
Originally Posted by
aida
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GOD OF THE OLD & NEW TESTAMENT
Where was God when He manifested Himself in the flesh?
Perhaps, the big question that bothers the mind of the Natural Man is, "Where was God when He manifested Himself in the flesh?" Jesus was the Father in the flesh, a real man. He is not half-God, half-man, in order to be a perfect model in showing the Way to His brethren. As such, therefore, He was called the "eldest Son of God," and "the only begotten Son of the Father."
To the Apostles, the question could be gleaned in the request of Philip: "Lord, show us the Father (John 14:8)." Jesus kept on relating to the Father: praying, asking, depending, etc. They knew that Jesus of Nazareth was a real man like themselves, made of "flesh and blood, and of bones." So they wanted "to see" the Father God Who is a Spirit. Jesus told them with a tint of rebuke in His voice, "Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me...how sayest thou then, Show us the Father? Jesus told them, "Believest thou not that...the Father is in me?...the Father dwelleth in me (John 14:10)."
Were the Apostles expected to understand what Jesus told them? Did the Apostles fully recognize God and Jesus at that moment? If they did, they would not have doubted Jesus’ resurrection, and many things He told them before. While the Disciples did not fully comprehend things about God and Jesus, they, however, did not reject what they heard from Him. They "tarried in Jersualem until they were endowed with power and wisdom from on high (Luke 24:49)."
To the Scribes, Pharisees, Sadducees, Elders of Israel, and the Jews in general, the matter was dismissed as plain stupidity and foolishness. Everything that Jesus told them were all hoax and fraud. They were greatly inflamed when Jesus said, "That ye may know, and believe, that the Father is in me, and I in him (John 10:38)." Jesus was accused of blasphemy and that is one cause of His death. At the moment Jesus said, "the Father is in me," they sought to take him; but he escaped out of their hand (John 10:39). To hear Jesus say, "The Father is in me," must have been very loathsome to the Jews, especially to the Scribes and Pharisees, who did not recognize Him.
To the real Christians of the 20th and 21st centuries, how does the Son’s claim, "The Father is in me," register in their mind? Is it similar to Jesus’ Disciples’ non-rejection and wait-to-know attitude? Or, to the Scribes’, Pharisees’, and Sadducees’ total rejection and repulsive disposition?
To the Apostles, the statement "The Father is in me" did not mean much before Pentecost. To the Scribes, Pharisees, and Sadducees, and the Elders of Israel, it was abominable. What did the statement mean to the Apostles after Pentecost? What does it mean to the people believing in the Bible today?
To the Apostles after Pentecost, the statement meant the revelation of the relationship of the Father and the Son; and the identities of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. The Son showed that His human body, as a perfect example for His brethren, was the temple or the dwelling place of the Father, a Spirit. The Father promised Himself to be the Inheritance in His Testament (Ezekiel 44:28, Numbers 18:20, Psalms 16:5), but what the real believers received was the Holy Spirit (John 7:39, Acts 2:3, 1 Corinthians 3:16 & 6:19).
To the Disciples of Christ, the statement meant seeing themselves in the shoes of the model:
1. Just as the model said, "The Son can do nothing of himself," the Disciples saw themselves saying the same thing.
2. While Jesus was in His human body, He told them that He was not the real Teacher, but the Spirit:
JOHN 16:12-13 "I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth..."
The Apostles saw themselves in the shoes of the model. While Jesus spoke the truth, it was not He Who could make the believers understand, but the Holy Spirit; so with the "brethren." This is the rationale behind:
1 JOHN 2:27 "But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you..."
This is God’s divine justification for dispensing with human teachers and human trainors for Christ’s chosen servants:
EPHESIANS 4:11 "And he (Jesus, not any man or group of men) gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;"
The Apostles, putting themselves in the shoes of the model, including Paul who was appointed by the "spiritual" Christ, replayed the life of the "physical" Jesus. Just as the Son said, "The Father is in me," so the Disciples claimed being "filled" with the Holy Spirit. "The Father or the Holy Spirit is in us:"
ACTS 13:52 "And the disciples were filled with joy, and with the Holy Ghost."
HEBREWS 10:15 "Whereof the Holy Ghost also is a witness to us..."
Is this not the same for the Son, a real human being, changing only the Holy Ghost to Father?
JOHN 5:36-37 "But I have greater witness...the Father hath sent me. And the Father himself, which hath sent me, hath borne witness of me. Ye have neither heard his voice at any time, nor seen his shape."
The Son was endowed with power and wisdom by the Father, as the Apostles were endowed with power and wisdom by the Holy Spirit!
ACTS 10:38 "How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power... for God was with him."
Where was God when He manifested Himself in the flesh? The "flesh" was in front of the very people professing to know the God of Abraham. The "flesh" was with the chosen people of God humbly demonstrating the Way for them. God was never gone, He is a spirit. The spirit God was in the presence of both the believers and the unbelievers. The "flesh" testified to this:
JOHN 8:29 "And he that sent me is with me: the Father hath not left me alone; for I do always those things that please him."
WHO IS THE FATHER? WHO IS THE PROMISED INHERITANCE? WHO IS RESIDING IN THE PHYSICAL BODY OF THE DISCIPLES AFTER PENTECOST? WHO WAS RESIDING IN THE PHYSICAL BODY OF THE SON JESUS? WHO IS RESIDING IN THE PHYSICAL BODY OF THE REAL CHRISTIANS TODAY?
Just as the "flesh" said, "The Father hath not left me alone," so the real Christians also say, "the Holy Spirit is dwelling in us, Who teaches and makes us understand great things about Him." But all these "spiritual things" are foolishness to the NATURAL MAN:
1 CORINTHIANS 2:14 "But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned."
Using the sense of SIGHT (at the baptism of Jesus) and the sense of HEARING (at the 'conversation' of the Father and the Son), and trying to comprehend with the INTELLECT (grammatical plurality of God), is it not a "foolish question" to ask, "WHERE WAS GOD WHEN HE MANIFESTED HIMSELF IN THE FLESH?" We heard this question from the Apostles before Pentecost. But never after Pentecost!
Jews waiting for the Messiah
Until now the Jews are still waiting for the promised Messiah. The Messiah came in the person of Jesus Christ. They saw and heard Him speak. But they did not recognize Him! The reason is they "did not come to their God with their whole heart."
Has that truth passed away in our time? Just as the Jews were entrusted with the Laws or words of God, traditional Christianity is likewise entrusted with the words of God in the Bible. Are not so-called Christians today in the different religious sects, also waiting for the second coming of the Messiah?
The God of Abraham, the only Savior, came in the form of man and He was not recognized by the Jews. Jesus Christ came in the form of Spirit, the Holy Spirit, and He also is not being recognized by so-called Christians. The Jews are still waiting for their Messiah, just as so-called Christians are waiting for the second coming of Jesus, the Messiah. Can they now both claim "having come to the Lord with their whole heart" that the promised heart to know Him would have been given to them? Who is telling a lie? God or man?
The Jews, because they did not recognize their Messiah, rejected and killed Him! Can we not see the same thing today how, thousands of Christian religious sects, because they do not recognize the TRUTH Who is the spiritual Messiah, reject and "kill" Him with their man-made doctrines?/QUOTE]