Some of you answered my request to send in your ideas about who Jesus is and why he has come. So here is part of my response. It may take two or three more to get the process finished, so please be patient.
This is the opening to my next article.
Who is God?
Knowing this may answer all of your questions about life!
We start our quest wondering why we are here, who we are, what we are to do, where we are going in life and ultimately, where we will go after death, if anywhere.
We go through a barrage of questions about God with What, Why, Where, How and When. We ask in an “action” oriented way as if it depended upon us to get the facts and do the acts. We ask these questions because we want to know what we are to do, why we are doing it, how to do it, when will the end be, where is heaven and hell, and how do I avoid hell and go to heaven and what my reward will be for doing these…things. For that matter, why should I even want to go to heaven? What is in it for me? And we go on with these questions. We look into the bible for the answers and we find confusing laws, rules, regulations, traditions, blessings, cursing, life and death. We see wars and peace, and life being trampled under the foot of disbelief. Yet we are still struggling with these same questions over and over again. And the answers we come up with are all right and all wrong. Why? (Oops, there’s another one) Because we are not asking the right questions! And if that was not enough, some bloke comes along with the old “well, you just gotta have faith”, then they give you that condescending smile that you just want to wipe right off their face. Grrrrrr.
We have seen posters, billboards, tee shirts, bumper stickers and flyers, as well as hear people say, “Christ is the Answer”. It’s like the TV game show Jeopardy, where the answer is given and you reply with the correct question. So what is the correct question?
Who is Christ? First of all, who is God? If we cannot answer this question, then all the other questions are moot. Because without knowing WHO God is, we fail to come up with the right answers, or questions for that matter.
For an example, why do I go to church? Well, if you don’t know who God is, that is a legitimate question! And often, you get the wrong answers if the person who is answering does not really know who God is either. I wonder about the understanding of a church who prays “the holy spirit come down” or “God please be with us.” It’s as if God or the holy spirit is not there already! Do they believe that God is not there? That God is not omnipresent (always presently everywhere at all times)? Do they feel they have to do something, that “action oriented faith”, in order to get God’s attention or to coax him to “come down”? Is God lost? Is he looking for a home? Or are we confused about where God is because we don’t know WHO he is? Do they believe God is never with them unless they are inside that church building coaxing Him down?
Where is God? If you know WHO God is, then you know WHERE and WHY! And ultimately, if you know who God is, then you know who YOU are! And why you exist, and where you are going, and what you are to do and how to do it! Does this make sense?
Jesus acknowledged this fact in John 17:3 “Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.” Just like that.
So let’s start off with Who Is God and in the process, we learn why.
Re: What, Where, When, Why and How....but what about...
October 26 2008, 2:13 PM
An excellent article, and beginning to the discussion of "Who?"
To explore a step further, I am beginning to be dissatisfied with the name "Christ," usually used with "Jesus" as if it were His family name, which it isn't. "Christ" actually comes from the Greek "christos," which is a translation of the Hebrew "mashiach" or Messiah--another word whose meaning we tend to forget. It means "Anointed One."
Now, what is anointing? The word comes from the same root as "ointment," and it refers to spreading oil on something or someone. "...thou anointest my head with oil..." (Psalm 23:5) These days we don't usually spread oil on someone unless we're massaging them, but in old times, when clean water was not always easy to find and soap and deodorants had not yet been invented (somebody check me on this?), spreading scented oil on a person substituted for a bath, or was done while bathing; it's a powerful symbol of cleansing for sin.
But more specifically for this context, kings and priests were ceremonially anointed as part of their coronation/ordination.
Do you see now? When we say "Jesus Christ" we are really acknowledging him as both our King and our High Priest; that's very clear in many New Testament passages. So when we say we are Christians--aren't we saying we're King's men and King's women and King's children?
(That's why using this name as a curse is so very bad; of course it's a direct violation of the Third Commandment, but it's also, in a sense, asking Him to condemn something or someone He made and loves with an unimaginable love. Why would we EVER do that if we really follow Him and share His love for our brothers and sisters, who are also His brothers and sisters?)
When I was asking who is Christ, I really meant, who is Jesus (which is the Christ). But the question that will be focused on will be, who is God? Again, once we know who God is, I mean, really know who He is, then we know who Jesus is, what the Christ is, why He came (and was sent) and many other questions we stumble around with simply because we do not know who God is to begin with.
The author, Jim W. Goll explains it better than I could in his book, "The Seer.":
In his inspiring book "The Secret of the Stairs," author Wade Taylor identifies the differences between the omni-presence and manifest presence of the Lord:
Many are not able to differentiate between these two aspects of His presence. First, there is His "omni-presence," which fills heaven and earth, and relates to our salvation and to its outworking within our lives. This speaks of the unconditional, "abiding presence," of the Holy Spirit within us.
Second, there is the coming of the Lord to us as a Person, having intellect, will, and emotions. The Lord is eager to come within our chamber, to personally "share Himself with us" in fellowship and then lead us upward into His chambers, where "we share with Him" in the outworking of His purposes. This speaks of a "conditional" visitation from the Lord to us, and is referred to as His "manifest presence."
Jim Goll writes:
The first aspect of His presence is general, and relates to His redemptive grace. "Do not I fill heaven and earth? says the Lord." (Jer. 23:24b.) The second aspect of His presence is specific, and relates to His person. "He stands behind our wall, He looks forth at the windows, showing Himself through the lattice." (Song of Sol. 2:9b.)
Jesus expresses the conditions that allow Him to personally manifest Himself to us in the Gospel of John. "He that has My commandments, and keeps them, he it is that loves Me: and he that loves Me shall be loved of My Father, and I will love him, and will manifest Myself to him. Judas says to Him, not Iscariot, Lord, how is it that You will manifest Yourself to us, and not to the world? Jesus answered and said to him, If a man love Me, he will keep My words: and My Father will love him, and We will come to him, and make Our abode with him." (John 14:21-23)."
Thanks for that information. Here is some more of my writings. Sorry, it is not completed, and I do have a lot more written, but I am just putting out this much. I am still editing the rest of it.
Sorry, it's not as poetic as Jim Goll writes, but it is something I hope will help us get to know God a lot better.
Boyd
--------------------------------------------
1 “Assumptions Foiled”
1 John 3:1
"How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him."
If we do not know who God is, we do not know who we are. We have these theories, assuming we do believe in a god of some sort, that range from a very stern and angry god to an overly benevolent “Santa” god to a god that deserted us altogether to our personal destruction. Or no god at all, but we somehow happened here by odds that are astronomically impossible, let alone probable. But most likely, we have a god that is created in our own image, and that would be a very scary thought!
Assuming once again that God did not desert us, and that he did send Jesus to be our reconciliation; without understanding who he is, we fail to see the connection to what he did in and for our lives and creation at large. We fail to see why He created us in the first place. We think that maybe God was lonely in this vast, overwhelmingly empty universe, so he decided to create us. And then something went wrong and he had to figure out how to fix it.
We assume that God is way out there trying to fix things here on earth while we are struggling against him and keeping him from his goal. In the mean time, we are a runaway train heading straight for hell unless someone comes along and steer us over to the right track. Even with Jesus on this earth, it was a struggle for God. Or so we assume.
Our first assumption is believing that God was all alone and needed company. So the first thing we learn about “Who” God is is that God is a Triune God. That means God in three persons, (not personas), that is, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Throughout eternity, however long that is, they had a relationship that was always connected and in unity. One did not do anything without the other. Jesus gave us a glimpse of this when he said “I and the Father are one” and “I do nothing without the Father”.
This, of course, is not leaving out the Holy Spirit since the Holy Spirit has always been with the human Christ since birth. Jesus was never alone, even on the cross.
So we see a glimpse of who God is. God is eternal, in three persons, always working together as one. When God said “Let us make man in our image and our likeness”, he was expecting humanity to become part of the Who of God. Not that we can ever be God of course, but that relationship, the communion, the everlasting connection between God and man will always make humanity a part of what (and Who) God is and is doing. The more we grow and learn and expand our horizons, we see God doing that in us and through us. If Jesus cannot do anything without the Father, how much more are we dependant on him? Humanity from the start was always a part of the Triune God. We have always been included from the time of conception! Acts 17:28 “For in him we live and move and have our being.” Revelation 4:11 “You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being." God revealed a part of His character and glory when he said “us” and “our”. The spirit “moved” (brooded or mused, was inspired) over the waters, the Word spoke, and God created. Right then and there, God committed his plan of salvation and has carried out his plan to make humanity a part of Himself (Trinity).
Let’s look at the Single God who is alone in the universe; no son, no holy spirit. We are already running into a problem. In order for God to do what he did, he would have to have another being available. Let’s start with the creation. In Genesis, it says, “Let us make man in our image and our likeness”. Who is the “we” in this equation? So now we got a God who is talking to himself, and thinking there is another around to include! We are already starting off on the wrong foot here! Did you get what was said? “We” and “Our” are the key words here! As for the holy spirit, I have been taught that it was only a power that God uses. Or it may be something like electricity or a power in the air that God can tap into. That makes God dependant on an outside source for his power. I doubt that seriously.
God is not one being with three personas, a “split personality” to be whatever the occasion is. He is not a God who reacts to outside influences. And how can he call himself the Father when he is the son too? When we call on the son, where is the Father? And when we call on the Father, then where is the son? “I (the Son) will never leave you nor forsake you”. Excuse me a moment while I change into my Father clothing.
Now we can use the well known argument of us being a son and a father and a brother. True, I am those things while being a single being. I am a son of my father, but I am not my own father! I am the Father of my children, but only of my children. I am not their son, nor are they my father or mother! I am many of those, but only to different people, not to the same person, and certainly not to myself! So I cannot be a brother if I have no brothers or sisters, nor can I be a father if I have no children. But I can and always will be a son to my father, because I will always have a father. For without a Father, I would not be a son nor would I exist and I cannot be a Father to myself in order for me to exist, because I will have to already exist as a Father in order to be the son! There has to be another in order to be those things I claim to be!
So let’s not strain our brains too much. There is a Father, Son and Holy Spirit and they have perfect communion with one another. And that communion, unity, outgoing loving Triune existence, went on for eternity. They are so united; they are “One”, thus “One God”. And they (the “Us” and “Our” of Genesis) wanted to include more.
-----------------------
There is more to come, I do have a lot more written, but still editing it. I'm just letting you know I am still working on it.
)