Did God Appear in the Flesh? - By Iskander Jadeed

862019 Did God Appear in the Flesh - By Iskander Jadeed

httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldid-god-appear-in-the-flesh-by-iskander-jadeed 118



1 Question I

What do you mean when you say thatJesus is God appearing in the flesh If this

is what you believe why was theIncarnation necessary

FK Tripoli Lebanon

2 Answer I

1 The first fact we have to contend with isthat the human soul cannot attain the stateof perfection it desires on its own becausethe law of sin acts as a stumbling block

The apostle Paul reveals this truth to uswhen he says For I have the desire to dowhat is good but I cannot carry it out Forwhat I do is not the good I want to do nothe evil I do not want to do - this I keep ondoing Now if I do what I do not want todo it is no longer I who do it but it is sinliving in me that does it So I find this lawat work When I want to do good evil isright there wit me For in my inner being I

delight in Gods law but I see another law

at work in the members of my bodywaging war against the law of my mindand making me a prisoner of the law of sinat work within my members (Romans718-23)

2 The apostles word here illustrate theconflict between grace and corruption inthe soul of man between the law of God inwhich man delights and to which he wantsto conform and the law of sin whichappeals to man captivates and impels himto do that which he does not want to doThe apostle however anxious to liberatehimself from the law of sin and deathraised his famous cry to heaven What awretched man I am Who will rescue mefrom this body of death (Romans 724)When he caught a glimpse of the Delivererin the person of the incarnate Word herejoiced sayingThanks be to God -through Jesus Christ our Lord (Romans725)

This secret had already been revealed tothat man of God Job when he wascontinually overwhelmed by catastrophesand sufferings From the depths of hisgreat need for a mediator between him andGod he expressed his complaint thus If only there were someone to arbitratebetween us to lay his hand upon us bothsomeone to remove Gods rod from me sothat his terror would frighten me no moreThen I would speak up without fear of him but as it now stands with me Icannot (Job 933-35) Hence the secondbasic element of God (or person within theGodhead Arabic UQNUM ) took humanflesh He met mans desperate need forredemption to restore him and to reconcilehim with his God

3 Every one knows from personal

Did God appear in the flesh

218All Rights Reserved - The Good Way Publishing - 2010

httpwwwthe-good-waycom



experience that corrupt tendencies dwell in

him to which he regrettably succumbs Werecall the apostolic saying for all havesinned and fall short of the glory of God(Romans 323) and If we claim to bewithout sin we deceive ourselves and thetruth is not in us (1 John 18) Islamcarries an admission of this truth as in theQuranic saying ldquoIf Allah were to takemankind to task for their wrong doing hewould not leave therein a living creature(Sura al-Nahl 1661) It is therefore

evident to us not only historically but alsointellectually that natural man cannot reachthe peak of this spiritual potential until heis united with and led by that which issuperior to him and more than manhimself

4 Thus we have restricted our study to aclarification of the shortcomings of manand his failure to rise to the status whichAdam enjoyed before the fall To stop herewould be tantamount to defeat We cannot

imagine that such frustration serves theaim of an Almighty God On the contrarythe Lord God is good and His mercies areeverlasting In His goodness God wouldnot leave man whom He created in Hisown image in such a predicament as toperish Since man failed to serve Godspurpose God would surely havepreordained for him another being to makehim whole Who is that being Is he acreature who has attained perfect holiness

Or is he God himself

5 Let us strive to hold on to sure groundand not be distracted by our own theoriesthough based on principles rooted incertain religions Let us also remember onefact and that is that no religion denies thatman has a desire for direct communionwith God It is to God that people prayfrom Him they seek help and guidance He

indeed helps and guides the feet of those

who believe in Him in the paths of peacemoreover we will realise that the aimbehind symbols which are sometimestermed mysteries is a completeinterlocking of the soul with God Godsman Augustine the scholar said in hisprayer O Lord You have created us foryourself and our souls are restless untilthey find rest in you

There is therefore no reason to thing thatthere exists between God and man acreated mediator even though endowedwith superhuman nature In fact proofs tothe contrary are abundant If creation wereto attain that perfection which Godintended for it and if man is to beredeemed it becomes imperative that thisbe accomplished through the very work of God himself to whom be praise and gloryfor ever

For the purpose of achieving this end it is

preordained that the Deity consists of threebasic elements of persons (Arabic AQANIM ) so that the incarnation may befulfilled through the choice of one thereofand none other This was the divinepleasure that the Lord should redeem ourfallen and forsaken race because He aloneis mighty enough for what salvationinvolves The definition of incarnation inGods sight is to take on human fleshthrough one of the basic elements of theDeity or persons in the Godhead (ArabicUQNUM )

I am by no means trying here to answer thequestion Was God not able to save fallenhumanity without incarnation But I doaffirm in the light of the word of God thatthe incarnation is an appropriate andsuitable course it is indeed adequate andunique in wisdom for fulfilling the






required purpose The very fact that the

incarnation took place makes it likely thatit was essential to fulfil the purpose of Godperfectly in the word of redemption andthat the state of fallen humanity demandedand needed it

6 I am obliged to mention that God towhom be glory being desirous of bringingcreation to the peak of elevation bysomehow joining it to Himself would doso not by a mere outward divinecommand Be and it shall be but byindwelling the highest levels of Hiscreation or in other words by appearingHimself in the form of a perfect man

7 When we consider the teaching onredemption as contained in Holy Scripturewe observe that the mediator between Godand human beings must bear the followingcharacteristics

1 He must be human The apostleexplains that the second basic element

of God or Person in the Godhead(Arabic UQNUM ) took the form of humans rather than angels because Hecame to redeem humans It wasnecessary that He should be born underthe law which we have broken in orderto complete all righteousness that Heshould suffer and die as a sacrifice topay the ransom of our sins that Heshould partake of our human life tofeel our weakness (Hebrews 214)

2 He must be without sin The sacrificewhich used to be offered on the altarhad to be without blemish as requiredby the law In other words it isimpossible for the saviour from sin tobe himself a sinner otherwise he woldnot have access to God neither can hebe a source of holiness and eternal lifeto his people if he himself is not

righteous and holy It was therefore

imperative that our Chief Priest shouldbe holy blameless undefiled andseparated from sin (Hebrews 726)

3 He must be God because nothing canput away sin except the blood of Himwho is greater than a mere creatureChrist therefore being God byoffering Himself as a sacrifice onceand for all has perfected forever themthat are sanctified (Hebrews 727 and1014) Likewise no one but a divine

being can destroy Satans power andsave those whom Satan held captiveNo one can accomplish the great task of redemption but He who isAlmighty All Wise and All Knowingin order to be the Chief Priest of Hischurch and the Judge of all No onecan be the source of spiritual life forthe redeemed except one in whom allthe fullness of the Deity dwells in theflesh

8 All these attributes which HolyScripture stipulates as essential to qualifythe mediator for the act of mediationbetween God and mankind are united inChrist in accordance with the task whichHe came to accomplish

It transpires from postulating thesecharacteristics in Christ that Hismediation which includes all that He didand continues to do for the salvation of humanity is the work of a divine beingAll the works and sufferings of Christ inthe performance of His mediation havebeen the works and sufferings of a divinebeing The One who has been crucified isthe Lord of Glory the One who offeredHimself to death is the second basicelement of God or the second person in theGodhead (Arabic UQNUM )






21 The Historic Proof 9 A glance at history shows us that theredwelt on the face of this earth a manwhose whole life has been a cleardemonstration of both elements of whichthe perfect good of humanity consistsThese two elements are a permanentrelationship to God and an unparalleledlove for his fellow men He went aboutpreaching the good news doing good andhealing those afflicted by the devil He

revealed a new concept of God tomankind saying that God has a concernfor every person individually as a father isconcerned for his own children Godaccepts every repentant sinner as warmlyas a father would welcome a straying sonreturning to his bosom

10 and 11 In addition to His teachings of love and His works of mercy He called agroup of disciples to be with Him to learnfrom His teachings and His example Dayby day these disciples grew in theirknowledge of Him and deepened theirinsight into His way of thinking and theinner meaning of His parables They drewupon the riches of His Spirit learned fromHis confidence and shared in Hiscommunion with God Nevertheless theevil world shook with fear of Him Thosewho closed their eyes to the truth andrelied on their own righteousness rebelledagainst Him and dragged Him to trial

accusing Him of blasphemy and breakingthe law They were able to have the deathsentence passed against Him But how didHe react He refused to defend Himselfknowing full well it was in His powermerely to say a word and have a dozenarmies of angels rally around toexterminate His enemies He chose not tofall back on any means of deliverance

available to Him In order to proclaim the

meaning of Gods love He gave Himself up completely In order that the enormityand extreme hideousness of sin in Godssight may be impressed in peoples mindsHe allowed sin to inflict punishment onthat perfect human body of His In order toconquer evil He withstood its assaults andonslaughts unto death sharing thereby allof mankinds struggles and paving the wayfor His eventual victory

12 On the third day He arose He hadearlier said The reason my Father lovesme is that I lay down my life-- only to takeit up again No one takes it from me but Ilay it down of my own accord I haveauthority to lay it down and authority totake it up again This command I receivedfrom my Father (John 101718) Thatwas precisely what He did He finished thework and the divine revelation wascomplete Love was shed to its utmost andthe power of evil mighty as it is was

fought and defeated Good triumphed overevil

13 What about the outcome The effecthas been noticeable in His disciples whogained an intimate knowledge of Him anda conviction that grew out of theirassociation with Him It blossomed whenHe appeared to them after His resurrectionTo them He was not merely a man or abeing of a species higher than man Theysaw in Him the attributes of God HimselfHe claimed things which would be ablasphemy for anyone other than GodEvery claim He made had been proved inearnest including the fact that He wasworthy of their worship and was indeedGod living the life of man and at the sametime reigning over the universe from Histhrone in heaven






14 This was not the experience only of

those disciples of the Lord Jesus who haddirect contact with Him but spreadspeedily to many others as the disciplespassed on the good news upheld by themight of His Spirit whom He sent in Hisplace

The conviction that Jesus of Nazareth wasboth God and man did not disappear withthe death of those who had known Him inthe flesh Why Because it was based noton a religious error or dogma but on thepersonal experience of Christiansthroughout the ages and on the strongconviction that Jesus is still alive andmaintains a personal relationship with allthose who seek Him This relationshipdoes not stand as an obstacle betweenthem and God but is in reality acommunion with God Himself

15 This Divine Person (ArabicUQNUM ) Jesus Christ is not an inanimate

and imperfect being but now fills thewhole universe He is here there andeverywhere He touches man and saysFollow me Struck by awe man rejoinsLord Your service is hard andburdensome I cannot bear it and am unableto follow in your footstep Leave me aloneLord for I am a sinner Jesus answersGive me your life entrust it to Me havefaith and believe in Me for My grace issufficient for you Man may respond toHis call and become a disciple Christ isstill along the road calling out Come toMe all you who are weary and burdenedand I will give you rest Look unto Meyou ends of the earth and be saved Manyhear His call and come to Him attracted bythe grace of His divine personality He ispopular today in black Africa wheremasses of people join His ranks and finddeliverance from the power of evil spirits

and the grip of sorcerers and magicians In

every nation tribe and class there arepeople who have been transformed byJesus They live a different life They usedto live in sin lust and pride Now they liveworthy of His gospel in righteousness andholiness of truth If you ask them about theroot cause of such a transformation theywould reply All this is by virtue of theknowledge of Jesus our Lord

We can therefore say with full confidencethat the life of Jesus of Nazareth has

crowned the work of God in creation andlifted it to the peak of sublimity andperfection In Him this work reached fullperfection In Him life and spirit attainedthe purpose of God in Him all who acceptHim in love are established and filled tothe fullness of God In other words thesoul that believes in Him has reached thesupreme goal of its existence namelyunion with God Himself and the upliftingof creation to God its Creator

16 This is the verdict and conclusion of history Yet with regard to Jesus Christ themeaning of perfect man is not merely of the divine essence of the universe thereflection of the divine essence and thelink between God and His creationRather He is the perfect man because Heis at the same time perfect God for inChrist all the fullness of the Deity lives inbodily form (Colossians 29) He is notonly the mirroring of the divine substance

shining brightly through a human life butis the radiance of Gods glory and theexact representation of his beingsustaining all things by his powerful wordAfter he had provided purification for sinshe sat down at the right hand of theMajesty in heaven (Hebrews 13) In thebeginning was the Word and the Wordwas with God and the Word was God He






was with God in the beginning Through

him all things were made without himnothing was made that has been made(John 11-3) He is therefore worthy toreceive all power dominion wisdommight honour glory and praise Amen

Great is the mystery of Godliness God wasmanifest in the flesh (1 Timothy 316)

3 Question II

It is well known that God is not in need of the world or those who dwell in it thatevery relationship He has with Hiscreatures restricts Him the Most High asHe is to the bounds of time and place andconsequently attributes passivity to Himwhich would be blasphemy Does not theIncarnation in which Christianity believesmean a translocation of a portion of God tothe body of Christ

AS Beirut Lebanon

4 Answer III

17 Dear inquirer if you stop to think youwill find that Islam which you hold alsoputs God in the realm of relationship withHis creatures and within the scope of timeand place You believe that God sent amessenger to men This means that Godestablished a relationship with Hiscreatures The Quran says Lo We have

sent unto you a messenger as witnessagainst you even as We sent unto Pharaoha messenger whereupon We seized himwith no gentle grip (Sura al-Muzammil7315-16) Moreover the Quran exhortsman to establish a relationship with Godhis creator and states that God loves thisas illustrated in Sura al-Ra`d 13159which says And when you are resolved

then put your trust in Allah Lo Allah

loves those who put their trust (in Him)

You might argue that such expressions aresymbolic This would be reading into theexegesis and would collapse in the face of the facts There are many instances of thiskind in which mention is made of personswho have been commissioned by God toperform certain task as for example in theQuranic saying We sent Noah untopeople and he said lsquoO my people ServeAllah Ye have no other God save HimLo I fear for you the retribution of anAwful Dayrsquo The chieftains of his peoplesaid lsquoLo we see you surely in plainerrorrsquo He said lsquoO my people There is noerror in me but I am a messenger from theLord of the worlds I convey unto you themessage of my Lord and give goodcounsel unto you and know from Allahthat which you know notrsquo (Sura al-A`raf 759-62) Such verses cannot be takensymbolically because they refer to specific

events

18 What have you to say of the traditionalprophetic saying concerning the ritual of prayer enjoined upon Muslims Thispurports that Ibn Ishaq cited Ibn Masud asquoting the messenger of God(Muhammad) saying in the chronicle of the night of ascension Gabriel finallybrought me to the presence of my Lordwho ordained upon me fifty prayer ritualsdaily On my way back I passed by Mosesson of Imran and what a friend you had inhim He asked me how many prayers theLord imposed on me and I replied lsquoFiftydailyrsquo He said lsquothe prayers areburdensome and your people are weakreturn to your peoplersquo I returned andbegged my Lord to lessen the burden onme and on my people He relieved me of ten I left and passed by Moses who said






the same thing to me I returned and

begged my Lord who relieved me of tenThen I left and passed by Moses who saidthe same thing to me I returned andimplored God and He relieved me of tenHe (Moses) kept repeating to me everytime I returned to him lsquoreturn and imploreyour Lordrsquo I ended up with the Lordrelieving me of the burden except for fiveritual prayers every day and night Thistime I replied lsquoI have implored my Lordand begged to Him so much that I am

ashamed of Him I will not returnTherefore whosoever of you performthem by faith and action he shall have thereward of fifty prayersrsquo (The ProphetsChronicles by Ibn Hisham 3276)

19 I leave you with traditional propheticquotation to make up your mind in thelight of it whether or not God does haverelationships with His creatures wholikewise have a relationship with HimFurthermore in an expression of love I

put it thus to you If you hold on to thebelief of ldquoabsolute elimination of anthropomorphic elements from theconception of deityrdquo (Arabic TANZIH )you are believing in a God about whomyou know nothing and from whom you areconsequently separated totally Thus youare implicitly denying Prophecy and theQuran A prophet cannot be called sounless he is inspired and sent forth toestablish a relationship between God and

the creature

20 The traditional prophetic saying readsGod blessed and exalted be His namedescends every night to the lowest heavenwhere He remains for the last third of thenight and calls lsquoIs there anyone prayingto me and I will answer him Anyone whorepents before me and I will forgive himrsquo(Bukhari 468)

I believe that the absolute elimination of

anthropomorphic elements from theconception of deity (Arabic TANZIH )which asserts Gods total detachment fromcreated beings makes Him an isolatedGod (exalted be His name) This leads todislocation in spiritual matters Mancannot repent and experience regenerationin isolation from God All efforts by manto lift himself from the state of sin to thatof righteousness prove of no avail if manhas no contact with God Christ in His

ldquoSermon on the Mountrdquo said Who of you by worrying can add a single hour tohis life (Matthew 627) It follows thatabsolute elimination of athropomorphicelements from the conception of deity(Arabic TANZIH ) acts as an obstacle tomany in the way of accepting the conceptof incarnation These persons havetherefore deprived themselves of thebenefits of redemption In defence of theirrejection of the teaching of incarnation

they offer a number of objectionsincluding the following

21 They argue that divine incarnationexposes God to a change in the essence of His Deity at the specific time and placethus measuring God by the measure of imperfect minds In fact they are indirectlyattributing impotence to God an inabilityto become incarnate and appear without atall changing His essence The truth is thatincarnation does not necessarily involve a

change in the divine nature Our proof of this is that the second basic element of God or person in the Godhead (ArabicUQNUM ) when He took on humannature He did not forfeit His deity butremained the same mighty God who raisedthe dead cured the blind and the lepersforgave sins and silenced storms andwaves by His command The Gospel tells






us that He appeared in the flesh in a

supernatural way because He is thecreator of the bodies and of human natureand has no difficulty in being united tothem Any belief to the contrary is anadmission that the creator of bodies andnature is not God but some being

22 We know by experience that any wiseand sane person can adapt to hisenvironment and circumstances Howmuch more likely is it that an All WiseAlmighty God should be capable of

incarnation without any change occurringin His essence

Remember the sun sends its rays andwarmth to the earth and in uniting withother beings on earth gives them life andhelps them grow without any changeoccurring to the suns composition Is itreasonable that the sun should have thepotential of uniting with other elementsand influencing them without beingaffected while God the Creator of the sunand the elements should have no suchpotency

You believe that God created the first manof clay like the potters (Suraal-Rahman 5514) This implies that Godstood at a definite time and place becauseHe held with His hand clay from a givenspot with which He made man at a giventime If you say that His standing at agiven place and given time does not

confine Him because He is Almighty Iwould put it to you that His incarnation ata given time and a given place does notconfine Him either because He isAlmighty Christ therefore said What isimpossible with men is possible with God(Luke 1827)

23 Tradition quotes Muhammad assaying When the believers seek their

Gods intercession on the day of

resurrection they come to me and I goforth and ask for an audience with my Godin His house which is given to Me When Isee my God I lie prostrate before Him(Bukhari 418)

A question arises here ldquoWhy is a Christianaccused of blasphemy when he says thatGod appeared in the flesh while such anaccusations not hurled at the one who saysthat God is contained in a houserdquo

In Sura al-Hadid 5729 it is written thebounty is in Allahs hand to give to whomHe will And Allah is of Infinite bountyIn Sura al-Fath 4810 it is written theyswear allegiance only unto Allah TheHand of Allah is above their hands InSura al-Mulk 671 it is written Blessed isHe in Whose hand is the Sovereignty andHe is Able to do all things

It is written in Sura Hud 1137 that Godsaid to Noah Build the ship under Oureyes and by Our inspiration It is writtenin Sura al-Tur 5248 that God said toMuhammad So wait patiently for yourLords decree for surely you are in oureye It is written in Sura Ta Ha 2039 thatGod said to Moses When We inspired inyour mother saying lsquothrow him into theark and there an enemy to Me and anenemy to him shall take himrsquo And Iendued you with love from Me that mightbe trained according to My will

Tradition quotes Abu Hurairah quotingMuhammad as saying God created thecreation and when relationship on thefemale side stood they held to the waist of the Merciful One (Bukhari 3114)

All the above quotations say that God hasa face a hand an eye and a waist all of which are components of mans body If






the incarnation of God is a blasphemy how

can the foregoing verses be explained

25 How does the Holy God dwell in thewomb of a woman in the midst of blood and the uncleanliness of conception and childbirth And how can He dwell in ahuman body eating and hungeringdrinking and thirsting urinating and excreting

Perhaps those who say so do notcomprehend the statement of the angel of

God He who is conceived by Mary is bythe Holy Spirit If God is holier than tocome into contact with the blood of awoman how do they believe that God took a rib of Adam and made the woman out of it How do they explain the traditionalProphetic saying quoted by Aisha whenshe said The Prophet used to rest in mybosom during my menstruation period andrecite the Quran (Bukhari 144)

If blood were unclean and the Quran werethe eternal word of God originating in thevery essence of God and inseparable fromHim how does Muhammad make it lawfulfor himself to read it while lying on thebosom of Aisha in her menstruation andyet it is unlawful for the Word to indwelland be incarnate in the womb of SaintMary Sura al-Hijr 1528 states andwhen your Lord said to the angels Lo Iam creating a mortal out of dry clay madeout of stinking mudJalalan interpreted

this type of mud as ldquoblack mudrdquo If coming into contact with black mud is notregarded a degradation to the holiness of God and does not defile Him how muchmore appropriate it is after God had madeout of it man and crowned him over Hiscreatures that He will not disdain to dwellin him Praise be to God for His wordthrough the apostle Paul who said Dont

you know that you yourselves are Gods

temple and that Gods Spirit lives in you(1 Corinthians 316) If the Holy God seesno harm in abiding by His Spirit in abeliever how much the body of Jesus whoknew no sin and who was not born of human seed

26 Sura al-Qasas 2829 states Thenwhen Moses had fulfilled the term andwas travelling with his housefolk he sawin the distance a fire and said unto hishousefolk lsquoBide you (here) Lo I see inthe distance a fire peradventure I shallbring you tidings thence or a brand fromthe fire that you may warm yourselvesrsquoAnd when he reached it he was calledfrom the right side of the valley in theblessed field from the tree lsquoO Moses LoI even I am Allah the Lord of theWorldsrsquo

The same story recurs in Sura Ta Ha209-12 Has there come unto you the

story of Moses When he saw a fire andsaid unto his folk lsquoWait Lo I see a fireafar off Peradventure I may bring you abrand therefrom or may find guidance atthe firersquo And when he reached it he wascalled by name lsquoO Moses Lo I even Iam your Lord So take off your shoes forlo You are in the holy valley of TuwaAnd I have chosen you so hearken untothat which is inspiredrsquo

The episode is explained by Imam

Fakhruddin Arrazi in the followingmanner Moses peace be on him took leave of Shuaib to return to his mother andwas granted it As he went out a son wasborn unto him by the road on a wintryFriday night He had strayed Moses peacebe on him struck fire but the flint bore noflash As he made further attempts heobserved a fire at a distance on the left side






of the wayside Assaddi is quoted as

saying Moses thought it was a fire bysome shepherds Others relating the storysaid that Moses saw it in a tree When hesaw it he proceeded towards it and told hishousehold lsquoWait Lo I saw a fireperadventure I shall bring you a piece of burning wood or flintrsquo When he reachedit relates Ibn Abbas he saw a green treefrom stem to top as if it was white fire Hestood in amazement at the bright light of the fire and the deep green tree Neither

did the fire change the green tree nor wasfire changed by the plenteousness of waterin the tree Moses heard the angels singinghymns of praise and saw a strong lightWhen Moses beheld this he placed hishand on his eyes and was called by namelsquoO Moses Lo I am your Godrsquo Heresponded in obedience saying lsquoI hearyour voice but cannot see you Where areyoursquo He (God) said Lo I am with youbefore you behind you around you and

nearest to you Take off your shoes forlo you are in the holy valleyrsquo (Attafsir alKabir Volume 22 p14 15)

In the Holy Bible the story is related thusThere the angel of the LORD appeared tohim in flames of fire from within a bushMoses saw that though the bush was onfire it did not burn up So Moses thoughtlsquoI will go over and see this strange sight--why the bush does not burn uprsquo When theLORD saw that he had gone over to look

God called to him from within the bushlsquoMoses Mosesrsquo And Moses said lsquoHere Iamrsquo lsquoDo not come any closerrsquo God saidlsquoTake off your sandals for the place whereyou are standing is holy groundrsquo (Exodus32-5)

My respected friend If God in order tospeak to Moses and commission him tocarry a message to mankind chose to

dwell in a bush and appear in the form of

fire is it not unfair to accuse Christians of blaspheming because they believe thatGod in order to reveal Himself in loveappeared in Jesus Christ Is the bush inwhich God appeared more significant thanChrist

27 I now put it to you if Jesus while inthe flesh ate drank and digested that doesnot impair the fullness of the Deity whodwelt in Him bodily This is illustrated inthe Holy Bible thus As one who is in theLord Jesus I am fully convinced that nofood is unclean in itself But if anyoneregards something as unclean then for himit is unclean (Romans 1414)

28 Dear friend Anyone who pondersdeeply over Holy Scripture cannot fail toobserve that the way God chose to revealHimself and communicate His intentionshas been in the nature of appearance andincarnation It does not matter whether

such appearance and incarnation took place in the cloud in the fire through thebody of the Angel of the Covenant or thebody of Christ in whom He appeared fullof grace and truth

In the epistle to the Hebrews 11-2 weread the following statement which isregarded a key utterance concerning Godscontact with mankind In the past Godspoke to our forefathers through theprophets at many times and in various

ways but in these last days he has spokento us by his Son whom he appointed heirof all things and through whom he madethe universe Here are other examples of Gods appearances and methods of speaking to mankind as recorded in theHoly Bible

Genesis 181-5 says The LORD






appeared to Abraham near the great trees

of Mamre while he was sitting at theentrance to his tent in the heat of the dayAbraham looked up and saw three menstanding nearby When he saw them hehurried from the entrance of his tent tomeet them and bowed low to the groundHe said lsquoIf I have found favor in youreyes my lord do not pass your servant byLet a little water be brought and then youmay all wash your feet and rest under thistree Let me get you something to eat so

you can be refreshed and then go on yourway-- now that you have come to yourservantrsquo lsquoVery wellrsquo they answered lsquodoas you sayrsquo Here God appeared toAbraham in the form of man who sat ateand drank

Genesis 3222-30 says He appeared untoJacob in the shape of man and wrestledwith him until the break of day and whenHe asked Jacob to let Him go Jacob saidlsquoI will not let you go unless you bless

mersquo The man blessed him sayinglsquobecause you have struggled with Godand with men and have overcomersquoSoJacob called the place Peniel saying lsquoIt isbecause I saw God face to face and yetmy life was sparedrsquo

Exodus 249-11 states Moses and AaronNadab and Abihu and the seventy eldersof Israel went up and saw the God of Israel Under his feet was something like apavement made of sapphire But God didnot raise his hand against these leaders of the Israelites Here Gods appearance took the form of man with hands and legs butHe did not lay His hands upon the noblesbecause they were sinners and in need of amediator who has the nature of God andthe nature of man

5 Question IIIIs it not within the power of the MercifulGod to save mankind other than throughsending His Son presuming that God has ason as you claim to take a human body betempted like us and be killed at the handsof wicked men

SA Damascus Syria

6 Answer III

29 The Holy Bible teaches that Godcreated man in His own image and in Hislikeness (Genesis 126) And God Glorybe to His name intended that man remainin an uncorrupt state But man drawn byhis pride to break Gods commanddeliberately disobeyed and went astray Hethus became a sinner and liable to Gods

judgement which declares The soul whosins is the one who will die (Ezekial1820) The apostle Paul referred to thisfact when he said Therefore just as sinentered the world through one man anddeath through sin and in this way deathcame to all men because all sinned(Romans 512)

The word of God teaches that humans byrefusing to keep God in their knowledgefell into disobedience like their firstparents They lost the image of righteousness and holiness of truth in

which God created them They becamecorrupt as Solomon the Wise said Thisonly have I found God made mankindupright but men have gone in search of many schemes (Ecclesiates 729) Theapostle Paul said For although they knewGod they neither glorified him as God norgave thanks to him but their thinkingbecame futile and their foolish hearts were






darkened Although they claimed to be

wise they became fools (Romans12122)

It should have been possible for man whowas created in the image of God to avoidcorruption and decay and live in purity hadhe obeyed God God not only created usfrom nothing and gave us the breath of life but He also endowed us with thepossibility of living in communion withHim But as men moved away from thelife of God and accepted Satanstemptation they brought about their owndecline

30 Is it worthy of God to have man whomHe created in His own image and in Hislikeness destined to perish forever Whatwould the Creator do who is righteous andwhose mercy is everlasting Would Hisrich loving kindness allow corruption toefface His image from mankind WouldHis glorious divinity rejoice at the

perishing of the human community whomHe created in perfection If He were toleave them to such a wretched fate wouldthat not be neglect But is negligenceworthy of the glory of a Holy God HasHe not said As surely as I live declaresthe Sovereign LORD I take no pleasure inthe death of the wicked but rather thatthey turn from their ways and live TurnTurn from your evil ways Why will youdie O house of Israel (Ezekial 3311)

31 It is true that God out of Hisbounteous love has willed that man besaved How Is it through repentance Butrepentance cannot overrule judgement andconsequently lift punishment because thiswould not meet the demands of Gods

justice It is true that while repentancestands between the repenting person andthe committal of further sin it does not

eradicate the effect of preceding sin and

the judgement of God therein In view of this predicament one would ask againWhat possible course of action is left forGod who wants all men to be saved andto come to a knowledge of the truth (1Timothy 24) God wants to justify man inorder to restore such a corrupt being into astate of incorruption and at the same timemeet the demands of the divine justiceThis accords with the divine counselpertaining to sacrifice Therefore the

Logos (Word) who in the beginningwas with God and the Word was Godis alone worthy to bring about theregeneration of all things by taking on ahuman body and bearing the punishmentprescribed by divine justice on behalf of man This is precisely why He came downto our world and became flesh and madehis dwelling among us We have seen hisglory the glory of the One and Only whocame from the Father full of grace and

truth (John 114)32 Assuredly ever since the beginningthe Word was preparing Himself for theflesh That godly man Tertullian declaredthat Christ was preparing Himself forincarnation throughout the ages thatpreceded His appearance The truth is thatanyone contemplating the Holy Bible cansee that the Lord the Redeemer was thepassword whispered by inspiration to theears of Gods prophets in the Old

Testament Prophecy spoke of Him by themouth of the prophet Isaiah Thereforethe Lord himself will give you a sign Thevirgin will be with child and will give birthto a son and will call him Immanuelwhich means lsquoGod with usrsquo (Isaiah 714and Matthew 123)

The inspired word tells us that when thetime had fully come God sent his Son






born of a woman born under law to

redeem those under law that we mightreceive the full rights of sons (Galatians445)

The gospel of redemption reveals to us thatall have come under the punishment of death which cannot be abolished except bythe death of One righteous who knew nosin The Word volunteered by taking onhuman flesh that the judgement of deathmight be fulfilled in Him on behalf of allwho believe This secret is revealed to usby the apostle Paul who said Thereforethere is now no condemnation for thosewho are in Christ Jesus because throughChrist Jesus the law of the Spirit of life setme free from the law of sin and death Forwhat the law was powerless to do in that itwas weakened by the sinful nature Goddid by sending his own Son in the likenessof sinful man to be a sin offering And sohe condemned sin in sinful man in orderthat the righteous requirements of the law

might be fully met in us who do not liveaccording to the sinful nature butaccording to the Spirit (Romans 81-4)This means that the Lord and Redeemer inoffering that body which He took uponHimself as a burnt offering and sacrificewith no blemish did away with the

judgement of death upon all on whosebehalf He acted Thus He was able to meetthe demands of divine justice because Heis exalted above all and is without sin

33 You might face some difficulty inunderstanding the secret of redemptionBut when you contemplate the teaching of the Gospel concerning Gods love andabundance of mercy you will find thatsuch work is in harmony with thecompassion attributed to God Below aresome of the texts in the New Testamentinspired and written for our teaching By

reading through them you would see to

what extent the love of God went for yourown salvation

bull Since the children have flesh andblood he too shared in their humanityso that by his death he might destroyhim who holds the power of death--that is the devil--(Hebrews 214)

bull And are justified freely by his gracethrough the redemption that came byChrist Jesus God presented him as asacrifice of atonement through faith inhis blood He did this to demonstratehis justice because in his forbearancehe had left the sins committedbeforehand unpunished--(Romans324-25)

bull But God demonstrates his own lovefor us in this While we were stillsinners Christ died for us Since wehave now been justified by his bloodhow much more shall we be savedfrom Gods wrath throughhim(Romans 58-9)

bull He who did not spare his own Sonbut gave him up for us all-- how willhe not also along with him graciouslygive us all things(Romans 832)

61 Prophetic Proof of DivineIncarnation

bull 34 I revealed myself to those who did

not ask for me I was found by thosewho did not seek me To a nation thatdid not call on my name I said lsquoHeream I here am Irsquo All day long I haveheld out my hands to an obstinatepeople who walk in ways not goodpursuing their ownimaginations(Isaiah 651-2)






This verse refers to the incarnation of

Jesus Christ because Paul quoted itwhen he spoke on the subject thusAnd Isaiah boldly says lsquoI was foundby those who did not seek me Irevealed myself to those who did notask for mersquo But concerning Israel hesays lsquoAll day long I have held out myhands to a disobedient and obstinatepeoplersquo (Romans 1020-21) It wasJesus who indeed stretched forth Hishands on the cross

bull It will burst into bloom it will rejoicegreatly and shout for joy The glory of Lebanon will be given to it thesplendor of Carmel and Sharon theywill see the glory of the LORD thesplendor of our God Strengthen thefeeble hands steady the knees that giveway say to those with fearful heartslsquoBe strong do not fear your God willcome he will come with vengeancewith divine retribution he will come to

save yoursquo Then will the eyes of theblind be opened and the ears of thedeaf unstopped(Isaiah 352-5)

This prophecy not only explains thatGod dwells here but declares the signsof His coming and describes His worksas quoted in the Gospel exactly thusHe sent them to the Lord to ask lsquoAreyou the one who was to come orshould we expect someone elsersquoWhen the men came to Jesus they

said lsquoJohn the Baptist sent us to you toask ldquoAre you the one who was tocome or should we expect someoneelserdquorsquo At that very time Jesus curedmany who had diseases sicknesses andevil spirits and gave sight to manywho were blind So he replied to themessengers lsquoGo back and report toJohn what you have seen and heard

The blind receive sight the lame walk

those who have leprosy are cured thedeaf hear the dead are raised and thegood news is preached to the poorBlessed is the man who does not fallaway on account of mersquo After Johnsmessengers left Jesus began to speak to the crowd about John lsquoWhat didyou go out into the desert to see Areed swayed by the windrsquo (Luke719-24)

bull Seventy lsquosevensrsquo are decreed for your

people and your holy city to finishtransgression to put an end to sin toatone for wickedness to bring ineverlasting righteousness to seal upvision and prophecy and to anoint themost holy Know and understand thisFrom the issuing of the decree torestore and rebuild Jerusalem until theAnointed One the ruler comes therewill be seven lsquosevensrsquo and sixty-twolsquosevensrsquo It will be rebuilt with streets

and a trench but in times of trouble(Daniel 924-25)

In this prophecy we find not only areference to Christ but a cleardeclaration that the One who will beanointed is not merely a man but theMost Holy Actually when Christcame the revelation and prophecycentred on the Jewish people amongwhom monarchy had come to an endIt was to be expected that their kings

be anointed until the time of theanointing of the Most Holy One Jacobprophesied that Kings among the Jewswould last until the coming of theMessiah when he said The scepterwill not depart from Judah nor therulers staff from between his feet untilhe comes to whom it belongs and theobedience of the nations is his






(Genesis 4910)

bull Sacrifice and offering you did notdesire but my ears you have piercedburnt offerings and sin offerings youdid not require Then I said lsquoHere Iam I have come-- it is written aboutme in the scroll I desire to do yourwill O my God your law is within myheartrsquo(Psalm 406-8)

35 When comparing these verses withthose quoted in Hebrews 106-10 we

observe that this glorious psalmapplies fully to the person of JesusOur glorious Lord exhibited thesacrifice and offerings of the OldTestament such as the sacrifices of safety the burnt offerings and sinofferings and after reviewing themwisely pronounced They were notwhat the Most High required

Holy Scripture reveals to us that it was inthe everlasting counsel of God to prepare abetter sacrifice As we bow our heads inreverence the Holy Spirit takes us back tothe eternal past which we cannot fullycomprehend because of our humanlimitations but which we understand fromGods revelations in His Holy Book andvisualise that ldquothe basic elementsrdquo of theDeity or three Persons in the Godhead(Arabic AQANIM ) looked down on ourhuman race which was to come into beingand upon the sin that was to enter into the

world and with it death and ordained thatthe redemption should take place Wevisualise God the Son volunteering toundertake the sacrificial task sayingHere I go to make atonement for a worldthat has fallen back

36 In the interest of mankind the IncarnateLord was not content that Gods

redemptive will be restricted to a nation

that considered itself the sole heir to thePromises of God but wished it to embracethe whole world

One might be tempted to ask Why wasredemption accomplished through thecross rather than by some other means Inanswer to this I would say that it was thepleasure of God to redeem us Himself andthere is no way better for us and moreworthy of the Lord It was good that theIncarnate Lord bore this type of death forour sake For if He had to justify us fromsin under which the law pinned us downhow else would it be possible for Him tobe sin for us had He not died carrying oursins on the cross

And if the death of the Incarnate Lordbecame an atonement for all and themiddle wall of partition was broken by Hisdeath ie the enmity (Ephesians 214) sothat the call might embrace all nations then

how would it have been possible to call usto be reconciled to God had He not beencrucified Thanks be to Him that this wasHis joy and that He saw fit to bear thishumiliating death and stretch forth bothhands on the cross in order to draw thesaints of the Old Covenant with the onehand and with the other those fromamong the gentiles in order that all beunited in His glorious Person as He saidBut I when I am lifted up from the earthwill draw all men to myself (John 1232)

7 QUIZ

If you are interested in checking yourunderstanding of this book please answerthe following questions You can copy andpaste these questions into the contact formand can write the answer below eachquestion






1 Why is man unable to be good and

perfect on his own2 What is the only way of reconciliation

with God

3 What are the three proofs mentionedfor the fact that man is a completesinner

4 Is it Gods will for us to remainsinners What is the means of oursalvation

5 What is the deepest longing in mans

heart6 By what means can man be lifted to

the level of God

7 What are the essential qualificationsfor a mediator between us and God

8 How have the necessary qualificationsfor a divine mediator been fulfilled inChrist

9 What are the two elements inidcativeof the perfect good for humanity

10 Why did Christ gather the disciplesaround Him

11 How did Jesus react to His arrest byHis enemies

12 How did Christs victory becomeclear

13 What is the result of Christs death andresurrection

14 How was the world convinced of Christs divinity

15 How can mans life be transformed atthe root

16 What are the attributes given to Christin the Holy Bible

17 Does Islam establish a relationshipbetween the Creator and His creatures

18 Hoes does prophetic tradition indicatea direct relationship between God and

mankind

19 What is implied by the conception of the absolute elimination of anthropomorphic elements from theconception of the Deity (ArabicTANZIH )

20 What does prophetic tradition sayabout Gods descent every night

21 How can you prove that Godsincarnation does not change theessence of the power of God

22 Was God able to be incarnate andrealise His will

23 What is meant by the text of thetraditional prophetic saying that God iscontained ina a house

24 Hod did the holy God dwell in thewomb of a woman

25 What is meant by God appearing toMoses in the burning bush

26 What is unclean

27 What about God contact with worldlymatter in His revelations withoutbeing defiled Is that not an indicationthat God was able to be incarnatewithout suffering loss

28 How did men lose the image of God

29 Is it reasonable to suppose that Godwould leave His creatures to remaincorrupt

30 Why is mans mere repentance not

enough for salavtion31 What are the proofs from divine

inspiration of Christs incarnation

32 32 What are the prophetic proofs of the Lords incarnation

33 What is the most favoured sacrifice inGods view

34 Did Jesus aim to redeem all mankind






or just the Jews

Please use our Email-Form to contact usor write to

The Good Way

PO BOX 66

CH-8486 Rikon

Switzerland

wwwthe-good-waycomencontact






1 Question I

What do you mean when you say thatJesus is God appearing in the flesh If this

is what you believe why was theIncarnation necessary

FK Tripoli Lebanon

2 Answer I

1 The first fact we have to contend with isthat the human soul cannot attain the stateof perfection it desires on its own becausethe law of sin acts as a stumbling block

The apostle Paul reveals this truth to uswhen he says For I have the desire to dowhat is good but I cannot carry it out Forwhat I do is not the good I want to do nothe evil I do not want to do - this I keep ondoing Now if I do what I do not want todo it is no longer I who do it but it is sinliving in me that does it So I find this lawat work When I want to do good evil isright there wit me For in my inner being I

delight in Gods law but I see another law

at work in the members of my bodywaging war against the law of my mindand making me a prisoner of the law of sinat work within my members (Romans718-23)

2 The apostles word here illustrate theconflict between grace and corruption inthe soul of man between the law of God inwhich man delights and to which he wantsto conform and the law of sin whichappeals to man captivates and impels himto do that which he does not want to doThe apostle however anxious to liberatehimself from the law of sin and deathraised his famous cry to heaven What awretched man I am Who will rescue mefrom this body of death (Romans 724)When he caught a glimpse of the Delivererin the person of the incarnate Word herejoiced sayingThanks be to God -through Jesus Christ our Lord (Romans725)

This secret had already been revealed tothat man of God Job when he wascontinually overwhelmed by catastrophesand sufferings From the depths of hisgreat need for a mediator between him andGod he expressed his complaint thus If only there were someone to arbitratebetween us to lay his hand upon us bothsomeone to remove Gods rod from me sothat his terror would frighten me no moreThen I would speak up without fear of him but as it now stands with me Icannot (Job 933-35) Hence the secondbasic element of God (or person within theGodhead Arabic UQNUM ) took humanflesh He met mans desperate need forredemption to restore him and to reconcilehim with his God

3 Every one knows from personal











































































3 Question II


AS Beirut Lebanon

4 Answer III






events












the creature















































































SA Damascus Syria

6 Answer III


































































(Genesis 4910)












7 QUIZ









with God





the level of God













mankind








26 What is unclean















or just the Jews


The Good Way

PO BOX 66

CH-8486 Rikon

Switzerland












































































3 Question II


AS Beirut Lebanon

4 Answer III






events












the creature















































































SA Damascus Syria

6 Answer III


































































(Genesis 4910)












7 QUIZ









with God





the level of God













mankind








26 What is unclean















or just the Jews


The Good Way

PO BOX 66

CH-8486 Rikon

Switzerland












the creature















































































SA Damascus Syria

6 Answer III


































































(Genesis 4910)












7 QUIZ









with God





the level of God













mankind








26 What is unclean















or just the Jews


The Good Way

PO BOX 66

CH-8486 Rikon

Switzerland









































































SA Damascus Syria

6 Answer III


































































(Genesis 4910)












7 QUIZ









with God





the level of God













mankind








26 What is unclean















or just the Jews


The Good Way

PO BOX 66

CH-8486 Rikon

Switzerland































































(Genesis 4910)












7 QUIZ









with God





the level of God













mankind








26 What is unclean















or just the Jews


The Good Way

PO BOX 66

CH-8486 Rikon

Switzerland









with God





the level of God













mankind








26 What is unclean















or just the Jews


The Good Way

PO BOX 66

CH-8486 Rikon

Switzerland







or just the Jews


The Good Way

PO BOX 66

CH-8486 Rikon

Switzerland





Did God Appear in the Flesh? - By Iskander Jadeed

Documents

Transcript of Did God Appear in the Flesh? - By Iskander Jadeed