"and the Word was God"

[Rev Autrey]

"... and the Word was God"

I am writing this post to the Christian Church to point to us Jesus as our long awaited God who came to save his people from their sins. After all, we get our name from him.

See, we have always known that Jesus is the God of the Bible, but we just didn't know how to say it. And now we do. But even today hardly anyone believes it, a sad commentary on the human race, the ones he love. And an even sadder commentary on the Christian Church.

God said it like this in Zechariah 13:10-11, knowing that he would fulfill this promise as Jesus Christ our Savior: "Then I will pour out a spirit of grace and prayer on the family of David and on all people of Jerusalem, and they will look on me whom they have pierced and mourn for me as for an only son." And then he says, "They will grieve bitterly for me as for a firstborn son who has died. ..."

And this proves beyond any doubt that what I am saying is true, that the God the prophets knew as YHWH God in the Old Testament is the New Testament Jesus.

Paul knew this to be true too when he said in Romans 10:9 that Jesus is Lord, translated, Jesus is God. And that we must call on his name to be saved.

See back in the 30's, 40"s, 50's, when times were hard, many of us called on his name to save us. But now as times have changed for the better we seem not to think of him anymore, and try to put someone in his place. And that's even sadder.

What I am saying is, God didn't send us a substitute to die for us, as many think. He came himself, and called himself the Son of God to let us know he was now one of us. "Because God's children are human beings, made of flesh and blood," Hebrews 2 tells us. "Jesus also became flesh and blood by being born in human form." And here are the key words, "For only as a human could he die. ..."

This means that the term "Son of God" is just a metaphoric expression to describe the activities of God as he walked on earth as a man. Let's say it like this. With God it's not the dividing of himself into two or three parts. It's the way he speaks of himself.

And how I wish everyone knew this.

It's like this. God is a single person like us (Deut. 6), i.e., "... the Lord our God is one person." He has to be because we are made in him image, and we are single persons. Jesus affirmed this when he said in Mark 12 that this is the most important commandment in the Law of Moses. The mystery is in the way he speak of himself; that is to say, in trinitarian form.

So when he says "the Father sent me" or "I go to he Father", he is speaking of himself by his other name. The same is true when he says "only the Father knows." Why he chose to speak to us this way I do not know. But he does. What he is doing is revealing his other name to us so we can get to know him better, and to show us the full extent of his love for us. This is what most people do when they want to have a more personal relationship with you. And so it is with God as he seeks a more personal relationship with us.

And there is a third name of God, the Holy Spirit. It's by this name he inspires us to believe in him as Jesus.

The first disciples knew this to be true, too. That's why Thomas called Jesus God in the upper room. And just because we have forgotten what he said over the years, does not mean that we can't think of it again.

So to summarize, we use the name Jesus when we talk to God because Jesus is the name he wants us to use; meaning Jesus is the name he used for himself in the Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. And the name by which he saves us. So as the angel said to Joseph right before his birth, "And she shall have a son, and you are to call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins."

And it will be this way even when we get to heaven.


Jesus loves you,

Rev. Autrey

 

[Curtis]

"the Father sent me" or "I go to he Father", he is speaking of himself by his other name. The same is true when he says "only the Father knows." Why he chose to speak to us this way I do not know.

I know why he spoke this way! Because God is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, three distinct persons that makeup "one" God.

Luke 3:21 Now when all the people were baptized, it came to pass, that Jesus also being baptized, and praying, the heaven was opened,
Luke 3:22 And the Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape like a dove upon him, and a voice came from heaven, which said, Thou art my beloved Son; in thee I am well pleased.

How could anyone miss this? God the Son that was made flesh, Holy Spirit coming upon him for service, then God the Father speaking to his Son from Heaven. Father, Son, Holy Spirit each being distinct from each other yet being "one" God!

 

[B-A-C]

John 1:1; In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

Not only was the Word God, the Word was also "with" God.

Gen 1:26; Then God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth."

God said.... I will make man... in "our" image, according to "our" likeness.

John 10:30; "I and the Father are one."

Not one being, but one God.

John 6:44; "No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day.

...the Father who sent me... Jesus didn't send Himself, the Father sent Him.

2 Jn 1:9; Anyone who goes too far and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God; the one who abides in the teaching, he has both the Father and the Son.

Christians have .. "both" the Father and the Son. Notice it doesn't say anything like the "one" who is both the Father and the Son.

Modalism is idolatry. Worshiping a false god.

Matt 26:39; And He went a little beyond them, and fell on His face and prayed, saying, "My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as You will."
Mark 14:36; And He was saying, "Abba! Father! All things are possible for You; remove this cup from Me; yet not what I will, but what You will."
Luke 22:42; saying, "Father, if You are willing, remove this cup from Me; yet not My will, but Yours be done."

Jesus wasn't praying to Himself... He was praying to "My Father". It wasn't His will, but the will of the Father.
... not "My" will, but your "Your" will. The Father is not the Son, the Son is not the Father. But they are one God.

Mark 12:29; Jesus answered, "The foremost is, 'HEAR, O ISRAEL! THE LORD OUR GOD IS ONE LORD;

Heb 10:12; but He, having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, SAT DOWN AT THE RIGHT HAND OF GOD,

You can sit down next to "yourself". You can't be at the right hand of "yourself".

John 11:41; So they removed the stone. Then Jesus raised His eyes, and said, "Father, I thank You that You have heard Me.
John 11:42; "I knew that You always hear Me; but because of the people standing around I said it, so that they may believe that You sent Me."

Again, Jesus wasn't talking to Himself, He was talking to the Father.

John 14:28; "You heard that I said to you, 'I go away, and I will come to you.' If you loved Me, you would have rejoiced because I go to the Father, for the Father is greater than I.

Jesus Himself said will "go to" the Father... notice He didn't say "I will become the Father" (heresy).
Jesus also says here, the Father is "greater than I".

Heb 1:3; And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power. When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,

Heb 1:13; But to which of the angels has He ever said, "SIT AT MY RIGHT HAND, UNTIL I MAKE YOUR ENEMIES A FOOTSTOOL FOR YOUR FEET"?

 

[Rev Autrey]

I know why he spoke this way! Because God is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, three distinct persons that makeup "one" God.

Luke 3:21 Now when all the people were baptized, it came to pass, that Jesus also being baptized, and praying, the heaven was opened,
Luke 3:22 And the Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape like a dove upon him, and a voice came from heaven, which said, Thou art my beloved Son; in thee I am well pleased.

How could anyone miss this? God the Son that was made flesh, Holy Spirit coming upon him for service, then God the Father speaking to his Son from Heaven. Father, Son, Holy Spirit each being distinct from each other yet being "one" God!

Dear Curtis,

The problem with the Christian Church is, we just do not want to say that Jesus is God. That is to say, the true God of the Bible. But he is! After all, we Christians get our name from Christ. And we wouldn't have done this if we did not think at one time that he was the God of the prophets. But sadly, over the past few years we seem to have forgotten this.

So I will be as gentle as I can. What I am saying is, with Jesus it's just a matter of us believing what he says about himself in the Bible, that he is God. (John 1:1) The prophet Isaiah knew this to be true when he called the child that was born to us that Christmas day Wonderful Counselor, Everlasting Father, and the Mighty God; the one who would come to earth and save his people from their sins.

Read it for yourself in Isaiah 9:6!

He also quotes Jesus as saying this of himself in Isaiah 43:10: "'But you are my witnesses,' says the Lord. 'And you have been chosen to know me, and to understand that I alone am God.'"

And according to Paul in Romans 10:9 Jesus is the Lord the prophet is talking about. And too, he called Jesus God our Savior in 1 Timothy 2:3. In Jude 25 Jude, Jesus' own brother, too called Jesus God our Savior.

So the prophet goes on to quote Jesus as saying of himself: "I alone am the Lord, besides me there is no God formed and neither shall there be after me."

See God gave the Jews of the prophet's day no concept of him being two or three separate persons. Such an idea to him was an abomination. And it should be to us. What I am saying is, the God the prophets knew as YHWH God in the Old Testament is a single person like us who appeared to us as the New Testament Jesus. And according to John 1:3 the same God who made the world and everything in it.

So as I said, it's just a matter of us believing what he is saying to is in his word. That is to say, if he says he is God, he is. Namely, Jesus is the name he uses in the four Gospels. So I am sure you are aware of the meaning of the name Jesus, "salvation", or "God save me." This is what the Jews quoted in Matthew 21 as he rode down the hill from the Mount of Olives to Jerusalem, "Hosanna," meaning God save us now. This is why the leading Priest and other teachers of the law became wo furious with him.

So what we see in the four Gospels is God as Jesus revealing his other two names, the Father and the Holy Spirit, to us by using a series of parabolic expressions. He did this so we can get to know him better, and to show us the full extent of his love. And again, why he chose to speak to us in parabolic form I don't know. But this is what he did. As he said in Psalm 78:2 and again in Matthew 13:35: "I will speak to you in parables. I will explain mysteries hidden since the foundation of the world."

Thus, when Jesus says "the Father sent me" or "I go to the Father" he is speaking about himself. And too this is true when he mentions the Father in any other way. This also means that even when he mentions the Father in his prayers as a human, he is simply talking things over in his own mind, much as we do as humans when we make important decisions; something he has done since eternity past.

And I am glad we cleared this up. That the parabolic expression "He was with God," is just a symbolic phrase for God's other two names.

I just wish that our preacher knew this too. Then there wouldn't be so much confusion and bewilderment in the church, denying their own God.

So to summarize. Just because we are not used to thinking of Jesus as our God, or just because we have not thought of him this way for the past many years, does not mean that we can't now. So again, it is just a matter of us believing what he says about himself in his word. That is, as Jesus said just before he ascended to heaven, "Go into all the world and preach this Good News to all nations. He that believes and is baptized shall be saved. But he who believes not shall be condemned."

Jesus loves you,

Rev Autrey

 

[Curtis]

The problem with the Christian Church is, we just do not want to say that Jesus is God.

Jesus is God, but God is not Jesus!

 

[Curtis]

he says about himself in the Bible, that he is God. (John 1:1)

The Word was "with" God, and the Word was God. God was not alone with himself!

 

[Sue D.]

Jesus Christ is the Son of God. He is the second person of the Godhead. AND Jesus was God in the flesh. Jesus came to this world as a baby -- Immanuel = God with us. After He died on the cross for our sins. He rose from the dead and then ascended back up to heaven to sit at the right hand of God the Father.

 

[B-A-C]

With God it's not the dividing of himself into two or three parts. It's the way he speaks of himself.

And how I wish everyone knew this.

It's like this. God is a single person like us (Deut. 6), i.e., "... the Lord our God is one person." He has to be because we are made in him image, and we are single persons. Jesus affirmed this when he said in Mark 12 that this is the most important commandment in the Law of Moses. The mystery is in the way he speak of himself; that is to say, in trinitarian form.

So when he says "the Father sent me" or "I go to he Father", he is speaking of himself by his other name.

The Bible says what it means, and means what it says. There isn't any hidden meaning here.
This idea of a single person who pretends to be two other people is not the God of the Bible.
You can't see Bruce Wayne and Batman at the same time because... guess what.. they're really the same person.
Not so with God. God is 3 persons. People saw/heard all three of them when Jesus was baptized.

There is no "pay no attention to the man behind the curtain" pretending to be the "great and powerful" being.
It's three persons who together are the Great and powerful being.

 

[Curtis]

@Rev Autrey
How are you planning to have a relationship with the Godhead which makes up the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit when you do not believe in them?
If God is "love" there had to be someone within the Godhead to love for God to be love! We already know who that is!

John 17:24 Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world.

Did God Love himself or the other two persons of the Godhead?

 

[Brother-Paul]

@Rev Autrey

There are but three in one, and one in three, that is the Trinity.

Father, Son and Holy Spirit are God, these are, God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.

Each one is God, but each is a separate part of the one Living God.

In worldly examples
The body, the arms and the legs, are all part of the body but are separate parts of the body.
A car will not work unless it has an engine, a gear box and fuel to run it.
Three parts but one as a whole.

Everything Jesus did and said was the Fathers will, not his will but the Fathers will.

John 10:30
"I and the Father are one."

When Jesus said this he was referring to Father and Son being part of the God Head, Father, Son parts of One God.

John 14:6
6 Jesus said to him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.

Jesus (one part) says' I am the way.....' no one comes to the Father (one part) except through Jesus.

1 John 4:8
8 He who does not love does not know God, for God is love.

1 John 4:16
16 And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him.

God is Love, agape, Divine Love. By this we know Father, Son and Holy Spirit are all Love, because Father, Son and Holy Spirit (3 parts) are ONE God.

This comment also concerns me brother you say (italics)

So to summarize, we use the name Jesus when we talk to God because Jesus is the name he wants us to use; meaning Jesus is the name he used for himself in the Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. And the name by which he saves us. So as the angel said to Joseph right before his birth, "And she shall have a son, and you are to call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins."

And it will be this way even when we get to heaven.

How can it be the same in Heaven? How can Jesus save us from our sins when we are in Heaven.
There is no sin in Heaven. There will be no sin on in the New Heaven/New earth.

Jesus saves us from our sins in this life, until the first death, providing we call on His Name, Repent, be baptized and are born again and take up our cross daily and follow Him.

 

[Yib2me]

John 1:1; In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

Not only was the Word God, the Word was also "with" God.

Gen 1:26; Then God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth."

God said.... I will make man... in "our" image, according to "our" likeness.

John 10:30; "I and the Father are one."

Not one being, but one God.

John 6:44; "No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day.

...the Father who sent me... Jesus didn't send Himself, the Father sent Him.

2 Jn 1:9; Anyone who goes too far and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God; the one who abides in the teaching, he has both the Father and the Son.

Christians have .. "both" the Father and the Son. Notice it doesn't say anything like the "one" who is both the Father and the Son.

Modalism is idolatry. Worshiping a false god.

Matt 26:39; And He went a little beyond them, and fell on His face and prayed, saying, "My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as You will."
Mark 14:36; And He was saying, "Abba! Father! All things are possible for You; remove this cup from Me; yet not what I will, but what You will."
Luke 22:42; saying, "Father, if You are willing, remove this cup from Me; yet not My will, but Yours be done."

Jesus wasn't praying to Himself... He was praying to "My Father". It wasn't His will, but the will of the Father.
... not "My" will, but your "Your" will. The Father is not the Son, the Son is not the Father. But they are one God.

Mark 12:29; Jesus answered, "The foremost is, 'HEAR, O ISRAEL! THE LORD OUR GOD IS ONE LORD;

Heb 10:12; but He, having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, SAT DOWN AT THE RIGHT HAND OF GOD,

You can sit down next to "yourself". You can't be at the right hand of "yourself".

John 11:41; So they removed the stone. Then Jesus raised His eyes, and said, "Father, I thank You that You have heard Me.
John 11:42; "I knew that You always hear Me; but because of the people standing around I said it, so that they may believe that You sent Me."

Again, Jesus wasn't talking to Himself, He was talking to the Father.

John 14:28; "You heard that I said to you, 'I go away, and I will come to you.' If you loved Me, you would have rejoiced because I go to the Father, for the Father is greater than I.

Jesus Himself said will "go to" the Father... notice He didn't say "I will become the Father" (heresy).
Jesus also says here, the Father is "greater than I".

Heb 1:3; And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power. When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,

Heb 1:13; But to which of the angels has He ever said, "SIT AT MY RIGHT HAND, UNTIL I MAKE YOUR ENEMIES A FOOTSTOOL FOR YOUR FEET"?

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

True or false?

 

[Brother-Paul]

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

True or false?

Scripture quoted John 1:1 answers your question for you.

 

[Brother-Paul]

Sorry B-A-C

Just noticed the question was for you.

Bless you.

 

[saginon]

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

True or false?

I'm not a fan of questions being asked with the option of a yes or no - true or false - multiple choice. We should allow people to answer questions the way they like. There are dozens of ways to interpret John 1:1.

The interlinear words it like this...
"In the origin/beginning was the saying word/speech and the saying word/speech was toward God and God was the saying word/speech."
In my view, there's no reason to assume Jesus is this "saying word."

 

[Yib2me]

I'm not a fan of questions being asked with the option of a yes or no - true or false - multiple choice. We should allow people to answer questions the way they like. There are dozens of ways to interpret John 1:1.

Matthew 5:37 But let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil.

 

[saginon]

Matthew 5:37 But let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil.

You're taking that out of context. That verse means to not be a flip-flopper! It means let your YES mean YES and let you're NO'S mean NO! What you are doing is telling people how to answer your questions.

 

[B-A-C]

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

John 1:1n In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

It's worded slightly backwards, but I would say "true".

John 1:14; And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.

 

[Yib2me]

John 1:1n In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

It's worded slightly backwards, but I would say "true".

John 1:14; And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.

The Word is your God.
True or false?

 

[B-A-C]

The Word is your God.
True or false?

It's not a true or false question. God is much more than the written Word.
But the written Word is His character, His will, and His plan for humanity.
So no, word written on paper are not my God. However the God those words represent, represent my God.

I try (often unsuccessfully) but try, to learn from, and obey this written Word, exactly as if God was speaking to me...
because... He is.

 

[newname]

I know why he spoke this way! Because God is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, three distinct persons that makeup "one" God.

Luke 3:21 Now when all the people were baptized, it came to pass, that Jesus also being baptized, and praying, the heaven was opened,
Luke 3:22 And the Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape like a dove upon him, and a voice came from heaven, which said, Thou art my beloved Son; in thee I am well pleased.

How could anyone miss this? God the Son that was made flesh, Holy Spirit coming upon him for service, then God the Father speaking to his Son from Heaven. Father, Son, Holy Spirit each being distinct from each other yet being "one" God!

Yes I asked God once to explain the Trinity. He said: Look at Jesus. Father, Son and Holy Spirit working together in one body and everyone would say it's just one Person. The Father spoke, Jesus uttered the Words and only spoke what the Father said and the Holy Spirit performed the miracles.