Bible Writers' Theology

Second Edition

Bishope Teklemariam Gezahegne

Bible Writers' TheologySecond Edition

by

Bishop Teklemariam Gezahegne

Apostolic Experience Publishing 8412 Bridlespur Dr. Hazelwood, MO 63942 Phone: 314-479-4888 Web: www.apostolicexperience.com

Email: info@apostolicexperience.com

Table of ContentsPreface.........................................................

Hie Second Edition.............................................................I he First Edition................................................................

Introduction............................................... The Necessity of Biblical Theology..............God, The Essential Being...........................Cosmological Argument...................................................Teleological Argument......................................................Ontological Argument......................................................Moral Argument...............................................................The Revelation of God....................................................

General Revelation..........................................................................Special Revelation to the Israelites in History..................................

Special Revelation of Jesus...............................................................Special Revelation of God in Scriptures...........................................

Special Revelation for rtti Mankind.................................................God Is Revealed in Personal Experiences.........................................

Angeology..................................................The Origin of Angels........................................................*The Nature of Angels........................................................*

Men and Angels are not the Same in Glory.....................................*Angels are Incorporeal......................................................................*Angek Do Not Procreate..................................................................*

Angels are Greater than Man in Knowledge...................................*Angels are Stronger than Men..........................................................*Angels are Not Omnipresent............................................................*

The Fall of Angels.............................................................*The Time of Their Fall....................................................................*The Cause and Result of Their Fall.................................................*

Classes of Angels...............................................................*The Good Angels.............................................................................*

Angels are Called Sons of God........................................*

The Mystery of Sonsfup....................................................................*The Evil Angels.................................................................*The Works of Angels........................................................*

Work of Good An gels.......................................................................*Works of Evil Angels........................................................................*

The Destiny of Angels.......................................................*

Anthropology - The Origin of Man.............Divine Creation by God...................................................*Biblical Arguments for the Creation of Man...................*

Literal Teaching of Scripture............................................................*The Original Character of Man......................................................*

The Unity of Man and Woman is a Shadow of the Unity ofChrist with the Church....................................................*The Bipartite Constitution (Framework) of Man ............*The Source and the Destiny of the Human Soul.............*God's Predestined Plan for the Creation of Man............*

Sin and the Fall of Man....................................................*The Results of the Fall.....................................................................*

Bibliology...................................................*The Bible is God's Word..................................................*The Bible's Own Testimony..............................................*

Self-Vindicating Authority................................................................*Testimony of the Prophets and Apostles............................................*

Integrity of Jesus Christ....................................................................*The Character of the Bible...............................................*Sampling of General Content..........................................*

Unity................................................................................................*History.............................................................................................*Science.............................................................................................*The Witness in Individual Lives......................................................+

Inspiration of God's Word..............................................*The Inspiration of Scripture.............................................*The Authority of the Scripture.........................................*The Truthfulness of Scripture..........................................*

The Word of God Reveals Its Own Nature:.....................................*The Canon of Scripture....................................................*

The Old Testament Canon..............................................................*The New Testament Canon.............................................................*A Complete Canon.........................................................................*

The Essence of God....................................*God is Spirit......................................................................*God is Invisible.................................................................*God is Alive.......................................................................*Individuality......................................................................*God's Rationality..............................................................*Essential Being..................................................................*Immensity..........................................................................*Eternity..............................................................................*

Incommunicable and Communicable Attributes of God.......*Omnipresence..................................................................................*Omniscient (Aii Knowing) God.......................................................*

Omnipotence.............................. ......................................................*Immutability....................................................................................*

Attributes of God..............................................................*Transcendence..................................................................................*

Communicable (Moral) Attributes...................................*Holiness...........................................................................................*Righteousness and Justice.................................................................*

Goodness..........................................................................................*Love.................................................................................................*Benevolence......................................................................................*Mercy...............................................................................................*Grace...............................................................................................*

Truth................................................................................................*Faithfulness......................................................................................*

The Only One to be Feared..............................................*A Jealous God.................................................................................*Fear of the Glorified Name..............................................................*The Kingship and Lordship of God..................................................*

There is But One God..............................*Bible Writers' Testimony of One God ........................... *

More Bible Writers' Testimonies of one God................*The One God is Word....................................................*Word Emanated from God............................................. *The One God is Spirit (Holy Spirit)............................... *God is Jesus Christ, the Only Creator............................ *Three-fold References of the Godhead........................... *

The Name of God........................................................... *

Elohim............................................................................. *God's Compound Names............................................................... *The Personal Name of God............................................................ *

The Saving Name of Emmanuel..................................... *God the Father Manifest, Bearing the Name Jesus........*

References....................................................................... *

Bible Writers' Christology........................123Christ is the Word Made Flesh.................125

God is Known by His Word...........................................125The Word is Now Made Flesh........................................128Jesus was Equal to God Because He was God................ 131Jesus is Logos manifested in flesh...................................135

References.......................................................................138

Christ is God-Man....................................141Christ is the Son of God................................................. 141Jesus is the Son of God................................................... 144Christ is God-Man.......................................................... 146

Why Did Jesus Call Himself the Son of Man?............... 149References.......................................................................153

The Orgin of Christ's Flesh.......................155The Outer Man and the Inner Man...............................159Jesus has a Glorified Heavenly Body Since His Birth .... 161

Since Christ Never Changes, His Body is risen as it was...... ..........162Natural or Heavenly Flesh?............................................. 166

Christ Had No Lusts of the Flesh.............. ..... ................................ 171Where did Jesus say he come from?................................................ 174

The Comparison of the Natures of the Two Adams...... 177The First Adam:.............................................................. 177The Second Adam: ......................................................... 177References.......................................................................183

Christ Has Become Our Salvation.............185Christ: The Mystery of the Tabernacle and the Temple. 185Christ's Manhood and Ministry of Reconciliation........189Christ Has Become Our Salvation.................................195

References.......................................................................202About the Author......................................205

Bible Writers' Christology

The true child of God must have the revelation of Christ as indicated

in the Bible. Therefore, it is necessary to have a scripturally correct

explanation of the identity of Christ. The validity of the promises and all

scripturally recorded statements made by Jesus and His apostles totally

depend on who Christ is (Matthew 11:27).

The Bible Writers encourage us to be careful whenever we discuss

God's wisdom. Paul writes,"Hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world?... The

world hy wisdom knew not God."I Corinthians 1:20,21

This implies that we cannot know anything significant about Jesus

Christ through application of worldly assumptions nor words, phrases, nor

sentences that claim to describe him. Consequently, such usage should be

avoided. Indeed, Paul writes that He will not use "enticing words of man's

wisdom" (1 Corinthians 2:4). He states that, "the wisdom of this world is

foolishness with God" (I Corinthians 3:19). Moreover, he communicates

revelation from a "hidden wisdom" (I Corinthians 2:7; Ephesians 4:9), and

the wisdom he writes about does not derive from worldly knowledge for

they eventually come to mean nothing (I Corinthians 2:6).

Colossians 2:8 warns us to"Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ."

Colossians 2:8"Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, hut which the Holy Ghost teacheth."

I Corinthians 2:13

Thus, we should not accept philosophical arguments using assumptions

previously handed down, nor should we utilize the basic premises and

procedures of previous Greek wisdom or any logical account obtained

using pure human thoughts and assumptions. We should seek those

premises and concepts taught by the Spirit of God. Colossians 2:2,3 tells

us that only in Christ is hid the treasures of wisdom and knowledge."And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent."

John 17:3

The Bible writers' Christology is the only true doctrine, for they teach

of God the Father manifested in His own flesh (ITimothy 3:16; Jn.

12:44,45).The mystery of the Father and of the Son is great indeed. To

understand this mystery requires a revelation that comes from the Spirit of

God and the Word of God. Those who depend on God can have the

revelation of both the Father and the Son. It is His will for you to receive

truth and understanding by studying the Word with love. Jesus said,"He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is

that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and 1 will love him, and will manifest myself to him."

John 14:21

Christ is the Word Made Flesh

God is Known by His Word

God from the beginning has His own Word as His invisible image.

This is how our patriarchs knew the Almighty God as both word and

Spirit. The patriarchs only heard the voice of the words of God but saw no

likeness with the voice (Deuteronomy 4:12). So the Word was the only

form of God they knew. This was enough because God's Word in the Old

Testament is his creative utterance, His power in action fulfilling.

For instance, in the Old Testament, God's word ("dawbar in Hebrew)

was not a distinct person but was God speaking, actiing ordisclosing

Himself:« And they (Adam and Evc)heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongest the trees of the garden."

Genesis 3:8"Specially the day that thou stoodest before the LORD thy God in Horeb,..And the LORD spake unto you out of the midest of the fire: ye heard the voice of the words, but saw no similitude : only ye heard a voice..Also, Moses taught that God was known only by His voice."

Deuteronomy 4:10,12"He sent His word, and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions."

Psalm 107:20

"And I took my staff ...And it was broken in that day: and so the I)oor of the flock that waited upon me knew that it was the word of the LORD."

Zechariah 11:10,11"So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that ivhich I please, and it shall prosper in the thing where to I sent it."

Isaiah 55:11Genesis 1 tells us how at creation God said, "Let there be ...and there

was..." (Genesis 1).By the word of the LORD were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth... For he spake, and it was done; he commanded, and it stood fast."

Psalms 33:6,9The Word of God is thus God at work (God in action). The Bible

writer's record states that the Word which was in the beginning with God,

existed from everlasting and was God's own creative power, with out

distinct subsistence or person. The Logos, which was with God, was not

another God, but the creative Word of God emanating from the one God

(God the Father). God the Father Himself was (the) Word and Word

begetter or one who emanates Word. As we have seen earlier, God the

Father is Spirit (John 4:24). When He is in action, He breathes the Holy

Spirit (the breath of God) to give life to His creation. However, the breath

of God (the Holy Spirit) is not a second God, but God Himself in action."In the beginning was the Word, and the Word mis with Clod, and lhe Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. The same

came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe.He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light.That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. He came unto his own, and his own received him not. But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth"

John 1:1-14

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the

Word was God." (KJV) "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word

was with God, and God was the Word." (En archee een ho Logos kai ho

Logos een pros ton Theon kai theos een ho Logos) According to the

Greek Bible, the above rendering is the literal words of the Bible writers

(John 1:1). The former rendering of the scripture has been translated

incorrectly, for the sake of support'ng the second God in the trinity. All

translators change the literal order of the word logos to produce a separate

person, the so-called God the Son.

Using John chapter one, let us examine how John rakes up this figure

and proceeds to tell us seven things about the divine Word:

1. "In the beginning was the Word." Here the Word's eternity. He had no

beginning of his own when other things begun, he was.

2."And the Word was with God" Here it shows God the Father's

personality was before creation.

3."God was the Word" Here it shows us God and the Word is one deity.

According to Greek Bible the Word is not personally distinct from the

Father and is not a creature.

4."Through Him all things were made" Here is the Word of God that

proceeds from the Father creating. All that was made was made through

Him.

5."In Him was life" Here is the Word animating. Life is given and

maintained by the Word and the breath of God.

6."And that life was the light of men" Here the Word revealing the

Father in giving life, and light. That is to say, all people receive intimations

of God from the very fact of being in God's World And the fact that they

are alive is due to the work of the Word.

7."The Word was made flesh" With no distinction of persons, here is

God the Father manifested in the heavenly flesh.

The Word is Now Made Flesh I will worship toward thy holy temple, and praise thy name for thy lovingkindness and for thy truth: for thou hast magnified thy word (Amur above all thy name."

Psalm 138:2We can see God making himself known by exalting His word that

became flesh. The word of God (Amar Elohim) has become the actual

revelation of God's outer self. According to these passages, God's word was

more than the expression of God's mind, thought, and purpose, it

transcends human conception of each of these expressions, for it

accomplishes the design of God (John 1:1-5,14). This majestic

presentation can also remind us of the passages in the Old Testament

where God was revealing Himself to Moses and the children of Israel. He

did so in the burning bush in Exodus 3, and on the Mount Sinai in Exodus

34. That same God is now manifested in the Word that became flesh with

no distinction of persons.

David Bernard describes John's prologue by giving Jesus a superior role:

"The Word was not inferior to God; it was God (John 1:1) The

Word did not emanate from God over a period of time; it was with

God in the beginning ( John 1:1,2). Jesus Christ, the Son of God,

was none other than the Word, or God, revealed in flesh. Note also

that the Greek word pros, translated "with" in verse 1, is the same

word translated "pertaining to" in Hebrews 2:17 and 5:1. John 1:1

could include in its meanings, therefore, the following: "The Word

pertained to God and the Word was God," or, "The Word belonged

to God and was God." (Bernard, The Oneness of God. 1983. p 61).

The Word is explicitly said to be God. God, of course, is not a mere

impersonal concept. The Word is all that God is, including God's

personhood, for the Bible declares, "...by whom also he made the worlds;

Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his

person..." (Hebrews 1:2,3). The personhood of the Word is clearly

manifested in the fact that personal activities are ascribed to him. This

Word is said to be the One through whom the world was created, the One

who is the light and life of all men, and the One who came to, but was

rejected by His own creation (John 1:1-12).

The Word is thus described in strong personal terms that could not

have been said of a mere thought or expression. The Word which was in

the Father is then rendered as explicit as possible in verse 14, which reads:

"and the word was made flesh and dwelt among us, (and we beheld His

glory, the glory as the only begotten of the Father), full of grace and truth."

The clue to the inspired expression, "and the word was with God" can be

derived without ambiguity from verse 14 of the prologue: "and the Word

was made flesh and dwelt among us." There is no doubt that this Word

who was made flesh and dwelt among us is Jesus Christ, and the apostle is

"prefacing" the rest of his book, fully aware of all that Christ said about

Himself.

John is not speaking here with words taught by human wisdom, but

with those taught by the Spirit of God; that powerful, creative, dynamic

Word which created the world (I Corinthians 2:13). Certainly, he is not

attempting a philosophical argument.

The Word who was made flesh and "dwelt among us" proceeded from

the Father without changing His essence so that the blood and the flesh of

Jesus Christ would be of God's own nature. Is not this a direct allusion to

Immanuel, "God with us," in His own flesh? John, in his first epistle gives

us a perfect description of Immanuel,the Father in His flesh,"That which was from the beginning , which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the word of Life declare we unto you, that you also may have fellowship with us."

I John 1:1

John speaks in the same verse of "the only begotten of the Father," for

he bears record of what Christ declared: "Say ye of him, whom the Father

hath sanctified, and sent into the world, Thou blasphemest: because I said,

I am the Son of God?" (John 10:36).

Not only was the "word was made flesh and dwelt among us," but John

adds in verse 14 that, "we beheld his glory, the glory as the only begotten of

the Father, full of grace and truth." In the same verse the word "glory" was

mentioned with this assertion, which seems to echo Christ's own words:

"These things said Esaias, when he saw his glory, and spake of him" (John

12:41). Indeed, from a careful examination of verses 38-45 of the twelfth

chapter of John, we understand that this glory is attributed to "the arm of

God," who, when revealed to the apostles, was none other than God the

Father manifested in the flesh. This is why Christ rightly declared "...I seek

not my own glory, there is one that seeketh and judgeth" (John 8:50).

Again, the Holy One of Israel proclaims in Isaiah 42:8 that "I am the

LORD: that is my name, and my glory will I not give to another, neither

my praise to graven images." Surely, the servant of Yahweh, Christ, "whom

I uphold, mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth" (Isaiah 42:1), and on

whom, as John tells us, rested the glory of the Father, was none other than

God the Father manifested in His own flesh.

God the Father was made visible through Christ, His Son who is "the

brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person" (Hebrews

1:2,3). The prophet Isaiah had already announced:"And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together : for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it."

Isaiah 40:5

Jesus was Equal to God Because He was God "Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name:

That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."

Philippians 2:5-11

Philippians 2:5-11 is misinterpreted when it refers to the life of the

man Christ and His earthly ministry. Verse five introduces the subject by

saying, "Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus" (Yeshua

Messiah). The focus of most theologians is not on the transcendent nature

of God the Father manifested in flesh, but on the supposed 'God the Son,'

who Himself is incarnated, partaking of Mary's nature as the Son of Man.

In this passage, Paul recognizes Christ's identity as the almighty God

in the Word (the form of God) that became flesh. He also emphasizes the

role of His flesh as a lowly servant. Verse 6 reminds us that the Word (the

form) of God which became flesh thought it not robbery to be equal with

God; but made Himself of no reputation, and took upon Himself the form

of a servant. Jesus structurally was made in the likeness of men. God the

Father was in the flesh bearing the name Jesus Christ, "Yeshua

Messiah" (Isaiah 12). The true God in the flesh as Jesus Christ had every

right to live in this world, as a conquering king, being the form of God

instead of a humble servant.

We should remember that the Word that was in God, which was the

form of God, has become flesh. In His weakness He swallowed death and

destroyed the work of the devil, fulfilling prophecy. Verses seven and eight

of Philippians, chapter two, show that Jesus did not hold to His divine

origin (the Word of life), but relinquished it, living a simple life and

enduring a humiliating death. He could have displayed His divine glory

and character to the world, demanding acts of reverence and submission,

but instead, voluntarily laid aside these prerogatives in order to make the

atonement for our sins. He not only took upon Him the likeness and

fashion of a humble humiliated man, but the form of a servant. He came to

minister to humankind as one who serves. His whole life is full of

humiliations, poverty, and disgrace. He had nowhere to lay His head. He

lived on alms. He was a man of sorrows and grief. These all were upon

Him for the sake of all sinners (Isaiah 53:1).

The main subject of the entire passage of Philippians 2:5-8 is the form

of God which is the body Christ. The form of a servant refers primarily to

the nature or character of a servant; that was manifested in physical

appearance. God the Father making His word Flesh became Emmanuel or

God-Man to reconcile the word unto Himself. Bernard says it beautifully

in The Oneness View of Jesus Christ:

"The invisible Spirit became visible in making heavenly body for

Himself. Thus for Jesus to be in the form of God means that Christ

was in very nature of God. Therefore 'the word was made flesh'

means the very nature of God was made flesh" (Bernard, p.46).

The Almighty God is a consuming fire, feared and glorified, but truly

humbled himself:"Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed'? For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he has no form or comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely, He has borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he

was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him, and by his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he was brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth. He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who will declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgressions of my people was he stricken. And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth."

Isaiah 53:1-9Here we see the divine beauty or the form of God gave up its glory and

is humiliated to the level of a servant. Jesus, by His own sovereign will,

submitted Himself bodily to the hands of mortal sinners. This is the true

meaning of the Word becoming flesh. This is what "he humbled himself'

means in Philippians 2:8. No one would expect lower humiliation than the

fate reserved for the one who, in the days of His flesh, cried out:

"I gave my back to the smiters, and my cheeks to them that plucked

off the hair: I hid not my face from shame and spitting."

Isaiah 50:6

The flesh and blood of Jesus Christ is equal with God the Father

because it is the very nature of the Father Himself. For Jesus as God-Man

said in John 10:30, "I and my Father are one". This means that the flesh

and the Spirit are one in the mystery of the Word made flesh. In this

context, the proper understanding of, "equal with" is found in the Greek

word Isos which means alike or the same. Therefore, the form or the word

of God, which became flesh and was the only begotten of the Father, and

God the Father incarnate is one person (Isaiah 7:13-14; 9:6). Since Christ

is the form of God, He can be called equal with God.

In John 5:18, Jewish leaders accused Jesus of making Himself equal

with God. They were not accusing Jesus of calling himself a member of a

triune Godhead. This was not known to the Jewish mind. As John 10:33

tells us, they were accusing Jesus of claiming to be the Jehovah of the Old

Testament: "...thou, being a man makest thyself God". They understood

His assertion, but they erred in rejecting that He was God the Father

manifested in the flesh. The Bible testifies,"He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. He came unto his own, and his own received him not. But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name."

John 1:10-12The Jewish leaders erred because because I John 2:23 says, "Who

soever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father: he that

acknowledged! the Son hath the Father also."

In Philippians 2:5-9, the Apostle Paul was not speaking about God the

Father nor yet about the so-called "God the Son." In writing to the church

at Philippi, he revealed that the Word that was with God from eternity was

obedient to come and die for the salvation of all human beings. Before His

manifestation in flesh, God was creating all things through the Word.

Speaking of Christ, Paul reveals the pre-existence of the Word as follows:"Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature: For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: And he is before all things, and by him all things consist."

Colossians 1:15-17

Scripture gives us full evidence that the image of God was eternal and

all powerful. Paul made it clear saying that He was the image or the form

of God. In words the person of God thought it not robbery to be equal

with God but made Himself of no reputation. He took up on himself the

form of a servant. He became the second Adam and died in flesh but

remained alive in Spirit. The invisible Word of God became visible God-

man. The flesh aspect of God was in the form of Word before His

manifestation in flesh. The Word was with God from eternity, but when

the Word of God was made flesh in the womb of Mary and was born

being the Son of God, only then did God become Immanuel, not second

person, but God himself with us.

The Father never lived outside of His Word. God created everything

that was created by His Word, and the Word of God is the wisdom of

God, far beyond the knowledge and wisdom of humanity.

Jesus is Logos manifested in flesh

Greek philosophers interpret the 'Logos' (word) to be the mind 01

thought of God, but the Bible teaches that God Himself is 'Logos' and

'Logos' emanator from eternity. The Bible Writers did not believe God's

mind became Christ, but that the Word of God became Christ to fulfill

His preplanned mission.

Neither did the Bible writers believe that the Son of God is either God

the Son or God the Father. The Son of God is the heavenly aspect nature

of God the Father. He died in flesh for us on the cross, but was alive in

Spirit. Since God is Spirit and Word, it is the life giving power of God.

The Spirit (God) is the life of both the blood and the flesh. His flesh and

soul (blood) were in the grave for three days but His Spirit, God the

Father did not die for He is immortal, immutable and omnipresent. But

He left Him for three days in the grave for the salvation of human beings.

Ephesians 4:4-6 tells us that there is only one Spirit, God the Father.

The Son is the outer or the physical aspect of God. The inner aspect,

the life of Christ is the Spirit of the Father (I Timothy 3:16). Those who

believe that the Son, by Himself, without the Father, was a living,

breathing, human being with His own earthly human will, mind, soul, and

spirit are not in agreement with the Bible Writers. He was not like any

other ordinary human being. The teaching of Jesus concerning His Spirit

was as follows,"As the living Father hath sent me, and 1 live by the Father; so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me."

John 6:57Jesus went on to say,

"It is the Spirit that quuickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing."

John 6:63

This indicates that flesh without the Spirit (God the Father) cannot

give saving and healing profit. However, when God the Father was

manifest in the flesh, it is now the Arm of God (Isaiah 59:16; 53:1), the

resurrection (Philippians 3:20,21; Ephesians 5:30), the healing power (I

Peter 2:24), the sanctifying, the justifying (Hebrews 10:10; Colossians

1:22; Ephesians 2:15), and the only way to the Holy of I lolies (Heaven)

(Hebrews 10:19,20) Jesus, the infallible teacher, said, "I and my Father are

one" (John 10:30). We now see the Word, which was with the Father, and

is the visible person or form of God. Being the Word of God, it was made

flesh.

The role of the Son began when the Word of God was miraculously

conceived in the Virgin Mary, (dry ground) to become Jesus Christ. This

was after the Holy Ghost came upon her and the power of the highest

overshadowed her (Luke 1:35). The power of the highest means the arm of

God. The word is the power of God and everlasting life. The power of the

highest that came to Mary's womb was the "Word of Life" and that life

was manifested (1 John 1:1,2; Hebrews. 7:16; Isaiah. 63:5) His own arm

was begotten (Isaiah. 53:1; 59:16). Christ is God's holy arm (Isaiah. 52:10).

After the birth of Christ, God also declared, "Thou art my Son, this day

have I begotten thee" (Hebrews 1:5; Galatians 4:4; Psalms 2:7; Hebrew

5:5).

The phrase "son of' means "having the nature or character of'.

Therefore, Son of God means that the man Christ is the very character of

God. Son of God draws attention to the heavenly flesh for no one can be

like God in every way, be equal with God, or have God's complete

character without being God Himself. Christ's title of only begotten

(unique) Son of God actually asserts that He is the essence of God

manifested in His own flesh. Truly, the word of God has become flesh.

To say that the distinction between Father and Son is only a distinction

between the divine and human nature, then, is to say that Jesus of Nazareth

has a relationship with God, but is not God Himself, forever remaining

separate from deity.Such a view is the ancient heresy of Adoptionism.

What makes Jesus God is the fact that God the Father metaphysically

manifested himself in flesh from the very point of conception in Mary's

Womb uniting deity and flesh together in one existence (I John 5:20,21;

John 1: 1-14).

Only by such a manifestation can Jesus truly be the mediator and

Savior, because He is in Himself both God and man, the Emmanuel. John

6:57 reminds us that the Word made flesh could have no existence apart

from its union with the Father.

We are God's sons by adoption, but Jesus Christ is God's Son by

emanating and conception. Jesus Christ's flesh could never be of the dust

nature and could never exist as a separate "Self' from the Father. Jesus'

flesh only finds its existence within God's being. We are man existing as

man, but Jesus' flesh is God existing as Word made flesh.

The Bible knows no union of deity and Earthly humanity. God is

immutable. The Word made flesh to be man is ontological (Hebrews 13:8).

Since word is God's divinity, when the word was made flesh, it is divine.

Without changing His immutability, God was able to manifest His

Word (Logos) to be flesh body.

References

1. There is only one Spirit, God the Father

2. Psalms 16:8-11 Acts 2:26,27 I Peter 3:18

3. The Son is the outer or the physical aspect of God. The inner

aspect, the life of Christ is the Spirit of the Father

4. 1Timothy 3:16; 1:15-17; 2:5-7

5. Only God can be equal with God

6. Isaiah 44:6-8; 46:9; 48:11; 44:24; John 5:18

7. The Word made flesh to be man is ontological

8. Hebrews. 13:8; John 3:13

9. In his weakness He swallowed death and destroyed the work of the

devil, fulfilling prophecy

10. Isaiah 7:13-14; 25:8; I Corinthians 1:13; II Corinthians 13:4; Psalm

2:1-9; Revelation 1:17,18; Hebrews 2:14; 1 John 3:8

11. The Word is the nautre of God made flesh

12. John 1:1-18; 10:30; 12:44-45; 14:6-10; II Corinthians 5:19 1 John

5:20

13.

14. The pre-existence of the Word

15. John 1:3; Hebrws 1:3

16. The flesh aspect of God was in the form of Word before His

manifestation in flesh

17. Geiiesis 3:8; Deuteronomy 4:12; Psalms 33:6

18. The Word was with God from eternity Micah 5:2-4

19. God created everything that was created by His Word, and the

Word of God is the wisdom of God, far beyond the knowl edge and

wisdom of humanity

20. Proverbs 3:19,20; J1-36

For further reference:

John 14:1-9; Isaiah 35:2

chapter 2-2

Christ is God-Man

Christ is the Son of God"Whom do men say that I the Son of man am?..Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven."

Matthew 16:13,16-17"God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ."

Acts 2:36"Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God? ...He that believed\ on the Son of God hath the witness in himself: he that believe th not God hath made him a liar; because he believeth not the record that God gave of His Son. He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God."

I John 5:5,10,12,13"But these are writ ten, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name."

John 20:31

To he Biblically accurate one must believe that the manifestation of

God in Christ is God the Father who became Emmanuel and that His

name is Jesus Christ. When we properly understand the doctrine of the

manifestation of God, we will never be able to see two persons in the

Father and the Son (1 John 5:20-21).

It must be understood that there is a great difference between God-

man and man-God. God-man is the Word that became flesh to fulfill the

promise of Isaiah that he would come as a mighty man of war to destroy

the works of the enemy. Christ is not "Anthropos Theophorus" (a God-

bearing man). Jesus is Emmanuel, God-man the Father Himself

manifested in His own flesh (John 1:1-18). That means God the Father

has flesh, blood and bones. These three are inseparable for eternity, for the

Bible declares,

"For in him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily."

Colossians 2:9

The Son (flesh and blood) lives by the Father (Spirit), For Christ

testifies in John 6:57, "...I live by the Father: so he that eateth me, even he

shall live by me."

God is one. We should know Him as the Spirit God having flesh and

blood in one person, God-Man Jesus (Isaiah 7:12-14; 9:6; Hosea 2:16).

God is manifested in His Son. The word "manifestation" means making

clear by appearing in the form of man. Therefore, the invisible God

became visible, manifest in the flesh. Christ, the Son of God is the express

image of the invisible Spirit. The Word was in God and was God's Word

from all eternity. At the appointed time, the Word of God was made flesh,

in order to reveal the Father.

In his first epistle, John declares this revelation in a beautiful way:"That which was from the beginning , which we have heard,

which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life; for the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and show unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us; that which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son, Jesus Christ."

I John 1:1-3

John had the revelation of God the Father, and the Son of God, in one

person. He said, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with

God and God (Himself) was the Word." (John 1:1)

When we call upon the name of Jesus, we do not cry out to the flesh

aspect of God only, but rather, we invoke both the Father (Spirit) and the

Son (the flesh and blood of God). God, the Father, became God-Man to

destroy the enemy of eternal life. When the Son was suffering in our stead,

it was Emmanuel who was "reconciling the world unto Himself, not

imputing their trespasses unto them" (II Corinthians 5:19).

We cannot make a clear distinction of the Father or the Spirit outside

of Christ. Through faith in the Word of God, we acknowledge that the

Father, the Word, and the breath of God are in the single person of Jesus

Christ. God is one; and is manifested only in the flesh and blood of His

only begotten Son, the express image of His Person (Colossians 1:15).

Let us remember that from eternity, the Word of God was the invisible

image and form of God. From everlasting, God has Word and Spirit

(breath of life) in His nature. Furthermore, whenever God acts, He

breathes Spirit and emanates Word (Psalms 33:5,6). For a real

manifestation of God to occur there must be one ontological person of the

deity and heavenly flesh (word made flesh), so that God actually comes to

be God-Man. If God merely dwells in an Earthly human person, the

union between deity and humanity would he relational as a union between

husband and wife.

Let us pray tor greater understanding of the mystery of the inseparable

God the Father and the only begotten Son of God. God the Father and

the Son of God are of the same substance or essence. God the Father, who

was the invisible Spirit, became visible in His Son. Therefore, the Son has

the right to say, "I and My father are one." He can say, "I am the mighty

God, the everlasting Father, and the Son of God." Isaiah 9:6 reveals that

the Son is a child, the Mighty God, and the Everlasting Father, all at the

same time. In the aspect of His Son-hood, He is flesh and blood and died

on the cross. As Mighty God, He raised His own body from the dead,

destroying the gates of hell and swallowing death in victory forever (Isaiah

25:7-9).

Jesus is the Son of God

The Son is not a temporary role God played to be discarded in the

future. The Son is the eternal Word of God made flesh, the real

ontologically existing God for eternity (Colossians 2:9; Revelation

1:17,18). We can say God the Father who performed miracles is the Christ

who suffered, One deity manifested in His own flesh.

"For there is One God the Father, of whom are all things and we in Him, and One Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by Him."

I Corinthians 8:6

There is one throne in heaven (Revelation 4:2) and only one is sitting

on that one throne (Revelation 4:8-9). Jesus is called Lord, God, Almighty,

He which was, and is, and is to come. The Bible declares,

"And the Lord shall be King over all the earth: in that day shall there be one Lord, and His name one."

Zechariah 14:9

The attributes and characteristics of all offspring are hereditary by

nature. Therefore, "Son of' always means born of the same nature. When

we say Christ Jesus is the Son of God, we mean that He is the same with

God in attributes and characteristics. For instance, Jesus was omnipresent.

John 3:13 gives us a glimpse of this.

"And no man hath ascended up to heaven, hut he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven."

John 3:13According to this scripture, Jesus was not only localized as a man, but

was both in heaven and on earth while He was talking with Nicodemus.

We also see him as eternal:

"I am the first and the last; 1 am he that liveth, and was dead (in the flesh), and behold, I am alive forevermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death."

Revelation 1:17,18

"If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also; and from henceforth ye know Him, and have seen Him." When Philip said, "Shew us the Father," Jesus said unto him, "Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? He that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, show us the Father? Believeth thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me7 Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me: or else believe me for the very works' sake."

John 14:7-11Whenever Jesus declared that God was His Father, or that He and His

Father are one, His claim to be the Son of God very often fueled the anger

of the unbelieving Jews. They would consider it as unforgivable blasphemy,

and often tried to stone Him. On the other hand, calling Himself Son of

Man allowed Him to display, almost unhindered, the very signs of

omnipotence, omnipresence, and omniscience that were the exclusive

prerogatives of the Almighty God Himself. In this display of power and

authority, the Jews were left to wonder, and criticized Christ less than

before. This aspect is vividly illustrated in the following passage:

"Jesus answered them, Many good works have I showed you

from my Father; for which of these works do ye stone me! The Jews

answered him, saying, For a good work we stone thee not; Ibut for

blasphemy; and because that thou, being a man, makest thyself

God."

John 10:32,33

The wonderful truth is that God was manifested as God-man, and had

all the fullness of the Godhead dwelling in Him forever (Revelation

1:17-18). He is Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending. The

proclamation of this good news is at the very heart of the New Testament.

Christ is God-Man

Being God-man, He was subject to the family work in the carpentry

shop. When he was twelve years of age, He humbled Himself to return to

Nazareth when told to do so by Mary and Joseph. He was obedient to the

government to pay taxes. He was obedient to the centurion when begged

to come and heal his servant. Though He was God the Father, in the days

of his flesh, not for a moment did He act as a king, mighty angel, or a "big

man." He washed the feet of His disciples. He subjected himself to the

customs of the Jews, by going to homes when invited and going to

weddings when expected. He lived as an obedient servant in every way.

Being God-man, he suffered in His flesh to reconcile the world unto

himself:

"To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto

himself."

II Corinthians 5:19

According to Isaiah chapter 53, Being God-man in his flesh aspect:-

Being God-man, He was growing up before him as a tender plant,

and as a root out of a dry ground: (vl)

Being God man, He had no form nor comeliness; (vl)

Being God-man, He had no beauty that we should desire him.(vl)

Being God-man, He was despised and rejected of men; (v2)

Being God-man, He was a man of sorrows, and acquainted with

grief: (v3)

Being God-man, We hid as it were our faces from him. (v3)

Being God-man, He was despised, and we esteemed him not. (v3)

Being God-man, He hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows:

(v4)

Being God-man, we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and

afflicted. (v4)

Being God-man, He was wounded for our transgressions, He was

bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon

him; with his stripes we are healed. (v5)

Being God-man, the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.

(v5)

Being God-man, He was opressed, and he was afflicted, yet he

opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and

as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, he openeth not his mouth.

(v7)

Being God-man, He was taken from prison and from judgment. (v8)

and who shall declare his generation? He was cut off out of the land

of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken. (v5)

Being God-man, He made his grave with the wicked, and with the

rich in his death. (v9)

Being God man, He had done no violence, neither was any deceit in

his mouth, it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to

grief (v. 10).

when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his

seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall

prosper in his hand. (vlO)

Being God-man, He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be

satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many, (v

11)

for he shall bear their iniquities. Therefore will I divide him a portion

with the great, he shall divide the spoil with the strong; (v12).

Being God-man, He hath poured out his soul unto death: (vl2)

Being God-man, He was numbered with the transgressors; (vl 2)

Being God-man, He bare the sin of many, and made intercession for

the transgressors. (vl2)

Being God-man (the Father manifested in the flesh), He shade his

blood. (Hebrews 5:14)

Being God-man (the Father manifested in the flesh), He washed the

feet of his disciples. (John 13:3)

Being God-man (the Father manifested in the flesh), he wept for

Lazarus. (John 11:33-35)

Being God-man (the Father manifested in the flesh), He went down

to the prison. (I Peter 3:18-19)

Being God-man (the Father manifested in the flesh), He went to the

centurion's house to raise the dead. (Matthew 9:18-25)

Being God-man (the Father manifested in the flesh), "Jesus put forth

his hand, and touched him, saying, I will; be thou clean. And

immediately his leprosy was cleansed." (Matthew 8:3)

Being Cod-man (the Father manifested in the flesh), Ho had ridden

on a donkey. (Matthew 21:1-11)

Being God-man (the Father manifested in the flesh), he wept for

Jerusalem. (Luke 19:41-44)

Being God-man (the Father manifested in the flesh), He fasted forty

days. (Matthew 4:1-11)

Being God-man (the Father manifested in the flesh), He came to

seek and to save that which is lost. "And when Jesus came to the

place, he looked up, and saw him, and said unto him, Zacchaeus,

make haste, and come down; tor to day I must abide at thy house...

For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was

lost." (Luke 19:1-10).

Being God-man (the Father manifested in the flesh), He was strong

in His Spirit aspect and weak in His flesh aspect.

Why Did Jesus Call Himself the Son of Man?A careful survey of the New Testament makes very conspicuous the fact

that Jesus designated himself as the "Son of Man" numerous times in the

gospels. Apparently none of His disciples or other Jews around Him ever

spontaneously called ,Him by that title, at least not in the sense implied by

the Biblical records. In fact, the only reference outside the four Gospels is

in Acts 7:56. It is, tor instance, very interesting to notice that when Jesus

asked His disciples what people were saying about His identity, He said,

"Whom do men say that I, the Son of Man am?" (Matthew 16:13). Peter,

by revelation got the true meaning of the mystery of who the Son of man

is, and said, "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus

answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-jona: for flesh

and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in

heaven" (Matthew 16:17).

In synagogues and elsewhere, and in different contexts, the designation

of Son of Man had reached the ears of mixed audiences. This included the

Pharisees and the Scribes, who claimed to he knowledgeable in the faith of

their fathers and ot the scriptures. Yet they asked,

"We have heard out of the law that Christ abideth forever : and how sayest thou, The Son of man must be lifted up? who is this Son of Man!"

John 12:34

Although the other statements of Christ involving the title Son of Man

could have been self explanatory to his inquirers, the sell designation from

the lips of Jesus comes from an all-encompassing background. Indeed, it is

a striking fact that God the Father, now manifested in His own flesh, (in

the Son) was called man in the Old Testament. The word used, however,

was the Hebrew lysh in its highest degree of perfection and spiritual

essence and not enoshe. Enoshe means corruptible mortal man. lysh is the

opposite of Enoshe, and Christ was not enoshe by nature.

For it is written,

"The LORD is a man of war : the LORD (YAHWEH) is his name."Exodus 15:3

"The LORD shall go forth as a mighty man, (lysh) he shall stir up jealousy like a man of war : he shall cry, yea, roar; he shall prevail against His enemies."

Isaiah 42:13

Here again scripture calls Him lysh. Interestingly, this passage is found

in the chapter where Isaiah gives a detailed account of a mighty

conquering Messiah. The point is that in these passages, the word man is

translated from the Hebrew word iysh or eesh. As translated in Strong's

Hebrew and the Greek Lexicon, it means 'mighty, great man, male person',

in opposition with the other Hebrew word for man, enoshe meaning

"mortal, flesh, of lower degree". Therefore, man as iysh qualifies God the

Father showing His omnipotence and conquering power. God Himself has

asked Israel to call Him Ishi, meaning "my man" (Hosea 2:16).

"But I am a worm, and no man (iysh); a reproach of men, and

despised of the people."

Psalms 22:6

If we follow the Hebrew rendering of the text, we hear David

qualifying himself as enoshe, a reproach of men, far from being a man, iysh.

In the Lord's indignation, as expressed in Isaiah,

" ...he saw that there was no man (iysh), and wondered that there was no intercessor : therefore his arm brought salvation unto him; and his righteousness, it sustained him."

Isaiah 59:16

Here also the word man is iysh, not enoshe in the Hebrew. God is not

seeking after the sons of Adam, but after His own image. Also the Hebrew

dictionary shows us that The "arm of God," Zerowa Yahweh, could mean

power, strength, seed of God, perfect "manhood," and the "Son of Man."

According to the Exegeses Parallel Bible by Herb John, and The Complete

Word Study KJV and the prophet Hosea and Isaiah, Jehovah is supposed

to be called God-Man or Mighty Man. Hosea 2:16 states,

"And it shall be at that day, saith the LORD (Jehovah), that thou shalt call me Ishi; and shalt call me no more Baali (My Master)."

Hosea 2:16

Moreover, one of the greatest facts of Genesis was when God decreed,

"Let us make man in our image, after our likeness ... so God created man

in his own image, in the image of God created he him...." (Genesis

1:26-27). Man was intended to be in the image of his creator (iysh)

(Romans 8:29). However, neither the express image of God nor the perfect

man (iysh) had yet appeared (1 Corinthians 2:9).

Patriarchs and prophets of the Old Testament were kept in expectation

until t he days of the Son of Man appeared (Psalms 118:19-27; John 8:56).

The apostle Peter declared,

"Of which salvation the prophets have inquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you:

Searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified before hand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow."

1 Peter 1:10-12

In the meantime, Moses prayed to see His face (Exodus 33:18 20), and

prophets saw only visions. Ezekiel spoke of "the appearance of a man, on a

likeness of a throne ... as the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the

LORD" (Ezekiel 1:26-28).

But in the fullness of time, God the Father was manifested in His own

flesh. He is in His only begotten Son born of the Virgin Mary -the Word

made flesh. When Jesus called Himself the Son of Man, it was a true

indication that Jehovah Tsidkenu of the Old Testament had appeared to go

forth as a mighty man to stir up jealousy like a man of war to prevail

against his enemies (Isaiah 42:13). Jesus speaking of God the Father's

manifestation in flesh said, "He that seeth me seeth him that sent

me" (John 12:45). "I am in the Father, and the Father in me" (John 14:11).

The apostle John declared,

"That which was from the beginning , which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life; (For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and show unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us."

I John 1:1 3

For it was prophesied,

"Ami it shall he said in that day, Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, and he will save us: this is the LORD; we have waited for him, we will be glad and rejoice in his salvation."

Isaiah 25:9

"And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together : for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it...; O Jerusalem, that bringest good tidings, lift up thy voice with strength; lift it up, be not afraid; say unto the cities ofjudah, Behold your God! Behold, the Lord GOD will come with strong hand, and his arm shall rule for him: behold, his reward is with him and his work before him."

Isaiah 40:5, 9 10

This indicates that Jehovah (Ishi) shall appear in His own tangible

body, as a mighty warrior, to destroy the works of the devil and to become

eternal righteousness by His flesh and blood.

The Son of Man has the power to control all eschatological events

accompanying His return in glory (Matthew 24:30)."The Son of Man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven."

Matthew 26:26This simply means that He is omnipotent, that the right hand of God

the Father is exalted and does valiantly (Acts 7:56). It is clear that the

expression "on the right hand of power" is to be taken figuratively in the

same way as John 1:18 where the only begotten Son is said to be in the

"bosom of the Father". It shows that the Son of Man, omnipotent and

omnipresent, is none other than God the Father Himself manifested as

God-Man (John 14:10).

The prophet Zechariah declared,"And the LORD shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one LORD, and his name one."

Zechariah 14:9Christ the conquering Messiah, in the title of a mighty man of war

shown in Isaiah 42:1 3, is the white horse rider of Revelation chapter 19.

This is where He is called the Word of God, the King of Kings, and Lord

of Lords, faithful and true, who reigns in righteousness and will "judge and

make war." All this is implied when Jesus became the Son of Man (the

Father incarnate). Surely Jesus "the Lord God omnipotent

reigneth" (Revelation 19:6; 1:17,18).

References

1.God the Father has flesh, blood and bones

Acts 20:28; Hebrews 9:14; I John. 5:20-21

2.The Word of God was made flesh, in order to reveal the Father

Hebrews 9:14; 10:19-31; Colossians 1:15-22; Matthew 1:20-23 John 1:14;

Luke 1:31 35; Isaiah 35:1

3.God, the Father, became God-Man to destroy the enemy of eternallife.

Isaiah 25:1-9; 42:13; Revelation 1:17,18; I Corinthians 15:47-57

4.Patriarchs and prophets of the Old Testament were kept in expectation

until the days of the Son of Man appeared. They could only see visions of

Jesus

Psalms 118:19-27; John 8:56; Daniel 7:6-22

5.God the Father was manifested in His own form -flesh

Isaiah 7:13 14; Matthew 1:22 23; I Timothy 3:16; 11 Corinthians 5:19;

Hebrews 1:1 3; Colossians 1:15

6.Jehovah (Ishi) shall appear in His own tangible body, as a mighty warrior,

to destroy the works of the devil and to become eternal righteousness by

His flesh and blood

Acts 20:28; John 14:1 10; Isaiah 7:13 14; 9:6; Isaiah 53; I John 3:8

7.Hebrew Dictionary, Numbers 376, 2220, 582

Chapter Ten

The Orgin of Christ's Flesh

What makes Jesus' sacrifice efficacious to atone for the sin of all

humanity is the fact that He was the Word of God made flesh, blood, and

bone and through his divine existence the Son of God paid the penalty for

our sin in our stead. It was not just a sinless man who died on our behalf,

but it was the God-man. For the earthly human body cannot hold the

fullness of Godhead (Colossians 2:9).

"According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue: Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust."

II Peter 1:3-4Christ did not come to partake of our earthly clay nature, but came

instead that we may partake of His divine nature. I Peter 1:23 tells us that

we are born again of Christ's incorruptible seed, the Word of God.

"According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will."

Ephesians 1:4-5

The Bible Writer understood that David's humanity could not offer an

acceptable sacrifice for our atonement:

"No man can redeem the life of another or give to God a ransom for him- the ransom for a life is costly, no payment is ever enough-thai he should live on forever and not see decay."

NIV Psalms 49:7-9

"Do not put your trust in princes, in mortal men, who cannot save. When their spirit departs, they return to the ground; on that very day their plans come to nothing. Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the LORD his God,"

N/V Psalms 146:3-5

Paul also had the understanding that corruptible flesh is invalid for

atonement:

"Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things. Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves: Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen."

Romans 1:22-25

God the Father himself needed to come in flesh to make atonement:"And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation."

II Corinthians 5:19

"And he saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no intercessor : therefore his arm brought salvation unto him; and his righteousness, it sustained him. For he put on righteousness as a breastplate, ami an helmet of salvation upon his head; and he put on the garments of vengeance for clothing , and was clad with zeal as a cloke."

Isaiah 59:16,17

God knew that man could not meet the necessary requirements nor

could he be equal to God, so He chose to come by His own Word (arm).

He, therefore, made His arm flesh, put on garments of righteousness,

salvation, vengeance, and zeal, and came to destroy sin. By this means, He

put off the old man from us and created a new man by Christ.

Since Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever, God the

Father exists as God in the Word made flesh. Christ is indeed a genuine

heavenly man. He is the Word as flesh, the real son of God. Christ is the

express image of God's person. To say that Christ has an earthly human

nature is to deny the only one God's express image or person in the

manifestation in His own flesh.When the Word of God was made flesh,

God was still Spirit and Word and did not have two modes of existence. In

His manifestation, He is God in flesh; beyond His manifestation in the

Word made flesh, He is God existing with no change of His non-mortal

and mortal attributes (Isaiah 9:6). Therefore, God will not mingle His holy,

divine nature with sinful humanity. He said,

"For mine own sake, even for mine own sake, will I do it: for how

should my name be polluted? and I will not give my glory unto

another."

Isaiah 48:11

"The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord

from heaven. As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy:

and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly. And as

we hxwe borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image

of the heavenly. Now that I say, brethren, that flesh and blood

cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit

incorruption."

I Corinthians 47-50

The Bible very clearly declares repeatedly that the lirst Adam is

"created from earth." Christ is not earthy (dust), but the Lord from heaven.

He was the Word made flesh" and not a created person (John 1:1-14).

Jesus Himself attested that his flesh came from heaven (John 6:3 3,51,62).

Before conception, the angel Gabriel certified the origin and the

holiness of the flesh of Christ. When the virgin Mary questioned,

"How shall this be, seeing I know not a man! The angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God."

Luke 1:34,35

This means, as the combination of the breath of God and the dust of

the ground became Adam, the combination of "the Holy Spirit," and the

Word of God that overshadowed Mary become the heavenly Man Christ.

For the word of God says that God prepared the flesh (Hebrews 10:5).

"There are also celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial: but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another. There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars: for one star differeth from another star in glory. So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption: It is sown in dishonour; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power : It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.

And so it is written, The first man Adam teas made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit. Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual. The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven. As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly. And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly."

I Corinthians 15:39,40

The- Greek translation of I Corinthians 15:40-49 truly indicates that

Christ is not made of the dust or dirt (kluvik-os'). He indeed is the word

that became flesh (Kai ho Logos sarx egeneto). When he comes back, He

shall change us into His heavenly nature.

The Outer Man and the Inner Man

And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul."

Genesis 2:7

This Scripture shows us that the outer part of Adam is the clay part,

which perishes.

"For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man (flesh) perish, yet the inward man (spirit) is renewed day by day."

II Corinthians 4:16

I Corinthians 15:50 teaches us, the outer man, the flesh body of earthly

Adam, cannot see the kingdom of God. The teaching of Paul never gives a

hope of eternal life for the outer man. The dust nature of Adam shall

perish, but our inward spirit shall live forever when it puts on the heavenly

flesh of Christ (I Corinthians 15:47-50).

Paul had a clear revelation about our future glory:"For we know that if our earthly house (flesh) of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven: If so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked. For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened: not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life. Now he that hath wrought us for the selfsame thing is God, who also hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit."

II Corinthians 5:1-5

"Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God."

II Corinthians 7:1

"But we have this treasure in earthen vessels (in flesh), that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us." The earthly vessel is corrupt, and we need to get rid of it in order to put on the incorruptible heavenly flesh of Christ."

II Corinthians 4:7

Paul exhorts us, saying:"That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man,

which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; And that ye put on the new man (Christ), which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness."

Ephesians 4:22-24Jesus Christ died on the Cross so that "in the body of his flesh through

death,...(he can) present us holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his

sight" (Colossians 1:22). He was "...delivered for our offences, and was

raised again for our justification" (Romans 4:25).

We are looking for the Savior"Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like

unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself."

Philippians 3:21

Why.? Because"...this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal

must put on immortality."I Corinthians 15:53

And when he comes back we shall see him as he was.

Jesus has a Glorified Heavenly Body Since His Birth

The word 'glorified' does not mean changed in essence or nature.

Speaking about Chirist, the Scripture says,"And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we

beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth."

John 1:14

The glory of Christ was from everlasting;"And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with

the glory which I had with thee before the world was."John 17:5

Hebrews 13:8 affirms that "Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day,

and for ever." Again John 13:31,32 says,"Therefore, when he was gone out, Jesus said, Now is the Son of

man glorified, and God is glorified in him. If God be glorified in him, God shall also glorify him in himself, and shall straightway glorify him."

John 13:31,32

Glorification here does not mean change of existence. It means majestic

honor."This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, He

manifested forth his glory and his disciples believed on him."John 2:11

Before His Crucifixion, on the Mount of transfiguration, several

disciples witnessed the glory of Christ:

"He was transfigured before them: and his face did shine as the

sun, and his raiment was white as the light."

Matthew 17:2"And as they came down from the mountain, he charged them

that they should tell no man what things they had seen, till the Son of man were risen from the dead."

Mark 9:9Jesus had no corruptible body, for the scripture attests" This man went

unto Pilate, and begged the body of'Jesus" (I uke 23:52). "And they

entered in, and found not the body of the Lord Jesus" (Luke 24:3). The

body of Christ did not turn to dust for it was not created from the dust

nature. Luke 24: 39,40 shows us Jesus after the ressurection as he was

before.

"Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have. And when he had thus spoken, he shewed them his hands and his feet."

Luke 24:39,40

Since Christ Never Changes, His Body is risen as it was

Christ was crucified and on the third day, rose again.

"And when they found not his body, they came, saying, that they

had also seen a vision of angels, which said that he was alive."

Luke 24:23

Christ did not die for himself, He went down to the grave to take the

keys of hell and of death for us (Revelation 1:18).

"For to this end Christ both died, and rose, and revived, that he

might be Lord both of the dead and living."

Romans 14:9

"Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the

world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained;

whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath

raised him from the dead."

Acts 17:31

The body of Christ was bruised and died for our Salvation and healing."Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that

we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed."

I Peter 2:24

"For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to Cod, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit: By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison."

I Peter 3:18,19

Christ then rose to fulfill His promises of our salvation:"But if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen: And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain. Yea, and we are found false witnesses of God; because we have testified of God that he raised up Christ: whom he raised not up, if so be that the dead rise not. For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised: And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins."

I Corinthians 15:13-17

During the Old Testament time, God was Spirit, the Invisible word.

That was the reason why God said to Moses, "Thou canst not see my face:

for there shall no man see me, and live" (Exodus 33:20). No one has seen

God until His Word became flesh. As it was informed to Moses, the dust

nature cannot see God. Mankind must put on the flesh of God in order to

be able to see God.

"But some man will say, How are the dead raised up? and with what body do they come? Thou fool, that which thou sowest is not quickened, except it die: And that which thou sowest, thou sowest not that body that shall be, but bare grain, it may chance of wheat, or of some other grain: But God giveth it a body as it hath pleased him, and to every seed his own body."

I Corinthians 15:35-38

The dust flesh of Adam cannot go to heaven; it must be replaced by the

flesh of Christ. When God created Adam from the dust of the ground, He

did not say the body or the flesh is a living body. It only was a dead clay.

But when He created the Soul, He said, the soul is a living Soul."And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul"

Genesis 2:7

"Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it."

Ecclesiastes 12:7

"In the sweat of thy face shudt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return."

Genesis 3:19

"If he set his heart upon man, if he gather unto himself his spirit and his breath; All flesh shall perish together, and man shall turn again unto dust."

Job 34:14,15

Man must be ready to put off the dust nature and put on the heavenly

body of Christ if he would choose to live forever with God.

It must be known that there are two kinds of seeds. The Apostles Peter

and Paul, who both had the revelation who Jesus Christ is, teach us of both

the corruptible earthly Adamic seed, and the incorruptible seed -the

heavenly Adam Christ-as it is written in I Peter 1:23-25; I Corinthians

15:37-50; and Matthew 16:17-19. Compare the terms earthly Adam

(corruptible seed) and heavenly Adam (incorruptible seed). If Christ would

have been born from the nature of the first Adam, He could not be the

second Adam.

Those who are born again are born of the incorruptible seed which is

the word of God that was made of flesh."Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible,

by the word of God, which live th and abideth for ever. For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away."

I Peter 1:23-24

Sinful nature is indeed inherent in every child that is born after Adam

ate the fruit of the forbidden tree. This includes Mary, the mother of Jesus.

We can hear her saying, "My soul magnifies the Lord, And my spirit has

rejoiced in God my Savior" (Luke 1:46,47). The stories in Acts chapters

one and two shows us that she also needed full salvation like everyone else:

baptism of water, baptism of the Holy Spirit to be born again, and to put

on Christ, her Lord and Savior.

If Christ has no human father, how can He biologically be earthly

Adam? We must remember that the first Adam's flesh is from the dust and

is earthly; Eve is from the same material. The nature of the earthly Adam

is dust and the father of Eve is earthly Adam (Genesis 2:7; I Corinthians

15:39-50).

The Bible in Isaiah 53 clearly teaches us that Mary's womb was like

dry ground, and out of that dry ground Christ, the Word of God, was

made a genuine heavenly man. Hear the prophecy of Isaiah 53:1-3:"Who has believed our report? and to whom has the arm of the

Lord been revealed? For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: He has no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see Him, there is no beauty that we

should desire Him. He is despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we esteemed Him not."

Isaiah 53:1-3

The Son of God grew up out of a dry ground: the virgin womb.

What did he say about His Earthly lineage? Jesus never declared His

biological solidarity with the human race, instead He refuted His earthly

mother and fathers. The Son of God says about His earthly mother,"Who is my mother? and who are my brethren?And He stretched

forth His hand toward His disciples, and said, Behold, my mother and my brethren! For whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother."

Matthew 12:47-50

Natural or Heavenly Flesh?

• Trinitarian view: - "There is one person in the Mediator, the unchangeable Logos ... It would not be correct however, to say that the person of the mediator is divine only." They are God the Son and the son of Mary: divine arid human.• One God in one person View: - There is but one person in the mediator the unchangeable God the Father manifested in His own body. It is perfectly correct however, to say that the flesh aspect of the mediator is the Word of God made flesh, heavenly Adam.

• Trinitarian view: - "The human nature of Christ as such does not constitute a human person ... So that we have two persons in the Mediator, but simply assumed a human nature."

• One God in one person View: - The Word that was made flesh constituted a divine person when God the Father was manifested in the flesh to reconcile the world unto himself in one mediatorial person (II Corinthians 5:18,19). As earthly man is Spirit and flesh; God also is Spirit and flesh. He died in the flesh, He is everlasting in the Spirit.

• Trinitarian view: - "For that very reason we are not warranted to speak of the human nature of Christ as imperfect or incomplete. His human nature is not lacking in any of the essential qualities belonging to that nature, and also has individuality, that is, personal subsistence, in the person of the Son of God."• Trinitarian view: - "This Personal subsistence should not be confused with consciousness and free will. The fact that the human nature of Christ, in and by itself, has no personal subsistence, does not mean that it has no consciousness and will."

• One God in one person View: - The flesh nature of Christ in and by itself has no personal subsistence. This means that it has no conscious free will outside of God the Father. There is only one Spirit in one flesh body.

• Trinitarian view: "The one divine person, who possessed a divine nature fro in eternity, assumed a human nature, and now has both God the Son and earthly humanity." United as the union of husband and wife.

• One God in one person View: - The one divine person who possessed a divine nature from eternity made his Word flesh and became one person and now has both heavenly flesh and Spirit-Father manifested in one inseparable person (I Timothy 3:16).

• Trinitarian View about Two Gods: - Berkof, in his Systematic Theol-ogy speaking of God the Son (Christ) in human flesh (Jesus) says, "The doctrine of the two nature in one person transcends human reason. It is the expression of a supersensible reality, and of an incomprehensible mystery, which has no analogy in the life of man as we know it, and finds no support in human reason, and therefore can only be accepted by faith on the authority of the Word of God. For that reason it is doubly necessary to pay close attention to the teachings of Scripture on this point" ( Berkhof, p. 322). When most Trinitarians maintained that a distinction existed between Father, Son and Holy Ghost; others contented that such a distinction would present us with three Gods. Justin martyr's apologetic remark to them was, "those who say the son is the Father are proved neither to be acquainted with Father nor to know that the Father of the universe has a son, who being logos an first born of God is God." What we could understand from the early Trinitarians view is that they commonly signified Father in terms of Christ being the Father of Creation. And other felt that there is a difference between the redeeming God and the God of creation.

• One God in one person View: - Since there is only one Spirit (God the Father) (John. 4:24; Ephesians 4-4-6) there is "no evidence of a dual personality found in scripture. In the first place, there is a negative consideration of a considerable importance. If there had been a dual personality in Jesus Christ, we would naturally expect to find some traces oj it in Bible; but there is not a single truth of it ...both aspects (Spirit and flesh) are represented in scripture in one person at the manifestation of God in heavenly flesh. There are passages of scripture which refer to both aspects (Spirit and the flesh) but in which it is perfectly evident that only one person is intended. The Bible nowhere teaches that divinity in the abstract, or some divine power was united to, or was manifested in a human nature; but always that God the Father manifested in the Word made flesh (John 1:1-14; I Timothy 3:16).

• One God in one person View: - We are warranted to speak of the heavenly nature of Christ as imperfect or incomplete without the Father in it. His celestial body was lacking the essential qualities belonging to the personal subsistence in the Godhead. At the Same time, it is perfectly correct to speak of the heavenly nature of Christ as impersonal outside of the Fa titer. That means he has no independent subsistence of it's own outside of the Father (John 6:57; 63). Strictly Speaking, however, the heavenly man nature of Christ (the Word that was made flesh) was not for a moment impersonal. God the Father assumed a heavenly man nature into one personal subsistence with himself Christ has personal existence in the person of God the Father. It is in-personal rather than impersonal. Let us note, Jesus Christ could not be a complete person outside the Father (John 6:57, 63). He is rather the express image of His (the Father's) person (Hebrews 1:3).

The Flesh and the blood aspect of God without God the Father manifested in it would be Spiritless or lifeless. (John 1:14; 6:63) The flesh and blood died when the Father separated from his Son at the cross; but after three days the Father raised up His Son from the dead. "This Jesus hath God (the Father) raised up, whereof we all are witnesses" (Acts 2:32).

Christ never gave recognition to Mary as being His biological mother,

if she was, he would have respected her for He is the respecter of the Law

(Exodus 20:12). Instead, He asked, "Who is my mother?" To Mary He

said, "Woman, what have 1 to do with thee?" In the days of His flesh, Jesus

never, called Mary "My mother."

Let us see what David, the supposed father of Christ said, "But thou art he that took me out of the womb..."

Psalms 22:9-10

"Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me."

Psalms 51:5

According to David's confirmation, if we say Christ is from the

biological seed of the woman, it would be true that we are believing Christ

has a sinful Adamic nature, which in the sight of God is blasphemy.

"How then can man be justified with God? or how can he be clean that is born of a woman? Behold even to the moon, and it shineth not yea, the stars are not pure in his sight. How much less man, that is a worm.7 and the son of man, which is a worm?"

Job 25:4-6

If God had not come by i us own Word, which He prepared to be flesh

and blood, then the prophecy of Isaiah 26:19 would not have been fulfilled:

"Thy dead men shall live, together with my dead body shall they arise. Awake and sing , ye that dwell in dust: for thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead."

Isaiah 26:19

Just like Isaiah, David also prophesied that on resurrection day all

believers will rise up in the nature of Jesus Christ, saying,"As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness: I shall be

satisfied, when I awake, with thy likeness."Psalms 17:15

Natural man's flesh and blood can never attain resurrection and life.

However, the flesh and blood of Christ is the Word, the life, and the arm

of God that can save humankind from sin and eternal death:"And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his

right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not; / am the first and the List: I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death."

Revelation 1:17,18

Some theologians misinterpret David's personal confessions as part of

the messianic prophecies in the book of Psalms. Some theologians think

David's personal confessions are of Jesus. For example Psalm 69:5-9 cannot

be Christ's confession because Christ Jesus knew no sin and can never

confess his sin to a second God. It was David who said: "O God, thou

knowest my foolishness; and my sins are not hid from thee." As people

suppose they may say Christ had biological brothers and sisters, but as

Jesus himself declares concerning his origin, He is the only begotten Son

of God, The heavenly Adam of the same substance with the Father. Jesus is

sinless by nature.

Let us look closely at John's revelation found in John 1:14-18:"And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we

beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full

of grace and truth. John bare witness of Him, and cried, saying , This was He of whom I spake, He that cometh after me is preferred before me: for He was before me (as Word of God). And of His fullness have all we received, and grace for grace. For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, He hath declared him."

John 1:14-18

Notice the phrases: "the Word was made flesh" and "dwelt among us."

The Word was not in Mary only, but dwelt also among us. Now notice:

"we beheld His glory." What was the glory spoken of here? Surely, not

human glory, but "the glory as of the only begotten of the father, full of

grace and truth." Then notice the statements:

"He that cometh after me is preferred before me: for He was before me

"and "No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is

in the bosom of the Father, He hath declared Him." All of these

statements are indicative of Christ's heavenly origin, revealing that He

came with and from the Father's nature (essence) in order that He might

save us from death. Saving power is the product of God's nature only.

Emmanuel does not imply Son of a woman, but rather it means "God

among men," in a visible form. Therefore, Mary could not contribute flesh

and blood to create Emmanuel (God with us). Furthermore, David could

not be the biological father of Christ, for Christ is not from human sperm

seed. The reason that the earthly man cannot save the human soul is

because

"No man can redeem the life of another or give to God a ransom for him- the ransom for a life is costly, no payment is ever enough-that he should live on forever and not see decay."

NIV Psalms 49:7-9

Indeed, Christ is truly the heavenly Adam.

Christ Had No Lusts ot the Flesh From Within HimselfChrist was naturally sinless Lamb of God (1 Peter 2:24). He is the just

who died for the unjust. Since he was not from carnal nature, Christ had

no lusts of the flesh from with in Himself like earthly Adam has. Christ is

holy by nature:"For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of

the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world."

I John 2:16

Christ is our high priest."For such an high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, unde-

filed, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens."Hebrews 7:26

Christ was tempted in all points to destroy the work of the templet (1

John 3:8). The earthly man by nature and essence can be tempted in his

heart and mind and will be defiled by his own lust, but Christ by nature

cannot be tempted by His own heart and mind to sin. The Bible attests

that the temptation of the natural man comes from within his heart,"for out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries,

fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies: These are the things which defile a man..."

Matthew 15:19,20

Paul also says,"This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the

lust of the flesh. For the flesh (of the earthly Adam) lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other : so that you cannot do the things that ye would... Now the works of the flesh (the earthly Adam's flesh) are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, flesh for three days, then God raised him up from the dead. Death had no power on him, no weapon can kill Christ, but He used his power to lay down his life for us:

"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..."

John 10: 17,18The will of God was in the flesh (in the man Christ).

"Then said he, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the first, that he may establish the second."

Hebrews 10:9The will of the Father manifested in the flesh was to make us holy both

inside and outside of our being through the sacrifice of His flesh. By His

flesh atonement for our sins, we might be presented before him without

blemish and free from accusations (Colossians 1:21,22)."And as concerning that he raised him up from the dead, now no

more to return to corruption, he said on this wise, I will give you the sure mercies of David. Wherefore he saith also in another psalm, Thou sluilt not suffer thine Holy One to see corruption. For David, after he had served his own generation by the will of God, fell on sleep, and was laid unto his fathers, and saw corruption: But he, whom God raised again, saw no corruption.."

Acts 13:34-37

"By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. And every priest standeth daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins: But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God; From henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his footstool. For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified."

Hebrews 10:10-14

"Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh."

Hebrews 10:19,20We must be sure that there is no other way that takes us to heaven

outside the flesh and the blood of Jesus Christ our God-Man.The disciples said, "And we are witnesses of all things which he

did both in the land of the Jews, and in Jerusalem; whom they slew and hanged on a tree: Him God raised up the third day, and shewed him openly; Not to all the people, but unto witnesses chosen before of God, even to us, who did eat and drink with him after he rose from the dead. And he commanded us to preach unto the people, and to testify that it is he which was ordained of God to be the Judge of quick and dead. To him give all the prophets witness, that through his name whosoever believe th in him shall receive remission of sins."

Acts 10:39-43

Christ's flesh did not rise by itself from the dead:"The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom ye slew and

hanged on a tree. Him hath God exalted with his right hand to he a Prince and a Saviour, for to give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins. And we are his witnesses of these things; and so is also the Holy Ghost, whom God hath given to them that obey him."

Acts 5:30-32

The dead body in the grave had no will. Since the Father was the Spirit

of His flesh, the will of the Father was in Christ (John 6:57)."That which we have seen arid heard declare we unto you, that

ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ."

I John 1:3Why do we need to have fellowship with the Father and with His Son

Jesus Christ? The Bible teaches us that the Father is Spirit and Word. To

receive from His Spirit, we need to have fellowship with Him through

Christ. Furthermore, to be saved, we need to have fellowship with the Son

of God by putting off the old man (natural) and putting on the nature of

"the New Man," Christ Jesus, by the washing of regeneration (Titus 3:5).

The act of both water and Spirit baptisms in Jesus' Name is the experience

of fellowship with the Father and the Son. We cannot have fellowship with

the Father outside the word that became flesh and blood (His Son). In the

same way, we cannot have fellowship with the Son outside the eternal

Spirit of the Father.

Where did Jesus say he come from?"And he said unto them, Ye are from beneath; I am from above: ye are of this world; I am not of this world. I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins: for if ye believe not that 1 am he, ye shall die in your sins. Then said they unto him, Who art thou? And Jesus saith unto them, Even the same that I said unto you from the beginning. I have many things to say and to judge of you: but he that sent me is true; and I speak to the world those thiings which I have heard of him.They understood not that he spake to them of the Father."

John 8:23-27

"Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day; and he saw it and was glad. Then said the Jews unto Him, you are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham? Jesus said, verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I AM!"

John 8:56-58

"For the Father Himself loveth you, because ye have loved me, and have believed that I came out from God. 1 came forth from the Father, and am come into the world: again, I leave the world, and go to the Father."

John 16:27,28"...this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true

God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent."John 17:3

"Sent from God" means the same as came out from God or came forth

from the Father. And it is true! No one can have eternal life without

knowing Him."For I am from him, and he hath sent me."

John 7:29

"I am the bread which came down from heaven ...Not that any man hath seen the Father save He which is of God, He hath seen the Fa ther ...I am the living bread which came down from heaven."

John 6:41,46,51

"For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world."

John 6:33

"For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me."

John 6:38

"As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by my Father : (as one life giving spirit the father manifestation in the flesh), so he that eatetlx me, even he shall live by me. This is that bread which came down from heaven, not as your fathers did eat manna and are dead; he that eateth of this bread shall live forever"

John 6:57,58

"And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was."

John 17:5

"I am come into this world, that they which see not might see; and that they which see might be made blind,"

John 9:39

According to the above words, we are commanded by God the Father

to take heed of His words. For those who have ears to hear and eyes to see,

listen and see what Jesus was affirming about Himself. He was not of this

world. In other words, He did not partake of any earthly nature. This is

made plain in these unequivocal statements. He came from the Father, as

the living bread, and returned to the Father. Jesus asked those doubted of

His origin saying, "What and it ye shall see the Son of man ascend up

where he was before?" (John 6:62) If we are willing to know where He was

before He was born of Mary, Jesus has given us the answer already.

The apostle John said,"He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the

world knew him not."John 1:10

Furthermore, we saw earlier that God the Father who is the eternal

Word and Spirit, was manifested in His Word that became flesh. Christ

then, who is the manifestation of God the Father, can declare the above

words, tor He is the eternal Word of God, "dawbar" (Heb.) or the

"logos" (GK.) of God. Paul said, "For in Him dwelleth all the fullness of

the Godhead bodily" (Colossians 2:9).

The Comparison of the Natures of the Two Adams

Let us summarize the holiness and sole nature of the man (Ihrisi (the

second Adam) in a table that compares and contrasts 1 lim with the first

Adam and sinful humanity.

The First Adam:Made of the dust

Sinful humanity

The Second Adam:The Word that was made flesh

Separated from sinners

1) Adam was created by the

wisdom of God the Father

without father and mother from

the dust

Genesis 2:7

1)Christ's flesh was

miraculously prepared in the

womb of the Virgin Mary by God

the Father. He did not have an

earthly father nor did He take

Mary's natural seed. He was born

without taking the seed of an

earthly mother and father but

truly in the likeness of

Melchizedek

Mattew 1:18-20; Luke 1:34-7

Mieah 5:2-4; Hebrews. 7:1-3 Acts

8:33

2)The first Adam's flesh and

blood is of no avail for the

atonement of sins. Since it is sinful

and dust, it cannot enter the

kingdom of heaven

Romans 3:23; Corinthians5:8-10

Corinthians 15:50

2)Christ's flesh and blood is

perfect for the atonement of sins

because His flesh and blood is

holy by nature

John 6:33-58; Romans 3:25

Romans 5:9-1

3)The first Adam beget after his

own likeness with all the heritage

of his nature

Genesis 5:2-3; Psalms 51.1 5

3)Christ begets spiritual

children of God in His own

likeness by means of the second

birth; that is, by water and Spirit

baptism in 1 lis name; by which

we put on Christ's holy nature by

faith to inherit it on the day of His

coming back to gather us together

Philippians 3:20,21; 1 .John. 3:1-3

Colossians 3:10; John 1:12-13

Galatians 3:26-27 Colossians

2:11-14; Titus 3:5-7

4)The First Adam cleaves to

Eve and they became one flesh

Ephesians 5:30 I

Corinthians 6:15-17

Genesis 2:21-25

4)The Second Adam cleaves to

the church and are one flesh

Ephesians 5:30;

I Corinthians 6:15-17

John. 19:34;

Colossians 1:15-23; 2:10

Acts 15:16-17

5) Descendants of the first

Adam are conceived in sin,

because they inherit the nature of

sin

Psalms 51:5;

Romans. 3:9-10

Job 14:4; 4:17-19; 25:4-6

5)Christ declared that He was

holy by nature because He is the

Word of God that became flesh

He is the express image of God's

person

John. 1:14; 8:46; 12:44-46; 14:6

Hebrews. 1:2,3

6) The first Adam was created

with the hope of the future image

of Christ with the redemptive

work in view

Genesis 1:26-27

Ephesians 2:10; 3:9

Colossians 1:15-17

Hebrews 1:1-3

6)Christ is the perfect image

and manifestation of the only

God, for he is God the Father

manifested in the flesh

John. 1:1-14, 18; 10:30; 12:44-46

John 14:6-11

Colossians 1:15; 2:9

Romans 8:29,30

Ephesians 1:4-11;

1 John 5:20,21

7) Since all humanity has a

sinful nature, everyone needs

salvation through Christ; thus

people today need to be born again

John. 3:1-7

I Corinthians 6:11; 15:21-22,

45-50 Titus 3:5 1

Peter 1:23-25

7) Since Christ was the Word

of God made flesh, He did not

need to be saved,but his holy

atonement and physical death

became our salvation

Matthew. 1:21-23;

John. 1:1-14 II

Corinthians 3:17

I Peter 1:23-25

8) Redeemed humanity is

predestined to be conformed to

the image of the Son of God

Rom ans 8:29-30

Ephesians 1:4-11

8)Christ was predestined to be

the first-born Son of God. In

terms of predestination, the

second Adam comes before the

first Adam

Romans 8:29-30;

Ephesians 1:4-11

9) Symbolic figures for sinful

humanity are clay, dust, worm,

grass, and flower, all signifying

that man is corruptible, weak and

short-lived

Job 4:19; 10:9; 25:6

Psalms 22:6;

Isaiah 40:6-8; 64:8

9)Symbolic figures for Christ

are living bread, temple, rock, star ,

living water, light, word of life and

arm of God

John. 6:32-58; 2:19

I Corinthians 10:4

Numbers 24:17

John. 4:10-14; 1:4-5; 8:12

Genesis 3:19 I John 1:1-2; Isaiah 53

10)Earthly Adam is genuine,

earthly man

I Corinthians 15: 39 5;

Genesis 2:7

10)Christ is genuine heavenly

man, the second Adam

I Corinthians 15:45 49

John. 1:1 14

11) Earthly Adam needs

solidarity with the heavenly Adam

Christ, because he needs to take

on an incorruptible body

Colossians 2:13

11) Christ the heavenly man

needs no solidarity with the sinful

nature because He is independent

and body of God the Father

John. 1:1-14

12) Earthly man's experience

including temptations are a result

of inherited sinful nature

Romans 7:13-25;

Psalms 51:4-5

12) The experiences of the

heavenly man Christ Jesus

including Flis temptations are the

result of the fulfillment of

prophecies for reconciliation and

propitiation for our sins

II Corinthians 5:19

Isaiah 5:4-5;53

13) Earthly sinful natures

conversation with God arises from

the sinful nature, needs, change of

idea or will

Jeremiah 11:7-8

13) The heavenly man Christ's

conversation is with God the

Father could not be apart from the

perfect will of God for He is God

the Father manifested in the

Ephesians 5:8-17; 2:1-22

Romans 3:11-18

Matthew 15:7-9

Psalms 51:1-15;

Isaiah 1:1-20

heavenly flesh. All was the work of

the Father

Isaiah 9:6; 7:13-14;

I John 5:20,21; John.17

II Corinthians 5:18-21

Matthew 27:32-54

14) Earthly Adam can receive

righteous for himself alone by the

mercy of God, but his seeds

cannot inherit righteousness from

the Adamic nature. The natural

children of Abraham must be born

again in order to inherit the

righteousness of God

ICorinthians 15:45-49

John 3:5-6;

Galatians 3:26-21

1 Peter 1:23-24;

I John 3:1-3

14) Heavenly Adam is

incorrupt-ible seed, for he is not

heteroge-neous but the

monogenes of the Father.

Whoever is born again of Him is

guaranteed everlasting life

Romans 5:1-21;

Psalms 146:3-5

John 1:1-18;

Psalms 33:6

Hebrews 1:2-5

15) Because of the first Adam,

sin entered into the world along

with death. Both pass from

generation to generation

Genesis 3;

15) Because of the second Adam,

righteousness and eternal life have

abounded in the world

Genesis 3:15

Romans 3:23-25; 5:1-21; 6:23

Romans 5 II Corinthians 5:17-21

16) Humanity has a will to sin and

succumbs to temptations Romans

3:9-23;

Galatians 5:16-21

16) Christ submitted only to the

Father's will. He cannot sin by

nature, for He is holy

Matthew 4:1-10; 14:33

Mark 1:1; Luke 1:35

John 1:34; 5:19,30

Ephesians 4:10

Hebrews 4:15; 1:26,27

Revelation 4:8

17)Earthly priests had to offer

sacrifices for their own sins first;

their priesthood was temporary

because of its weakness and

unprofitability

Hebrews 7

17) Christ's Priesthood is

forever, after the order of

Melchizedek, because He is holy,

undefiled, separated from sin, and

able to intercede for humanity).

He hast he saving flesh and blood

of God the Father.

Hebrews 7

18) Humanity is appointed once

to die and afterwards to face

judgment

Hebrews 9:27

18) Christ has power over death

and executes judgment, because

He is the holy and righteous Judge

Matthew 25:31-46;

Revelation 1:17-18; 19

19) Because of Christ, sinful

humans have the opportunity to

become everlasting sons of God

Romans 8:13-17,29-30

19) As a man, Christ is God the

Father manifested (1 Jn. 5:20; Isa.

9:6; 7:13-14) and only begotten

Son of God; no one can be

compared to him but God

Psalms 2:7; John 1:14-18; 3:16

Acts 13:33; Hebrews 1:5;

Revelation 1:5).

20) The first Adam lived in Eden,

and the Word of God the Father

visited him. In other words, he was

not a divine man

Genesis 1:26-27; 2:7; 3:8

20) Christ is the visible image of

God the Father. He was the word

of God that visited Adam in Eden

John 1:1,14,18

Colossians 1:15-17; 2:9;

Hebrews 1:1-3; Genesis 3:8

21) The first Adam could not

claim that he and the Father were

one, nor could he compare himself

to the Father

Genesis 2:7

21) Christ declared that He and

the Father are one

John 1:1; 10:30; 14:6-11

References

1. It was not just a sinless man who died on our behalf, but it was

the God-manJohn 12: 44-46:14:6-30; I John 5:20,21

2. Mary's womb was like dry ground, and out of that dry ground

Christ, the Word of God, was made a genuine heavenly man Isaiah 53:1-3; 7:13-14; 9:6; Luke 1:34,35; Hebrews 10:5-7; Psalm 40:6-8

3. Jesus never declared His biological solidarity with the human

race, instead He refuted His earthly mother and fathers Romans 9:4-5; Matthew 12:46-50; 22:41-46; John 2:3-4; Luke 11:27-28; Luke 2:48-50; Luke 11:27,28; John 2:3,4; 19:26; Hebrews 7:1-3; Micah 5:2-4; Jeremiah 23:5,6

4. Believing that Christ has a sinful Adamic nature is blasphemy

in the sight of GodMatthew 11:27; Colossians 2:2-4; Ephesians 1:15-23; Colossians 1:15-18; Job 14:4

5. Beyond His manifestation in the Word made flesh, He is God

existing with no change of His non-mortal and mortal

attributes John 3:13; I John 5: 20-21; Isaiah 9:6; Revelation 1:8; Hebrews 3:6

6. God put off the old man from us and created a new man by

Christ.Isaiah 53; Galatians 3:8-27; Ephesians 2:15-20; 4:22-24; Colossians 3:9,10; 2:11-14

7. When he comes back, He shall change us into His heavenly

natureRomans 8:1-3,29,30; I John 3:1-3; Philippians 3:20-21; Ephesians 1:4-11; U Peter 1:2-4

Chapter 2-4

Christ Has Become Our Salvation

Christ: The Mystery of the Tabernacle and the Temple

The Bible tells us that the tabernacle of Moses was a shadow of things

to come. Let us briefly see how it pointed to Jesus Christ. The Tabernacle

had three parts:

•The Outer Court

•The Holy Place

•The Most Holy Place

The outer court was where people came with their sacrifices to offer for

the atonement of their sins. It was the place of the altar of sacrifice and the

laver of washing. The Holy Place and the Most Holy Place were situated

in the center of the court. These two rooms were actually one when viewed

from the outer court, but a veil inside divided them. The Holy Place

contained the table of holy bread, the altar of incense, and the golden lamp

stand. The Most Holy Place contained the ark of the covenant. The Holy

Place pointed to the redemptive role of Christ, who is our bread from

heaven, mediator, and light. The Most Holy Place represented the presence

of God Himself. The unity of the two places shows the union of the flesh

and spirit (Son and Father) in the one person of Jesus Christ (John

2:19-22; 14:6-10).

The outer court represented atonement for sinners. The priest took

blood from the outer court, passed through the I I*.>ly Place, and en tered

into the Most Holy Place to sprinkle the blood over the ark, signifying that

no one can reach the Father but through Christ (John 10:1-18; 14:6,7; II

Corinthians 5:17-20; I Timothy 2:5,6; Hebrews 7).

The Ark of the Covenant contained the tables of stone on which were

written the ten commandments of God, including the Name of God. The

ark and the tables of stone can be seen as depicting the incarnation. If we

compare the ark to the body, and the name and Word of God inscribed on

the tables of stone to the deity, we then have a picture of the manifestation

of the Father in Christ (in the Word that was made flesh).

The tabernacle primarily speaks of Christ, and secondarily points to the

church. In the tabernacle there was one ark of the Lord, one golden altar of

incense, one golden lampstand, one table of shew-bread, one brazen altar

and one brazen laver.

The whole emphasis is in the number ONE, all of which points to

Christ. He is the one and only way to the Father (John 14: 1,6; Hebrews

7:25; I Timothy 2:5). There is only one Mediator between God and man;

Christ is the one and only Savior.

There was one tabernacle in the wilderness and all testified, there was

only one way to God. There was one high priest who functioned in this

Sanctuary, this being Aaron. All other Levitical priests were lesser priests.

So Christ is the one and only high priest and all other believers are lesser

priests of that body, of which Christ is the head.

After Moses put the tables of stone in the ark, nobody was able to see

them. Nevertheless, God worked mightily by His Name, among His

people in the Old Testament days. Likewise, in the New-Testament, the

invisible God was in Christ; reconciling the world unto Himself (John

5:43; II Corinthians 5:19). That is why Christ was called Emmanuel, or

"God with us." (Isaiah 7:13-14; Matthew 1:23). Moreover, since Christ is

Emmanuel, He is the mighty God and the everlasting Father (Isaiah 9:6).

Isaiah 40:5 declares,"And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall

see it together : for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it."Isaiah 40:5

According to Hebrews 1:3 and John 1:14, Christ the man is the glory

of God. It is through the body of Christ that people have seen the Father.

In Christ is the ultimate fulfillment of God's covenant through His

manifestation:

"And I will set my tabernacle among you: and my soul shall not

abhor you. And I will walk among you, and will be your God, and

ye shall be my people."

Leviticus 26:11,12

The prophecy of Haggai concerning the greatness of the glory of the

latter temple, which was Christ, is fulfilled when the word became flesh to

be an everlasting temple of God the Father (Haggai 2:9).

The glory of God that was in the Ark of the Covenant and the

tabernacle at large is now vividly manifested in the everlasting dwelling or

temple of God, that is, the flesh (Christ). The Word of God, represented

by the tables of stone, was made flesh and the fellowship of the Father and

Christ dwells in the hearts of believers today by the Holy Spirit. Thus

Ezekiel 36:26,27 is fulfilled:

"A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put

within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh,

and I will give you a heart of flesh (Christ). And I will put my

spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall

keep my judgments, and do them."

Ezekiel 36:26,27

The Apostle Paul explained how the prophecy of Ezekiel is fulfilled in

our lives:"Forasmuch as ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of

Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit oj the living God; not in tables of stone, (the law) but in fleshy tables of the heart (Christ). And such trust have we through Christ to God-ward . . . Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit givetli life. But if the ministration of death, written and engraven in stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel couhl not steadfastly behold the face of Moses for the glory of his countenance; which glory was to be done away: How shall not the

ministration of the spirit be rather glorious? For if the ministration of condemnation be glory, much more doth the ministration of righteousness exceed in glory . . . And not as Moses, which put a veil over his face, that the children of Israel could not steadfastly look to the end of that which is abolished: But their minds were blinded: for until this day remaineth the same vail untaken away in the reading of the old testament; which veil is done away in Christ . . . Nevertheless when it shall turn to the Lord, the veil shall be taken away. Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord."

II Corinthians 3:3,4,6-9,13,14,16-18

God prepared the tables of stone; He wrote the words by His own

fingers. Likewise, God prepared the heavenly man Christ as the

cornerstone of Zion. God then prepared the flesh for the salvation of

sinners."Wherefore also it is contained in the scripture, Behold, 1 lay in

Sion a chief cornerstone, elect, precious: and he that believeth on him shall not be confounded ...The stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner, And a stone of stumbling , amd a rock of offense, even to them which stumble at the word, being disobedient: whereunto also they were appointed."

I Peter 2:6-8

Moses broke the tables of stone engraved and given to him by God. He

did so when he saw the ungodly, sinful acts of the Israelites. Likewise,

Christ the cornerstone that was prepared of God and given to this ungodly,

sin-stained world was despised and broken on the cross.

The Israelites were victorious over all the power of the enemy whenever

they turned to the Lord and encamped around the Ark of the Covenant.

The Lord manifested His presence there and guided them to victory. In

the same way, when God did away with the old covenant and entered into

a new covenant with His people. He revealed Himself and His eternal

Name in Christ. Thus, Christ was made the cornerstone of the church,

which is His spiritual body. Consequently, the church is exceedingly

victorious over death, hell, and all demonic powers by the power of loosing

and binding that is given to it in the Name of Jesus (Matthew 16:16-19;

10:8; Luke 10:17-20).

The church of Christ, therefore, has replaced the Tabernacle of Moses,

in the New Testament."For ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will

dwell in them, and walk in them; ... and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and 1 will receive you, And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty."

II Corinthians 6:16-18

Christ's Manhood and Ministry of Reconciliation

When God declared in Genesis that a disobedient man would surely

die, He included the body. Immediately after the trespass, God said to

Adam, "... for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return" (Genesis

3:19). Paul, then confirmed this, but with new hope:"For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all he made alive."

I Corinthians 15:22

"By one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned."

Romans 5:12

In this, he included the full concept of physical, spiritual, and eternal

death. However, we are not left in that state. We have His promise that on

the day of our resurrection that Jesus will change our vile bodies and we

will put on his glorious body (Philippians 3:20,21).

Sicknesses and death of the body is a consequence of Adam's sin. The

Hebrew version of Genesis 2:17 may be translated, "dying you shall die."

From the moment that man ate of the forbidden tree; he was made

spiritually dead as well as physically a dying creature. Corruption was

introduced on that very occasion. The pains that man and woman have

suffered through the ages grew out of that one apostasy. The fact that man

did not physically die instantly is due to God's gracious purpose of

redemption. Beginning with Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, sin

has separated the human race from God, for God is holy and cannot have

fellowship with sin. Separation from God means spiritual death for

eternity.

The human race could devise no way to escape from this dreadful

destiny. No person from the earthly Adamic race could be his own saviour

or a saviour for his fellow man, "for all have sinned, and come short of the

glory of God" (Romans 3:23). Job, understanding the nature of the earthy

says: "Who can bring a clean thing out of unclean? not one"(Job 14:4).

David also attested saying "behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did

my mother conceive me." (Psalms 51:5) Sinful man could not make

himself holy and the holy God could not become sinful:"And he saw that there was no intercessor : therefore his arm

brought salvation unto him; and his righteousness, it sustained him."Isaiah 59:16

God, in His infinite love, mercy, and goodness designed a plan of

salvation that would satisfy the requirements of His holiness, justice, and

righteousness. He provided a means of redemption for sinful humanity:

"And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; ...But God, who is rich in merey, for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;). That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God."

Ephesians 2:1,4,8

Earthly, but chosen and ordained holy men such as Moses, Abraham or

Job cannot be good enough for an atoning sacrifice to take away our sins

because they themselves needed salvation for their sins."Wherefore only Christ is able to save them to the uttermost that

come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them. For such an high priest was made us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens; who needeth not daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifice, first for his own sins, and then for the people's ..."

Hebrews 1:25-21

It is important to note that the Messiah's conversation with the Father

did not arise because He was of an earthly human nature. However, it was

God's work of intercession through his Word that was made flesh to

redeem fallen mankind. Remembere that Christ is the mystery of God.

Paul said, "in him are hid all the treasures of wisdom and

knowledge" (Colossians 2:3 Christ is the heavenly gift of God, the grace

and mercy that came to us freely (Hphesians 2:1-20).

Therefore through Christ's prayers, weaknesses, temptations, and

agonies God was on duty, so that in the body of His flesh (Christ) and its

death, Christ was able to present us holy, unblameable, and unreprovable in

His sight (Colossians 1:22).

Jesus paid all our debts so we can be free and have access to meet God.

Why was he hungry? Why was he poor? Why was he naked? Why was he

thirsty? The answer is not because He was of an earthly weak nature, but

He was a substitutional sacrifice on behalf of us all. Being the owner of

everything, for our sakes He was made poor, that through His poverty we

might be rich (II Corinthians 8:9).

As the sins of the Old Testament people were laid upon the sacrifice,

and upon the head of the scapegoat, our sins were laid upon the Christ of

God. God laid the iniquity of all mankind on Christ, for only in Christ is

there sufficiency of merit for the salvation of all. Christ was oppressed,

afflicted, smitten, wounded, despised, and rejected for our afflictions,

transgressions. And the chastisement of our peace was upon Him. Christ

surely bore our grief and carried our sorrows. People, without knowing the

purpose and mission of His cross, esteemed him stricken, smitten of God

and aff licted. Isaiah 53 is the sure witness of Christ's purpose for suffering

such agony.

People are neglecting the heavenly Christ by misinterpreting the work

of God that was accomplished through the flesh and blood of Emmanuel

(I Peter 2:6-10, 21-25). Isaiah accused such theologians saying "He is

despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief:

and we hid as it were our faces from him: he was despised, and we

esteemed him not. Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our

sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and

afflicted" (Isaiah 53:3,4). Did God's eteranal spirit die? No! But God really

was reconciling the world through the agony of I lis flesh (Christ) unto

Himself. (John 6:57; 1 Peter 3:18,19; Col. 1:19-22; Matthew 10:22;

Psalms 139:7,8).

The Bible Writers make it clear that the Father incarnate is not merely

in Christ. The sympathizing of Christ with our weakness is not outside of

the Father. As Paul states it,"And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by

Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them ..."

II Corinthians 5:18,19

All of the supplications, the cries, the tears, the thirst, the hunger, the

weakness, the birth and the death of Jesus were from God's Son to the

God incarnate. They are all from himself to himself as we see it in verse 19.

God did not receive reconciliation being outside of Christ. All the feelings

of the flesh were the feelings of the Father incarnate because God was the

Spirit of the flesh and blood.

Jesus Christ is the only mediator between God and men, by giving His

life as a ransom for all. Both His divine flesh and His Spirit, which is deity,

are essential to His mediation and salvation work. As a true heavenly man,

He represents the human race to His deity, and as the one God in flesh He

reveals the eternal, plan of the salvation of man. He did this not by

pointing us to someone else, but by bringing us to Himself, placing us in

His body and filling us with His Spirit.

As it is recorded in Romans 5:12, just as by one man (the earthy Adam)

sin and death entered the human race, so by one heavenly man, Christ

Jesus, righteousness and everlasting life reigns for all mankind.

When we speak of Jesus as mediator between God and humanity, we

must not think of Him as a second God or a second divine person. The

Bible emphatically proclaims,"Fear ye not, neither be afraid: have not 1 told thee from that

lime, and have declared it? Ye are even my witnesses. Is there a God beside me? yea, there is no God; I know not any."

Isaiah 44:8

Also in Deuteronomy 6:4 the first commandment says,"Hear, O Israel: the LORD our God is one LORD."

Deuteronomy 6:4

There is only one divine Spirit in the flesh and blood of God. The idea

that Christ has an independent human spirit could not agree with the one

person, one Spirit, and one God view; David Bernard tells us in The

Oneness of God that

"The divine Spirit could be separated from the human body by death,

but His humanity was more than a human body - the shell of a

human - with God inside. He was human in body, soul, and spirit

with the fullness of the Spirit of God dwelling in that body, soul, and

spirit. Jesus differed from an ordinary human (who can be filled with

the Spirit of God) in that He had all of God's nature within Him.

He possessed the unlimited power, authority and character of God.

Furthermore, in contrast to a born-again, Spirit-filled human, the

Spirit of God was inextricably and inseparably joined with the

humanity of Jesus. Without the Spirit of God there would have been

only a lifeless human that would not have been Jesus

Christ" (Bernard, p. 92).

Jesus is not an agent who leads us into fellowship with another person,

spirit, or another God, for the Bible declares: "...God was in Christ,

reconciling the world unto himself," (II Corinthians 5:19). Christ died,

"That he might present it to himself (not to some one else) a glorious

church, not having spot, or wrinkle or any such thing" (Ephesians 5:27).

If God the Father is in Christ (the Word was made flesh), He can

reconcile and mediate with Himself. However, if the supposed God the

Son is a separate person than the supposed son of Mary, He can not be a

mediator between God the Father, and sinners. I le could only represent

himself. Only a sinless Man could be the mediator, the sacrifice of

atonement, the one to be buried, and resurrected for the remission of sins

and resurrection of the dead (Romans 8:29,30; Genesis 1:27).

Isaiah 40:3-11 depicts Jesus Christ incarnate:"The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the

way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God . . . And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, arid all flesh shall see it together : for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it. . . The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever . . . O Jerusalem, that bringest good tidings, lift up thy voice with strength; lift it up, be not afraid; say unto the cities of J uclah, behold your God! Behold, the Lord GOD will come with strong hand, and his arm shall rule for him: behold, his reward is with him and his work before him. He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young."

Jeremiah 25:30

Bible students must know and believe that only God can forgive sin.

Isaiah 45:21,22 declares, "... there is no God else beside me; a just God and

a Saviour; there is none beside me. Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the

ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else."

Specifically the mediator has to be the manifestation of God the

Father, the creator, the lawgiver, the one against whom the human race has

sinned from the beginning. As it is declared in Isaiah 40 and repeated in I

Peter 1:23-25; the man who is created from the dust ot the ground, who

has his own independent human spirit, is as the grass of the ground that

withers and fades away when the Spirit of the Lord blows upon it. The

good tidings of the Lord toward mankind say, "behold your God, behold

the Lord GOD will come with strong hand, and his arm shall rule for him.

He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his

arm and carry them in his bosom and shall gently lead with those that are

young" (Isaiah 40:10,11). The above passage was interpreted by the apostle

Peter. "Being born again not of corruptible seed (Adamic nature) but of

incorruptible, by the word of God (Christ) which liveth and abideth

forever" (1 Peter 1:23).

Christ Has Become Our Salvation

"For such an high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, uncle-filed, separate from sinners and made higher than the heavens."

Hebrews 7:26

The created Adam is the father of the entire human race since we all

have descended from him through natural generation. It is on this basis

that all men have been born sinners: Adam had transgressed against the

law of God. The law of God, in particular, is the expression of His will

enforced by His power. It is clear that the law of God is not some arbitrary

thing, since it springs from His nature. It is not only negative, but also

positive, demanding conformity to God. It is not addressed to only a part

of man's being, but to body and soul alike. The law is not published for the

outer man only, but for the inner man also. The law is not limited to those

that are conscious of it, but exists for all whether we recognize it or not. It

is not confined to any locality or class of people, but includes all of

humanity.

The law of God was not given as a means whereby man might be saved

forever. Hebrews 7:18-19 says,"For there is verily a disannulling of the commandment going

before for the weakness and unprofitableness thereof. For the law made nothing perfect, but the bringing in of a better hope did; by the which we draw nigh unto God."

Hebrews 7:18-19

Paul said,"for if there had been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law"

Galatians 3:21

"For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh..."Romans 8:3

"But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building; Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us. For if the blood of bulls and of goaLs, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh: How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?"

Hebrews 9:11-14

Sin is the violation of the law of God. Man is a moral and rational

creature. We are of necessity bound to the law of right and wrong. Both the

Old and New Testaments use various terms for sin and sinning. Some of

these are: sin, disobedience, iniquity, lawlessness, transgression, trespass,

ignorance, godlessness, wickedness, unbelief, unrighteousness, unjustness

and unholiness.

Since God is a creator of soul and body, God's law is present in all

natural generation. Men resemble their ancestors in spirit as well as in

body. If heredity explains similar bodily traits, it even more accounts for the

spiritual resemblance. Scripture speaks of Levi being in the loins of his

father (Hebrews 7:10). If the father begets his son after his likeness, it is

true that the law of sin is transmitted to the child, through the

combination of the seed and the egg. David also affirms this by saying,

"Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive

me" (Psalms 51:5). The Spirit of God through Job attests saying, "who can

bring a clean thing out of unclean? not one" (Job 14:4) also Job continued

saying, "How can He be clean that is horn of a woman?" (Job 25:4)

Sin came into the world by a self-determined act and is chargeable to

every individual man born thereafter. Therefore, every Adamic generation

is a partaker of sin. Immediate, far-reaching and fearful were the

consequences of the sin of our first parents. Everything would have been

destroyed had there not been the pre-planned promise of regeneration in

the mind of God. Some may have difficulties in suppressing the desire to

know what would have happened if Adam and Eve had not sinned; but the

scriptures are not silent on this subject.

Genesis 1:27 clearly teaches us that God created the future spiritual

Adam in His spiritual image (Tselem) by predestination. Accordingly in

Genesis 2:7, we see God creating the outer man from the dust of the

ground in His likeness (Demuth), which is not the same as "image" in the

Hebrew translation. "Tselem" speaks of the spiritual likeness while

"demuth" speaks of the appearance likeness. "Demuth" or likeness limits

man from the divine nature.

Scriptures give us an adequate revelation of the bright future of Adam's

heritage. By God's plan of the second birth, whosoever believes in the

covenant that was given to Eve, Abraham and the children of Israel, could

be recipients of the original plan of a perfect man which is the second

Adam (Genesis 3:15). In Genesis 3:21, God killed animals and made coats

of skins, typifying the shedding of Christ's blood and the putting on of

Christ's nature (Galatians 3:27; Exodus 12:3,4).

Keeping the spiritual Adam in His mind, God formed the earthly man

from the dust of the ground and called him Adam. Then he breathed into

his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living soul. Being in

one person, this living soul and the clay man have different tendencies,

wills, and desires of life. Galatians 5:17 teaches us, "For the flesh lusteth

against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary

one to the other." Paul knowing the foreknowledge of God said,

"For I know that in me, (that is, in my flesh), dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; hut how to perform that which is good 1 find not . . . O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death ... I Thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind 1 myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin."

Romans 7:18; 24,25

All partakers of the Adamic earthly nature can give this testimony:“For when u'c were in the flesh, the motions of sins, which were by the law, did work in our members to bring forth fruit unto death."

Romans 7:5

Romans 8:3 tells us, "For what the law could not do, in that it was weak

through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh,

and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh." Here the likeness means the form

not the actual sinful nature. "For to be carnally minded is death; but to be

spiritually minded is life and peace" (Romans 8:6).

Because of the weakness of the earthly Adamic flesh, they transgressed

the law of God and were condemned to eternal death. God so loved His

creature that He came down and called Adam in the Garden of Eden. He

made a covenant between Himself and Eve that He would send the

promised seed, Christ, the Son of God.

Eve is the offspring of Adam (Genesis.2:21-23). She has no seed by

herself but Adam. Since woman is the typology of the church, Eve was

designated as a type of the church, which is the proclaimer of salvation.

Biologically, the woman has no seed or XY Chromosomes to begat man-

child. In the same way, the Church has no seed of salvation unless it is

received from God.

As the children of Eve bruises the heel of the serpent, the children of

the Church have received power from Jesus the second Adam to crash the

head of the devil as promised in Luke 10:19. Adam is the figure of Christ.

"Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned: (For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law. Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come."

Romans 5:12-14

When the time came for God to fulfill His promise, He sent His Word,

the promised seed. According to His plan, a virgin was found to believe

and obey that she would conceive a man-child without human seed. When

He was born, the Jewish rabbis did not welcome Him. Isaiah being

surprised said, "Who has believed our report? and to whom is the arm of

the LORD revealed? For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant,

and as a root out of dry ground..." (Isaiah 53:1-3). Out of biologically dry

ground, seed by itself cannot produce life. Scripture declares, "And the

Word (Christ) was made flesh, and dwelt among us (and we beheld his

glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and

truth." Without biological application, Eve was created out of Adam. In

contrast the church was begotten out of Christ.

Micah 5:2,3 declares,"But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the

thousands ofjudah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose going forth have been from of old, from everlasting. Therefore will he give them up, until the time that she which travaileth hath brought forth."

Micah 5:2,3

Concerning the inherited sin, Mary was not tree from the inherited

death penalty; she herself confessed and said, "My soul doth magnify the

Lord, And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Savior, for He has regarded

the low state of his handmaiden" (Luke 1:46-48).

Mary clearly declares that Emmanuel was the Savior of her soul and

spirit. Therefore, Christ was the promised Word: the divine seed. He was

not the seed of the earthly Adam (I Peter 1:23-25). The Bible calls Him

incorruptible seed. Mary's humanity was created from dust through the

first Adam, but the flesh of Christ is the Word become flesh. He is the

begotten; not created. He is the life-giving word, and not life receiver. The

sonship, of course, began with the child conceived in the womb of Mary,

thus fulfilling the promise. That was the task and law for Him to

accomplish.

This shows there is no blood relationship between Mary and Christ.

The dry ground is a metaphorical phrase of the unproductive womb of

Mary. Christ was not a partaker of Mary's nature or blood. We must

remember that Christ came to change her and all believers into His own

nature with the second birth in water and Holy Spirit baptism. He did not

come to be changed to their dust nature (II Peter 1:1-4; Romans 8:29,30).

The perfect example of Christ's coming, His mysterious and

miraculous birth, His Kingship, and His priesthood, is that of

Melchizedek. Melchizedek is the Theophany of Jesus Christ. Abram saw

Christ in his days for Jesus attested that,"Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw; it,

and was glad. Then said the Jews unto him, Thou art not yet fifty years old, and hast thou seen Abraham! Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am."

John 8:56-58

Jesus is known to be Son, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, High Priest,

and Everlasting King. When the Word became genuine heavenly man in

the womb of Mary, and was born of her, He was authorized to abolish the

law of death and establish the law of eternal life by grace,"For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by

the obedience of one shall many be made righteous. Moreover, the law entered, that the offense might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound: That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ."

Romans 5:19-21Christ was completely tree of any transgression. Since He was the word

that became flesh, He was sinless by nature. He broke none of God's holy

Law. Despite His sinless nature, Christ even obeyed Jewish Law, even

submitting to His earthly supposed mother and father. He was committed

only to the will of the Father. It was said of Him that zeal for His Father's

house consumed Him and that His duty was to do the will of His Father.

Christ as the Father manifested in His own flesh had no human will at all

(John 2:17; 4:34).

But for us, who have the revelation of who He is:- the heavenly man

Christ was absolutely holy and His physical death on the cross is sufficient

for our salvation. He was prepared by the Father (Hebrews 10:5) from the

essence of God to take away the sins of the world.

"Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. This is he of whom I said, After me cometh a man which is preferred before me: for he was before me . . . (As the word of God he has no beginning). . . And I knew him not: but that he should be made manifest to Israel, therefore am 1 come baptizing with water. . . but he that sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me, Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending , and remaining on him, the same is he which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost."

John 1:29-31,33