A Layman Looks at the Word: Knowing God

All of the world's religions seek to know or to find God in one way or another. Buddhism seeks enlightenment. Shintoism seeks to find God by following the ancient way of God. Islam ,as proclaimed by their prophet, Mohammed, seeks to outweigh the good deeds against the bad deeds in life so that the final judgement of Allah, the Creator, will allow them entrance to heaven. Hinduism has many Deities and believe that through karma and many reincarnated lives they will join with God for living right. Judaism believes in one God who is the Creator, and will be the judge of all according to their works, who gave his law (Torah) to Moses and with other writings of Hebrew prophets which form the Masoretic text, or the Tanakh which is the Old Testament.

Christianity believes in one God also, but that you can have a personal relationship with God by His own plan and be assured of salvation. One part that those outside of Christianity have a problem with is that God is manifest in three persons. This is the Trinity, which I will discuss in this blog.

The Christian Bible contains the Old Testament and the New Testament. The Holy Bible is a revelation of God to man written over several thousand years.

The beginning of the Holy Bible starts like this:
1 ¶ In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.
3 ¶ And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.

Amazing as it may be, God revealed Himself in 3 persons in the first 3 verses of the Holy Bible. God here is "Elohyim" which is plural. Verse one is God the Father, the everlasting, the uncaused cause, the first person of the Godhead.

Verse 2 is the Spirit of God, the force of His will, the ability of God to be everywhere all the time, the third person of the Godhead. Often referred to as a dove, but is as the wind, but still the very power of God.

Verse 3 is God's voice or Word which is the second person of the Godhead. John 1 says that the Word is God and Hebrews 1:2 says that by Him was made the worlds.

He is also called the Lamb of God in John 1:9 & 36. This is Jesus, the Messiah, God's son.

1 John 5:7 For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.

It is no secret that God promised through out the old testament that He would send the Messiah, a representation of Himself in human form to suffer and die for the redemption of mankind. He would be born of a virgin, Isaiah 7:14. Luke 1:26 ¶ And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth,

27 To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary.

28 And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women.

29 And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be.

30 And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God.

31 And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS.

32 He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David:

33 And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.

In Micah 5:2 Jesus was to be born in Bethlehem. In Matthew 2:1 He was.

John 1:14 states that the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us. This is the whole story of the new testament.

There are many detailed prophecies in the old testament that predict Jesus' birth, life, death, and resurrection. By the law of probabilities, one man who fits 48 of the prophecies would be 1 in 10 to the 157th power. That would be a 1 with 157 zeros. The estimated number of electrons in the universe is 10 to the 79th power.

Jesus literally fulfilled all of the prophecies concerning the Messiah, except those concerning the last days of the end time, which is yet to come. Anyone who seriously looks into this will concede that Jesus of Nazareth by the laws of probability alone, is the Messiah. Judaism is still looking for the Messiah to come as the conquering King, which He will. They have missed the scriptures concerning the Messiah as the suffering servant, which has been accomplished at the crucifixion.

In the event of Jesus' baptism by John, we see the Son being baptized, the Spirit coming in the form of a dove, and the Father speaking. Mark 3:16 And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him:

17 And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.

Here again is the Trinity revealed, confirming that Jesus is the second person of the Godhead...God in the flesh.

All religions recognize Jesus as a Holy man or prophet, but only Christians recognize Him as God.

The religious Jews knew that Jesus claimed to be God. That was the main reason that they sought to have Him killed. In those days there were Pharisees, Saducees, and Scribes that made up the Judaism religious establishment.

In Mark 2:5-12 we see that the Pharisees recognized that Jesus claimed to be God because he forgave sins.
In John 5:18 they also knew that Jesus calling God His Father was claiming to be equal with God.
In John 8:58 Jesus confirmed that Abraham had saw his day and that "before Abraham was, I AM." This is the very name that God told Moses to call Himself.

Basically, one has to deal with what Jesus said, either He was who he said or His claims were false. Jesus did rise from the dead to prove His Divinity. John 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me.

As God the Son, Jesus volunteered to give His life so that the sin of man could be forgiven and mankind could be reconciled to God. He had power to give His life and take it up again, John 10:17-18.

Now while Jesus was a man on the earth, He was all man. He gave up his authority as God and only acted by the authority of the Holy Spirit which was given to Him without measure, John 3:34. You see, He was the only man to ever live without sin.

So as He led a sinless life, He could become the pure sacrifice for the sin of man.

The Bible says that after Jesus rose from the dead, He sat down at the right hand of the Father...He resumed his place in the Godhead, but as a reborn man. Because of His obedience and victory, God has made salvation come from the indwelling of Jesus' Spirit, Romans 8:9.

The concept of Trinity can be studied, but to truly understand, one must become born again as Jesus taught Nicodemus in John 3. Then you will have a relationship with with God through His Son and be assured of your salvation. This is done by asking Jesus to forgive your sins and to come into your life.

The 3rd person of the Godhead is God the Holy Spirit. He is the essence and power of God.

God's Spirit has empowered people through out the ages, men like Sampson, Samuel, Aaron, and David were all blessed by His power.

We see in Genesis 1:2 that the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters...this is Hebrew for hovering....just waiting for the Word to move in the power of creation.

John 1:3 says that by Jesus were all things made that was made, yet it was by the will of God, and the power of the Holy Ghost.....God always works as the Trinity.

Here is another simple chart that depicts the Trinity.

Jesus said that God is a Spirit and those who worship Him must worship Him in Spirit and in truth, John 4:24. Ezekiel said he saw God as a fire from the waist up and down, Ezekiel 1:27. In Exodus, God led the Israelites by being a pillar of fire and a pillar of smoke. So the eternal God, 1st person of the Godhead is truly amazing. His eyes see everything. He knows the future. He knows everything.

When we see God in scripture as a man, it is always Jesus, for He is the image of God in man, 2 Corinthians 4:4

We also have the ability to be indwelt by the Holy Spirit if we are Christian. Jesus told us that God would give the Holy Ghost to His children who asked, Luke 11:13. Also that Jesus and the Father would make their abode within the believer, John 14:23.

We are made in the image of God and are a triune being as well. The Bible says we are spirit, soul, and body, 1 Thessalonians 5:23.

When one receives God's salvation, the Spirit of Jesus indwells your spirit. Your soul (mind, emotions, personality) is renewed by your reborn spirit. Your body (flesh) is also made to submit to your spirit, an ongoing endeavor.

The relationship with God is truly the very best that can happen to you. It is living with and understanding God, the Trinity.