bears witness of myself, and the Father that sent
me [another person] beareth witness of me" (John 8:13-18,29;
16:32). Again, in John 8:29 He said, "The Father bath not left me
alone" and in John 16:32, "every man to his own and leave me
alone: and yet I am not alone, because the Father is with me."
What could be more clear in proving two distinct persons, called
"the Father" and "the Son," both of them equally God? On the
other hand, what foolish statements these are if Jesus is the
only person in the Godhead.
32. In the following eighty separate statements of Scripture by
Jesus Christ, He constantly affirmed that He was not the Father
and not the only person in the Godhead. The grammar of these
passages will not permit us to believe in only one person as
being referred to. Jesus is the speaker, but He is not the one
spoken of, as is made clear by reading these statements
concerning Him and His Father.
If we are not going to believe what God says in His revelation
concerning Himself, His Son, and the Holy Spirit, then He is
under no further obligation to give another revelation in order
to make the subject of God clear to men. If we will not believe
one revelation, we would not believe another. If we will believe
at all, then let us believe these scriptural facts of human
language concerning more than one person in the Godhead. Then we
will not have to teach that God is a mystery ... cannot be
understood, and the other foolish doctrines as expressed by men
who refuse to take the plain language used by God in the Bible
revealing the ... separate persons in the Godhead, as seen in
Matt.7:21; 10:32-33; 11:27; 15:13; 16:17; 18:10,19,35; 19:17;
20:23; 24:36; 25:34; 26:29,39,42,53; Luke 2:49; John 5:17,43;
6:32,65; 8:19,28,38,49,54; 10:17-18,25,29,30,32,37; 12:26-28;
14:7,12,20,21,28; 15:1,8,10,4,23; 16:23-26; 18:11; 20:17,21; Rev.
1:1; 2:27; 3:5,12; 5:1-7,13; 7:9,15-16; 10:6; 11:15; 12:10;
21:22-23; 22:1-5.
33. Jesus said that His Father was "greater than all" and
"greater than I" (John 10:29; 14:28). He then could not be the
Father. Paul also stated that the Father was the "head of Christ"
(1 Cor.3:23; 11:3).
34. God the Father said of Jesus, "my beloved Son" (Matt.
3:16-17; 17:5; Ps.2:7). Jesus said of Himself, "I am the Son of
God" (John 10:38). An angel declared Him to be "the Son of the
Highest" and "the Son of God" (Luke 1:32-35 ). Demons said He
was "the Son of God" (Mark 3:11) and "Son of the Most High God"
(Mark 5:7). Apostles stated repeatedly that Jesus was only "the
Son of God" (Matt.14:33; 16:16-17; Mark 1:1; John 11:27; 20:31;
Acts 9:20), "the only begotten OF THE FATHER" (John 1:14,18;
3:16-18), "his own Son" (Rom.8:32), "the Son of the Father" (2
John 3), and "his dear Son" by whom God the Father created all
things (Col.1:13-18). John said, "the Father sent the Son to be
the Saviour of the world" (1 John 4:14); so there must be two
separate persons referred to. John the Baptist also bare record
"that this was the Son of God" (John 1:31-34). Others confessed
that Jesus was "the Son of God" (Mark 15:39; 1 John 1:49; Acts
9:37), but not once did God, angels, demons, or men say that He
was the Father.
35. Both the Father and the Son talked to each other in audible
voices at the same time and place, and both voices were heard by
a number of witnesses; so there had to be two persons who had
their own separate bodies, voices, minds, etc., to be able to
speak to each other in the same sense other persons do.
(Matt.3:16-17; 17:5; John 12:27-30; 2 Pet.1:17).
36. Jesus taught that when men receive Him they also receive the
Father, as when men receive Christ's disciples they also receive
Christ (Matt.10:39-41). This does not mean that the Father and
the Son were the same person any more than it proves that Christ
and the disciples become one person when men receive Christ
through them. Separate persons are involved in both statements,
as is clear.
37. God the Father is called "he" (John 14:16); God the Son is
called "he" (John 8:23-25) ... so if personal pronouns are used
of each person in making a distinction between them as is done
with other persons, there must be ... separate persons.
38. Christ is symbolized by "the vine," and the Father is spoken
of as "the husbandman" in John 15:1-16. It is just as intelligent
to call any vine its own keeper and both of them one person as to
do so here. This figure clearly proves two persons.
39. Jesus taught that He and the Father had the same relationship
to each other as did He and His disciples (John 15:10). Such
relationship proves more than one person. One person could not
have such relationship by Himself as is required of separate
persons in this passage.
40. The word "both" means "two" and is used of the Father and the
Son, thus proving two persons (John 15:24; 2 John 9).
41. The word "also" is used of the Father and Son, thus proving
two separate persons (John 5:19, 27; 8:19; 13:32; 14:1).
42. Jesus again speaks of Himself and the Father as "two"
persons: "They have not known the Father [one person] nor me"
(another person). Again, "I go my way to him that sent me (John
16:3,5). Then He speaks of Himself and the Spirit ... Jesus did
not say that He would come back as the Holy Ghost, but that He
would stay in Heaven and "send him unto you," as fulfilled in
Acts 2:33-36.
If those who believe in only one person in the Godhead are not
capable of understanding the most simple human language, then
their case is hopeless.
43. Jesus used personal pronouns in referring to Himself and the
Father (John 14:23; 17:1-25; etc.) He used the first, second, and
third personal pronouns of Himself, the Father, and the Holy
Spirit; and not once do we find Him misusing them (John 14:12-17,
23-26; 15:1-26; 16:7-15; 17:1-25). If they were used rightly,
then there must be separate persons in the Godhead. John 17 alone
has 162 personal pronouns used by Jesus to and of Himself, of the
Father, and of His disciples. He repeatedly calls the true God
"Father" and calls Himself "thy Son." He prayed for the disciples
to be "one" as He and the Father were "one," and this could not
refer to "one person" but "one" in unity. Jesus used "I" and
"me," first personal pronouns, in referring to Himself, and
"thou," "thee," and ,thine," second personal pronouns, in
referring to the Father, whom He was addressing. He used "they"
and "them" in referring to the disciples for whom He was praying
and "we" and "us" when referring to Himself and His Father,
proving that He and His Father were more than one person as much
as the disciples were.
44. Jesus said, "All power is given unto me in Heaven and in
Earth" (Matt.28:18). Somebody had to give Him this power, and He
had to be greater than Jesus, or He would not have it to give.
The only one Jesus said was "greater than I" is the Father (John
14:28). The apostles later confirmed this fact of the Father
being greater than Jesus, for they said that the Father was "the
head of Christ" (1 Cor.11:3), that Jesus had been exalted by the
Father above everyone else (1 Cor.14:24-28; Eph.1:20-23; Phil.
2:8-11; Heb.1:1-3; 12:2; 1 Pet.3:22), and that the Father had
made Jesus both "Lord and Christ" (Acts 2:33-36), the heir of all
things (Heb.1:2; Rom.8:17), the medium of approach to God (Heb.
1:4; John 3:16-18; Acts 4:12; 1 John 3:23; 5:13), and the source
of redemption to men (1 Cor.1:30). These facts prove the Father
to be a separate person from the Son.
45. Jesus said that He was the same that He claimed to be "from
the beginning" (John 8:25). Because He always claimed to be only
the Son and not the Father, we can rely upon the fact that He
could not be the Father. The statement "He that hath seen me hath
seen the Father" (John 14:9), does not say that He was the
Father. The Greek word for seen is 'horao,' to discern, to
experience, perceive, comprehend. Like the English word seen, it
means here to truly comprehend and not only to see with the eyes,
as it is used in John 1:18; 6:46; 8:38; 1 John 3:6; 2 John 11.
No statement in John 14 says that Jesus was the Father in person,
but six times this chapter makes it clear that He was not the
Father:
(1) "Ye believe in God [one person], believe ALSO in me" (John
14:1-2).
(2) "In my Father's house [not my house] are many mansions"
(John 14:1-2).
(3) "No man cometh UNTO THE FATHER, but BY ME"
(John 14:6).
(4) "If ye had known ME [Jesus], ye should have
known MY FATHER [another person] ALSO" (John 14:7).
(5) "He that hath seen [comprehended, experienced] ME [one
person] hath seen [comprehended, experienced] THE FATHER (another
person, John 14:9). In John 1:18 it is stated that no man had
"seen" (fully comprehended) the Father save Christ, who came to
reveal and declare God to men. If Christ came truly to
demonstrate God, then John 14:9 proves He had succeeded in
bringing God to men in actual demonstration of Him by His own
life.
(6) "I [one person] am in the Father [another person] and the
Father in me. . . . I speak NOT OF MYSELF; but the Father that
dwelleth in me, HE DOETH THE WORKS. I [Jesus] go to the Father,"
so He could not be the Father (John 14:10-15). "He that hath
seen me hath seen the Father" is a statement of true
representation of another person (1 John 2:6; 3:3,7; 4:17; 1
Cor.11:1; Phil.4:9; 2 Cor.3:1-3,18; Rom.8:29). One who is
truly like Christ as He was like the Father can say, "He that
hath seen me hath seen Jesus Christ."
VI. THE THEORY OF ETERNAL SONSHIP DISCUSSED
..............
TO BE CONTINUED
It is only in the last 10 years or so that I have heard about the
teaching that "God" or the "Godhead" is just ONE person - One
person who can be the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, at
any time, or can be all three at any given time, but still remain
as ONE person. Now, you go figure that one out.
Then it is also within about the last 10 years that I have heard
the teaching that God is NO PERSON at all, that God or the
Godhead, is simply too much to be confined to a literal "personal
being" and so God must not be thought of as any kind of a literal
being. So I guess to those people who hold such an idea of God,
then God is just a MIGHTY NOTHINGNESS. I have answered this
"nothingness God" teaching in another study on my Website.
As Finis Dake has shown so far, the Scriptures on this subject of
God the Father and Jesus Christ, being TWO SEPARATE PERSONAL
BEINGS is as clear and as plain as the sun shining in a cloudless
sky. The truth of the matter is taught to us OVER AND OVER again
in the pages of the Bible, especially the New Testament
Keith Hunt
All About Jesus the Christ #3
His Divinity and Humanity
by
Finis Dake
V1. THE THEORY OF ETERNAL SONSHIP DISCUSSED
The word Son in connection with Jesus does not refer to His
Deity, but to His humanity. AS GOD, Christ had no beginning, was
not begotten, was not the firstborn, was not born, and therefore,
was not a Son; but AS MAN HE had a beginning, was begotten, was
the first-born of God, was born, and therefore became the Son of
God. If one believed sonship referred to Deity, then he would
have to believe that this person of Deity had a beginning, and
was not always God, was not always in existence, and therefore,
was not an eternal and self-existent Being. It is plainly stated
in Micah 5:2; John 1:1-2; Col.1:17; Rev.1:8-18; John 17:5 that He
had no beginning AS GOD and that He was as eternal and
self-existent as the Father and the Holy Spirit. On the other
hand, AS MAN it is plainly stated that He had a beginning. Note
the following simple statements of Scripture that AS MAN and AS A
SON He did have a beginning, proving sonship refers to humanity
and not to Deity.
(1) "Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise. . . . she
was found with child of the Holy Ghost. . . . that which is
conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost. And she shall bring forth
a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his
people from their sins" (Matt.1:18-25). This proves that God had
a Son at the same time Mary did, and neither had a Son before
this. This Son was "Immanuel . . . . God with us," but before the
second person of the Godhead came to be with us AS MAN, HE could
only exist AS GOD. AS GOD the second person of the God-head is
never called the Son of God, but when He became man by becoming
the Son of both Mary and God, He is called "The Son of God."
The only references to His Sonship before He became the Son of
Mary and God were in prophecies foretelling this event (Isa.
7:14; 9:6-7; Prov.30:4; Ps.2:7, 12; Heb.1:5-6). That He was "The
Son of God" and appeared in the fiery furnace as such in Dan.3 is
not stated anywhere. It was the heathen king that said "the form
of the fourth is like the Son of God," literally, like a Son of
God, as in the margin. In this appearance the being was an angel
(Dan.3:28) and not the second person of the Godhead who later
became man and the Son of Mary and God. To this heathen king any
being like an angel would be called a Son of God, because he
believed in many gods and offspring of gods. He knew nothing of
the true God, much less that He would someday have a Son born of
a woman.
(2) "Thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and
shalt call his name JESUS. He shall be great, and shall BE CALLED
THE SON OF THE HIGHEST.... 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" (Luke 1:31-35). If God or Mary had a Son before
this, when was it born? Certainly this was the first time Mary
had a son, for she "brought forth her firstborn son: and called
his name JESUS" (Matt.1:25). This was also the first time God had
a Son, for Mary's child is also called God's "first-born" in the
same sense He was Mary's "first-born" (Matt.1:25; Ps.89:27; Col.
1:15; Heb.1:5-7).
If God had a Son before this, then Jesus is the second-born Son
and not "firstborn" and "the only begotten Son" of God, as in
John 1:18; 3:16-18,35-36, and in the passages listed above. Or,
if Sonship refers to Deity, then He became God's Son twice; once
sometime back in eternity and again when God had a Son by Mary.
If He was begotten as God's Son sometime in the eternal past and
His Sonship refers to Deity and not to humanity, then who was the
mother of this God-Son and when did God have a Son by this other
mother? There is no statement in Scripture that Jesus was God's
Son from all eternity. If He were, then there still would have to
be a time when He became God's Son, and if that took place at a
certain time and place, He could not have always been God's Son.
Neither would He always have been God, as the Bible declares in
Mic.5:2; John 1:1-2; Heb.1:8; Rev.1:8).
To solve all these unanswerable questions of speculation, let us
believe the simple statements of Scripture that the person we now
know as the Son of God and Mary was not always God's Son and
Mary's Son, that He was always God and a separate person along
with the Father and the Holy Spirit, that He became man and the
Son of both God and Mary over nineteen hundred years ago for the
purpose of redemption, that it was in God's plan that one of the
... persons of the Godhead should become man and the Son of the
one who became the Father by the power of the Holy Ghost, and
that it did not become a reality until it actually took place in
Mary about nineteen hundred years ago.
(3) "Unto you is born THIS DAY in the city of David a Saviour,
which is Christ the Lord. . . . when eight days were accomplished
for circumcising of the child, his name WAS CALLED JESUS, which
was so named by the angel BEFORE HE WAS CONCEIVED IN THE WOMB"
(Luke 2:11-24).
(4) "The Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us" (John 1:14). He
was the "Word" and "God" and a member of the Godhead from all
eternity, but He was not made flesh until God had a Son by Mary.
(5) "God gave his only begotten Son" is taken to prove that God
must have had a Son before He gave Him, but this must be
understood in connection with other passages. It is certain that
the second person of the Godhead had to become a man and the Son
of God and Mary before either God or Mary could have a Son; so
God giving His Son must refer to the time of the crucifixion when
God gave His Son and the Son gave Himself to redeem man "that
whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting
life."
This time is stated to be at the crucifixion, for it was then
that the sins of the whole world were atoned for and all men were
crucified with Him (Rom.6:4-6; 8:32; Gal.1:4, Eph.5:25; 1 Tim.
2:6; Tit.2:14; 1 Pet.2:24). The time then when God gave His Son
that men should believe in Him to be saved was the time He gave
Himself to save all men, and not at the time he was born. At the
time He was born He did not save the world and could not have
done so. He had to grow to manhood to die for men. We also read
of God giving Christ the headship of the Church, and this was
even after the crucifixion (Eph.1:20-22).
The birth of Christ was necessary for God to have a Son to give
to die for the world later. The purpose of the birth was that He
might have a Son to give as a sacrifice to atone for the sins of
the world. God did not give Him to die at the time He was born,
but gave Him to die when He was a man and after He had been the
Son of God and Mary for over thirty-three years. Because God now
has a Son, His giving the Son can be spoken of even at birth in
the same sense that He was called "Christ," as explained in Point
V,27, above.
(6) "Hath not the Scripture said, That Christ cometh of the seed
of David, and out of the town of Bethlehem, where David was?"
(John 7:42; Mic.5:1-2; Isa.7:14; 9:6-7; 11:1-2). The person who
was to be God's Son and Christ was to come from God and man;
hence, Sonship refers to humanity, not to Deity. AS GOD He could
not have been born or brought into existence, but as man He had
to be (Acts 13:23; Rom.1:3; 8:3,28-32; 9:5; Gal.4:4; Phil.
1:8-11; Col.1:15; Heb.2:14-18; 7:14; 10:5-14; 1 John 4:1-6; 1
Pet.2:24).
(7) It is stated in both Testaments that there was a certain day
that God was to have a Son and a certain day in which He did have
a Son. "The Lord hath said unto me, 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.... And again, when he bringeth in
the first begotten into the world, he saith, And let all the
angels of God worship him" (Ps.2:7; Acts 13:33; Heb.1:5-6;
5:5-10; 10:5-14; Isa.7:14; 9:6-7).
The words Father and Son have exactly the same meaning when used
of God as when used of men.
If Sonship refers to Deity then we would have to conclude that
there was a certain day when the second person of the Godhead was
born and before this day He was not in existence, but this is
contrary to all statements in Scripture about Him. Therefore, we
must conclude that Sonship refers to humanity and that before His
birthday Jesus was God, but He was not man or God's Son and that
as God He had no beginning, but as man He did have a beginning.
The prophets foretold how God would become a man by being
begotten, but not one ever said that a person would become a God
by being begotten (Gen.3:15; 49:10; Deut.18:15-19; Ps.2:7;
22:1-22; 40:7; 80:17; 89:19; Isa.7:14; 9:6-7; 11:1-2; 42:1-5;
32:2; 53:1-12; Jer.23:5; Mic.5:2-4).
(8) The truth then is this: there were always ... distinct and
eternal persons unbegotten of each other from all eternity; that
only one of these eternal persons of the Deity became a man and
the Son of another of these eternal Beings ... and that one took
the headship part, another took the mediative part ... It was in
the plan ... to take these respective parts long before the plan
began to be worked out.
It was predicted that one of the eternal Beings would become the
Father, that one would become the Son ... This is why it was
written of a certain day this was done (Ps.2:7; Acts 13:33; Heb.
1:5-6; 5:5-10; 10:5-14; Isa.7:14; 9:6-7). This plan was not
carried out until the Holy Ghost came upon Mary, as in Matt.
1:18-25; Luke 1:31-35. Paul said in Gal.4:4-5 that God's Son was
"made of a woman, made under the law." According to Heb.10:5-14
God prepared a body for the second person of the God-head in
which He was to become incarnate, and it was this man that was
born of a woman and was called "the Son of God." Hence, Sonship
refers to HUMANITY, not to deity.
As God the second person ... had no beginning and was not
begotten, but as a man He did have a beginning by being begotten
of the Father through the Holy Spirit and through the virgin
Mary. There is, therefore, NO such doctrine in Scripture as "the
eternal sonship of Jesus Christ" or that He was God's Son from
all eternity. There is no excuse to teach some theory that is NOT
stated in Scripture, even if it is commonly accepted as orthodox
teaching.
There are 15 prophetical statements about God having a Son in the
future, born of a woman (Gen.3:15; 12:3; 26:4; 28:14; 49:10; 2
Sam.7:14; Ps.69:8; 89:27; Isa.7:14; 9:6-7; 11:1; Matt.1:21; Luke
1:30-35; 2:26). There are also 15 historical statements in the
Bible showing that God did have His first and only begotten Son,
born of a woman, and that this took place on a certain day in
time and not in eternity past (Matt.1:18-21; 2:1-6 with Mic.
5:1-2; Luke 2:1-11; John 1:14; Rom.1:3-4; 8:3; Gal.4:4-5; Phil.
2:5-11; Col.1:15-18; Acts 13:33; 1 Tim.3:16; Heb.1:5-6; 2:9-18;
5:5; 7:14). On the other hand, there is NO Scripture in the Bible
showing that God had a Son throughout all eternity - one begotten
before all worlds. Nor is there a Scripture indicating that there
never was a time when He did not have a Son, and NO passage to
prove that Christ was the Son of God before He was born of a
virgin as God's only begotten Son. We find NOTHING in the Bible
stating that eternal sonship and eternal generation is true of
Jesus Christ.
We can prove the pre-existence of Jesus Christ as God without
claiming that He was in sonship all that time. We know that He
was always God; He had no beginning as God; He was never born,
begotten, and never had a mother, as God. He never had a Father
God as deity in the ages past, and never became God's Son in any
sense until, as predicted and fulfilled in the above Scriptures.
VII. THE KENOSIS OF CHRIST (Phil. 2:5-8)
The 'kenosis' of Christ means that Christ emptied Himself. The
Greek word for "made himself of no reputation" in Phil.2:7 is
'kenao,' meaning to empty, evacuate, become nothing, to divest
one's self of native dignity and power, and to descend to an
inferior position or condition. It is translated "made void"
(Rom.4:14), "make void" (1 Cor.9:15), "make of none effect" (1
Cor.1:17), and "be in vain" (2 Cor.9:3). The idea in all these
passages, as can readily be seen, is to cause a thing to be seen
as empty, hollow, nothing, false or absolutely useless.
God emptied Himself! What a strange idea in connection with God!
Yes, indeed, but through a knowledge of this truth comes a true
knowledge of the essence of Christianity and of the very nature
and being of God Himself. This truth as demonstrated by God to
man by concrete example clears God once and forever of all the
accusations made against Him by the devil and his followers. It
personified in God the very opposite of the depraved nature of
the devil and those who follow him.
When God created the Heaven and the Earth He planned that they
should be inhabited by free and intelligent peoples with absolute
freedom of choice as to their destiny and God-given
responsibility to keep the moral laws of the universe. This plan
was that all Spirit and material beings should be subject to God
and love Him, not from the principles of fear and suspicion
instilled in them by false ideas of a tyrannical, oppressive,
despotic, and ghostly being called God, who was ready to pounce
upon them for the least infraction of His moral laws; but that
God, Himself, should be the example and ideal to them of all that
is just, holy, true and perfect. God should be the supreme
sovereign ruling for the good of His whole creation and sharing
His goodness, power, and glorious Being with all alike; and that
His form of government should be recognized and respected by all
alike ...
When Spirit and human free wills were created they were
inexperienced as to right and wrong and as to the true nature of
the great Being which had brought them into existence. They were
created miniatures of God in attributes and powers and could
exercise their powers and attributes like God, but only in a
limited and finite way. They had to learn by experience the free
exercise of their faculties as to right and wrong, walk in the
ways of God and be content with their own creative limitations in
strict obedience and submission.
Being like God in body, soul, and spirit they could naturally
enjoy the same feelings, emotions and desires as God and have
perfect fellowship with Him in their mutual administration of the
universe. The many theophanies in Scripture reveal and
demonstrate the mutual interests and common partnership of God
and His created subjects and co-workers (Gen.2:21; 18:2; 19:1-5;
32:24-32; Num.22:22-31; Josh.5:15; Judges 6; Isa.6; Ezek.1; Dan.
7:9-13; Heb.13:2). Even since the rebellion in God's kingdom it
is God's plan to dwell with and make man co-administrators of the
universe (Isa.7:14; 9:6-7; 66:22-24; Ezek.43:7; Rom.8:17; Rev.
21:3; 22:3-5).
Angels were the first to help God administer the affairs of the
universe (Col.1:15-18). Lucifer, himself, ruled this planet and
through pride fell and invaded Heaven to dethrone God, but was
defeated and his kingdom destroyed and the Earth placed under
water and darkness, as we have seen ... Lucifer's highest
ambition was to "be like the Most High" in the infinite and
sovereign sense. This spirit of pride and self-exaltation was the
very opposite of what the second person of the Godhead
demonstrated when He emptied Himself and thought it not something
to be grasped after to retain equality with God. Since Lucifer
fell he has become the leader of all whose program is
self-exaltation and rule or ruin. Some day he will be forced to
capitulate and bow the knee to Him who demonstrated the opposite
principles - who emptied and bumbled Himself from deity to
humanity and from humanity to infamy and who has been exalted at
the right hand of the Father waiting until His enemies be made
His footstool (Phil.2:9-11; Ps.110:1; 1 Cor.15:22-28; Heb.
2:7-10; 10:12-13; 1 Pet.3:22). In this we have a clear
demonstration of the power of the greater and more God-like
principles of right over wrong, unselfishness over selfishness,
humility over pride, faithfulness and obedience over rebellion,
and self-emptying over self-exaltation.
When God restored the Earth in six days and created new life
therein, man was given the dominion Lucifer had lost. Man soon
sinned after the same subtle manner as did the spirit-rebels by
attempting to be equal with God in the unlawful sense. It was
Satan using the serpent as a tool who said, "God doth know that
in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye
shall be AS GODS, knowing both good and evil." Thus Adam, like
Lucifer before him, through trying to be "AS ELOHIM," in the
unlawful sense, really became unlike God in the lawful sense. He
became the leader of all human rebels against God, as Lucifer had
become the devil and leader of all spirit-rebels before Adam.
At the fall, Lucifer took up his new role as the usurper and
pseudo-ruler of man and his dominion (Luke 4:6; John 12:31;
14:30; 2 Cor.4:4). Man entered his new role as a beaten
galley-slave, no longer able to resist his slave-master and
exercise his God-given dominion or his faculties in freedom from
sin and the devil.
God, who always has had and always will have the best interests
of His creatures at heart, saw the unequal struggle and helpless
state of His new creation and began to champion man's cause and
make it possible for man to defeat the spirit-rebels and regain
his dominion. God knew that the spirit-rebels were past
redemption, having refused all means of reconciliation before He
took action against them. God further knew that the new rebels
should be given full justice and a chance to become reconciled
before having final action taken against them. So, as
pre-planned, the Creator offered redemption to all human rebels,
especially to them who accept and believe the gospel (Eph.1:4; 1
Pet.1:2; Rev.13:8; 17:8).
THE FIRST STEP in the work of redemption was to send angels to
protect the new race from immediate destruction by the
spirit-rebels who wanted to annihilate the race and seize the
Earth for themselves. The age-long struggle between these good
and bad spirit-forces for the protection and destruction of the
race until "the restitution of all things" is clearly revealed in
Job 1:10-12; 2:5-6; 42:10; 91:11-12; Dan.10:12-11:1; Matt.18:10;
Acts 10:38; Eph.2:2-3; 6:1-17; Heb.1:14; 2:18; Rev.12:7-12.
THE SECOND STEP was the promise of a Redeemer who would be the
seed of the woman and who would liberate man from the slavery of
the devil and free and restore his original domination. Many are
the promises of a virgin-born child who would be God manifest in
flesh, who would be the "first-born" and head of a new creation
of human kind, and who would finally put down Satan and with man
rule supreme over all creation forever (Gen.3:15; 12:1-3; 49:10;
2 Sam.7; Isa.7:14; 9:6-7; 11:1-8; 42:1-4; 53:1-12; 61:1-3; Mic.
5:1-2; Matt.1; Luke 1:32-35).
THE THIRD STEP was the actual fulfillment of Immanuel, God with
us. What kind of Being was God to be when He appeared among men?
What kind of an example and life was He to demonstrate before and
among men in order to win them from allegiance to the devil? What
could He possibly do to allay the fears and wrong impressions of
God in man and counteract the arguments against God and His
rights and bring man over on God's side? Was He going to be as
Satan pictured Him -a being full of pride, a tyrant, a despot,
full of vengeance, ready to destroy those who rebelled? Was He to
come in might and power to inspire awe and demand the worship of
all? Was He to come with His faithful hosts of angels to conquer
Satan and his rebels in the sight of man to prove to man that He
alone was the one powerful enough to reign as sovereign of all?
Was He coming to save Himself or save and restore others?
He came as a man - a lowly servant of all to set the right
example of how men can be like God. He came and lived as God
would live among men so that men could learn to live like God. He
literally "emptied Himself" and took the form of a servant
instead of the form of a sovereign. He humbled Himself from deity
to humanity and from humanity to infamy, taking on Him the sins
of the world and redeeming fallen man to His original dominion.
..............
TO BE CONTINUED
All About Jesus #4
His Divinity and Humanity
by
Finis Dake [1949]
VIII. OF WHAT DID CHRIST EMPTY HIMSELF?
The various doctrine books teach that Christ possessed all the
glory, nature, and attributes of God during His earthly life just
as much as when He was in the form of God. They give us proof for
their conclusion that Christ had:
1. Omnipotence (Matt.8:16, 26-27; Luke 4:35-41; 5:25; 7:14-15;
8:54-55; Eph.1:20-23; Heb.1:3).
2. Omniscience (Mark 2:8; Luke 5:4-5,22; 22:10-12; John 1:48;
2:24-25; 4:15-19; 6:64; 13:1; 16:30; 21:17; Col.2:3).
3. Omnipresence (Matt.18:20; 28:20; John 3:13; 14:20; 2 Cor.
13:5; Eph.1:13).
4. Eternity (John 1:1; 17:5; 8:58; Mic.5:2; Col.1:17; Heb.13:8; 1
John 1:1).
5. Immutability (Heb.1:12; 13:8).
Upon examination of these passages it can be seen that NOT ONE
passage teaches that Christ had or used these attributes of
Himself while on Earth. The majority of them refer to the power
Christ had to heal, read the thoughts of men, and do certain
works by the direct anointing of the Spirit and not by being God
manifest in the flesh. Some of them refer to Christ before His
earthly life while still in the form of God. The rest of them
refer to Christ after His earthly life when He was exalted and
had His glory restored to Him as before becoming man. Thus not
ONE of them refers to Christ as acting of Himself without the
anointing of the Spirit and because He was God in flesh, having
all the natural attributes and powers that God had from all
eternity.
The true Biblical teaching of the 'kenosis' of Christ is that in
taking human form He divested Himself of His divine attributes,
or at least power to use them, having laid aside His God-form and
voluntarily given up His glory which He had with the Father
before the world was and become limited in knowledge, wisdom,
power, glory, and in every way that man was, and that He retained
His deity or His divine nature.
The Bible further teaches that He was made of a woman without a
human father ... It could not be that Christ laid aside His
divine nature, for then He would cease being God. Paul did not
say He ceased being God, but that He laid aside His God-form and
emptied Himself of everything that would hinder Him from being a
true and real human being and "in all things" like His brethren
(Heb.2:9-18). The following points prove this to be the true
Biblical teaching of the 'kenosis' of Christ:
1. This harmonizes perfectly with every Scripture given by the
various writers. If Christ retained all divine attributes or the
free use of them in becoming man, then of what did He empty
Himself? And how could we harmonize all the many limitations of
His earthly life with the fact that He was equal with God in
every sense? If God, with all divine attributes, is as limited as
Christ was in His earthly life, then God is not so much greater
than man after all. On the other hand, if God is as infinite and
great as He is revealed in the Bible to be, and Christ
demonstrated just the opposite in His earthly life, then it must
be concluded that Christ divested Himself of the divine powers in
taking human form.
2. The manifestations of attributes as given by the above-stated
opinion can be explained as operations of the gifts of the Holy
Spirit of 1 Cor.12:4-11, which Christ possessed to the full. The
limitations of Christ in knowledge and wisdom cannot be explained
and harmonized with the fact that Christ had omniscience. His
limitations in power and His powerlessness to act and do things
in Himself cannot be harmonized with the fact that He had his
original attribute of omnipotence. These and other facts make it
clear that Christ's emptying Himself in reality includes the
laying aside of His attributes and powers or at least limitations
of them in becoming man ...
3. Paul definitely teaches in Phil.2:5-11 that Christ emptied
Himself and that He laid aside His Gad-form and His equality with
God and took human form and was "made in the likeness of men."
Paul further teaches in Heb.2:14-18; 5:8-9, that it was necessary
for Christ to be made "IN ALL THINGS . . . like unto his
brethren," that He should live among them and be like them, that
He should suffer with them and for them and in their stead, and
that He should be limited like them and have to depend upon God
for daily grace for body, soul, and spirit, so as to be "able to
succor them that are tempted." For "Though He were a Son, yet
learned He obedience by the things which He suffered" (Heb.5:9).
4. Peter's doctrine o f the sufferings of Christ so as to leave
"its an example, that we should walk in His steps" would mean
nothing to ordinary human rebels if He endured the sufferings as
a God and not as a man. What injustice it would be to expect
ordinary, frail, and weak man to suffer as only a God could
suffer. On the other hand, if He suffered as any other human
being would suffer, having God as a helper only and not as being
a God, then every suffering human being can be inspired by such
an example and endure all as He did.
5. The prophets foretold His being limited as man. Isa.7:14-16
speaks of the virgin-born son as growing in knowledge as any
other child and that there would be a time in His life when He
would not know to choose the good and refuse the evil because of
being so young and immature. What a strange thing to say of Jesus
if He were a full grown God having all the use of the attributes
of God in a small human baby! Also in Isa.50:4-11 we read, "The
Lord God hath given me [Messiah] the tongue of the learned, that
I should know how to speak a word in due season to him that is
weary: He [God] wakeneth morning by morning, He wakeneth mine ear
to hear as the learned. The Lord God hath opened mine ear, and I
was not rebellious, neither turned away back. I gave my back to
the smiters, and my cheeks to them that plucked out the hair: I
hid my face from shame and spitting." Again, what strange words
to speak of a person if He had the attribute of omniscience! In
Isa.11:1 and 53:1-12 we have a detailed picture of the Messiah
growing up before God as a "tender plant" and "as a root out of
dry ground," which needs much nourishment and care in growth - a
man of sorrows, not a God of sorrows, smitten of God and
afflicted.
In Ps.119:97-104 we have another clear prophecy of the Messiah
meditating in the Word of God and becoming wiser than His
enemies, His teachers, and all the ancients. One could not
possibly harmonize such statements in connection with a full
grown, mature, and highly educated man, much less a great God
with all the use of His divine attributes and powers. We cannot
conceive of a God who still had omniscience and had to be taught
and be instructed as was Jesus, who still was immutable and
eternal and yet too young to know good from evil or capable of
death, who still was omnipotent and could not help Himself, who
still was omnipresent and yet was limited to a small, helpless
baby body, and who was limited by both Old Testament and New
Testament writers to the status of a human being during His
earthly life, He is certainly not the unlimited and almighty God
who has not emptied Himself as had Christ.
6. History proves Christ was limited during His earthly life.
Mark definitely states that Christ was limited in knowledge while
in His earthly life, for He did not know the day of His return to
Earth as did the Father (Mark 13:32). Luke also records how Jesus
"grew, and waxed strong in spirit, filled with wisdom ... the
grace of God was upon Him. . . . Jesus increased in wisdom and
stature, and in favor with God and man" (Luke 2:40-52). Paul
speaks of Him as having "learned obedience by the things which He
suffered (Heb.5:8). Such could never be said of Christ if He had
retained all His divine attributes of omniscience, immutability,
etc.
7. Christ Himself claimed no power or exercised no personal
attribute of deity apart from, the full anointing of the Holy
Spirit (Matt.12:28; Luke 3:21-22; 4:1,14-21; John 3:34; Acts
10:38). If His works were through the anointing of the Spirit,
then they could not be through the exercise of His own natural
attributes of deity. Prophecy foretells that Christ was to be
anointed with the Spirit and do all His works by this anointing,
not by being God and having the exercise of all divine attributes
as before and since His earthly life (Isa.11:1-2; 42:1-5; 48:16;
61:1). History plainly records the fulfillment of these
predictions (Matt.3:16-17; 12:22-32; 20:22; Luke 3:21-22;
4:14-21; John 1:31-34; 3:34; 5:19,30; 6:57; 8:28; 14:10,24; Acts
10:38; Rom.1:4; 3:1; 5:6; Heb.2:9-18; Rev.5:6). Christ did no
miracle or exercised no divine power until His anointing with the
Holy Spirit (Matt.3:16-17; Luke 4:14-21; John 2:11; 3:34; Acts
10:38).
8. The fact that Christ promised all disciples that they could do
the same works and even greater works than what He did if they
would but empty themselves and "tarry until" they were endued
with power from on high, proves the source of His power was the
anointing of the Spirit instead of exercising divine attributes
by virtue of being God (Matt.10:1-20; 16:18; Luke 10:1-20; 24:49;
Mark 16:15-20; John 14:12-15; 20:22; Acts 1:8).
The fact that disciples did exercise this power proves the same
contention. Disciples had power to impart the baptism in the
Spirit by laying on of hands, and they did a number of acts that
are not recorded in the life of Christ (Acts 8:5-20; 19:1-6). The
time was not yet come that men could be baptized with the Spirit
until Christ was glorified; hence Christ could not baptize men in
the Spirit while on Earth (John 1:31-33; 7:37-39; Acts 2:33;
Matt.20:22-24). Hence the "greater works."
9. Christ prayed for His original glory to be restored, which He
had with the Father before the world was (John 17:5). It is not
until after the resurrection that He said, "All power is given
unto me in Heaven and in Earth" (Matt.29:18). Christ and others
repeatedly stated that God "gave" Him certain powers and
blessings which enabled Him to do His works (John 3:34-35; 5:22,
26-27; 17:2; Acts 10:38), that He did His works in the Father's
name just as believers are supposed to do them in His name (John
5:43; 10:25; 17:6-12,26), that He was not as great as the Father
(John 10:29; 14:28; 1 Cor.11:3), that He was sent of God and did
not come of Himself (John 3:14-18,34; 4:34; 5:17,30,36; 6:29,
38-40,57; 7:16,28; 8:16,28,29,42; 10:36; 12:44-45; 17:4,8), that
His works were not of Himself but were of the Father (John 5:17,
19; 10:32; 14:10), that He could do nothing of Himself (John
5:19,30), that He did nothing of Himself (John 8:28), that His
doctrine was not His own (John 5:20; 7:16; 8:26,28; 10:18; 14:31;
15:15), that He did not speak of Himself (John 8:38,40; 12:49;
14:10), that He sought God's glory, not His own (John 8:50), that
He was a servant of God and perfectly obedient to Him (John 8:35;
Isa.42:1; 50:5; Heb.5:8-9; 10:7), that His works were proof that
God was "with Him" and was doing the works, and therefore, they
were no proof that He had the essential attributes of God and was
using them of Himself (John 3:2; 5:31-36; 9:4; 10:25,38; 11:42;
14:10; Acts 10:38), that He was sending His followers to confirm
the gospel and do divine works just as the Father had sent Him
(John 17:18; Mark 16:15-20; Matt.28:19-20; Acts 1:1-4; Heb.
2:3-4), and that He used the same means of grace by prayer,
faith, and yieldedness to the Spirit that all believers after Him
must use (Luke 11:1-13; 24:49; Mark 11:22-24; Acts 1:1-8; 10:38;
John 14:12-15).
Could such things be said of a God who had not emptied Himself of
His glory and the free use of His attributes and powers?
10. Christ's exaltation to the highest place with God is also
proof of His lowest humiliation and limitation before God - even
to do nothing, say nothing, be nothing, and depend upon God for
needed grace for body, soul, and spirit, and to make a success of
the work that He was sent into the world to do (Phil.2:9-11; Eph.
1:21-23; Col.1:15-24; 1 Pet.3:22). He could not have retained
this exalted position while becoming man, else He could not have
been exalted back to it.
He could not have retained immutability, nor immortality bodily;
else He could not have laid aside His God-form to become a
mutable and mortal man to die upon the cross. If He had not laid
aside His glory He could not have had it restored to Him, as
stated in John 17:5. If He had retained all His riches while on
Earth He could not have become poor for our sakes, as taught in 2
Cor.8:9. If He had retained His divine form He could not have
taken human form as taught in Phil.2:5-11.
Those who hold to the theory that Christ possessed all the
attributes of deity and that He merely surrendered the
independent exercise of them and that He surrendered to the
control of the Spirit in the use of them teach, in substance, the
same that we do, for they say, "the Godhead narrowed itself down
to a point that is next to absolute extinction when it gave up
omniscience, omnipotence, and other powers." If He had not laid
aside His equality as God, then He could not have been unequal
with God as manifested in the days of His flesh.
The incarnation proves He was limited as man and grew to manhood
and developed normally as any other human child. Therefore, all
the stories of Christ before His anointing with the Spirit, such
as His making mud cakes and giving life to them which ran over
the mud cakes of other boys, of His making mud birds and
breathing into them so that they became living creatures and flew
away, of His stretching the lumber to required lengths if it was
too short, and of many miraculous powers from birth are mere
traditions manufactured by superstitious pagans to make Him equal
with pagan ideas of their gods. These stories are unworthy of the
glorious offspring of the invisible God as revealed in the Bible,
Who did no miracle until His full anointing of the Spirit (Matt.
3:16-17; John 2:11).
IX. WHAT DOES OUR LORD'S "KENOSIS" TEACH US? IT TEACHES:
1. That Christ was always divine (Micah 5:1-2; John 1:1-3).
2. That He could not cease being God in nature (1 Tim.3:16).
3. That He retained His divinity when becoming incarnate in
flesh (Matt.1:23).
4. That He was truly human as well as divine and lived while on
Earth a normal and perfect human life as an example to all men
who desire to please God (1 Pet.2:21).
5. That in so doing He laid aside His natural and divine
attributes or at least limited their use, and became a perfect
example of yieldedness to God and His Spirit to overcome the
world, the flesh, and the devil (Heb.10:5-9; Acts 10:38).
6. That He did His works solely by the anointing of the Spirit
and not by the free self-exercise of the attributes of His deity
while becoming man (Acts 10:38).
7. That He did them to demonstrate and prove to all believers
that by the means of grace God has provided that everyone can
live victorious as He did (1 John 2:6; 3:7; 4:17).
8. That every believer can likewise be anointed with the same
Spirit to the same degree that He was and do the works that He
did and even greater works (John 14:12).
9. That His life and works were done as a pattern for all
believers after Him (1 John 4:17; 1 Pet.2:21; Mark 16:15-20).
10. That at His exaltation He had restored to Him His attributes
and glory He had with the Father before becoming man (John 17:5;
Matt.28:18).
11. That all the manifestations of divine attributes in His
earthly life were really the operations of the Holy Spirit, which
He was constantly baptized into (John 3:34). They were exercises
of the spiritual gifts of 1 Cor.12.
12. That He possessed the gifts and graces of the Holy Spirit to
the full to demonstrate what being like God among men really is
like and to encourage one and all who aspire to that exalted
position of sons of God with power (John 3:34; Acts 10:38). Thus
by the 'kenosis' of Christ and that of believers in every
generation God proposes to demonstrate to the principalities and
powers in the heavenlies and all rebels on Earth the true nature
and manifold wisdom of God (1 Cor.4:9; 11:11; Eph.3:10-11).
.............
END OF STUDY
IS JESUS GOD? #5 S THE MARCH-APRIL 2014 BIBLE ADVOCATE SAYS: Although CoG7 doctrine supports Christ's deity, some of us aren't fully convinced. Is Jesus really God?
SOME IN THE 7TH DAY SABBATH CHURCHES [some in the Protestant churches also] teach Jesus never eternally existed but was "created" - some go as far as saying Jesus did not exist until conceived in the womb of Mary. Some teach Jesus was just a man with more of the Holy Spirit than other humans. The nut-shell truth of the matter is given by the Church of God, 7th Day, out of Denver, CO. USA. Keith Hunt
The teaching of Christ's deity, adopted officially in 1994 and reaffirmed often since, continues to attract interest and discussion in the Church. Rightly handled, this discussion encourages growth in grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus.
(FOR ABOUT 150 YEARS THE CoG7Day [Denver] believed the opposite to what they now teach. They have a very fine booklet on the in-depth truth of this subject - Keith Hunt)
Here's why we believe that Christ the only begotten Son is, with His Father, inherent and integral to our concept of the one true God:
Because Jesus is given, or takes to Himself, the names of God, such as I Am, Lord, Almighty God, Everlasting Father, and Immanuel (Isa. 7:14; 9:6; John 8:58; Phil. 2:11).
Because Jesus is the Truth: He perfectly speaks the very words of God more than any other prophet, including Moses (John 8:26; 12:49; 14:6, 10, 24; 17:8; Deut. 18:15-18; Heb. 1:1,2).
Because Jesus does mighty works that only God can do: He creates, sustains, and controls the universe; forgives sins; saves the world; hears and answers prayer (John 1:3; 1 Cor. 8:6; Eph. 3:9; Col. 1:16, 17; Heb. 1:1-3; Mark 2:5-12; 4:41; Acts 7:59).
Because Jesus receives the worship and service that is due to God alone (Matt. 4:10; 8:2; 14:33; 28:9; John 9:38; Luke 24:52; Heb. 1:6; Rev. 5:8).
Because Jesus fully exhibits God's attributes: omniscience, omnipotence, holiness, love, and more (Luke 5:22; 6:8; 9:47; John 2:25; Matt. 28:18; Heb. 4:15b; 1 Peter 2:22; John 13:1; 15:9, 13).
The Bible's view of the Lord Jesus is lofty. It refers to Him as "God" in nine texts: Isaiah 9:6; Matthew 1:23; John 1:1; 20:28; Romans 9:5; 1 Timothy 3:16; Titus 2:13; Hebrews 1:8; and 1 John 5:20.
What we've said so far may be seen as mere proof-texting. The truth can be further confirmed by study of key Christological passages:
Matthew 11:27, linked with John 5:18, 19; 10:30: Jesus is equal to and one with His Father, in that each alone knows the other fully.
John 1:1 -3, 14: The Word that was with God and was God in the beginning became flesh: Jesus the Christ. The only begotten of the Father was full of God's glorious grace and truth.
Philippians 2:5-11: Jesus fully shared the divine image and glory of His Father before becoming man, as He confirms in John 17:5. Every tongue should confess Jesus Christ as Lord — a title reserved for God alone (Isa. 45:23).
Colossians 1:13-23: Christ is exalted to highest heaven, preeminent by God's good pleasure. Deity fully dwells in Him bodily (2:9).
Hebrews 1: Jesus Christ, the brightness of God's glory and express image of His person (v. 3), is no mere angel. Rather, He, as God, receives worship from all God's angels (vv. 4-14).
Revelation 1:8, 11, 17, 18; 17:14; 19:16: The glorified Christ describes Himself in terms reserved for God himself: Alpha and Omega; Beginning and End; First and Last; the one who was, is, and is to come; King of Kings and Lord of Lords (compare Isa. 44:6; 1 Tim. 6:13-16).
Based on the written Word, we may be confident that the Living Word was both God and man, thus able to mediate and reconcile the two.
— Elder Calvin Burrell
March-April 2014 "Bible Advocate"
JESUS: THE GREAT I AM #6
WHO DO YOU SAY THAT I AM?
Jesus' question rings down through history, confronting each of us. As we reflect on who Jesus is, we should go to the source and see what He said about Himself. In John's Gospel, Jesus describes Himself at every turn with statements beginning with the powerful words "I am." With these words Jesus reveals His origin and destiny, His role, and His identity in relation to the Father.
So who does Jesus say He is? Origin and destiny
"I came forth from the Father and have come into the world; I am leaving the world again and going to the Father" (16:28). In these few words Jesus sums up what He repeatedly stated about His origin and destination (cf. 6:51; 7:28-33; 8:16). This reality set Jesus apart from His audience, for He told them, "You are from below, I am from above; you are of this world, I am not of this world" (8:23).
This difference created an impassible gulf between Jesus and the rest of humanity: "For a little while longer I am with you, then I go to Him who sent Me. You will seek Me, and will not find Me; and where I am, you cannot come" (7:33,34). This gulf was created by their refusing to believe that Jesus was who He professed to be: "I go away, and you will seek Me, and will die in your sin; where I am going, you cannot come" (8:21). Thankfully, Jesus didn't leave His audience without hope. To be sure, those who did not believe would die in their sins. But in 8:24 He opens the door. Those who believe in Him can follow Him!
As Jesus would later teach His followers, those who serve and follow Him will be where He is (12:26), even though they cannot follow Him there immediately (13:33). Rather, Jesus would return one day and be reunited with His followers, thus providing a way for them to join Him (14:3, 4). This coming reunion will allow His followers to see the glory given to the Son from before the foundation of the world as a result of the Father's love (1 7:24).
We can understand, then, why Jesus' followers were anxious to know the way to follow Him (14:5). Jesus' response sums up all that He says about His role: "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me" (14:6). Role
To grasp the fullness of Jesus' words in John 14:6, we need to look at the various ways He revealed Himself as the exclusive path to the Father, the embodiment of truth, and life itself.
Bread of Life. In John 6 Jesus multiplied bread and walked on water. With Passover nearing, the crowds no doubt saw a link to the manna and the Red Sea miracle. But Jesus was not content to be seen simply as a prophet and miracle worker, like Moses. Rather, He proclaimed, "I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me will not hunger, and he who believes in Me will never thirst" (v.35). Unlike the manna that left the Israelites hungry, Jesus was the true living bread of heaven who brought eternal life. Such a claim demonstrated that the Jesus event, not the exodus from Egypt, was now the redemptive act of God par excellence.
Light of the World. Jesus identified Himself as the "Light of the world" (8:12; 9:5). By healing a man born blind and invoking the ire of the religious elite, Jesus redefined darkness and light. Those who believed in and worshipped Him had true vision, no matter how shrouded in darkness they had been. Conversely, those who hid their sin in pride and rejected Jesus were truly blind, no matter how holy they appeared to be (1:9-13).
Good Shepherd, Door of the Sheep. In John 10 Jesus called Himself the true shepherd over God's people. Alluding often to the unfaithful shepherds of Ezekiel 34, He demonstrated that, unlike false shepherds past and present, He was the supremely good and faithful shepherd. In a dizzying array of metaphors, Jesus claimed to enter by the door, serve as door for the sheep, and save and safeguard them by laying down His life and taking it up again. He left His audience with a stark choice: Either He was who He said He was, or He was a lunatic!
Resurrection and Life. In chapter 11 Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead and proclaimed, "I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die" (11:25, 26). In restoring physical life to Lazarus, Jesus demonstrated His power and authority to give eternal life to His followers, a claim that would receive final proof at His own resurrection from the dead. Jesus is the life-giver because Jesus is resurrection and life itself.
True Vine. Jesus announced, "I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser" (15:1). The grapevine was a powerful symbol for Jewish people. They believed they were God's vine, often forgetting that many Old Testament references to their being a vine describe their wild and wicked ways! In Jesus' effort to show how He was the fulfillment of all things, He asserted that He was the True Vine. As such, He provided the connection point between God and humanity. By abiding in Him, people find the only source of life, power, good fruit, holiness, and love. Those who don't abide in Him can expect only fiery judgment.
Identity in relationship to the Father
Jesus' words about His origin, destiny, and role often left people asking, "Who does He think He is?" The answer to this question is one that John sought to answer in the opening words of his Gospel: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God" (1:1). This mind-bending sentence conveys the mystery of Jesus, the one who is at once God incarnate and yet relates to God in a way that is somehow like a Father and Son.
Jesus frequently referred to God as His Father but also made the incredible assertion that He was one with Him (10:30). The monotheistic Jews understood that Jesus was professing to be the one true God (vv. 31-33), an accusation He did not deny. If there was any doubt about Jesus making this claim, He put it to rest when He said, "Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I am" (8:58). Here Christ declared His pre-incarnate existence and took upon Himself the name "I Am." The "I am" phrase Jesus used (Greek, ego eimi) was the same used by Yahweh to share His name with Moses (Exodus 3:14) and claim to be the only creator and redeemer of Israel (Isaiah 43:10, 11; 44:8, 24; 45:5,6, 18, 21-23; 46:5, 9).
Those who could not accept that Jesus was the incarnate I AM conspired against and killed Him. But Jesus rose from the dead, and those who did not believe in Him fell under eternal condemnation (John 3:18,19). Those who did believe, beginning with Thomas after the Resurrection, proclaimed that Jesus was "My Lord and my God!" (20:28). This is precisely what Jesus predicted — that the world would know that He was I AM (8:28) after His death. Those who refused to believe would die in their sins (v. 24).
By God's grace, the Church of God has come to embrace Jesus for who He claimed to be. We affirm that He is the one who was with God and was God but became flesh, dwelling among us in the person of Jesus Christ (1:1,14). We receive Jesus' blessing by proclaiming that Jesus is our Lord and God (20:29). We embrace Him as our True Vine, our Resurrection and Life, the Light of our World, our Living Bread. He is our way, our truth, and our life — the Great I AM! !
Israel Steinmetz serves as Director of Academic Affairs for Life-Spring School of Theology. Scripture quotations are from the New American Standard Bible. ..........
(FOR ABOUT 150 YEARS THE CHURCH OF GOD, SEVENTH DAY, DENVER, DID NOT TEACH WHAT THEY ARE NOW TEACHING. THEY CAME TO SEE THE ERROR THEY WERE IN. WELL GOOD FOR THEM ON THIS POINT - Keith Hunt)
GOD: HOW MUCH LIKE JESUS?
Occasionally two men, twenty-five years apart in age, look like twins — even talk and act like twins. They're really father and son.
That's how it was with Jesus and God. To the Colossians, Paul wrote, "He [Jesus] is the image of the invisible God ..."(1:15). An image would be a likeness, a resemblance. Hebrews 1:3 is more explicit: Jesus "is the express image of His [God's] person...." That leans heavily toward everything about Jesus.
He is the image of the invisible God. Colossians 2:9 says, "For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily." That sounds like everything about Him was like the Father. John testified, "The Word became 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" (John 1:14). Jesus prayed, "And now, O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was" (17:5). Father and Son shared not only the same "appearance" ("express image") but also the same glory!
What could be noted wherein they were different? Hebrews 2:17,18 suggests that Jesus was made flesh so that He could identify with what we mortals experience. As our high priest, He ever lives to make intercession to the Father for us. Yet Jesus himself explained that though we ask in His name, He doesn't need to convey our prayers to the Father because "the Father Himself loves [us]" (John 16:26, 27). And Matthew 6:32 states, "Your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things." No one need tell the Father; He's omniscient — knows all. So it's reasonable to conclude God and Jesus are alike even in the matter of understanding feelings and experiences of humans.
Jesus said one day, "He who has seen Me has seen the Father ..." (14:9). From other texts we learn that only Jesus has seen the Father in visible form — with His eyes. But seen can also mean with the mind — "to perceive, know" (see Acts 8:23). Which did Jesus mean by seen in John 14:9? It really doesn't matter. That God and Jesus are like twins is the issue.
—Max Morrow Owosso, Ml
(I'VE SAID IT ELSEWHERE BUT I'LL SAY IT AGAIN. GOD THE FATHER AND JESUS - GOD THE SON. HAVE THE SAME LAST NAME - GOD! THEY ARE ALIKE IN EVERY WAY, THEY SHARE EVERYTHING. BUT IN AUTHORITY GOD THE FATHER IS SUPREME IN THE WHOLE UNIVERSE. JESUS SITS AT HIS RIGHT HAND, NOT ON TOP OF HIM, OR INSIDE HIM, OR ABOVE HIM, BUT ON HIS RIGHT HAND - MANY VERSES SO STATE, THE BOOK OF REVELATION MAKES IT ABUNDANTLY CLEAR IT IS SO. PAUL MADE IT VERY CLEAR IN 1 CORINTHIANS 11: 3. GOD THE FATHER HAS MADE IT CLEAR IN HIS WORD HOW YOU ARE TO KNOW AND UNDERSTAND THE "GODHEAD" - Keith Hunt)
CHRIST'S PREEXISTENCE
Several scriptures lake us directly to our premise, that the Son of God existed before being born in Bethlehem.
Colossians 1:15-17, for example, tells us that Jesus created all things and is before all things: "For by Htm [Jesus] all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities — all things have been created through Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together" (NASB).
By saying He created everything, the Bible affirms that Jesus necessarily existed before what He created. That's the front door approach, and the question is answered. Now we'll come in the back door. The roundabout route will teach us other things about Jesus.
It is recorded in Matthew 28:18 that Jesus said, "All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth" (KJV). By saying all power "is given," Jesus revealed a relationship already current between Him and His Father. That it was not a new relationship is demonstrated by His creative work.
Who gave "all power" to Jesus? Nobody but God, His Father, can give such power to anyone. Such awesome power is illustrated in John 10:17, 18: "Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again. No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father" (KJV).
Since God the Father is invisible (Colossians 1:15) and no man has ever seen Him (John 1:18; I John 4:12), we need to understand who the God of Israel was who was seen on Mount Sinai. "Then Moses went up with Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel, and they saw the God of Israel; and under His feet there appeared to be a pavement of sapphire, as clear as the sky itself" (Exodus 24:9,10, NASB). How can this be? The answer appears in recognizing that Jesus really was before Abraham, as He said to the Jews: "Before Abraham was, I am" (John 8:58, KJV). The Bible gives an illustration of this fact in Genesis 18:1ff:
Now the Lord appeared to him [Abraham] by the oaks of Mamre, while he was sitting at the tent door in the heat of the day. When he lifted up his eyes and looked, behold, three men were standing opposite him; and when he saw them, he ran from the tent door to meet them . . . (NASB).
Here the Lord "appeared to" Abraham. That means Abraham saw and talked with the Lord, a Hebrew word used only in reference to Christ or His Father, i.e., to Israel's God.
Just as Abraham encountered the pre-incarnate Christ by the oaks of Mamre, so did Moses, Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, and the seventy elders of Israel "see" and eat with Him on Mount Sinai. Though His Father is invisible, the preexistent Son often appeared in human or angelic form.
— Roy Marrs Lodi, CA
From the "BIBLE ADVOCATE" - March-April 2014 - a publication of the Church of God, Seventh Day, Denver, CO. USA ..............................
THIS IS A RELATIVELY SHORT STUDY PER SE. UNDER THIS SECTION ON MY WEBSITE, YOU WILL FIND A LOT MORE STUDIES PROVING WHO JESUS WAS, AND ALL ABOUT GOD, IN DETAIL AND DEPTH. THE GODHEAD WANTS YOU TO KNOW ABOUT THEM IN THE BASICS, WHAT THE HUMAN MIND CAN GRASPE AT THIS TIME IN THE HUMAN FLESH.
AND THE REASON AS TO WHY THEY CREATED MANKIND - WOW, THAT IS REVEALED ALSO; IT WILL BLOW YOU AWAY! STUDY [NOT JUST READ] MY STUDY CALLED "A CHRISTIAN'S DESTINY" AND UNDERSTAND WHY YOU ARE HERE.
Keith Hunt
God as Man! #7His Work on Earth was ...GOD AS MAN
by Dr. Gerald B. Winrod
"His name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The Mighty God,
The Ever lasting Father and The Prince of Peace." Isaiah 9:6
The INCARNATION of the eternal Son, involving the virgin
birth of the Lord Jesus Christ was a plan conceived in the mind
of the Infinite before the dawn of creation.
Think of Christ correctly. Take Him out of the man class.
Put Him in the God class. He never had a beginning. He is an
eternal being. Associate yourself with Him and you will become a
recipient of the same eternal life that we saw manifested in Him
during the days of His flesh. He was born into this life for a
purpose.
Long before the foundations of our earth were laid and
before the heavens were stretched forth like a scroll ... before
the valleys were scooped out or the mountains piled high ...
before a carpet of grass was unrolled for humans to walk upon, or
the earth was laced with babbling brooks and flowing streams...
before a furnace was placed in the sun or the wheels of our solar
system started turning!
Back there, in the undated past called eternity, before the
sons of God shouted for joy it was foreordained that the WORD
should become flesh and dwell among men on this planet.
What we saw at Bethlehem was the consummation of that plan,
the materialization of the original conception in the mind of the
Infinite.
Jesus Christ did not come to reform but to transform. Not to
repair but to replace. Not to save us from wrong-doing but to
save us from wrong-being.
He came to bring life. The natural man is dead in trespasses
and sin. He said: "I am come that they might have life, and that
they might have it more abundantly."
The personality of Jesus Christ is the hub, the great
central fact of all Scripture. Both the Old and New Testaments
are woven around His majestic personality. In order to understand
Him and to cooperate with Him for the accomplishment of divine
purposes in our lives, we must take Him out of the man class and
put Him in the God class.
Who had glory with God in the eons of eternity before the
worlds were framed? Jesus Christ.
Who is mentioned more than three hundred times in the Old
Testament? Jesus Christ.
Who is referred to in every book of the Bible? Jesus Christ.
Who was supernaturally born? Who was conceived by the Holy
Ghost and born of the Virgin Mary? Jesus Christ.
Who lived a sinless life? Who lived in sin and yet without
sin? Jesus Christ.
Who tasted death for every man and entered into an atonement
great enough to include the last sinner who walks the dirt roads
of earth? Jesus Christ.
Who conquered Hades? Who came out of the new tomb of Joseph
of Arimathea in triumphant resurrection? Who tasted death for
every man? Who broke the power of death over redeemed souls?
Jesus Christ.
On top of the mountain whose body became all aglow with the
glory of God? Who transcended gravity and was lifted up and out
of sight in the ascension? Who ascended into heaven? Jesus
Christ.
Then two witnesses appear dressed in white raiment. They
inquire, "Men of Galilee why these tears? Do you not know that
this same Jesus will come again as He has departed now?" Who is
coming again, King of Kings and Lord of Lords? Jesus Christ.
He came from the bosom of the Father to the bosom of a
Virgin. He left the ivory palaces, came down to this earth and
put on humanity that we might put on divinity.
He became the Son of Man that we might become the sons of
God. He came from heaven where rivers never freeze, winds never
blow, frosts never chill, flowers never fade, no one is ever sick
and no one ever dies. He stooped low to our level, that we might
be given a foretaste of heaven and see God in a human body. Jesus
lived the human life of God.
As the magnifying glass brings out the hidden beauties of
the rose, so also He displays before us the hidden beauties of
deity.
He was born in a supernatural way. He lived in poverty. He
grew up in obscurity. He had no wealth. He attended no college.
Yet the profoundest wisdom of men has never equaled His
discourses. The record says: "Never man spake like this man."
His relatives were inconspicuous folk living in a rural
community. In infancy He frightened a king. In boyhood, He
puzzled doctors of the law. At the age of twelve He possessed
greater wisdom than theologians. He was taught of God. In manhood
He ruled the elements. He defied the law of gravitation by the
walking on water. Winds obeyed His voice. He spoke peace to a
raging sea. He healed multitudes without medicine and made no
charge for His services. He never wrote a book. Yet many
libraries would be required to accommodate the books that have
been written about Him.
He never wrote a song. Yet He has furnished the theme of
more songs than all the song writers combined. He never
founded a college, and yet all the schools in the world put
together cannot boast the number of students who studied under
Him. He healed broken hearts. He blessed little children. He
healed the sick. He cleansed the leper. He raised the dead. He
went about doing good. He was the Man of Mercy.
He associated with sinners. He ate with publicans. In fact,
one had to be a sinner to attract His attention. He said: "The
Son of man is come to seek, and to save, that which was lost. He
has power to transform human lives. He specializes in making bad
people good. That is the greatest of all miracles, transforming
sinners into saints.
He never mobilized an army, or drafted a soldier, or fired a
gun. Yet no military leader has ever enlisted as many volunteers
as those who take orders from Him.
You do not need to be an astronomer to understand that He is
the Day Star of Eternal Hope. You do not need to be a geologist
to understand that He is the Rock of Ages. You do not need to be
a zoologist to understand that He is the Lamb of God slain from
the foundation of the world. You do not need to be a botanist to
understand that He is the Rose of Sharon and the Lily of the
Valley. You do not need to be a musician to understand that He is
the great Harmonizer of all discords. You do not need to be a
doctor to understand that He is the Healer of human ills.
Great men have come and gone. He lives on. Herod could not
kill Him. People at a religious service could not stone Him.
Satan could not tempt Him. Death could not destroy Him. The grave
could not contain Him. Demons obeyed Him.
He fed a hungry multitude with the lunch of a small boy. He
broke up funerals. He gave life back to those who were dead. He
said: "I am the resurrection and the life."
He laid aside His Royal robe for the gown of a peasant. He
was rich but for our sakes became poor. Yet wise men brought Him
costly gifts at the time of His birth.
He slept in the manger of a stranger. He sailed on a lake in
a borrowed boat. He road into Jerusalem on a borrowed beast. He
was buried in a borrowed tomb.
He conquered death. He rose on the third day as He had
previously announced. He ascended into heaven. He sits at the
right hand of the Majesty on High.
He will come again. He will judge the nations in
righteousness. Every knee shall bow to Him. Every tongue shall
confess Him as Lord. His friends will gladly make this
confession. His enemies will make the same confession while
trying to hide from His face.
He is the perfect One. He is the Chief among ten thousands.
He alone can satisfy the soul and give everlasting life to those
who will accept. He is altogether lovely.
Jesus attended three funerals in the days of His flesh and
in each instance destroyed the last enemy which is death. I
repeat, He attended three funerals and He broke up all of them.
He specializes in breaking up funerals!
A boy had died. His mother was weeping. Jesus touched the
casket and the young man rose from the dead. The daughter of
Jairus had died of a fever. Jesus put the doubters out of the
room. He took the maid's hand and said, "Arise." Life was
restored. His friend Lazarus had died. Jesus commanded the stone
to be rolled away. He said: "Lazarus come forth." Life was
restored.
Not long ago I made a trip from Washington, D.C., down the
Potomac to Mount Vernon. I visited the tomb of George Washington
and that is a sacred spot. The British have their Westminster
Abbey where they bury their noble dead. A great building in India
marks the place where the mortal remains of Buddha were laid to
rest. But as Christians we rejoice, not in some beautifully
decorated tomb under oriental skies. We rejoice in an empty tomb.
HE IS THE CHRIST TRIUMPHANT!
..................
This article courtesy of Kingdom Treasure Ministries, Owasso, OK
www.truth inhistory.org
Taken from "Thy Kingdom Come" - August 2008, a publication of The
Association of the Covenant People, Burnaby, B.C. Canada
The Two Genealogys of JesusOne in Matthew the other in LukeFROM THE BOOK "THE DISCREPANCIES OF THE BIBLE"
THE TWO GENEALOGYS OF CHRIST - MATTHEW AND LUKE
There are two principal theories respecting these genealogies.
1. That held by Alford, Ellicott, Hervey, Meyer, Mill, Patritius,
Wordsworth, and others - that both genealogies are Joseph's;
Matthew exhibiting him as the legal heir to the throne of David,
that is, naming the successive heirs of the kingdom from David to
Jesus the reputed son of Joseph; while Luke gives Joseph's
private genealogy or actual descent. This theory is very
ingeniously and elaborately set forth in Lord Arthur Hervey's
work 4 upon the subject to which the reader is referred.
2. That held by Auberlen, Ebrard, Greswell, Kurtz, Lange,
Lightfoot, Michaelis, Neander, Robinson, Surenhusius, Wieseler,
and others - that Matthew gives Joseph's, and Luke, Mary's,
genealogy. Although the alleged discrepancies may be removed upon
either hypothesis, yet we must give the preference to the SECOND,
for the following reasons.
(1) The latter theory seems supported by several early Christian
writers, - Origen, Irenaeus, Tertullian, Athanasius, and Justin
Martyr. 1
(2) It is indirectly confirmed by Jewish tradition. Lightfoot 2
cites from the Talmudic writers concerning the pains of hell, the
statement that Mary the daughter of Heli was seen in the infernal
regions, suffering horrid tortures. 3 This statement illustrates,
not only the bitter animosity of the Jews toward the Christian
religion, but also the fact that, according to received Jewish
tradition, Mary, was the daughter of Heli; hence, that it is her
genealogy which we find in Luke.
(3) This theory shows us in what way Christ was the "Son of
David" If Mary was the daughter of Heli, then Jesus was strictly
a descendant of David, not only legally, through his reputed
father, but actually, by direct personal descent, through his
mother. The latter consideration is one of the very first
interest and importance.
(4) This theory affords a very simple explanation of the whole
matter. Mary, since she had no brothers, was an heiress;
therefore her husband, according to Jewish law, was reckoned
among her father's family, as his son. So that Joseph was the
actual son of Jacob, and the legal son of Heli. In a word,
Matthew sets forth Jesus' right to the theocratic crown, Luke,
his natural pedigree. The latter employs Joseph's name, instead
of Mary's, in accordance with the Israelite law that
"genealogies must be reckoned by fathers, not mothers."
1. See Kitto, ii. 92-94, 547.
2. Harae Hebraicae on Luke iii.28
3. "Suspensam per glandulas mamarum," etc.
..............
#9 Jesus born 5 B.C. #1
The correct Historical proof
WHEN WAS
JESUS BORN?
Part One
by
James Sorenson
with
Fred Coulter
The birth of Jesus Christ has been a topic of controversy
for centuries. People have misunderstood the YEAR of His birth,
as well as the SEASON of His birth. Some theories purport that He
was born in one of the following years: 6 B.C., 5 B.C., 4 B.C.,
3 B.C., 2 B.C., 1 B.C., the year zero, and finally 1 A.D.
What is the CORRECT year of Jesus Christ's birth? Is it
possible to unravel the mystery?
As to the season of the year, most believe that he was born
in the winter. Others feel He was born in the fall. Some claim He
was born in the spring. Still others are inclined to shrug their
shoulders and say that they don't know, declaring that it really
does not matter. On the other hand, those who have willingly
accepted religious myth, tenaciously uphold their belief.....
But what does the Bible reveal and what does history record
for us?
We need to know, because the first coming of Jesus Christ
fulfilled a vast number of prophecies contained in the Old
Testament.....
The proper understanding of the year and season of His birth
can give added insight and knowledge about His life and the
purpose of His coming.
THE TRUTH IS THAT IT IS POSSIBLE TO KNOW WHEN JESUS CHRIST
WAS BORN.
This article will bring together all the Biblical and
historical facts, and combine them together.....
THE REIGN AND DEATH OF HEROD THE KING
The Bible gives certain key historical events, which can be
verified in secular history. The book of Matthew records such an
event. This is vital clue which unlocks some of the understanding
of the events surrounding the time of the birth of Jesus Christ.
"Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem in the days of Herod
the King...." (Mat.2: 1).
Also we know this was near to the time of Herod's death.
"And when they (the wise men) were departed, behold, the angel of
the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying, Arise, and take
the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and you
shall be there until I bring you word; for Herod will seek the
young child to destroy him. When he arose, he took the young
child and his mother by night, and departed into Egypt; and
was there until THE DEATH OF HEROD" (Mat. 2: 13-15).
From historical records we can understand precisely when
Herod reigned and when he died.
Herod went to Rome in the winter ".....and thus did this man
receive the kingdom, having obtained it on the hundred and
eighty-fourth olympiad, when Caius Domitius Calvinus was consul
the second time and Caius Asinius Pollio (the first time)"
(Josephus Ant. 14:14:5).
An olympiad is four years in length and is reckoned from
July to July. The 184th olympiad was July 44 B.C. to July 40 B.C.
Additionally, Calvinus and Pollio were consuls in the year 714
AUC, which was 40 B.C. (AUC means from the founding of Rome),
(Handbook of Biblical Chronology, Jack Finegan, p.96).
The calendar year for consuls was figured from January to
January. When the January to January and July to July reckonings
are combined, we are able to bracket a year into any six month
period......
Another event gives additional information about the total
reign of Herod and the beginning of his reign in Jerusalem, "When
the rigour of winter was over, Herod removed his army, and came
near to Jerusalem, and pitched his camp hard by the city. Now
this was the THIRD YEAR since he had been made king at Rome...."
(Josephus Ant. 14:15:14).
But it was not until the summer that Herod was able to
finally take the city of Jerusalem, "....for it was
summer....This destruction befell the city of Jerusalem when
Marcus Agrippa and Canninius Gallus were consuls of Rome, on the
hundred eighty and fifth olympiad, on the third month, on the
solemnity of the fast...." (Josephus Ant.14:16:2,4).
The 185 olympiad was from July 40 B.C. to July 36 B.C., and
Agrippa and Gallus were consuls in 717 AUC or the year 37 B.C.
Furthermore, the fast of the third month was the 23rd of
Sivan.....Herod completed the conquest of the city of Jerusalem
in the summer of 37 B.C., and began reigning as king in Jerusalem
that year.
When all these facts are put together it shows that Herod
was crowned king in Rome sometime between January and March 40
B.C. He began reigning in Jerusalem three years and three to four
months later.
"......He (Herod) died......having reigned since he had
procured Antigonus to be slain, thirty-four years; but since he
had been declared king by the Romans, thirty-seven"
(Josephus 17:8:1).
Josephus shows in Ant. 14:16:4 that Antigonus was killed
shortly after Herod conquered Jerusalem.
He began his reign in the year 40 B.C. and he reigned 37
years. Including the first year of his reign, 37 years later was
4 B.C.
Additionally, he conquered Jerusalem in 37 B.C. again
verifying a 4 B.C. death.
This means there are two calculations which conclusively
show that Herod died 4 B.C.
To further substantiate 4 B.C. as the year of Herod's death,
Josephus records that he died after an eclipse of the moon and
before Passover.
The precise time of this eclipse has been figured for us in
a book of astronomical calculations, SOLAR AND LUNAR ECLIPSES OF
THE ANCIENT NEAR EAST written by M. Kudler by Neukirchen-Bluyn:
Verias Butson and Bercker Kevelaer, 1971.
Here is a listing of the lunar eclipses:
7 B.C. - No eclipses
6 B.C. - No eclipses
5 B.C. - Total eclipse, March 23 at 8:30 p.m.
5 B.C. - Total eclipse, September 15 at 10:30 p.m.
4 B.C. - Partial eclipse, March 13 at 2:20 a.m.
3 B.C. - No eclipses
2 B.C. - No eclipses
In the year 5 B.C., a total eclipse occurred on March
23rd.......The second total eclipse of the moon September 15th 5
B.C......
THE SEQUENCE OF EVENTS JUST BEFORE THE ECLIPSE UNTIL HEROD'S
DEATH AND BURIAL BEFORE THE NEXT PASSOVER
In Antiquities Book 17:6:1 to 17:9:3, Josephus records these
events in great detail. They will be summarized with pertinent
quotes......
Just before the eclipse Herod sent ambassadors to
Rome......Then, sometime during the next week there was a group
of zealots, who stormed the temple and proceeded to chop down a
golden eagle idol Herod had previously erected over the
entrance of one of the gates to the Temple. Herod found out that
Matthias the high priest was responsible for inciting the zealots
to take such action, because they thought Herod was dead. But he
wasn't and they were caught and punished.
Herod's punishment for Matthias was this: "....he deprived
Matthias of the high priesthood, as in part an occasion of this
action, and made Joazer, who was Matthias' wife's brother, high
priest in his stead. Now it happened, that during the time of the
high priesthood of this Matthias, there was another person made
high priest for a single day, that very day on which the Jews
observe as a fast day (was the day of Atonement) the great day of
expiation."
The occasion was this: "Matthias the high priest, on the
night before that day when the fast was to be celebrated, seemed
in a dream to have conversation (sexual relations), with his
wife: and because he could not officiate himself on that account,
Joseph, the son of Ellemus, his kinsman, assisted him in that
sacred office. But Herod reprieved this Matthias of the high
priesthood, and burnt the other Matthias, who had raised the
sedition, with his companions, alive. And that very night there
was an eclipse of the moon" (Josephus 17:6:4).
The night of that day they were burned, five nights after
the dream, there was an eclipse of the moon. This was September
15, 5 B.C......Herod died after this eclipse and before the next
Passover.
Shortly after that, Herod's "distemper" increased and he
sought the help of the warm mineral baths at Callirrhoe, which
was located beyond the Jordan river. It has been estimated he
went there the week ending November 4th. There is no direct
indication how long he was there, but for his funeral procession
and burial to have transpired after the cold of the winter, he
must have stayed there approximately eight to nine weeks. Then
he went to Jericho, which has been projected to end the week of
January 13th. ".....and came again to Jericho, where he grew so
choleric, that it brought him to do all things like a madman; and
thought he was near his death, he contrived the following wicked
designs" (Ant. 17:6:5).
He then commanded the principal men of his government to
come to Jericho, there intending to have them killed after his
death....After his death, they were not killed.
Next, a few days later, Herod received letters from Rome
from the ambassadors. While this news was good, and seemed to
revive him he nevertheless attempted suicide but was restrained
by Achiabus.
While still in this rage he ordered his son Antipater to be
killed. Herod died five days later. "When he had done these
things, he died, the fifth day after he had caused Antipater to
be slain; having reigned, since he had procured Antigones to be
slain, thirty-four years; but since he had been declared king by
the Romans, thirty-seven" (Ant.17:8:1).
His death would have been approximately the week of February
17, 4 B.C.
Based on this estimation, Herod died almost exactly 37 years
to the month from the time of his coronation. He died after an
eclipse and before a Passover.
Later we will show how this fits into the circumstances
surrounding the birth of Jesus Christ.
The one who succeeded Herod was Archelaus. He carried out
the wishes of Herod for a long funeral procession and period of
mourning before his burial. The time needed for this was
approximately 25 days, not counting Sabbaths......
The period of this chronology of events ends in the middle
of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, after the Passover, with the
slaughter of 3,000 people by Archelaus.....
....the commonly accepted theory that the March 13, 4 B.C.
eclipse is wrong. It is clear from the true historical evidence
that there was not enough time between a March 13 eclipse and the
Passover of April....for all of these events to have transpired.
(From the "Chronological Bible" - editor Edward Reese, 1977,
Gaddy and Associates Inc. Publishers, Nashville, we have this
statement by Frank R. Klassen, who did the chronology dates:
"Herod the Great died ABOUT the 13th of March (Adar) in 4
B.C., in the year of Rome 750...." - Keith Hunt)
ADDITIONAL CORROBORATING HISTORICAL EVIDENCE
PROVING JESUS CHRIST'S MINISTRY BEGAN IN A.D. 26
The gospel of Matthew shows that after the death of Herod,
Joseph brought Jesus and Mary back from Egypt to Nazareth in the
district of Galilee. This means that since Herod died in 4 B.C.,
Jesus Christ must have been born in 5 B.C.
Jesus was born while Herod was still alive. Herod was in
Jerusalem, "Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the
days of Herod......." (Mat.2:1-3).
Then, Herod summoned the scribes and chief priests to
Jerusalem to inquire where Jesus Christ should have been born,
according to the prophecies in the OT.
After finding that it had been prophesied that Jesus should
be born in Bethlehem, Herod instructed the wise men to return and
inform him where Jesus resided, "When they had heard the king,
they departed, and lo, the star which they saw in the east, went
before them, till it came and stood over where the young child
was......When he (Joseph) arose, he took the young child and his
mother by night, and departed into Egypt: and was
there until the death of Herod" (Mat.2:9-15).
"But when Herod was dead (in February 4 B.C.), an angel of
the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph.....And he arose and took
the young child and his mother, and came into the land of Israel.
But when he heard that Archelaus did reign in Judea in the
room of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there; not
withstanding, being warned of God in a dream, he turned aside
into the parts of Galilee: and he came and dwelt in a
city called Nazareth" (Mat.2:19-23)......
THE FIFTEENTH YEAR OF TIBERIUS
The fifteenth year if Tiberius is another historical
reference that gives us further supporting evidence, "Now in the
fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar...." (Luke 3: 1).
A dispute has existed concerning the date of the fifteenth
year of Tiberius. This is a result of the two year co-rulership
Tiberius had with Augustus.
This date is keyed to the battle of Actium, which took place
during the 187th olympiad in the 7th year of the reign of Herod
(Josephus Ant.15:5:1-2; Wars 1:20:3).
The 187th olympiad was the four year period: July 32 B.C. to
July 28 B.C. The 7th year of Herod, March 31 B.C. to March 30
B.C.
Augustus, died when Sextus Apuleius and Sextus Pomppeios
were consuls, on August 19. Augustus had been ruler from the
victory at Actium 44 years lacking 13 days (Dio Roman History,
Book LVI: 29-30, Loeb Ed. Vol.7, p.65,69).
The date of the consuls reign was 767 AUC, which was 14 B.C.
During the last years of Augustus' reign, ".....the consuls
caused a law to be passed.....that he (Tiberius) should govern
the province jointly with Augustus and hold the census with him"
(Seutonius Ed. J. C. Rolfe, LCL, 1, p.323).
Tiberius began his co-rulership with Augustus in A.D. 12.
This means that the 15th year of Tiberius was A.D. 26. There was
a two year co-regency from A.D. 12 to A.D. 14.
Some scholars calculate his 15th year from the beginning of
his sole rulership in A.D. 14 and arrive at an A.D. 28 date. This
is the source of conflict. However, A.D. 12 is the only date that
harmonizes with all other events.
Therefore, John the Baptist began his ministry, as a
messenger to prepare the way for the Lord Jesus Christ, in the
spring of A.D. 26. Jesus was then baptized by John the
Baptist, some time in the fall of A.D. 26.
FORTY-SIX YEARS BUILDING THE TEMPLE
During the first Passover of Christ's ministry, the Jews
stated that the Temple had been 46 years in building (John 2:
20). Jesus' first Passover was A.D. 27.
"And now Herod, in the eighteenth year of his reign (that
is, the eighteenth in Jerusalem, but the twenty-first year from
his coronation in Rome).....undertook a very great work, that is
to build of himself the Temple to God" (Ant.15:11:1).
The 18th year of Herod's Jerusalem reign was 20 B.C. to 19
B.c., which was the first year of building the Temple. Carried
forward, the 46th year was A.D. 27.
TO BE CONTINUED
..............
This study was written about 1980.
#10 Jesus Born 5 B.C. #2
The facts of History continued
WHEN WAS
JESUS BORN?
Part Two
by
James Sorenson
with
Fred Coulter
Added comments by Keith Hunt
THE TIME OF THE MESSIAH AS
PROPHESIED BY DANIEL
Daniel records this prophecy, "Know therefore and
understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to
restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince
shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks (that is a
total of 69 weeks)...." (Daniel 9: 25).
A day of prophetic fulfillment is a year in actual time
(Ezek. 4: 4-6; Num. 14: 34).
The total number of years from the decree to restore
Jerusalem until the ministry of the Messiah is figured this way:
69 (weeks) X 7 (days in a week) equals 483 prophetic days; or 483
years of actual time in a literal fulfillment.
That decree was issued to Ezra the priest by King Artaxerxes
of Persia during the seventh year of his reign. This record is
found in the seventh chapter of the book of Ezra:
"And he (Ezra and company) came to Jerusalem in the fifth
month, which was in the seventh year of the king....Now this is
the copy of the letter (decree) that the King Artaxerxes gave
unto Ezra the priest, the scribe, even a scribe of the words of
the commandments of the Lord, and of his statutes to Israel"
(Ezra 7: 8, 11).
The decree officially established Jerusalem as a provincial
capital city, under its own governor, within the Persian realm.
Xerxes, Artaxerxes father, died about December 465 B.C. This
would mean that the accession year for Artaxerxes was December
465 B.C. The accession year, though not a complete year,
according to the Babylonian reckoning is not counted as the first
year of the reign.
The seventh year of Artaxerxes was the calendar year from
March 485 B.C. to March 457 B.C. (An Encyclopedia of World
History, W.L. Langer; Babylonian Chronology, Brown University
Press, p. 17; Chronology of Ezra Seven, Horn, p. 101-103).
The 483 years of the 69 weeks prophecy extended from that
time forward to A.D.26. That is the time when Jesus Christ, the
Messiah, began His ministry. Here is how that date is calculated.
69 X 7 equals 483 years. 483 minus 458 B.C. (the year the
decree was issued), equals 25 years, or A.D. 25. Now add plus 1
year compensation for no year zero; the correct final figure is
26 years, or A. D. 26.
THE SEVENTIETH WEEK
The prophecy of Daniel 9 contains another prophetic week,
making a total of 70 weeks. This last prophetic week is
important. It was also prophesied that the Messiah would,
".....confirm the covenant (the New Covenant) with many for one
week; and in the midst (middle) of the week he shall cause the
sacrifice and the oblation to cease...." (Daniel 9: 27).
A prophetic week in fulfillment is seven years of actual
time. The Messiah, Jesus Christ, was prophesied to be cut off in
the middle of the week. This would be after three and one half
years. Since A.D. 26 began in the autumn, adding 3 years would
bring us to the fall of A.D. 29, which would place His death in
A.D.30, in the spring of the year.
(A number of Bible scholars from the past and the present
agree that Jesus died in the year 30 A.D. This would also fit
nicely with Biblical typology, as from 30 A.D. to 70 A.D. when
Jerusalem was destroyed is exactly 40 years - 40 being the number
God uses in the Bible for trials, testing - the Jewish nation was
given 40 years of testing, to accept the Christian Gospel, before
the people and their holy city were destroyed and punished
- Keith Hunt).
Luke records for us that Jesus was about thirty years old
when He was baptized, which was at the beginning of his ministry,
"And Jesus himself began to be about thirty years of age...."
(Luke 3: 23).
Once it is known that He was thirty years old in the autumn
of A.D. 26, it is easy to cross-check and verify the year of
Herod the king. Jesus was about thirty when He was baptized A.D.
26. He must have been born in the year 5 B.C.
Now that the year of His birth has been calculated, by using
the prophecies and information contained in the Bible, and the
recorded history, is it possible also to calculate the season of
the month of His birth?
LUKE RECORDS THE KEYS DATING THE
MONTH OF JESUS' BIRTH!
Sometimes in reading the Bible we are all too often in a
hurry to get into "important material." In doing so, it is easy
to miss small details which of themselves do not appear
important. However, the key which unlock this mystery of the time
and season of the year of Jesus' birth have been recorded in a
seemingly unimportant manner in the first two chapters of the
Gospel of Luke!
KEY #1 - THE PRIEST ZACHARIAS
(JOHN THE BAPTIST'S FATHER)
Luke provides the detailed knowledge of the actual
circumstances and events surrounding the birth of Jesus Christ.
As we will see, his method of reckoning was precise. It must be
remembered that Luke's method of relating events were slightly
different from those which would be used today. Consequently, we
must put ourselves back into the contemporary setting of those
times.
Zacharias was a priest of God at the Temple in Jerusalem. At
the beginning of his account, Luke records, "In the days of
Herod, the king of Judea, there was a certain priest, Zacharias
by name, of the course of Abijah.....and it happened that in
fulfilling his priestly office before God in the order of his
course of Abijah, according to the custom of the priestly office,
it fell by lot to him to burn incense when he entered into the
Temple of the Lord" (Luke 1:5,8-9 author's translation). Notice
that Zacharias was executing the function of the priest,
according to the order of the course of Abijah.
This information is important! Zacharias was of the course
of Abijah. The OT records the exact rotation and time order when
his priestly course was to perform its duties.
In ancient Israel, King David divided the duties of the
priests into twenty-four working courses, or shifts (1 Chron. 24:
7-19). The course of Abijah was the eighth course of the shift in
the series based on yearly assignments for all the priests. Each
course or shift was to work one full week, from noon Sabbath to
noon Sabbath (Talmud, Sukkah).
Josephus, the noted Jewish historian....who lived and wrote
during the days just after Jesus was crucified. Josephus records,
"He (King David) divided them also into courses....and he found
(or established) of these priests, twenty-four courses....and he
ordained that one course should minister to God eight days, from
sabbath to sabbath....and this partition hath remained to this
day" (Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, Book 7, Chapter 14,
Section 7).
This record proves that the courses of priests were still in
effect at the time of Zacharias. These courses undoubtedly
continued until the Temple was destroyed in A.D.70.
The Talmud reveals that the first course, or shift, began in
the first week of the first month of the Hebrew Calendar. The
second course worked the second week.
This rotation continued on a week by week basis through all
twenty-four courses. Each course had the basic responsibility
twice a year to perform a one week shift. In addition all courses
were required to work three extra weeks during the year. These
three weeks were for the three holy day seasons: Passover, and
Tabernacles. Thus all the priests shared equally in the priestly
responsibilities for the entire year.
It is a well known fact that John the Baptist came before
the Lord to prepare His way. It has been shown that Jesus was
born sometime in 5 B.C. This means that John the Baptist must
have been conceived sometime in 6 B.C. When all this information
is put together with the shift, the time of Zacharias' priestly
work shift, the time of John the Baptist's birth can be
determined......
(Let me add here, that it can be determined within only
about a month, for the priestly courses began when the first
month was announced, the new moon of Nisan or Abib. The Jews in
the first century A.D. were not using the Jewish Perpetual
Calendar that we have today. And they could add a 13th month for
various reasons if it was necessary, such as the roads and
bridges being washed out because of heavy spring time rain, hence
needing time to repair them so Jewish pilgrims from distant parts
could make it to Jerusalem for the Passover. To try and work
backwards to the first century with the Jewish Perpetaul calendar
of today is a serious mistake, for as I've said, the "perpetual
calendar" was not in use by the Jews of the first century. The
calendar they used was a Sanhedrin, observation with calculation,
calendar, hence it is impossible for us today to know exactly
when in 6 B.C. or 5 B.C. they announced the new month day
of Nisan, or the first month of the religious festival year.
We can know of course that the first month was in the spring
time, as the Passover was always to be observed in the spring,
and the Jews have always obeyed that instructive command of the
Lord. But if it was in our March or April, we cannot know
for certain.
The writers of this study in 1982, when this study booklet
was first published, made the serious error of using the present
Jewish Perpetual calendar to work backwards to the first century
to figure the very day and month in the Roman calendar when
Zacharias was officiating in the Temple. This is simple not
possible to determine in any exact way, either day or week, or
even in the month of the Roman calendar, for reasons I have just
mentioned - Keith Hunt).
......Zacharias worked in his course of Abijah, the eighth
course, which was assigned the ninth and tenth week from the
beginning of the year.....
(This would, within a month, be either in May or June,
depending when in 6 B.C. the first month was announced by the
Jewish Sanhedrin in Jerusalem, and depending if they added a 13th
month or if they did not, to that particular year, for the many
reasons they could and were allowed by God to add that 13th
month. See "The Code of Maimonides - book three - Treatise Eight
- Sanctification of the New Moon."
It could well have been possible that the angel came to
Zacharias to tell him that he and his wife would have a child, to
be called John, during the week of Pentecost, or at least in that
time frame, which would as I've said, be May or June. That is
about as close as we can estimate, to be faithful to the facts of
Jewish calendar use at that time of 6 B.C. and the first century
A.D. - Keith Hunt).
.....Following the story flow in Luke's account we find
this: Zacharias was to remain mute and unable to speak until the
child, John the Baptist, was born and later circumcised
the eighth day......, "And it happened when the days of his
priestly ministration were finished, he went back to his own
home. Now after these days, his wife Elizabeth conceived, and hid
herself five months" (Luke 1: 23-24 author's translation)......
(We again can only estimate the time frame. If Zacharias'
wife became pregnant within the first two week of Zacharias
returning home to her, and we are within the month frame of May
or June, we can only estimate that John the Baptist was conceived
sometime in May or June, depending on when the first month began
in 6 B.C. and so then when the eighth course of Abijah officiated
in the Temple. Once more we are still looking at the months of
May or June for the conception of John the Baptist - Keith Hunt).
CONNECTION BETWEEN THE CONCEPTION OF
JOHN THE BAPTIST AND THE CONCEPTION
AND BIRTH OF JESUS CHRIST
Luke was also inspired to record the essential chronological
information which is the second key to understand the time and
season when Jesus was born. The virgin Mary miraculously became
pregnant with Jesus through the power of the Holy Spirit in
the sixth month of Elizabeth's pregnancy (Luke 1: 26-38), "Now
then, Elizabeth your relative, she has also conceived a son, in
spite of her old age, and this is the sixth month
for her who had been called barren" (Luke 1: 36).......
(The sixth month of Elizabeth's pregnancy was either
November or December, depending on when the first month of Nisan
began, as I have stated above. The angel was sent to tell Mary
that she would conceive the Son of God during and at the time of
Elizabeth's sixth month of pregnancy. Mary arose at that time and
made haste to the city of Judea and into the house of Zacharias
and Elizabeth. The babe John in Elizabeth's womb leaped for joy
when Mary entered the house. Elizabeth then said, "Blessed are
you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. Mary was
at this time pregnant with Jesus the Son of God.
The whole context of this section of Luke chapter one shows
Mary 's conception with the Christ child was in the sixth month
of Elizabeth's pregnancy. Jesus was thus born in the AUTUMN OR
FALL, in either the months of September or October - Keith Hunt).
OTHER EVIDENCE IN THE BOOK
OF LUKE
Luke has preserved other evidence substantiating the Autumn
birth of Christ. The taxation and census decree by Caesar
Augustus was carried out after the Jewish method. It was Jewish
custom to conduct such taxations after the fall harvest (see
Unger's Dictionary, pp. 199-200). Furthermore, there were no
guest rooms available at the inn when Joseph and Mary arrived in
Bethlehem. This shows that many people were already in the
Jerusalem area for the taxation and for the fall festival season.
Bethlehem was a festival city because of its proximity to
Jerusalem (The city of Jerusalem was at the festival time
enlarged to take in the nearby towns such as Bethlehem. This was
especially so at Passover time, as recorded by Josephus, because
the Passover lambs could only be stain and eaten in the place or
city where God had placed His name, according to the laws of
Moses, and Jerusalem was that city in the first century A.D. and
for a number of centuries before in B.C. times - Keith Hunt).
Since there was no room in the inn, they were forced to
lodge in a bran. Jesus was born there and was laid in a manger.
(Yes, in all likelihoods, this census and/or taxation was at
the time of the fall festivals of the feast of Trumpets, feast
day of Atonement and the 7 day feast of Tabernacles with the
eighth day following that feast. Again, depending when the first
month began in 5 B. C. would mean this fall festival season would
be either September or October. For instance, this Roman year of
2003 when I am compiling this study, the feast of Trumpets or as
the Jews call it, Rosh Hashanah is September 27th. The feast
of Atonement or Yom Kippur, as it is called by the Jews, is
October 6th. The feast of Tabernacles and the eighth day is
October 11th to the 18th. In the year 2002 all of the
fall festivals fell within the month of September.
As we do not know if a 13th month was added to the calendar
in 6 B.C. or in 5 B.C. we can only estimate the conception of
John the Baptist and hence, in the sixth month of Elizabeth's
conception, the conception of Mary with Jesus, to a two month
period. But what can be known with certainty is that Jesus would
have been born in the FALL or AUTUMN of the year - Keith Hunt).
Luke also records that shepherds were tending their flocks
in the fields at night. This was not possible in the winter
because of the severe cold. There is much discussion
in Bible Commentaries on each of these additional points.
(Yes, Bible Commentaries such as "Barnes' Notes on the New
Testament" state quite up front and in a matter of fact way, that
Jesus was NOT born on December 25th, or anywhere close to the
month of December - Keith Hunt).
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