BIBLE STUDY MANUALS: JOHN CHAPTER ONE: THE DOCTRINES OF THE TRINITY AND THE DIETY OF CHRIST, PART 2

JOHN CHAPTER ONE, (cont.)

And after the 7 year tribulation period our Lord will come again to rule forever:

[Dan 7:13-14]:

(v. 13) "In my [Daniel's] vision at night I looked and there before me was One like the Son of Man coming with the clouds of heaven.

["clouds" = here refer to angels, cp. Ps 104:1-4]

(v. 13 cont.) He approached the Ancient of Days.....

["Ancient of Days" = a special name for God referring to His eternality - in this passage it refers to the Personality of the Father, (Dan 7:9)]

(v. 13 cont.) He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into His presence.......

[So God the Son, Who is God and Man at the same time, appears in heaven in Daniel's vision of the future in His glorified human body. He is thusly led by angels into the throne room and the presence of God the Father before hosts of angelic beings and believers of ages past, (vv9-12)]

(v. 14) He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all peoples, nations and men of every language worshipped Him....

["worshipped Him" = indicates our Lord's diety, for only God is to be worshipped, (Dt 6:13; Mt 4:10)]

(v. 14 cont.) He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all peoples, nations and men of every language worshipped Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away; and His kingdom is one that will never be destroyed."

It is in the name of the Son of Man in which universal judgment is committed to Him, (Jn 5:22,27). And in the Son of Man is fulfilled the Old Testament foreview of blessing and salvation through a coming Man, (Gen 1:26: 3:15; 12:3; Ps 8:4; 80:17; Isa 7:14: 9:6-7; 32:2). All of this is a function of God and God alone. So He Who bears the title of the Son of Man is God Himself.

So, in light of the first 10 summary points on the Trinity let's review verses 1 and 2 of chapter one of the Gospel of John:

[John 1:1-2 cont.]:

(v. 1) "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

(v. 2) He was in the beginning with God."

And rephrasing the above verses in order to bring out the meaning of the original Greek, we have:

In the beginning before all time and creation was the Word (Jesus Christ); He has no beginning Himself, He is eternal;

And the Word, Jesus Christ, was always, continually, forever and intimately on an equal level with God the Father; and Jesus Christ was always, continually and forever God Himself; He, Jesus Christ, the Word, was always, continually and forever with God the Father at the beginning of all time and creation. So our Lord Jesus Christ is God...the God Who exists as one God with three personalities - - - - -

God the Father

God the Son

God the Holy Spirit

SUMMARY POINT #11 ON THE TRINITY

The Holy Spirit is a Person Who is God and Scripture clearly testifies to this.

With reference to God the Holy Spirit: The command for Christians to baptize in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, (Mt 28:19), is an indicator that the Holy Spirit is a Person and not just the power of God the Father. 'In the name of' indicates not just a power of the Holy Spirit which would not have a name then but a Person Who is God the Holy Spirit.

Scripture clearly treats the Holy Spirit is a Person of the Godhead:

[Acts 5:3-4]:

(v. 3) "But Peter said, 'Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit, and to keep back some of the price of the land?

(v. 4) While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not under your control? Why is it that you have conceived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to men, but to God.' "

Notice that in verse 3 Peter indicates that Ananias lied to the Holy Spirit and then in verse 4 Peter states that the Person to Whom Ananias lied to was God. So the Holy Spirit is a Person Who is God and not just a manifestation of God's power. One would not lie to a force, one would lie to a Person.

In the Gospel of John there is a passage which indicates that Jesus will go up to heaven and another Comforter will come to the disciples, i.e., the Holy Spirit:

[Jn 14:16-17]:

(v. 16) "And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever:

(v. 17) that is the Spirit of truth, Whom the world cannot receive, because it does not behold Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you, and will be in you."

"another" = "allon." The Greek word "allon" is the word which John used which is translated "another" in the English. "Allon" more specifically means 'another of the same kind' whereas the Greek word 'heteron' could have been chosen but was not.

'Heteron' means another but of a different kind. Compare Gal 1:6-7 where Paul speaks of of a different gospel, ("heteron"), which is not another, ("allon"), of the same kind that he preached as the true gospel:

[Gal 1:6-7]:

(v. 6) "I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting Him Who called you by the grace of Christ, for a different [= "heteron" = another of a different kind] gospel;

(v. 7) which is really not another [" o" = "allo" = another of the same kind];...."

Cp 1 Cor 15:39-41.

[Jn 14:16-17 cont.]:

(v. 16) "And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever:

(v. 17) that is the Spirit of truth, Whom the world cannot receive, because it does not behold Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you, and will be in you."

So since we have already proved that Jesus Christ Himself is God, (Titus 2:13), then "Another" of the same Kind' Who is, ("allon"), as Jesus Christ is, could only be God. Therefore since Jn 14:16-17 states that "Another" of the same kind as Jesus Christ is refers to the Holy Spirit then the Holy Spirit is God.

[Jn 14:16-17, 26 cont.]:

(v. 16) "And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever;

(v. 17) that is the Spirit of truth, Whom the world cannot receive, because it does not behold Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you, and will be in you."

(v. 26) "But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, Whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you." ["Whom" = " O" = nominative singular MASCULINE pronoun.

"Him" = "Auto" = nominative, singular, MASCULINE, PERSONAL pronoun]

"He" = "o " = nominative, singular, demonstrative, MASCULINE, pronoun]

[Jn 1:1-2 cont.]:

(v. 1) "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

(v. 2) He was with God in the beginning."

THE HOLY SPIRIT IS A PERSON OF THE GODHEAD

The Holy Spirit is a Person Who is God and Scripture clearly testifies to this.

Passages In The OT Which Portray The Holy Spirit As An Individual Person Who Is God

[The following passages in the OT portray a number of meanings for the word Spirit from an entity, a person who has power and wisdom which can pick one up and set one down to another place, provide knowledge to another. It also can portray the power and knowledge of another.

2SA 23:1 These are the last words of David: "The oracle of David son of Jesse, the oracle of the man exalted by the Most High, the man anointed by the God of Jacob, Israel's singer of songs:

2SA 23:2 "The Spirit of the LORD spoke through me; His word was on my tongue.

[Notice that the Spirit is portrayed here as a Person Who spoke through David such that His word was on David's tongue. ]

2KI 2:15 The company of the prophets from Jericho, who were watching, said, "The spirit of Elijah is resting on Elisha."

[Notice that the word spirit here is portrayed as the power and knowledge of Elijah which rested on Elisha] And they went to meet him and bowed to the ground before him.

In 2KI 2:15 "Look," they said, "we your servants have fifty able men. Let them go and look for your master. Perhaps the Spirit of the LORD has picked him up and set him down on some mountain or in some valley."

[Notice that the Spirit here is portrayed as an entity that physically picked up Elisha and moved him from one place to another]

"No," Elisha replied, "do not send them."

2KI 5:26 But Elisha said to him, "Was not my spirit with you when the man got down from his chariot to meet you?

[Now the word spirit refers to the power and knowledge of Elijah]

Is this the time to take money, or to accept clothes, olive groves, vineyards, flocks, herds, or menservants and maidservants?

1CH 28:11 Then David gave his son Solomon the plans for the portico of the temple, its buildings, its storerooms, its upper parts, its inner rooms and the place of atonement.

1CH 28:12 He gave him the plans of all that the Spirit had put in his mind for the courts of the temple of the LORD and all the surrounding rooms, for the treasuries of the temple of God and for the treasuries for the dedicated things.

[Notice here that the Spirit is portrayed as a person, an entity, an individual Who put in David's mind the plans for the courts of the temple]

NE 9:16 "But they, our forefathers, became arrogant and stiff-necked, and did not obey your commands.

NE 9:17 They refused to listen and failed to remember the miracles you performed among them. They became stiff-necked and in their rebellion appointed a leader in order to return to their slavery. But you are a forgiving God, gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love. Therefore you did not desert them,

NE 9:18 even when they cast for themselves an image of a calf and said, `This is your god, who brought you up out of Egypt,' or when they committed awful blasphemies.

NE 9:19 "Because of your great compassion you did not abandon them in the desert. By day the pillar of cloud did not cease to guide them on their path, nor the pillar of fire by night to shine on the way they were to take.

NE 9:20 You gave your good Spirit to instruct them. You did not withhold your manna from their mouths, and you gave them water for their thirst.

[Notice that the Spirit is portrayed here as an individual, a Person Who instructed the Israelites in the desert, not just a force of God, but the Spirit of God, a Person]

JOB 4:15 A spirit glided past my face, and the hair on my body stood on end. JOB 4:16 It stopped, but I could not tell what it was. A form stood before my eyes, and I heard a hushed voice: JOB 4:17 `Can a mortal be more righteous than God? Can a man be more pure than his Maker?

[Notice that a spirit is portrayed here as an individual, a person who stands before Job and voices a message. Here is yet another usage for the word spirit]

PS 143:10 Teach me to do your will, for you are my God; may your good Spirit lead me on level ground.

ISA 63:10 Yet they rebelled and grieved his Holy Spirit. So he turned and became their enemy and he himself fought against them.

[This speaks of a person Who is grieved. The power and knowledge of God is not in view as being grieved, but an individual Person, named God's Holy Spirit is]

ISA 63:11 Then his people recalled the days of old, the days of Moses and his people-- where is he who brought them through the sea, with the shepherd of his flock? Where is he who set his Holy Spirit among them,

ISA 63:12 who sent his glorious arm of power to be at Moses' right hand, who divided the waters before them, to gain for himself everlasting renown,

ISA 63:13 who led them through the depths? Like a horse in open country, they did not stumble;

ISA 63:14 like cattle that go down to the plain, they were given rest by the Spirit of the LORD. This is how you guided your people to make for yourself a glorious name.

[Notice that the phrase "The Spirit of the LORD" is portrayed here not just as the power and knowledge of God but a Person Who was among the Israelites, Who operated as the arm of power of God at Moses' right hand, Who Himself divided the waters of the Red Sea before the Israelites and led them through the depths. A person did this, not simply the impersonal power of God. It was God Himself Who did this: God the Holy Spirit, guiding the people of God to their place of rest in the desert to make a glorious name for Himself. Notice that being given a name, i.e., a name that reflects ones glory and honor is something reserved for an individual Person not an impersonal entity coming from God, but God Himself is glorified, God the Holy Spirit.]

EZE 1:10 Their faces looked like this: Each of the four had the face of a man, and on the right side each had the face of a lion, and on the left the face of an ox; each also had the face of an eagle.

EZE 1:11 Such were their faces. Their wings were spread out upward; each had two wings, one touching the wing of another creature on either side, and two wings covering its body.

EZE 1:12 Each one went straight ahead. Wherever the spirit would go, they would go, without turning as they went.

[Notice that the word spirit portrays an individual creature of some kind, not an demonstration of the power or knowledge of God or man]

EZE 2:1 He said to me, "Son of man, stand up on your feet and I will speak to you."

EZE 2:2 As he spoke, the Spirit came into me and raised me to my feet, and I heard him speaking to me.

[Notice that the word "Spirit" portrays an individual Who came into Ezekiel, raised Ezekiel to his feet and spoke to him.]

EZE 2:3 He said: "Son of man, I am sending you to the Israelites, to a rebellious nation that has rebelled against me; they and their fathers have been in revolt against me to this very day.

[And notice that the words of this Individual called the Spirit states that the Israelites rebelled against Me which implies that the Spirit is God] He stretched out what looked like a hand and took me by the hair of my head. The Spirit lifted me up between earth and heaven and in visions of God he took me to Jerusalem, to the entrance to the north gate of the inner court, where the idol that provokes to jealousy stood.

EZE 2:4 And there before me was the glory of the God of Israel, as in the vision I had seen in the plain.

[Notice that the Spirit is continued to be portrayed as an Individual, a Person Who lifted Ezekiel up between earth and heaven and in visions of God He took me to Jerusalem, to the entrance to the north gate of the inner court.]

Passages In The NT Which Portray The Holy Spirit As An Individual Person And God

With reference to God the Holy Spirit: The command for Christians to baptize in the name if the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, (Mt 28:19), is an indicator that the Holy Spirit is a Person and not just the power of God the Father. 'In the name of' indicates not just a power of the Holy Spirit which would not have a name then but a Person Who is God the Holy Spirit.

Scripture clearly treats the Holy Spirit as a Person of the Godhead:

[Acts 5:3-4]:

(v. 3) "But Peter said, 'Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit, and to keep back some of the price of the land?

[Notice that in verse 3 Peter indicates that Ananias lied to the Holy Spirit and then in verse 4 Peter states that the Person to Whom Ananias lied to was God. So the Holy Spirit is a Person Who is God and not just a manifestation of God's power. One would not lie to a force, one would lie to a Person]

In the Gospel of John there is a passage which indicates that Jesus will go up to heaven and another Comforter will come to the disciples, i.e., the Holy Spirit:

[Jn 14:16-17]:

(v. 16) "And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever:

(v. 17) that is the Spirit of truth, Whom the world cannot receive, because it does not behold Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you, and will be in you."

"another" = "allon". The Greek word "allon" is the word which John used which is translated "another" in the English. "Allon" more specifically means 'another of the same kind' whereas the Greek word 'heteron' could have been chosen but was not.

[Gal 1:6-7]:

(v. 6) "I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting Him Who called you by the grace of Christ, for a different [= "heteron" = another of a different kind] gospel;

(v. 7) which is really not another ["allo" = another of the same kind]"

Cp 1 Cor 15:39-41.

[Jn 14:16-17 cont.]:

(v. 16) "And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever:

(v. 17) that is the Spirit of truth, Whom the world cannot receive, because it does not behold Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you, and will be in you."

[Jn 14:16-17, 26 cont.]:

(v. 16) "And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever;

(v. 17) that is the Spirit of truth, Whom the world cannot receive, because it does not behold Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you, and will be in you."

["Him" = "Auto" = nominative, singular, neuter, personal pronoun]

(v. 26) "But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, Whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you."

["Whom" = "�" = nominative singular masculine pronoun.

"He" = "ekeinos" = nominative, singular, demonstrative, masculine pronoun]

SUMMARY POINT #12 ON THE TRINITY:

Jesus Christ is neither a god nor the God all by Himself. God is one God with three Personalities.

["...and the Word was God." = If what John wrote is correctly translated, "and the Word was a god" (and it is not so translated): OR

If John wrote "and the Word was the God"

(and he did not do this either):

THEN

In either case John's statement would be false and therefore what he wrote would not be inspired by God and acceptable as the Word of God!! It would contradict many other passages of Scripture which are inspired by God and state that Jesus Christ is God along with God the Father and God the Holy Spirit.

If John wrote "a god" in Jn 1:1c then Jesus Christ would be just a god, a created being. He would not be Almighty Jehovah God, the equal with the Father and the Holy Spirit - therefore not there at the beginning of creation, but created thereafter that beginning. Jesus would therefore have a beginning and not be in existence at that beginning of all creation. Other passages in Scripture indicate that there is no such thing as a created god, (Isa 43:10-11). But John 1:1 says that He already was in the beginning - no matter how far back in eternity past you go - indicating His eternality which has no beginning. If our Lord was a created god then He, Jesus, would have to receive His power and eternal life from the Father. He would not be eternal in and of Himself nor have the power as the One God has power: as part of His own essence - not attributable to anyone else. Scripture says that the Lord Jesus Christ being the exact representation of God, i.e., being God, (Heb 1:3), set to the side, but never lost, His equality with the Father, (cp Phil 2:5-8; Heb 1:3). He did this in order to add to Himself perfect Humanity so that He could legitimately die as a perfect human being and pay the penalty Himself for the sins of the whole world, (Phil 2:5-8 & 1 Jn 2:2). If it were true that Jesus was just "a god" then how could our Lord Jesus Christ actually become the Savior of the World? How could He, if He were a created being, take upon Himself the eternal punishment for all of the sins of the whole world, (1 Jn 2:2), and then come back from that eternal punishment to sit in full glory, the glory that is due to God and God alone at the right hand of the Father, (Eph 1:20) - a position reserved only for Jehovah??? How could Jesus Christ actually give eternal life to millions of believers, (Jn 10:27-28), if He first had to receive His own eternal life from God?

Fred John Meldau stated, ('Messiah in Both Testaments,' The Christian Victory Publishing Company, Denver, Co, 1956, p.86):

"He, Christ, accomplished the redemption of the race ALONE. No sinful man, not even a perfect man, could redeem a race of billions of lost sinners. It takes an infinite Sacrifice to atone for a world of sinners...[compare Heb 1:3]...when He had BY HIMSELF purged ... (made purification of) our sins ..."

ONLY JEHOVAH GOD ALMIGHTY

COULD BE THE SAVIOR OF THE WORLD

SO AS CHRIST IS THE SAVIOR OF THE WORLD, SO IS HE JEHOVAH GOD ALMIGHTY!

Compare Isa 9:6-7, 43:10-11; Micah 5:2; Jn 8:58, 10:24-39; Col 2:9 and Heb 1:3.

Finally, if John wrote "...and the Word was the God" then this would say that Jesus Christ would be "the" God all by Himself. This would then exclude God the Father and God the Holy Spirit. So what John wrote fits perfectly:

"kai Theos en ..o ....logos"

"and God ..was the Word"

which is rendered, 'And GOD the Word was' or "And the Word was God"

SUMMARY POINT #13 ON THE TRINITY

Many passages in Scripture indicate that

God is one God with three Personalities.

God the Father

God the Son

God the Holy Spirit

For example, Gen 3:22 begins:

[Gen 3:22]:

"And the Lord God said, 'The man is now become as one of Us, to know how to distinguish between good and evil"

"And the Lord God"[Elohim = God, PLURAL]

"said" [SINGULAR VERB - ONE GOD]

"The man is now become as one of US" =

"US" = PLURAL - FATHER, SON AND HOLY SPIRIT.

Notice, plural subject representing the plurality of the Godhead, (Elohim = God, PLURAL), and the singular verb "said" representing the one true God with three Personalities operating in a unity!

Scripture is filled from Genesis through Revelation with references to the plurality of the Godhead: Father, Son & Holy Spirit. If the doctrine of the Trinity is true then the use of the Hebrew word 'Elohim' with a singular verb would be the perfect way of expressing Who God is and what He does in the Bible.

Objectors to the doctrine of the Trinity state that the use of 'Elohim' is merely an expression by God of the plurality of His majesty, since kings and rulers do this. An important point to remember here is that God does not follow the precedence of man, (Ro 2:11). So that the use by man of a plural subject to signify plurality of majesty would not rule out another kind of use of the plural subject which God uses to signify His three Personalities. Furthermore, the grammatical form used to signify a plurality of majesty does not follow the same format in Scripture as when God refers to Himself. For example, Scripture uses the word 'Elohim' = 'God' (plural) to refer to God; but an individual ruler is not correspondingly referred to as 'kings' or 'presidents'. The expression of the plurality of majesty is in the form of the plural pronoun 'we' followed by a plural verb where the verb form agrees with the subject in number. The President of the United States therefore would state, 'We are...' not 'We am'. This does not correspond to the use of 'God (plural) + singular verb in Scripture. So one would certainly not state 'Presidents is' when referring to the President of the United States. Yet Scripture uses 'Elohim yesh' = 'God (plural), is' = 'Gods is' to refer to God, (ref. Dt 6:4). Dt 6:4 is the famous saying of Israel called the 'Shama', which faithful Jews say even today about the one God Whom they still deny has more than one Personality. Yet this saying itself says that God truly does have more than one Personality - that He is not just a single entity:

[Dt 6:4]:

"Hear O Israel:

The Lord our God (the Lord) is one"

Let's examine this verse from the Hebrew - the words that God inspired Moses to use: "Hear O Israel, The Lord our God"

"God" = "Elohim" = PLURAL

"(the Lord) is"

"is" = SINGULAR VERB

"one" = "echad" = ONE WHICH IS MADE OF PARTS - A COMPOSITE.

God's is one??? Strange sounding verse! The writer, Moses, chose to use the Hebrew word "echad" = "one" which the Hebrew commentaries ignore or even change to "yachid" when they teach about this verse. Yet it appears in their manuscript scrolls when they read God's Word as "echad" in the Book of Deuteronomy. Moses chose to use the Hebrew word "echad" which means "ONE WHICH IS MADE UP OF PARTS - A COMPOSITE" rather than the Hebrew word "yachid" which means "ONE, NO PARTS, A SINGLE ENTITY"

Compare Gen 2:24 - "echad" - one flesh made up of husband and wife.

Compare Gen 22:2 which indicates the use of another Hebrew word for 'one' - "yachid" = Abraham's one and only son of the Promise: Isaac. (Ishmael was not the firstborn of Sarah so he did not fulfill God's promise. And Abraham did have sons after Isaac, ((Gen 25:1)), and they did not fulfill God's Promise either). Isaac obviously is only one individual - an absolute entity, a whole. He could not be divided up into parts and continue to function as Isaac, so the word "yachid" = "one" was chosen by Moses to indicate Isaac's oneness as a single entity and not 'echad'.

Moses also chose to use the Hebrew word "ELOHIM" which means "God" (PLURAL) rather than "ELOAH" which means "God" (SINGULAR). Why didn't Moses write "GOD IS" or "GODS ARE" instead of "GODS IS" = "GOD [PLURAL] IS". Did Moses make a mistake? Not hardly. This construction appears in Scripture dozens of times by numerous authors.

SO GOD IS ONE GOD WHO IS MADE UP OF A NUMBER OF PARTS, I.E. PERSONALITIES .

Compare the following Scripture passages:

[Gen 1:1 (author - Moses)]:

"In the beginning God ['ELOHIM'] created"

"God" = "Elohim" = PLURAL

"created" = "bara" = SINGULAR

[Gen 1:26 (author - Moses)]:

"Then God said, 'Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our Likeness...' "

"God" = "Elohim" = PLURAL

"said" = singular verb in the Hebrew "Us" = PLURAL

"make" = singular verb in the Hebrew "our" = PLURAL

"in our image according to our likeness" = this phrase could not refer to angels having the image of God and then making man in that image, as some objectors to the Trinity say, because it would then imply that angels have the image of God on a equal basis with the Almighty eternal God and even contribute in creation with Him as Creators. The image that the passage is referring to is a unique one to God and God alone as implied by the word "our". God's image is an eternal image which angels and man are made into only in a finite way. (The word "as" or "like" does not mean complete identity and equality but only means similarity in some aspects. If equality were meant instead of similarity, then the verse should have been worded 'Let us make man equal with us' and not "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our Likeness...' "

Walter Martin commented on this verse in his book 'Kingdom of the Cults", (Bethany House, Minneapolis, 1985, p.54), which defends the Bible against accusations that Scripture teaches polytheism, (= belief in more than one God):

"Now it is obvious that God would not [have to] create man or any created being in His image if He were [already] talking to them, so He must have been addressing someone else. [It could not be angels because they are not reported anywhere in Scripture as having anything to do with creation nor do they have a creative capacity or any equality with God. So]...Who but His Son and the Holy Spirit, Who are equal in substance could He address in such familiar terms...[as "Let Us create man in Our image after Our likeness"]. Since there is no other God but Jehovah (Isa 43:10,11 [45:5]), not even a lesser mighty god can exist, then there must be a unity in plurality and substance in the Godhead, otherwise Gen 1:26 doesn't make any sense."

Here are further passages from a number of different authors in Scripture which indicate the plurality of Personalities in the Godhead:

[Ex 3:14 (author Moses)]:

'''And God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM"; and He said, "Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, 'I AM has sent me to you.' '''

"God" = "Elohim" = PLURAL "said" = SINGULAR

"I AM WHO I AM" = SINGULAR

[Eccl 12:1 (author Solomon)]:

"Remember your Creator......."

"Creator" = In the Hebrew this word "Creator" is literally translated "Ones Who created you" which indicates a plurality in the Godhead.

[Ps 149:2 (author David)]:

"Let Israel rejoice in its Maker"

"Maker" = the Hebrew is literally translated "Ones making you" = PLURAL

[Isa 54:5 (author Isaiah)]:

"For your[Israel's] Maker is your Husband"

"Maker" = the Hebrew is literally translated "Ones making you" = PLURAL

And yet "Husband" = PLURAL

[Isa 6:8 (author Isaiah)]:

"Tnen I [Isaiah] heard the voice of the Lord saying, 'Whom shall I send? And who will go for Us [to be God's prophet to the nation Israel]."

"whom shall I [God] send" = "I" = SINGULAR, indicates the oneness of God.

"And who will go for Us" = "Us" = PLURAL, indicates the plurality of the Godhead.

Scripture also refers directly to the Personalities of the Godhead:

[Pr 30:4 (author Solomon)]:

"Who has gone up to heaven and come down?

Who has gathered up the wind in the hollow of His hands? Who has wrapped up the waters in His cloak?

Who has established all the ends of the earth?

What is His name [God the Father] and the name of His Son [God the Son]?

In the Hebrew the word "Who" is literally translated, "Who are the Holy Ones Who"= PLURAL. So God the Father and God the Son have gone up to heaven and come down, gathered up the wind, wrapped up the waters and established, (i.e. created), the ends of the earth. And there is only one Creator: God. Here right in the Old Testament we find a clear statement that there is more than one Personality in the Godhead!!! We have two of the Personalities of the Godhead specifically referred to: God the Father and God the Son.

[Gen 19:24 (author Moses)]:

"Then the Lord [Yahweh] rained down burning sulfur on Sodom and Gomorrah from the Lord [Yahweh] out of the heavens."

"Then the Lord" = "Yahweh" = Jehovah Christ appearing as a man before Abraham, (Ref Gen 18:1), commanded Jehovah God the Father to rain down burning sulfur.

"Then Yahweh rained down burning sulfur on Sodom and Gomorrah from Yahweh [Jehovah God the Father] out of the heavens." = God is spoken of here as being in two places at once. This being no difficulty for God Who is omnipresent and omnipotent, (Ps 139 & 93:4). Surely if God is omnipresent which means that He is present everywhere in the universe yet apart from His creation, (Ro 1:20, 25); and if God is omnipotent - (and Scripture expains that His powers are at their infinite fullness at every point in the universe without ever being diluted, expended or diminished -Ps 29); then surely God can "take the form of a bond servant, being made in the likeness of men.", (Phil 2:7), as He did in a preincarnate appearance of Jesus Christ, the Son of God in Gen 19:24, and at the same time rain down fire from heaven. Notice that Jehovah, ("Yahweh"), is referred to as having at least two Personalities. So, there is more than one Personality in the Godhead but only One God:

[Isa 45:5]:

"I am the Lord, and there is no other; APART FROM ME THERE IS NO GOD."

[Note in the above verse:

"GOD" = "ELOHIM" = apart from Jehovah God there is no God with a capital 'G' or any god with a small 'g'.

[Isa 43:10c-11]:

(v. 10c) "Before Me, no god was formed,

nor will there be one after Me.

(v. 11) I, even, I am the Lord,

and apart from Me there is no Savior."

So if Jesus Christ is Savior, and other passages say that He is, (Lk 2:11; Titus 2:13; 2 Ti 1:10), then He must be Jehovah God for "apart from [Jehovah God] there is no Savior." Jesus cannot be a created god either for the above passage says, "Before Me, no god was formed, nor will there be one after Me." All other gods that Scripture refers to are false, not real gods, which men are guilty of worshipping, including Satan. (Cp Isa 44:6; 1 Cor 10:20; Ps 106:36-38; Lev 17:7; De 32:17; Mt 4:9; Jn 12:31; 14:30; 17:15; Acts 19:26).

In Isaiah chapter 48, Scripture refers to the one and only God:

[Isa 48:12]:

"Listen to Me, O Jacob, Israel, whom I have called; I am He;

I [Jehovah God] am the First and I Am the Last"

"I am the First and I am the last.." = 'I Am the only God'

And in that same passage of Scripture in Isaiah chapter 48 in which God is speaking to the nation Israel through the prophet Isaiah we have the following account which refers to the three Personalities of the Godhead:

[Isa 48:13-17]:

(v. 13) "Surely My hand founded the earth,

And My right hand spread out the heavens;

When I call to them, they stand together.

[to execute My decrees]

(v. 14) Come together, all of you and listen:

Which of the idols has foretold these things?

The Lord's chosen ally [Cyrus of Persia, Cp Isa 44:28-45:4,13] will carry out His purpose against Babylon;

his [Cyrus'] arm will be against the Babylonians.

(v. 15) I [God], even I have spoken; yes I have called him [Cyrus].

I will bring him, and he will succeed in his mission [conquer Babylon].

(v. 16) Come near Me

[Me = God the Son, Cp Isa 42:1, 11:1-2]

(v. 16 cont.) Come near Me and listen to this; From the first announcement, I

["I" = God the Son]

[Isa 48:13-17 cont.]:

(v. 16 cont.) "Come near Me and listen to this; From the first announcement, I have not spoken in secret; at the time it happens I am there. And now the Sovereign Lord has sent Me, with His Spirit."

'And now [God the Son is still speaking]: the Sovereign Lord [God the Father]

has sent Me [God the Son] with His Spirit [God the Holy Spirit].'

(v. 17) This is what the Lord says - your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel,

[God the Son, our Redeemer and the Redeemer of Israel says, (cp Eph 1:7; Titus 2:13-14)]: 'I am the Lord your God,

Who teaches you what is best for you, Who directs you in the way you should go.'

[So the Lord Jesus Christ - the Redeemer - claims right here in Isa 48:17 to be "the Lord your God."]

[Isa 42:18:]:

"Here is My Servant Whom I uphold, My Chosen One in Whom I delight; I will put My Spirit on Him and He will bring justice to the nations."

"Here is My Servant = God the Father is calling our Lord Jesus Christ His Servant.

Servant = Christ the Messiah, God the Son

"I will put My Spirit on Him" = God the Holy Spirit on Him. (Cp. Isaiah chapter 11)

The contexts in both chapters 42 & 48 of Isaiah show that it is God the Son, the Messiah-Redeemer Jesus Christ Whom is referred to as the One Who is sent; and that He was sent by God the Father with God the Holy Spirit to reside in Him in His humanity. Finally, there are passages which literally state that Jesus Christ is God:

[Titus 2:13-14]:

(v. 13) "...while we wait for the blessed hope - the glorious appearing of the great God Who is our Savior Jesus Christ,

(v. 14) Who gave Himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for Himself a people that are His very own, eager to do what is good.."

"Who is" = "kai"

tou megalou Theou kai ......Soteros

the great ......God ..Who is Savior

emon Iesou Christou

our ...Jesus Christ

When "kai" separates two prepositional phrases in which the noun in the second phrase ("Soteros" = "Savior") has no article and the noun in the first phrase ("Theou" = "God") has a definite article ("tou" = "the"). Then the noun in the FIRST phrase ("God") governs, i.e. defines, the noun in the second phrase ("Savior").

The meaning is therefore properly translated:

("GOD WHO IS OUR SAVIOR,

JESUS CHRIST")

"kai" is therefore properly translated

"Who is" or

"Who I mean to say is" / "that is to say".

This is referred to as the Granville-Sharp Rule. Let's review two previously quoted phrases to verify in another way that this passage is saying that Jesus Christ is God:

(v. 13b) "...the great God Who is our Savior Jesus Christ, Who gave Himself...."

and

(v. 14a) "Who gave Himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for Himself

"Himself" in both of these phrases is singular indicating that only one Person is being written about in this passage - "The great God Who is our Savior Jesus Christ".

Therefore verses 13-14 could not be translated 'The great God and our Savior Jesus Christ Who gave Themselves for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for Themselves a people because 'Themselves' is plural and the Greek text has the singular pronouns "eauton", (3 pers acc sing masc), and "eautps" (3 pers dat sing masc) = "Himself" and "for Himself" respectively. The verse only makes sense if God and Jesus Christ are equated as One and the same so that the singular pronoun could apply. Incidentally, though the Personalities of God the Father and God the Holy Spirit are not spoken of in this particular passage, this does not rule out their existence.

[Ro 9:5]:

"Theirs [people of Israel] are the patriarchs, and from them is traced the human ancestory of Christ, Who is God over all, forever praised! Amen."

Here again the context and the grammatical construction indicate that Jesus Christ is God.

[1 Jn 5:20 Amplified]:

"And we have seen and know positively that the Son of God has actually come to this world [by adding to Himself perfect humanity] and has given us understanding and insight progressively to perceive and come to know better Him Who is true......

"the Son of God" = the subject of this passage.

"Him Who is true" = God the Father.

Although Jesus Christ is God and He is also referred to in other passages as "Him Who is true", (Jn 1:9; 14:6); the focus of 1 Jn 5:20 is the time when Jesus Christ walked on the face of the earth as the GodMan so that the example and the testimony of His perfect human life would give mankind an "understanding and insight progressively to perceive and come to know better Him Who is true" = in this case God the Father.

[Compare Jn 14:6-9]:

(v. 6) '''Jesus said to him, "I am the Way, and the Truth, and the Life; no one comes to the Father, but through Me.

(v. 7) If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; from now on you know Him, and have seen Him."

(v. 8) Philip said to Him, "Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us."

(v. 9) Jesus said to him, "Have I been so long with you, and yet you have not come to know Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; how do you say, 'Show us the Father?' " '''

[1 Jn 5:20 cont.]:

"And we have seen and know positively that the Son of God has actually come to this world [in His humanity] and has given us understanding and insight progressively to perceive and come to know better Him Who is true; [God the Father], and we are in Him Who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ, the Messiah. He [Jesus Christ] is the true God and Life eternal."

"and we" = and we who are believers

"and we are in Him Who is true" = and we believers are in Him - God the Father - Who is true]

"He" = Jesus Christ, Who is the subject of this passage

He [JesusChrist] is the true God and Life eternal."

So, the only way that 1 Jn 5:20 could be true is if Jesus Christ is both God and Man at the same time.

Some of the passages which literally state that Jesus Christ is God are statements made by individuals:

[Jn 6:69]:

"And we [Peter, who speaks of himself and the disciples, v. 67] have believed and have come to know that You are the Christ the Son of the living God' "

["the Christ" = "The Messiah" = God]

["the Son of ...God = He Who is as God]

[Jn 20:28]:

"Thomas said to Him, [Jesus, v.26], My Lord and my God!' "

[Thomas could not be stating, 'Oh my God, it is my lord!' as objectors to the Diety of Christ say because that kind of statement would have been considered taking God's name in vain, (Dt 5:11), which Jesus Himself forbade, (Mt 5:34-37). Thomas would not have used this vanity especially in the presence of the other disciples. The grammatical construction of Thomas' statement supports the translation that he was calling the Lord Jesus Christ his God:

" 'O ...Kurios mou kai o ...Theos mou' "

" 'The Lord ...my .and the God ...my' "

[Mk 15:39]:

"And when the centurion, who was standing right in front of Him [Jesus], saw the way He breathed His last, he said, 'Truly this Man was the Son of God!' "

"the Son of God" = God

And finally, Jehovah God the Father Himself calls Jesus Christ God:

[Heb 1:8 cp Ps 45:6]:

"But about the Son He says....."

["He" = God the Father, (vv 5,6,7). cp Ps 45:1-5]

[Heb 1:8 & Ps 45:6 cont.]:

"But about the Son He [God the Father] says, [to God the Son, Jesus Christ]

'Your throne, O God, will last for ever and ever,

and righteousness will be the scepter of Your kingdom.' "

[So God the Father says to Jesus Christ, calling Him God: "Your throne O God will last for ever and ever..."]

[Jn 1:1-2]

(v. 1) "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

(v. 2) He was with God in the beginning."

The Lord Jesus Christ is called the Word by John in verses 1 & 2. And Jn 1:14 verifies this:

(Jn 1:14) "The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us." Why does John refer to our Lord Jesus Christ as the Word?

To understand the term "Word" ("logos") which John used as a name for Jesus Christ we need to determine the meaning this term "logos" had for those to whom the Gospel of John was FIRST written nearly 2000 years ago.

What meaning would the term "logos" have had to a person of Jewish background?

To the Jew living 2000 years ago in Jerusalem, a word was something concrete, something much closer to what we today would call an event or a deed. A word spoken to the Jew was a deed done! Thus the Jew would be prepared for the thought that the Word, the "Logos" - of God could be seen and touched as well as heard, and that the "Logos" would find expression in a human life. And so it is God Who promised to the nation Israel and to the world a Savior, a God-Man:

[Isa 9:6-7]:

(v. 6) "For to us a child is born, to us a Son is given, and the government will be on His shoulders.

And He will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

(v. 7) Of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end."

He will reign on David's throne and over His kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this."

God therefore promised that a Messiah-Savior would be born of Israel Who is "Mighty God" and "Everlasting Father" Who could only then be God Himself. And God's word is true:

[Isa 55:11]:

"So is My [God's] word that goes out from My mouth:

It will not return to Me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it."

To the Greek whose philosophy dominated the Gentile world 2000 years ago the word "logos" often meant the mind of God which controls this world and all men. Plato is reported to have said: "It may be that some day there will come forth from God a Word, (a "Logos"), Who will reveal all mysteries and make everything plain."

The author of the book of Hebrews said:

[Heb 1:1-2a]:

(v. 1) "In many separate revelations - each of which set forth a portion of the truth - and in different ways God spoke of old to our forefathers in and by the prophets.

(v. 2a) But in the last of these days He has SPOKEN to us in the Person of a Son [lit., "in son"].

Hebrews 1:2a says "But in the last of these days He [God].....................

"elelesen .....emin .eu uips"

"has spoken to us in Son

The absence of the Greek article "the" throws the emphasis upon the nature or quality of the noun "Son" itself. It is the "Son-ness" that is being stressed....

And by this construction God is telling us in Scripture that "He has spoken to us in the PERSON OF A SON" ...............

God has spoken to us in a Person Who IS God's Word and not just a person who sets forth a portion of God's Word. Recall that the word "Son" in this passage stresses likeness to Almighty God so far as Semitic understanding is concerned; (the Book of Hebrews was written to Semitic people - the Jews. Cp Jn 10:25-39; 19:7; Lk 22:66-71).

As the Apostle John said:

"And the Word was God".

Only God Himself could BE the Word of God...a mere man would fall short of BEING the Word for that would require a perfection known only to God. Although the prophets of old, Scripture says, "set forth a PORTION of the truth", (Heb 1:1), they led imperfect lives and could not set forth God's whole truth all the time and therefore be the Word of God.

Recall verse 6 in Isaiah chapter 9 quoted earlier when God spoke His word - He spoke a promise to Israel and the world through the prophet Isaiah:

[Isa 9:6]:

"For to us a child is born, to us a Son is given, and the government will be on His shoulders. And He will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace." [ cp Isa 45:23]

God's Word spoken here through Isaiah above (Cp Isa 8:11) has already been fulfilled in part in the Person of Jesus Christ the God-Man. (Christ has yet to begin His earthly kingdom reign at His Second Coming when "the government will be on His shoulders."

and when "He will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.").

Compare how God's Word which is also spoken through Isaiah in 52:13 - 53:12 has already been completely fulfilled in the Person of Jesus Christ.

[Isa 52:14]:

"Just as many were astonished at you, my people,

So His appearance was marred more than any man,

And His form more than the sons of men,

[Isa chapter 53]:

(v. 2b) He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him,

nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.

(v. 3) He was a despised and rejected by men,

a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering.

Like one from whom men hide their faces

He was despised, and we esteemed Him not.

(v. 5) "But He was pierced for our transgressions,

He was crushed for our iniquities;

the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him,

and by His wounds we are healed;

(v. 7b) "He was led like a lamb to the slaughter,

and as a sheep before her shearers is silent,

so He did not open His mouth.

[Isa chapter 53 cont.]:

(v. 8) By oppression and judgment He was taken away.

And Who can speak of His descendants"

For He was cut off from the land of the living;

for the transgression of My people He was stricken.

(v. 9) He was assigned a grave with the wicked,

and with the rich in His death,

though He had done no violence,

nor was any deceit in His mouth."

Think of how this particular fulfillment and the one in Isaiah 9:6 just quoted could only be accomplished by and through God Himself.

[Jn 1:3]:

"Through Him all things were made; without Him nothing was made that has been made"

The phrases "through Him" and "without Him" mark "Him", the Word, out as the Agent of creation. In this verse the context of the term "Word" is as the Agent of creation, a Person, and not just a commanding word from God to create. So through our Lord Jesus Christ all things were created. He Himself was not created. He is our great Creator. Compare what the Apostle Paul said in his letters to the Colossians and Corinthians about Jesus Christ being the Creator:

[Col 1:16-17]:

(v. 16) "For by Him all things were created: Things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by Him and for Him.

(v. 17) He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together."

[1 Cor 8:6]:

"Yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from Whom are all things, and we exist for Him; and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through Whom are all things, and we exist through Him."

Without the eternal presence and power of our Lord Jesus Christ for one microsecond the whole universe would disintegrate instantly. The smallest atomic particle holds together as a result of our Lord's continued and absolute sovereignty over the universe. You and I in fact owe our very next breath to God the Son Almighty God. (Cp Heb 1:2, 10).

These verses clearly states that all things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, (including souls and spirits) owe their creation and moment to moment existence to Jesus Christ. Therefore since ALL things which were created were created by Jesus Christ and since He was before all things then Jesus Christ cannot be created Himself. He is self-existent and uncreated, He is God.

[Compare Heb 1:10, cp Ps 102:25]:

"And, 'Thou, Lord, [Jesus Christ, vv. 5-9] in the beginning didst lay the foundation of the earth,

And the heavens are the works of Thy hands;"

[Compare Gen 1:1]:

"In the beginning God [Who is Jesus Christ, (Jn 1:3) and the Father and the Spirit] created the heavens and the earth."

[Jn 1:3-4]:

(v. 3) "Through Him all things were made; without Him nothing was made that has been made.

(v. 4) "In Him was life and that life was the light of men."

"In Him was life.."

["was life" is in the durative past tense = always was life, suggesting our Lord's eternality].

Compare John 1:4 above with John 14:6 below:

[Jn 14:6]:

"Jesus answered 'I am the Way and the Truth and the Life, no one comes to the Father but through Me'"

What does it mean to say that Jesus Christ is life? John just finished saying in verse 1:3 that Jesus Christ, the Word, is the source of all physical and spiritual life. In verses 1:4 and 14:6 John says more particularly that Jesus Christ always was and is the sole source of life with God the Father - eternal life - spiritual life in heaven.

[Compare Gen 1:1]:

"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth."

If Genesis 1:1 states that God Who is Jehovah God Almighty created the heavens and the earth.

And if Col 1:16-17 states that Jesus Christ created all things which includes the heavens and the earth. Then Jesus Christ is God.

John Morris states in his commentary, (NIV Commentary: Gospel of John, p.82):

" 'Life' in [the Gospel of] John characteristically refers to eternal life...the gift of God through His Son. Here, however [in John 1:4] the term must be taken in its broadest sense. It is only because there is life in the Logos [Greek for "Word"] that there is life in anything on earth at all. Life does not exist in its own right. It is not even spoken of [in this particular verse] as made 'by' or 'through' the Word, but as existing 'in Him.'

The important thing about eternal life is not its quantity but its quality. In Westcott's phrase, 'It is not an endless duration of being in time, but being of which time is not a measure.' Eternal life is life in Christ, that life which removes man from the mere earthly...it originates in a divine action, in a man's being born anew. It is the gift of God, and not the achievement of man."

[Jn 1:3-4 cont.]:

(v. 3) "Through Him all things were made; without Him nothing was made that has been made."

(v. 4) In Him was life, and that life was the light of men."

"In Him was life.."

In order to understand and appreciate the importance of spiritual life & eternal life we must first realize that we are all born spiritually dead:

Ro 5:12:

"Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man [Adam cp Ro 5:14],

and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned [through Adam]."

Lewis Sperry Chafer states, (Systematic Theology Abridged, vol 2, p. 379):

"Because of his sin, Adam became a different kind of being from what God had created. Each descendant of Adam has reproduced his fallen nature, following the law that each person produces according to his kind (Gen 1:25)."

[Gen 1:24-25]:

"And God said, 'Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: livestock, creatures that move along the ground, and wild animals, each according to its kind.' And it was so. God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good."

And upon creating man, God said:

"'Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it..." [Gen 1:28a].

But when Adam and Eve sinned God indicated that mankind and all creation had indeed changed:

[Gen 3:14-16a]:

(v. 14) "So the Lord God said to the serpent, Because you have done this,

'Cursed are you above all the livestock

and all the wild animals!

You will crawl on your belly

and you will eat dust

all the days of your life.

[notice that serpents changed physically as did all of nature and man]

(v. 15) And I will put enmity between you and the woman,

and between your offspring and hers; He will crush your head,

and you will strike His heel.

[And I will put enmity [hostility] between you" = this phrase is a statement of God to the agent controlling the serpent: Satan.

"your offspring" = the offspring of Satan = demons & unbelievers, cp Jn 8:42-44.

"And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers.." = 'Her' offspring refers to Abel who was the first of Eve's children to become a believer and men of all ages who are believers in God's provision of salvation. Her offspring most significantly includes Jesus Christ the Savior Who will defeat Satan]

(v. 15 cont.) And I will put enmity between you and the woman,

and between your offspring and hers; He will crush your head,

and you will strike His heel.

"He will crush your head"

["He" = literally from the Hebrew, the Seed, singular, i.e. the Lord Jesus Christ.

"He will crush your head" = In ancient Hebrew the term "crush your head" meant to deal one a mortal blow such that that person was destroyed. So this phrase is saying that Christ will deal Satan a mortal blow - by paying the penalty for sin and resurrecting from the dead thus wresting rulership over mankind from Satan and condemning Satan and his offspring of unbelievers to be under the eternal destruction of the Lake of Fire.

"and you will strike His heel" = In ancient Hebrew, the term to strike one's heel meant to wound but not mortally. So this phrase is saying that Satan will wound our Lord but not mortally in the sense of totally destroying Him. History then reveals that Jesus Christ was crucified but this did not destroy Him, for He rose from the dead triumphantly]

(v. 16) To the woman He said,

'I will greatly increase your pains in childbearing;

with pain you will give birth to children...'"

So now, Eve and all women will have pain when giving birth to their children.

The following passages indicate further changes God made from the perfect condition in the Garden of Eden:

[Gen 3:17-19]

(v. 17) "To Adam He said, 'Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, '''You must not eat of it, cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life.

(v. 18) It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field.

(v. 19) By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return.'"

And so mankind and nature were sadly changed. Man's offspring would now reflect this change so that no longer could God treat man as He did before:

[Gen 3:22]

"And the Lord God said, 'The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil."

[Man has experienced evil thereby contaminating his nature and in this sense knows of evil. God Who is sovereign and omniscient knows of evil without experiencing it and without contaminating His nature. Note that the singularity of God in this passage is expressed - that there is only one God - as expressed in the singular form of the verb "said" in the verse above. And notice the plurality of the Godhead in this verse - that there is more than one Personality that makes up Who God is - as indicated by the word "Us" and by the Hebrew word "Elohim" = "God, plural].

[Gen 3:22b-23]:

(v. 22) "He [man] must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever [in such a depraved rebellious condition as he is now in].

(v. 23) So the Lord God banished him from the garden to work the ground from which he had been taken."

So let us return to the verse that the Apostle Paul wrote in his letter to the Christians in Rome:

[Ro 5:12]:

"Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man [Adam cp Ro 5:14],

and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned [through Adam]."

The Greek verb "sinned" = "hemarton" is in the active voice which indicates that ALL of Adam's descendants participated in his original sin...and therefore will die. As we discussed, Scripture makes it clear that through the seed of Adam everyone inherits a sin nature and death. This is the Scriptural principle of transmission: transmission of an action by one to one's descendants. For example, in the Book of Hebrews, Levi participated in the paying of tithes by Abraham to Melchizedek before Levi was even born!

God's word says that Levi (Heb 7:10b): "...was in the body of his ancestor Abraham" [in Abraham's loins - Heb 6:19-7:28].

SO we all participated in Adam's rebellion for we were in the body of Adam. This principle of transmission of the sin nature is established by the sovereign authority of God and revealed to us in His word:

[1 Cor 15:21-22]:

"For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a Man.

For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive.."

[so all who are in Christ - all who have trusted alone in His Name alone for eternal life will be made alive, i.e., will have eternal life. cp Ro 3:21-24 + Col 1:27]

So to summarize:

EVERYONE INHERITS A SIN NATURE AND DEATH THROUGH ADAM.

Not only do we inherit physical death but spiritual death as well:

[Gen 2:16-17]:

"And the Lord God commanded the man, 'You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for on that day you will surely [die dying]

[on that day..."

(literal Hebrew translation)

you will surely [die dying]'"

"You will die dying" = A funny sounding phrase which says that there will be an immediate death (SPIRITUAL) - "you will die...";

and then another eventual death (PHYSICAL)

"...you will die dying..."

"...you will die" [spiritually immediately while you are]

"dying" [physically]

Adam did not immediately die physically but began to gradually die. He lived to be 930 years old (Gen 5:5). Adam's immediate spiritual death ...i.e. spiritual separation from God...is evident in Scripture when he and Eve attempted to hide from God Who they used to understand as omniscient - all knowing:

[Gen 3:8]:

"Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as He was walking in the garden in the cool of the day...[God appearing to them as usual in a form such that they could more intimately communicate with Him]...and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden."

So, "on that day," Adam and Eve died spiritually as evidenced by their trying to hide from an omniscient God...thus showing an ignorance and an alienation, (separation), from Him whereas before they were in an intimate relationship with Him.

And "on that day" Adam, as the federal head and representative of the human race, insured that all of humanity would be born spiritually dead and that all new born babies would inherit a sin nature and spiritual death through his seed as it passed on from generation to generation. (Ro 5:12-19).

BUT HOPE IN CHRIST IS THE ANSWER:

The Apostle Paul refers to coming spiritually alive in his letter to the BELIEVERS at Ephesus,

[Eph 2:1]:

"And you He [Jesus Christ] made alive when you were dead in your trespasses and sins."

["And you" who are obviously physically alive, "He" Jesus Christ "made" spiritually "alive when you were" spiritually "dead" obviously not physically dead "in your trespasses and sins."]

[Jn 1:3-4 cont.]:

(v. 3) "Through Him all things were made; without Him nothing was made that has been made."

(v. 4) In Him was life, and that life was the Light of men."

"In Him was life.."

In the Gospel of John our Lord Jesus Christ speaks to Nicodemus about a spiritual birth which is to occur in a person who is physically alive:

[Jn 3:1]:

"Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a member of the Jewish ruling council."

[During the Maccabean period in the reign of John Hyrcanus, (134 - 104 B.C.), the two great conflicting parties in Judaism came into existence - the Pharisees and the Sadducees. The Pharisees evolved from a pious group of people called the Hasidim - who stood true to the Law under the persecution of Antiochus Epiphanes in 168 B.C. But the Pharisees in Jesus' time degenerated into becoming legalistic, arrogant and unprincipled separatists, believing that their lifestyle was superior to the rest of the world and favored by God. They prided themselves on their intellectual capacity and 'superior' knowledge of the Scriptures. Such knowledge, however, was superficial and unbiblical, not being connected to the context and true meaning of God's Word. Nevertheless they used their sanctimonious lifestyle and presentation of false doctrine to maintain their position of political rulership, often at others' expense, (cp Mt 23:13-36 and Lk 11:39-52). So here is a Pharisee named Nicodemus, who had such great political position and authority that he was a teacher of teachers of Scripture to the nation Israel, (v. 3:10), and a member of the Jewish Ruling Council, (v. 3:1). He was viewed by others as a prime example of doing good. People thought of him as 'knowing' (Old Testament) Scripture and obeying it so well that few doubted that he was destined to see the kingdom of heaven. Compare Lk 18:26. Note the surprise of the disciples at our Lord's pronouncement of condemnation on the rich young ruler; a man who arrogantly proclaimed to have kept the commandments. Because of a supposed 'faithful' lifestyle people believed the young ruler was blessed by God with wealth. This was a man who had a similar background to many of the Pharisees like Nicodemus.

[Jn 3:1-2]:

(v. 1 cont.) "Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a member of the Jewish ruling council."

(v. 2) "He came to Jesus at night and said, 'Rabbi, we know you are a teacher Who has come from God. For no one could perform the miraculous signs you are doing if God were not with Him."

[Nicodemus knew there was something awesome and supernatural about this Man. So inspite of the negative reaction of fellow rulers to Jesus, Nicodemus risked visiting with Him at night to find out Who He really was. Nicodemus, a teacher of teachers of Scripture, respectfully calls Jesus, 'Rabbi' which means Teacher and acknowledges the reality of the many, many miracles Jesus was working. 'Surely this Man Jesus has come from God', Nicodemus thought. But our Lord does not immediately respond to Nicodemus' desire to know Who Jesus is]:

[Jn 3:3]:

"In reply, Jesus declared, 'I tell you the truth; no man can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again."

[Jesus does not immediately tell Nicodemus Who He is. Instead, He tells him how to go to heaven: 'YOU MUST BE BORN AGAIN.' 'If you are not born again, you will never see the "kingdom of God".' Although God rules everywhere, the phrase, "no one can see the kingdom of God" means that one will be forever separated from God, and thereby under His judgment and wrath - (hell) - an awesome statement to begin His answer to Nicodemus' question of Who Jesus is. Nicodemus was a man familiar with Scripture so he should have comprehended what Jesus was saying. Nicodemus was a man who was confident of his qualifications for entering heaven until he heard what Jesus had to say! But now, Nicodmus began to have a problem with what our Lord was saying]:

[Jn 3:5-6]:

(v. 5) Jesus answered, 'I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water that is to say the Spirit [pneumatos = spiritual realm]

(v. 6) Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit'."

[The original text transliterated as the apostle John wrote it, as Jesus said it, and under the inspiration of God the Holy Spirit, (2 Tim 3:16), looks like this:

"ean-me tis .......gennthe ex udatos

"unless .anyone be born .of water

kai pneumatos "

EVEN Spirit "

("kai" = "that is to say")

Most Bible versions mistranslate this Greek word "kai" to be "and" yet grammatically the Greek word "kai" here in this particular circumstance indicates that the Greek word "pneumatos" (Spirit) which follows is governed by the meaning of the first word

"udatos" (water) and should actually be translated "even" or "that is to say"; i.e. water is a symbol of being born of the Spirit.

A simple rule of Greek grammar is being utilized here. If we have:

1) Two prepositional phrases connected by the Greek word, "kai"

2) The second phrase having no article, ('the' or 'a').

3) Then the first phrase governs.

4) And the second phrase serves to clarify and repeat the first.

For example:

ex udatos kai ..Pneumatos

of water ..even Spirit

(1st phrase has preposition 'of' + water then 2nd phrase without the preposition 'of' and no article, 'the' or 'a + Pneumatos)

Thus the Greek word "kai" is in this case rendered "that is to say" The best rendering of verse 3 would then be: 'Except a man is born of water, that is to say the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God..' The doctrine of being regenerated or born again exclusively by God the Holy Spirit is taught in a number of places in Scripture:

[Titus 3:5]:

"ouk ex ergon ton ....en dikaiosuen

"not by .works which in ..righteousness

on ......epoiesaman emeis alla

which practiced .....we .....but

kata ton .......autou eleon ..esosen ...emas

according to His ....mercy He saved us

dia ........loutrou ..paliggenesias

through washing againbirth(regeneration

kai ...anakainos eos pneumatos agiou

even renewing ..of ...Spirit .........Holy

("kai" = even = that is to say the renewing of the Holy Spirit)

So, being born again is not achieved by practicing good works. Salvation, on the contrary, is an act of mercy by God upon the individual as it says above. Titus 3:5 describes being born again as a washing. Later in this verse is the word "kai" ="that is to say," followed by a phrase which repeats and clarifies the meaning of the first phrase: that the washing process of regeneration is exclusively the renewing process of the Holy Spirit. So the exclusive connection between washing & water, the Holy Spirit and regeneration is repeatedly made in God's Word. This teaching is also substantiated in the Old Testament, especially in the passage which Jesus was referring to in His conversation with Nicodemus:

The Scripture which Nicodemus was sure to be familiar with is about how God will sprinkle clean water on the Jewish people...cleansing them from all sin...giving them a new heart...putting a new spirit in them...by putting His Spirit in them. (Ez 36:24-27). This indeed is being born again - a spiritual rebirth - indicated right there in Old Testament Scripture:

[Ez 36:24-27]:

(v. 24) "For I will take you [Israel] out of the nations; I will gather you from all the countries and bring you back into your own land.

(v. 25) I [God] will sprinkle clean water [the Holy Spirit, (v. 27)] on you and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols."

["water" = water here is the symbol for God the Holy Spirit, cp Jn 7:38-39a]:

[Jn 7:38-39a]:

(v. 38) "Whoever believes in Me [Jesus Christ] as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him.

(v. 39a) By this He meant the Spirit..."

[Ez 36:25 cont.]:

"I [God] will sprinkle clean water [the Holy Spirit] on you and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols."

[And only the Holy Spirit can do this; and this is verified in the next two verses in Ezekiel]:

(v. 26) I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; [a born again spirit, Jn 3:5] I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.

(v. 27) And I will put My Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep My laws."

Not only will God provide as a gift a spiritual rebirth for the nation Israel but He has made provision for a spiritual rebirth for all who trust alone in Christ alone to provide the means for their eternal life. John 3:16 reiterates the terms of receiving eternal life for individuals of all ages:

[Jn 3:16 cont.]:

"For God so loved the world that He gave His One and Only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life."

["whoever believes...shall have eternal life" = the present tense in both verbs, "believes" and "have,", which God the Holy Spirit chose for author John to choose to use indicates the following: pas ho pisteuon" =

whoever [is] the believing [one]

At the point in time when an individual believes in Christ as Savior he instantly enters into a state of having eternal life...for all eternity. He is permanently sealed, (Eph 1:13-14), and irrevocably saved unto eternal life - no matter what, (Eph 4:30)!

As a newborn believer, (Jn 3:3), a child of God, (Jn 1:12), he has become a new creation, (2 Cor 5:17), and has received to his credit the grace gift of absolutely perfect righteousness, (Ro 3:21-24), which qualifies him to enter into heaven when he dies. Nothing now can separate him from God's eternal love, (Ro 8:38-39). He no longer has to fear eternal condemnation, (Ro 8:1).

Notice that this doctrine of faith alone in Christ alone which provides eternal life for an individual was stated to a Jew who was under the Law at a time which was before the cross! This reaffirms that salvation occurs in one way only for all individuals before and after the cross, from Adam on down through the ages: faith alone in God's plan of salvation alone which is through His Son. All an individual of any era had to do was to take God at His Word, i.e., believe in God's plan of eternal life and that resulted in his salvation. (Cp. Heb chapter 11; Isa 28:16; 53:4-5, 10-12; Ps 32:2; Ez 36:26-27; Gen 15:4-6 & Ro 4:1-8, 13).

So when any person trusts, (believes), in Christ - trusts that He payed the penalty for his sins, (cf 1 Jn 2:2), then AT THAT VERY MOMENT of exercising one's trust that person is born spiritually alive and NOW - AT THAT SAME MOMENT - has eternal life! According to Scripture that person will continue to die physically...living out God's sovereignly appointed lifespan. Then his now alive eternal spirit will go to be with the Lord in heaven in a perfect resurrection body. After God is finished with this particular age, the church age believer will be provided with a perfect physical body with capabilities which are beyond imagination, (1 Thes 4:13-18). Our bodies will be like the resurrected Lord's Himself! (Cp. Phil 1:20-24; 2 Cor 5:6-9; 1 Cor 15:42-53; Phil 3:20-21). And so we believers will live in perfect harmony and fellowship with one another and Almighty God forever!

[Jn 1:4-5]:

(v. 4) "In Him was life, and that life was the Light of men.

(v. 5) The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness did not understand it."

"The Light of men" =

By the title "the Light of men" Jesus Christ is revealed as the One Who knows God the Father and Who makes Him known - if we may jump ahead to verse 18, (Amplified Version):

[Jn 1:18, Amplified]:

"No man has ever seen God at any time; the only unique Son, the only unique God, Who is in the bosom [the intimate presence] of the Father, He [the Son] has declared Him [the Father] - He has revealed Him, brought Him out where He can be seen; He (Jesus) has interpreted Him (God) and He has made Him known."

Jehovah God Almighty is not completely knowable because He is infinite, yet He is knowable in a finite sense to man - through the Lord Jesus Christ in His Perfect humanity.

[1 Tim 6:16]:

"[God] Who alone is immortal [exempt from every kind of death] and Who lives in unapproachable light, Whom no one has seen or can see..." -

Yet Christ Who is God having veiled His attributes as God has made Himself known to man through His perfect humanity and within man's finite capabilities of comprehension, (compare Phil 2:5-8).

[Jn 8:19]:

"Jesus replied 'If you knew Me you would know My Father also' "

[Jn 14:9b]:

"Anyone who has seen Me has seen the Father."

So our Lord is indeed the Light of the world:

[Isa 49:6b]:

"I [God] will also give You [Christ] for a light to the nations, that My salvation may extend to the end of the earth."

Other passages picture God as Light in the sense that light is a symbol of the way, the truth and the life of God: [Ps 27:1]:

"The Lord [Jehovah God] is my [David's] light and my salvation."

[Jn 14:6]:

"Jesus answered, 'I am the Way and the Truth and the Life. No one comes to the Father [salvation - eternal life] except through Me."

[Ps 36:9]:

"For with You [Jehovah God] is the fountain of life; in Your light we see light."

[John 8:12]:

"He [Jesus] said, 'I am the light of the world. Whoever follows Me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."

[1 Jn 1:5]:

"God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all. [Jehovah God is light. Jesus Who is light is Jehovah God. Cf Jn 8:12 above.]

[1 Peter 2:9]:

"But you [Christians] are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of Him Who called you out of darkness into His wonderful light."

[Ro 13:12]:

"So let us [Christians] put aside the deeds of darkness [sin] and put on the armor of light [righteousness]. [Cp. Eph 6:13-17].

[Jn 1:4-5 (cont.)]:

The Amplified Version translates Jn 1:5 thus:

(v. 5) "And the light shines on in the darkness, for the darkness has never overpowered it - put it out, or has never absorbed it, has not appropriated it, and is unreceptive to it."

This translation incorporates the additional meaning of the Greek phrase "ou katelaben" which can also mean to not apprehend or not appropriate or not overcome. Hence this verse may very well reflect the fact that light's nature is to shine and dispel darkness- and not be overcome by it. Light will invade the dominion of darkness, Satan the ruler and his subjects - demons and unbelievers and often carnal Christians - will resist the light; but they were in the past and will be unable in the future to frustrate its power. The Word will be victorious inspite of opposition.

SOME FINAL THOUGHTS ON v.v. 4 & 5:

[Jn 1:4-5 cont.]:

(v. 4) "In Him was life, and that life was the light of men.

(v. 5) The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness comprehended it not."

"was the light of men" = Why did John use "was the light of men" and not "is the light of men"? And why did John use the past tense "comprehended" and not the present tense "comprehends"? Certainly Jesus Christ is life and light today and forever, (Heb 13:8; Jn 9:5, 14:6)! The fact that the verbs are in the past tense makes it likely that the author, John, is speaking of Old Testament times...times of the Jews and before. Our Lord Jesus Christ truly "was" life and the light of men even as far back as Adam & Eve when He "was" with them in the Garden of Eden, (Gen 3:8); and with Abraham and Sarah as the Angel of the Lord, (Gen 18:1-33); He wrestled with Jacob, (Gen 32:22-32); He was with the nation Israel in her exodus from Egypt and their journey through the wilderness, (1 Cor 10:1-4); and He was even with Gideon, Samson, Daniel and all the others...not as He appeared in Bethlehem and grew up in Nazareth, but our Lord appeared in different forms such as the Angel of the Lord before His humanity was born of Mary as a Man in Bethlehem. The prophet Micah spoke of His appearances in times past:

[Micah 5:2 cont.]:

"But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah,

Too little to be among the clans of Judah,

From you One will go forth for Me to be Ruler in Israel. His goings forth are from long ago, from days of eternity."

"One will go forth" = Christ the Messiah, Who will be born in "Bethlehem, Ephrathah"

"for Me" = for God the Father.

"from days of eternity" = from before all time which indicates the eternality of Christ which only God possesses.

Jesus was on the scene in Old Testament times as the Angel of Jehovah. Scripture identifies the Angel of Jehovah not just as a messenger of God but as God appearing as the Messenger Himself. The word translated as 'angel' in God's Word can mean a created spirit being as it does in Ps 91:11, 103:19-21 & 104:4. And the word in Scripture translated as 'angel' in English is also used to mean the key messenger of a particular church congregation, i.e., the pastor-teacher, (cp. Rev 2:1, 8, 12, 18; #:1, 7, 14). (An angelic spirit being would not need a letter written to him by John in order to inform his congregation). But in numerous passages in the Old Testament, the phrase translated as 'Angel of the Lord' is identified as a Messenger Who is God, appearing on earth in various forms:

[Gen 22:15-18]:

(v. 15) "Then the Angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time from heaven,

(v. 16) and said, 'By Myself I have sworn,' says the Lord, 'because you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only son,

["says the Lord"= Scripture refers here to the Angel of the Lord as God Himself]

(v. 17) indeed I will greatly bless you, and I will greatly multiply your descendants as the stars of the heavens, and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies.

(v. 18) 'And in your descendants all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice."

[Gen 31:11-13]:

(v. 11) "Then the Angel of God said to me in the dream, 'Jacob,' and I said, 'Here I am.'

(v. 12) And he said, 'Lift up, now, your eyes and see that all the male goats which are mating are striped, speckled, and mottled; for I have seen all that Laban has been doing to you.

(v. 13) 'I am the God of Bethel, where you anointed a pillar, where you made a vow to Me; now arise, leave this land, and return to the land of your birth.

[Ex 3:2-4]:

(v. 2) "And the Angel of the Lord appeared to him in a blazing fire from the midst of a bush; and he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, yet the bush was not consumed.

(v. 3) So Moses said, 'I must turn aside now, and see this marvelous sight, why the bush is not burned up.'

(v. 4) When the Lord saw that he turned aside to look, God called to him from the midst of the bush, and said, 'Moses, Moses!' And he said, 'Here I am.' "

Compare Gen 16:7-13; 48:15-16; Judges 6:11-23; 13:9-20; Acts 7:30-35.

And the Angel of the Lord is more specifically identified as the Second Person of the Godhead, Jesus Christ:

[1 Cor 10:1-4]:

(v. 1) "For I do not want you to be unaware, brethren, that our fathers [referring to Israel in the days of Moses] were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea;

(v. 2) and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea;

(v. 3) and all ate the same spiritual food;

(v. 4) and all drank the same spiritual drink, for they were drinking from a spiritual rock which followed them; and the rock was Christ."

So the context of verse 4 indicates that there was a spiritual Leader - a spiritual Rock Who accompanied the nation Israel through the Red Sea and into the wilderness. The passage clearly indicates that there was only one spiritual Leader:

(v. 3) "and all ate the same spiritual food;

(v. 4) and all drank the same spiritual drink, for they were drinking from a spiritual rock which followed them; and the rock was Christ."

Old Testament passages indicate that the One Who accompanied Israel was God:

[Ex 13:21]:

"And the Lord was going before them in a pillar of cloud by day to lead them on the way, and in a pillar of fire by night to give them light, that they might travel by day and by night."

["Lord" = "Yhwh" = Yahweh = Jehovah God Almighty Who is "the spiritual Rock that accompanied them and that Rock was Christ," (1 Cor 10:4), Who went before Israel in a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night]

[Ex 14:19]:

"And the angel of God, Who had been going before the camp of Israel, moved and went behind them; and the pillar of cloud moved from before them and stood behind them."

(Cp Ex 23:20-23)

["Angel of God" = God the Son in His preincarnate appearance, cp Gen 22:11-12 in which the Angel of the Lord refers to Himself as God in verse 12]

Objectors might say that Ex 14:19 above indicates that Jesus Christ in His preincarnate form appeared as a created angel rather than as God when He accompanied the nation Israel. However, this would refute another verse, Exodus 13:21, which indicates that He was God, in the form of the Angel of God, Who accompanied Israel through the wilderness. So it was Jehovah God, Who can appear in any form and in more than one place at the same time, (since He is omnipresent, Ps 139), Who appeared as an Angel of the Lord in the form of a cloud and a pillar of fire, thus exemplifying the capacity of the triune God to be One God but express Himself in three Personalities in an omnipresent way as He sovereignly sees fit.

So, the Angel of the Lord - the Angel of Jehovah - while identified in Scripture as Jehovah Himself and as Jesus Christ is also identified as operating separately from God the Father yet as a unity with Him:

[Gen 24:7]:

"The Lord, the God of heaven, Who took me from my father's house and from the land of my birth, and Who spoke to me, and Who swore to me, saying, 'To your descendants I will give this land', He will send His Angel before you, and you will take a wife for my son from there.' "

Compare: Gen 24:40; Ex 23:20; 32:34; 1 Chron 21:15-18; Isa 63:9; Zech 1:12-13. When our Lord appeared on the earth as a Man, it is noteworthy that the Angel of God no longer appeared - for the role of God the Son is then moved from preincarnate appearances to the incarnate GodMan. So the context of 1 Cor 10:4 previously quoted indicates that there was a spiritual Leader - a spiritual Rock Who accompanied the nation Israel through the Red Sea and into the wilderness. The context indicates that there was only ONE Spiritual Guide: Christ. Furthermore, Old Testament passages indicate that there was only one spiritual Guide Who accompanied Israel into the wilderness: God. Therefore, Jesus Christ is God.

[Jn 1:6-8]:

(v. 6) "There came a man who was sent from God; his name was John.

(v. 7) "He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through Him all men might believe.

(v. 8) "He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the Light."

The author John the Apostle writes about another John - John the Baptist. In verse 6 the author uses the verb "egeneto" which means "came" or "came into being". This is the same word used in verse 3: "All things "egeneto"= came into existence - through Him [Jesus Christ]" So unlike our Lord Jesus Christ Who "en" = "continually was" = Who is eternal, John the Baptist "egeneto" = "came into being." He was created by the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. Recall that the author John uses the word "en " = "was" in verses 1 & 2 to describe Christ as having a continuous existence in the past ... an eternal existence.

So John the Baptist is a man created and sent by God to testify about (to publicly proclaim) the Lord and Messiah Jesus Christ to the nation Israel. It is written in verses 7 & 8 that the Baptist is to testify about our Lord in such a way that all who hear might have the opportunity to trust, i.e. believe, in Jesus Christ as their Personal Messiah / Savior. The author emphasizes in verse 8 that John the Baptist is not the Messiah but a messenger of Christ. This emphasis is important because people in the Baptist's day tended to look to him rather than to Christ... as many people today tend to look to spiritual leaders rather than to our Lord and His Word in Scripture.

Leon Morris states, (The Gospel According to John, NIV Commentary, p. 90-91):

"The emphasis on testimony should not be overlooked. There is a legal air about it. Testimony is a serious matter and it is required to substantiate the truth of a matter. It is clear that our author wants us to take what he writes as reliable. He is insistent that there is good evidence for the things he sets down. Witness establishes the truth.

It does more. It commits a man...John [the Apostle] lets us see that there are those like John the Baptist who have committed themselves by their witness to Christ .............................................

'Believe' is not in the continuous tense [meaning to continuously maintain an attitude of believing - of trusting]........

John came to bring men to decide, to make the [once for all time] definitive act of faith..........

...The greatness of the Baptist had, as we have seen, caused some of his followers to entertain exaggerated ideas about him. They appear to have held him to be the Messiah. But the Evangelist [John the author] vigorously repudiates this....Just as he brings out the true greatness of John so does he make clear his limitations. He goes on to repeat the truth that John came to bear witness. That was the whole reason for his appearance. That was why he was 'sent from God'."

...ON THE TRINITY