"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God." (John 1:1-2) Here the Apostle John proclaims the Son in His Essence(He is Wholly God and Everlastingly Eternal), and in His Role(He is the Word of God). The Son is the Declaration of the Love, Will, and Purpose of God. He made the world by His Word. "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth......Then God said, 'Let there be light', and there was light." (Genesis 1:1&3) The Son has been the Glorious Beloved Son before there was a world. "And now, O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the Glory which I had with You before the world was. Father, I desire that they also whom You gave Me may be with Me where I Am, that they may behold My Glory which You have given Me; for you Loved Me before the foundation of the world." (John 17:5&24) In Hebrews, we find that the Son by Whom God is speaking to us, is "in His Being", "the Brightness of (the Father's) Glory, the Expressed Image of His Person." And in that Glorious Being, He upholds all things by the Word of His Power. (Hebrews 1:3) So, when the Great and Glorious God chose to Express His Love, Will, and Purpose to a lost and rebellious world, He sent His only Begotten Son into the midst of that chaos of lostness, the very Son by Whom He had created it in perfection(Hebrews 1:2&10)! And this very Son, cloaked in our human flesh(Hebrews 2:10-16, "in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily!") is the ultimate declaration of God! (Colossians 2:9 "No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him." (John 1:18) So why is this important? Remember what John said? No man has seen God at any time! Listen to Jesus declare the Father in John 14:7-9, "If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; and from now on you know Him and have seen Him." Philip said to Him, "Lord, show us the Father, and it is sufficient for us." Jesus said to Him, "Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say,'show us the father'?" In II Corinthians 4:6, in speaking of Christ Jesus the Lord whom he preached, Paul states all of this in most incredibly beautiful words, "For it is the God Who commanded light to shine out of darkness Who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the Glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ." It's not that God has shined light on our hearts from the outside, no, He has set up an Eternal Lighthouse, His Spirit, shining from within us, revealing to us His Glory in the face of Jesus Christ! Jesus is the Face of God! Have you truly seen Jesus? Have you therefore seen the Father? "No one comes to the Father (or rightly sees the Father) except through Me." "Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me." "I and My Father are One." (John 10:30) If you want to know God, you have to start with Jesus!
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The Apostle Paul in all of his letters (except Romans, where the Father is implied) declares in his greeting, "Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ." In Ephesians, Paul follows that introduction with what I call, "the Father Chapter". in which he lays out the love, purpose and will of the Father. The Father and pronouns referring to Him occurs approximately 24 times in the first chapter. Verses 9-10 proclaims that the Father "having made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself, that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth-in Him. in Whom we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him Who works all things according to the counsel of His own Will." The rest of the book details how the Father's will has "gathered in One all things in Christ." He covers every relationship and lays out the "gathering together work" of the Savior according to the Will and Purpose of the Father. From this we discern that the Father is the Bosom of the Love, Will, and Purpose of the Glorious Godhead. This is why Paul so consistently praises The Father at the beginning of his letters. It is because of the Father's Will that Paul has so much to be thankful for. As John 1:12 states, "But as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of GOD." The context clearly agrees with Ephesians 1, the Will of the Father. The Father's Role is that of the Bosom of the Love, Will, and Purpose of the Godhead. This is the reason for the Sons' declaration in John 6:38-39, "For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. This is the Will of the Father Who sent Me, that of all He has given Me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day." Jesus speaks of His Father over 130 times in John and speaks of doing the Father's Will or Works over 30 times. In other words, our salvation is by the Father's Will. He, in His Love, has Willed it and ordained all that is necessary to fulfill His purpose! And according to Ephesians 1:5, it was the Good Pleasure of His Will to do so, and in vs 6,12, & 14 it was to the praise of the glory of His grace. The Father's Love, Will, and Purpose is to magnify the riches of His Grace to the Praise of His Glory, and out of that will and purpose, the Glorious Godhead works in Concert to manifest His Glorious Goodness!! Remember, "No one has see God at any time. The only begotten Son/God, Who is in the Bosom of the Father, He has declared Him." (John 1:18) And then there is John 15:26, "But when the Helper comes, Whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of Truth Who proceeds from the Father, He will testify of Me."
What is the implication of all of this? Well, any attitude of an angry god who can't wait to get his hands on dirty rotten sinners, but who is somehow restrained by a loving jesus is false. You will note that the nouns and pronouns are not in caps in the last sentence. That is because such a viewpoint is a terrible fallacy and such a god is more in keeping with Greek mythology than the Bible! "For God so LOVED the world the He Gave His Only Begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him shall never perish but have Eternal Life." John 3:16 It's all flows out of the Bosom of the Father. The marvel of the Gospel is that a Righteous God, absolute in perfection, made a way by which He could remain absolutely Righteous and Just, and still Righteously love and save sinners! And He did that through His Righteous Son, by the Power of His Righteous Spirit. (Romans 3:23-26, II Corinthians 5:21) Life may be explained by three glorious, wonderful, and mysterious unions. The first is that glorious Union of Life Himself-- Father, Son, and Spirit--One in Essence, Unique in Persons. We have previously spoken of this Gloriously Incomprehensible Life, and will deal with each Person of the Essence shortly. Suffice it to say that without this coequal inseparable Union, there would be no life. Even such a thought, of course is unthinkable because this God is Eternal and therefore, Life is eternal. Sever this Union in any way, and you un-God God! Sever this Union in any way, and we are without hope in the world. Sever this Union in any way, and we are mere elements of random chance with no purpose and no future.
The second glorious mysterious Union is that of God the Son with human flesh. The Apostle John so wonderfully describes this in John 1:14, "And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the the Only Begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth." And again in I John 1:1, "that which was from the beginning (John 1:1) which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, Which we have looked upon, and OUR HANDS HAVE HANDLED concerning THE WORD OF LIFE." Hebrews 2:14 "Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, HE HIMSELF likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is the devil." Astoundingly, the Eternal Son of God became wedded to our flesh in that Perfect Body prepared for Him (Hebrews 10:5-10), bore the punishment due our sin, was crucified, buried, and risen to ascend to the Right Hand of the Father--as our Man! He now lives in the Holy Presence as the Living Intercession for us, assuring our rightful residence in that Presence! WOW!! The third mysterious union is that of the union of the redeemed of God with the Son of God through His Incarnation as the Son of Man. We are united inseparably with the Son of God Who is the Son of Man, that we may bask in the same Eternal Love that has been God from before the beginning! In our Lord's High Priestly prayer in John 17:20-21, Jesus prays, "I do not pray for these alone (the Apostles) but for those who will believe in Me through their word; that they all may be one, as You, Father are in Me, and I in You; that the world may believe that You sent Me." Vs 23 "I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, that the world may know that You have sent Me and loved them as You have Loved Me." Be careful! We are not made gods as some distortionists claim! No, we are united inseparably with the Sent One, the Son of God/Son of Man that we may behold His Glory, and bask in that Glory which is the Love that the Son had from the Father from before the beginning. Vs 24 "Father, I desire that they whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory which You have given Me; for You Loved Me before the foundation of the world." This has been the Father's will and purpose from all eternity! Ephesians 1:9-11 "...having made known to us the mystery of His Will, ACCORDING TO HIS GOOD PLEASURE, WHICH HE PURPOSED IN HIMSELF, that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times, He might gather IN ONE all things IN CHRIST, both which are in heaven and which are on earth IN HIM (The Christ), IN WHOM also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined ACCORDING TO THE PURPOSE OF HIM WHO WORKS ALL THINGS ACCORDING TO THE COUNSEL OF HIS OWN WILL." Personally, I am very thankful for His Will! Mine is fallen, dead, and would never have been a part of the "ingathering" had it not been for His Will! "If any man be IN CHRIST, he is a new creature, old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new." II Corinthians 5:17 Simply, this mysterious union means that Father has made a way that He can Love fallen, yet redeemed creatures with exactly the same Love which He has poured out on His Son from all eternity! Not just the same kind of love, but the Very Same Love, we being caught up in the Beloved, into the very Bosom of the Father! |
AuthorWhile I have been a pastor and Christian bookstore owner for 30 years, my only credentials are that of an old saint who followed his signature with S.S., Sinner Saved! Archives
December 2023
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- In The Son of His Love--a blog
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The Kingdom of God in Christ
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- Great is mystery of Godliness part 10
- A Father's Hand--on Affliction
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- Great is mystery of Godliness part 14
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- Romans 1:16-17 Part
- Romans 1:16-17 Part 9
- Romans 1:16-17 Pt 11
- The Necessity of the Body of Christ
- The Perfection of the Body of Chhrist
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- The Application of Body II Pet 1:1-4
- application of body of Christ #3
- Practical application body #4
- Part 5 The application of the body
- Application of body of Christ #6
- The Application of the Body #7
- application of body of christ #8
- Application of body of Christ #9
- application of body of Christ #10
- The Kingdom of God
- Galatians 1:1-6
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- cutting the covenant
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- Galatians 1:10-17
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- Beholding the Glory of God
- Intro to Gospel of Abraham
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- Melchizedek #2
- God's cutting the Covenant
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