Posted on 02/04/2016 12:39:52 PM PST by metmom
"'Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord is one!'" (Deuteronomy 6:4).
There is only one true God.
When God freed Israel to take her to the promised land, He said: "You shall have no other gods before Me" (Ex. 20:3). Later Moses told the Israelites, "The Lord, He is God; there is no other besides Him" (Deut. 4:35) and "The Lord is our God, the Lord is one!" (6:4). Israel was to believe in the one and only God.
But Jesus claimed to be God. Is He God number two? Not at all. In Mark 12:29-30, Jesus quoted Deuteronomy 6:4-5: "'Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is one Lord; and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.'" If Jesus were another God He might have said, "Split your allegiance between the two of us." But Jesus says we are to love God with undivided commitment. Therefore He agrees with Moses that there is only one God. However, He also says, "I and the Father are one" (John 10:30).
Paul also discusses the unity of God in 1 Corinthians 8. The pagan priests in Corinth would often sell the meat that had been sacrificed to idols. Some new Christians were offended when other Christians ate that meat. In response, Paul told them, "Concerning the eating of things sacrificed to idols, we know that there is no such thing as an idol in the world" (v. 4). Since an idol represented a nonexistent god, there was nothing wrong with eating the food. He continued, "There is no God but one. For even if there are so-called gods whether in heaven or on earth, as indeed there are many gods and many lords, 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" (vv. 4-6). How can all things be from God the Father, for whom we exist, and by the Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we exist? Because they are one.
Suggestions for Prayer
Praise God as David did: "For this reason Thou art great, O Lord God; for there is none like Thee, and there is no God besides Thee" (2 Sam. 7:22).
For Further Study
Read Ezekiel 6.
What was God's response to Israel's idolatry? How does God feel about anything that might take first place in your heart instead of Him?
Studying God’s Word ping
Shema (Harken Hear and Do)! This is one of the top few declarations made regularly by all those who are part of the _full_ assembly of Israel, whether by ancestry or by faith. Two sticks (actually trees) made one people, by His power!
No, he said he was the son of God.
John 10:30 "I and the Father are one."
John 14:8-13 Philip said to him, "Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us." Jesus said to him, "Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, 'Show us the Father'? Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does his works. Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else believe on account of the works themselves."
Wow...JMacA and I are on the exact same page in our study threads today! LOL!
For a child has been born to us,
a son has been given to us.
He shoulders responsibility
and is called:
Extraordinary Strategist,
Mighty God,
Everlasting Father,
Prince of Peace.
Isaiah 9:6
31 Then the Jews took up stones again to stone him.
32 Jesus answered them, Many good works have I shewed you from my Father; for which of those works do ye stone me?
33 The Jews answered him, saying, For a good work we stone thee not; but for blasphemy; and because that thou, being a man, makest thyself God.
34 Jesus answered them, Is it not written in your law, I said, Ye are gods?
35 If he called them gods, unto whom the word of God came, and the scripture cannot be broken;
36 Say ye of him, whom the Father hath sanctified, and sent into the world, Thou blasphemest; because I said, I am the Son of God?
He was CORRECTING them. They did not understand his words, hence they falsely accused him of claiming to be God.
All will be made plain soon enough, in a torched "Touchdown Jesus" kind of way.
"Elohim" also means judges. The irony is thick with this one.
Wrong. Read Exodus 3:14 and John 8:58. Jesus used the same NAME to refer to Himself as God did in revealing Himself to Moses.
"I am WHO I am". About as simple an identity as you can get. Silly simple. God's words are 100% trustworthy, like the proverbial "handshake" agreement between honest parties. When He makes a promise, it's as good as done, as if it already happened, even if its manifestation in the physical world is a long way off from a human perspective.
THAT's what all the patriarchs knew, as explained in Hebrews chapter 11.
Hebrews 11:13 These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.
And even Balaam saw, which is why he could not curse Israel.
In the Bible, who identifies themself as the “alpha and omega”?
Christ's argument here is a "how much more than" line of reasoning. If human magistrates are called "gods" who will perish, how much more is the Christ worthy of the title of God? It is self-evident, however, that Christ is God:
"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." (John 1:1)
I don’t get your point.
The first and the last. The first and the last WHAT?
Few even think to ask *that* question, much less seek an answer. It's not even a difficult question.
All the usual replies that come bouncing back parrot the falsehood spewed from the blind guides. There is no understanding, and every time the typical catchy phrases are tossed out, it demonstrates that the so-called vast knowledge is about a millimeter deep. Same ol same ol, because few dare even question what they have been taught. All the experts pretty much agree, settled doctrine, settled science and all of that.
The fog of deception is going to clear and whole bunch of folks are going to be in for quite a shock.
That's what the false teachers smear onto the text. He is CORRECTING THEM, explaining why "Son of God" is not "God".
"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." (John 1:1)
Another standard verse toss. Does anybody bother doing just a little homework? Minimal attention is required. Take it literally, for real, because words can be used to mean anything. This verse points the direction to go. The beginning. Genesis 1:1. And there it is:
Genesis 1:1 In the beginning God [Elohim] created the heaven and the earth.
Apply a false premise and the whole argument becomes nonsense.
The usual response would be the next verses in John, because prepositions can be jerked with to twist meanings (I refer to the stand line of interpretations, which fly in the face of any knowledge of Torah whatsoever). But back to what the word Elohim means:
Hebrews 4:12 For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
Notice you do not give any reasons why He MUST be saying "the Son of God is not God." So, in other words, you're just making an assertion.
The usual response would be the next verses in John
I'm not sure why that would be the first response, since your response was entirely nonsensical.
How does Genesis 1:1 affect, in any conceivable way, the reading of John 1:1? You did not explain, and before I can give a response, you must finish yours. You also did not bother to explain your use of Hebrews 14:12.
**That’s what the false teachers smear onto the text. He is CORRECTING THEM, explaining why “Son of God” is not “God”.**
Well, in the scriptures, Jesus Christ (and his apostles) NEVER used the phrase “God the Son”. That’s where ‘Drs’ such as MacArthur stumble. They fail to see that ‘God is a Spirit’ only, and not a physical image. They think that he is both, and therefore ‘two persons’. Jesus Christ does such a wonderful job of explaining the Godhead, only for carnal minds to think of the Father as being an older (looking) version of the Son.
They also use the phrase ‘God the Holy Spirit (Ghost)’, which isn’t scriptural either. They interpret that the Spirit that proceeds from the Father is another person of God, coequal to the Father. When in reality the Holy Ghost proceeds from the Father.
The ‘Word’ (the Father. remember that Christ sourced his words and works directly to the Father that dwells in him) was made flesh, that is, visible to mankind. Jesus Christ is the image of the invisible God.
Want a visible image of the Father? One has to look to Jesus Christ.
Here’s an unrelated question:
I looked at your homepage and saw the Flag of Israel. I discovered years ago that it’s not all that old. What a couple hundred years? A year or so ago I was staring at the ‘star’ of David, and realized that there are six triangles that meet in six places, creating a six sided center. Do you find that a bit curious?
Yes, as in a son being the "spittin' image" of his father. Personality, character, etc. Easily understandable with this everyday concept. Yet somehow the simple meaning became twisted into a weird and unnatural form.
A year or so ago I was staring at the ‘star’ of David, and realized that there are six triangles that meet in six places, creating a six sided center. Do you find that a bit curious?
Well there's this stuff:
http://www.biblewheel.com//GR/GR_541.php
I haven't really thought about it, though, so anything you can put on the table would be appreciated.
It’s not even a difficult question , but apparently it is since no answer was provided.
I understand why no answer was given, and clearly you understand as well.
**In the Bible, who identifies themself as the “alpha and omega�**
themself????
Where did you get that word? And it seems that you are using it to make it appear that there are two (or three) persons talking, where the speaker says, “I am.....” (singular).
It is simple. God the Father (He is a Spirit) is so completely in Christ, and Christ is so completely in him, that there is no separation. That’s the plain teaching of the Son in John chapter 14 (well, actually all of John). When Christ opens his mouth and speaks in Revelation, he is speaking the words that the Father gave to him to speak. (Rev. 1:1)
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