A FRIENDLY TALK CONCERNING TRYING TO SEE THE INVISIBLE GOD. THIS IS PART TWO.
In quick review of Section One, we established that God is intentionally invisible. While God created us in His Image and in His likeness, the Ten Commandments told us that we cannot make or create an image of God. So God by His own design wants our love and faith in Him as an invisible God. We love and worship Him not because we can see His beauty but because of his great power and good works.
The majority of the Christians around the world believe in the manifestation of God called the Trinity Godhead. This is the image first given to us in the book of Genesis chapter one. Genesis 1: 1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. The Hebrew word for God in this verse is ELOHIYM. ELOHIYM is a word for God that is plural, meaning Gods. This indicates that there is more than one Deity responsible for the creation of the universe. Looking through the windshield of an automobile is a physical example of this spiritual principle of the manifestation of the invisible God, ELOHIYM. The windshield was designed to be as invisible as possible so that we can see through it. And yet it is made of three separate layers of glass laminated together. You cannot tell when one layer of glass starts and another ends. The light passes through all three the same and the three layers are seen as one.
When we make our search to see the invisible God, we are looking through the windshield at God the creator. We are looking at 50 billion galaxies and each could have a billion stars. We can only see the works of His hands.
There are many verses in both the Old and New Testaments that reflect what is written in John 4:24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.
The Almighty God whom is sovereign of all, is a Spirit, He is the Father of the Word, whom is also a Spirit, and is in total agreement with the Holy Spirit. These three are one in agreement; they are one in record in Heaven. So it appears that our vision blurs when we focus too closely on seeing the Invisible God. The credit in the scriptures for being the Creator God, alternates from ELOHIYM, the plural name for God, to the Spirit of God, The Holy Spirit, and to the Lord Jesus Christ, the Word made flesh. And so by looking at any one of these manifestations of God the Creator, we resolve that they are all the true and correct Creator of all that has been created.
Now this is Section two where we focus our telescope on the one God whom created all things.
Turning to John chapter 1 verse 1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 The same was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made by him; and without him was not anything made that was made. 4 In him was life; and the life was the light of men. 5 And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.
This verse reflects that the Word is God, He created all things and He was with God in the beginning. And remember that God is a Spirit. This is God the Word speaking in Genesis when ELOHIYM said "Let there be light"
Move to Revelation 4:10 The four and twenty elders fall down before him that sat on the throne, and worship him that liveth forever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying, (11) Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.
The question arises now Who is the one God, the creator seated on the throne that John can see? Can we assume that it is God the father, or the Son or the Holy Spirit?
The answer can be found in Hebrews 1:5 For unto which of the angels said he at any time, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee? And again, I will be to him a Father, and he shall be to me a Son? (:6) And again, when he bringeth in the first begotten into the world, he saith, And let all the angels of God worship him. (7) And of the angels he saith, Who maketh his angels spirits, and his ministers a flame of fire. (8) But unto the Son, {he saith}, Thy throne, O God, {is} forever and ever: a scepter of righteousness {is} the scepter of thy kingdom. (9) Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity; therefore, God, {even} thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.
(10) And, Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the works of thine hands: (11) They shall perish; but thou remainest; and they all shall wax old as doth a garment; (12) And as a vesture shalt thou fold them up, and they shall be changed: but thou art the same, and thy years shall not fail.
While we see in this text that the Almighty God called His Son an eternal God, and gave Him the credit for the creation. He also established that there was a day of being begotten, or in layman's terms conceived by the Holy Spirit. God the Word is a Spirit and was placed into the egg of the virgin Mary around the time of 4 BC. This was the day He was begotten by God the Father.
This introduces another picture of the invisible God. The Word was made flesh. He was not created, did not ever begin being or ever cease being God the Word, but was now being manifested as Immanuel which means God with us. He is truly God in the Spirit and truly man in the flesh, while we of course are conceived as human in the spirit and human in the flesh.
This brings us back to John 1:14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
John 1:18 No man hath seen God at any time, the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.
This manifestation of the Word made flesh; Immanuel has a different function beyond the creation of all things. It is written in Hebrews 10:11 Therefore, when He came into the world, He said: "Sacrifice and offering You did not desire, But a body You have prepared for Me.
Herein lays the stumbling block for many religions that teach the doctrine of One God without recognizing the Word made Flesh.
An extremely important truth in the Christian faith is believing that The Lord Jesus Christ is God the Word, and distorting this fact is the foundational teachings of many of the modern cults today.
For example the Jehovah Witnesses teach that the Lord Jesus Christ is Michael the Archangel reincarnated to be the only begotten Son of God. So by being a created being, an Arch Angel they have demoted Him from being true Image of the Father. And Jehovah Witnesses cannot be called Christians because they have created their own Jesus, just the way they want Him.
And again, the Mormons, which is called the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, created their own version of Jesus. They created a Trinity much different from the true ELOHIYM. They gave him flesh and bones, and a wife of flesh and bones, and they are having sex and producing spirit children for all eternity. Jesus was one of the many children, whom are produced in heaven to inhabit the bodies of the people on earth. They have a saying that goes like this: "As man is, God once was, as God is man can be.†So, even their god the father was once a man on a different planet. They call themselves by the name of the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ but have created their own version of Jesus and cannot be called Christians. Beware, when they talk to you about Jesus and God, they have a different definition in mind. It is a bait and switch tactic.
Many of the members of these non-Christian cults are wonderful, loving and generous people, whom are doing their very best to please God, as they know Him.
However, they have learned the doctrine of their Churches and do not have a personal relationship with the real living breathing resurrected Lord Jesus Christ. They have not been baptized in the Holy Spirit and do not manifest the Gifts of the Spirit. Their church is poisoned with the doctrines of false Christ, false prophets and false teachers. An example is how rat poison is made of 99 percent good wheat but the one percent arsenic is what kills the rat. Salvation does not come through service to the church but by having a personal relationship with the real Jesus.
This is one of the many reasons why Jesus said: Mark 13: 5 And Jesus answering them began to say, Take heed lest any man deceive you: 6 For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.
Luke 21:8 And he said, Take heed that ye be not deceived: for many shall come in my name, saying, I am {Christ}; and the time draweth near: go ye not therefore after them.
The Word made Flesh is the stumbling block for the Jews. Many of whom refuse to even consider that God would have a Son, even though it was foretold by many of the Old Testament prophets.
And again, the Muslims and many other cults say Jesus was just a man or a prophet, but not God the Son.
We can read the scriptures and see that who we say the Lord Jesus Christ is, is the dividing line between Heaven and hell. Who we believe The Lord Jesus Christ is, is what Jesus said was the Rock that the Lord will build His Church on, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against the church.
Now not all Christians are Trinitarians, there are several denominations of real Christians that have a personal relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ but believe in One God. They are truly Christians because of their faith in Jesus. When they speak of God the Father, they define Him as one manifestation of Jesus. And the Son is another manifestation of Jesus, and the Holy Spirit is another manifestation of Jesus. Therefore, they are called "Jesus Only". You may never find a group of people that love Jesus more than they do.
Since God is truly invisible, and Jesus is the manifested image of the Father, the Jesus only Christians are not wrong and the Trinitarians are also not wrong.
Because the most important truth is that Jesus is God the Word manifested in the flesh as the Son of the Most High God, whom was crucified for our sin and is seated by the right hand of the Father.
And being baptized in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit is exactly the same as being baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Lord means God the Father, Jesus is the Son, and Christ is the Holy Spirit.
Trinitarians and Jesus Only Christians are saying the same thing two different ways, concerning the invisible God.
Let us look again in Revelation where Jesus addresses John and the seven churches on Earth as Immanuel risen from the dead. And then in Heaven He is seated as God to receive worship and to rule His creation. And then we see other manifestations of Him in the same picture. (Rev 5:5) And one of the elders saith unto me, Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof. (Rev 5:6) And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth.
This elder introduces the Lion of the tribe of Judah , but John sees a slain lamb with seven eyes and seven horns, which are the Seven Spirits of God.
So in summary we see the invisible God manifested as Creator on the throne, judging all of mankind to be unworthy except the Lion of the tribe of Judah , whom is also the sacrificial lamb, which of course is another manifestation of Immanuel, God with Us.
All this may seem confusing but the vision clears up when we return to what Jesus said to Philip in John 14:9 Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? 10 Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does his works. 11 Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else believe on account of the works themselves.
God is intentionally invisible and the Lord Jesus Christ is the exact image of the invisible God. On the throne, He is worshiped as Creator and is manifested again to be worshiped as Savior with the Seven Fold Holy Spirit manifested on Him as Seven Eyes and Seven Horns.
When Jesus was nailed to the cross and died, He gave up the Spirit. What was the nature of that Spirit that came out of the broken, bloody human body hanging on the cross? Was it a human spirit, that of an Arch Angel, or was it the Sovereign, God the Word, creator of all creation? God is expecting your answer to this question. God is examining your faith to see if you are a true believer in His only begotten Son. God is examining your obedience and your fruit to see if your lifestyle denies or supports that Jesus is your Lord. What we really believe in will change us. And our walk in life will prove what we believe. The way we answer this question determines our eternal home with Jesus, or in the Lake of Fire .
The next section in this chapter concerning trying to see the invisible God, will focus on the manifestations of the Seven Fold Holy Spirit, the invisible creator of all things created.
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