I believe the Trinity doctrine both diminishes Christ's sacrifice and God's glory. To say Jesus is God almighty is to make one equal with the Father, thus diminishing the Father's glory, authority, and majesty. Many believe that Jesus is God, became man, and then returned to be God again. This truly diminishes Christ's sacrifice. Sure it's a sacrifice to come and die. But, how much greater a sacrifice is it to be in the very form of God and to give that up forever to become a man forever and die on a cross?
Well Butch thats just the problem, Jesus on the earth was in the form of God in that the full measure of the Spirit resided on Him. He was just a man born of a woman
who in spirit came out from the same place we all did, God.
After Jesus was perfected by the things He suffered He became a life giving Spirit, proclaimed to be a God, not the Father, but a true Son of the living God.
And thats why it seems so hard to tell the difference between them.
A God was achieved by the fact He was sinless, for prior to His overcoming God had said we all fell short of the glory of God, but this one man attained to
that glory having overcome the world and Satan.
Thus when you read in Rev 3:14 that He is the true and faithful witness,
the beginning of the creation of God we see
a culmination of Gods original plan.
That being In the beginning was the plan/word/reason, and the plan/word/reason was with God, and the plan/word/reason was God. If you'll look at it for a moment
you just might see it. God intended to have sons made in His exact Image. The first to achieve that was His only begotten Son of the flesh. Since no man could attain to
it that was born of another man(carnal), God had to send someone that was not born of a man, by Father, so His own arm brought salvation. Jesus-who was declared to be Jesus Christ AFTER His baptism in the Spirit at Jordan. Christ being interpreted-messiah.
The baptism He received was the first ever of that kind, full measure. He was a spiritually begotten Son at that moment, just as we when we have been born of the Spirit. However since He was sinless the full measure resided on Him, we but get a down payment.
And you are very correct. He laid that down as a full measure of God to purchase us, He gave what no else ever could. And that was the bride price to buy us all back.
Consider Jas 1:18
He begat us by the word of truth, that we should be a
kind of first fruits of His creatures.
Ok we know Jesus is the truth, no problem there, we know that He died for our sins, and now we also know that the first ever man to attain to the status of
a god and receive the glory of God in Him was Jesus. All power in heaven and earth were passed to Him along with all judgement. For what? To perfect the first fruits that God hath given Him. We also know that it is God that is calling those He predestinated to be conformed to the Image of His Son and to become just like Him-a God.
We know that when He shall appear we shall be like Him for we shall see Him as He is??? Now look back at the John 1:1 in the beginning God had a plan, and the plan was with God, and the plan was God. Jesus is a god which is the first fulfillment of the plan, we who are the first fruits are to be next, a continuation.
There will be more as there is no difference between those God has allowed to believe, and those who have not, as who and when are in His hands.
As 1 Co 15:23 states there is an order to this resurrection. Jesus first, then the first fruits, then He stops for He wasn't allowed to directly speak to this IMO. It indeed is a
mystery as Paul puts it in Rom 11 and no one other than the overcomer will have right to see this hidden manna.
What is your hope? To go to heaven? Mine is to be just like Jesus, a full blown brother and son of the living God who has had all power and authority and judgement
handed over to me at my glorification. No prize unclaimed!
Jesus tells us that once our faith is perfected nothing shall be impossible to us, we are allowed to sit in His throne (authority) just He sat down in His Father throne.
We are to rule with Him. To what end? The perfecting of those not called in the first dispensation. The mountain of Esau-non elect at the first time period, but there
will be a second fruits.
Now look back at 1 Co 15:22 and see if it is more understandable. Re read Paul in Rom 11 about the branches grafted in and why those that were broken off were,
and pay special attention to the part about the broken branches being no more or less than the ones that have been grafted in.
Satan is the deciever and has infiltrated the church for a long time. The doctrine of free will is his, the Trinity was his before Christianity he just passed it along to
Christianity for it worked so well in pagan religions. The I accepted therefore I am doctrine is false as that is self righteousness and infects like a cancer the true and
the un-elect that think they're elect.
Paul tells us that conceit in this way on our parts may cause us to be broken off as those that were for our sakes. Rom 11
God had a plan and that plan was to have sons that reflected and attained to His glory, one man was able to attain that and God gave Him the keys of the kingdom,
He is now passing it along to us as a gift, but only those whom the Father shall call for now. The rest are grafted back in later according to the same will
that begat us by grace. For ALL Israel shall be saved.
If you consider where we all came from (God) anybody ever born is to attain to that status, the only question is when. If we have indeed been elected at this time
we have a special opportunity to pursue sonship as that precious pearl for there is no higher calling of God than that.