The Son of God as Almighty
God in the Old and New Testament--Incarnation Versus Cross
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In order for the plan of
Salvation to be feasible and Divinity as God the Father not die, it was of absolute
necessity that the Father and the Son should exist from eternity for the
following reasons:
Three persons to the
Godhead, are absolutely requisite to this scenario of the plan of salvation.
Otherwise, there could be no form of eternal death of any person party to the
Godhead. The reason that three persons do not constitute three God's, is
simple. The three persons consist of--the ONE ETERNAL SPIRIT. 1Cr 12:13 For by one
Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether [we be] Jews or Gentiles,
whether [we be] bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one
Spirit. Eph 2:18 For through him
we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father. Eph 4:4 [There is] one
body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; Hbr 9:14 How much more
shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself
without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the
living God? Jesus offered Himself
through the eternal Spirit--the ONE ETERNAL SPIRIT. Only God could do that,
because only God and God only was ETERNAL SPIRIT, SUBSTANCE, ESSENCE. The Son
offered (sacrificed) Himself two times-once at the time of His Incarnation
and again on the Cross. These two sacrifices were different in their purpose.
The Incarnation Sacrifice--A Complete Sacrifice Without
the Cross
How did the Incarnation alone
reach the prescribed limit as a sacrifice? By Christ laying aside (in
effect dying to), His first estate of Being, which was PURE DIVINITY
ONLY, as "a crowing, greatest good gift" to us for the purpose of
overcoming and sanctification. This was the gift of His Divine Nature, which
is proffered to us: 2Pe 1:4 Whereby are given
unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be
partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the
world through lust. This gift was not
available under the Old Covenant. The Old and New Covenants were very
different. One pointed to the Cross sacrifice, and the other to the
Incarnation sacrifice. Again, what is the difference? What is the
distinguishing feature between both sacrifices? As stated, the
Incarnation of Christ, at which time His first estate Divine Nature (Mind,
Holy Spirit life) was laid aside as a regenerating, sanctifying, overcoming
power for us. So what happened in the sacrifice on the cross? On the cross
two major things accrued which did not accrue at the Incarnation sacrifice in
heaven. 1. The Son of God was
tested by Satan while having the weight of the sins of the world laid upon
Him. 2. The Son of God died
the second death by again, and for the last time, commending His Holy Spirit
life and soul (essence and substance) to the Father, as a bequeathed gift to
us. At this juncture it was impossible for Christ to return to His first
estate of Being, and refuse to partake of the cup on the cross. Before this
point, He could have done so and the plan of redemption would have failed, as
regards the salvation of souls on this earth. The universe would have
survived because of the Incarnation and its separate sacrifice of
"REACHING THE PRESCRIBED LIMIT AS A SACRIFICE." In other word's,
the Son met the prescribed terms of the Everlasting Covenant by dying to His
former life (by laying it aside forever). That satisfied the demands of the
Everlasting Covenant. Other non-sinning worlds would have survived because a
way had been provided that no man need ever sin again. But what about man who
had sinned. What about us on this earth? In order for redemption
for us to take place, there was an additional sacrifice that had to be made
on the part of the Son of God. He had to take our sins upon Himself and be
tested in order to prove Satan wrong in saying that it is impossible for man
to keep God's law. Christ proved that Satan was wrong; that humanity could
keep the commandments and that God was subject to His own law. This is what
redeemed us on this earth. Our sins were paid for by Christ taking them on
Himself and overcoming them in human flesh, proving that if any man accepted
the gift of His first Incarnation sacrifice, namely His Divine Nature--His
mind placed in the heart, he could overcome sin. Such a person would be safe
to save and sin would never break out again. Without the Incarnation
sacrifice of His life and soul for us, as a regenerating gift, His death on
the cross would have been to no avail, because there would been no cure for
sin. That is why Ellen White said: "Christ declared
that after his ascension, he would send to his church, as his crowning gift,
the Comforter, who was to take his place. This Comforter is the Holy
Spirit,--the soul of his life, the efficacy of his church, the light and life
of the world. With his Spirit Christ sends a reconciling influence and a
power that takes away sin. Could The Humanity of
Christ Have Failed Ellen White said that the
humanity of Christ could have failed the test, and indeed, if He could not
have failed, the entire controversy between Christ and Satan would not be
valid. If it were impossible for Christ's humanity to be tempted and fail,
Satan would have justly cried foul, and the entire salvific process would
have been a meaningless charade. How we may Hasten Christ's Return--Our Part in the
Salvific Process
Jesus Christ is waiting
for a bride to prepare herself by adorning herself with His righteousness by
partaking of His greatest good crowing gift, His Divine Nature Holy Spirit
life. We may personally hasten the day of His coming by so preparing
ourselves. He is waithing for us--His bride, to prepare herself. The Son of God as God Almighty in the Old Testament
If no man has seen God,
then the Almighty God that appeared to Abram must have been the Son of God.
The same applies to the following text involving Jacob:
According to Scripture,
it is the Holy Spirit of Christ which shows us all things. Ellen White says that the
name of Christ was also Jehovah: "Jehovah, the
eternal, self-existent, uncreated One, Himself the source and sustainer of
all, is alone enetitled to supreme reverence and worship." E.G. White,
SDA Bible Commentary, Vol. 7A, p. 439. "Jehovah is the name
given to Christ. 'Behold, God is my salvation,' writes the prophet Isaiah; 'I
will trust, and not be afraid; for the Lord Jehovah is my strength and my
song; He also is become my salvation. Therefore with joy shall ye draw water
out of the wells of salvation. And in that day ye shall say, Praise the Lord,
call upon His name, declare His doings among the people, make mention that
His name is exalted.' 'In that day shall this song be sung in the land of
Judah: we have a strong city; salvation will God appoint for walls and
bulwarks. Open ye the gates, that the righteous nation which keepeth the
truth may enter in. Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed
on Thee, because he trusteth in Thee. Trust ye in the Lord forever; for in
the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength." E.G. White, The Signs of the
Times, May 3, 1899, p. 2. SDA Bible Commentary Vol. 7a, p. 439. The Son of God as Almighty God From the New Testament
The
song is sung of the Lamb--great and marvellous are thy works--LORD GOD
ALMIGHTY. Obviously, this refers to the Lamb as being the Lord God Almighty,
because the Father was not the sacrificial Lamb. ·
Rev
1:8 I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which
is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.
Who is to come? Jesus.
Again, it is Christ Jesus
who is to come.
First
and last refers to Alpha and Omega. Was the Father ever Dead?
This is common sense
because they both are of the ONE ETERNAL SPIRIT, which is eternal. What is
true of one is true of the other. Like both share the name Jehovah God,
according to Ellen White and Scripture. Both share the name "I AM."
Both are one God because of being OF ONE ETERNAL SPIRIT essence and
substance. The Trinity doctrine is correct to that point. It is incorrect in
defining the identity of the Holy Spirit. In the Old Testament we
have God identifying Himself when speaking to Moses from the burning bush:
In the New Testament
Jesus calls Himself "I AM"
As soon as Jesus said
"I am" they went backward and fell to the ground! Jesus is the I
am, "This book, the
Revelation, begins and ends with a prediction of the second coming of the
Lord Jesus Christ. We should set ourselves to meditate frequently upon the
second coming of Christ, and keep it in the eye of our faith and expectation.
John speaks as if he saw that day: "Behold, he cometh, as sure as if you
beheld him with your eyes. He cometh with clouds, which are his chariot and
pavilion. He will come publicly: Every eye shall see him, the eye of his people,
the eye of his enemies, every eye, yours and mine.’’ He shall come, to the
terror of those who have pierced him and have not repented and of all who
have wounded and crucified him afresh by their apostasy from him, and to the
astonishment of the pagan world. For he comes to take vengeance on those who
know not God, as well as on those that obey not the gospel of Christ. [6.]
This account of Christ is ratified and confirmed by himself, v. 8. Here our
Lord Jesus justly challenges the same honour and power that is ascribed to
the Father, v. 4. He is the beginning and the end; all things are from him
and for him; he is the Almighty; he is the same eternal and unchangeable one.
And surely whoever presumes to blot out one character of this name of Christ
[the Alpha and Omega] deserves to have his name blotted out of the book of
life. Those that honour him he will honour; but those who despise him shall
be lightly esteemed." Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary on the Whole
Bible." Ellen White and Scripture Agree That Christ Jesus is the
Alpha and Omega
"The Alpha and
Omega.--When the students of prophecy shall set hearts to know the truth of
Revelation,they will realize what an importance is attached to this search.
Christ Jesus is the Alpha and the Omega, the Genesis of the Old Testament,
and the Revelation of the New." E.G. White, SDA Bible Commentary, Vol.
6, 1092. EGW Says the Spirit of God is the Holy Ghost
144,000 one hundred-forty-four
thousand not just Jews -- "I [Ellen White in context] have received
yours [Bro. Chapman's letter] dated June 3. In this letter you speak in these
words: 'Elder Robinson does not wish me to leave, but urges that I enter the
canvassing field until such time as the conference can afford to employ me in
some other capacity, but states positively that I cannot be sent out to
present the truth to others until some points held by me are changed or
modified in order that the views regarded by us as a people should be
properly set forth. He quotes as a sample, 'My idea in reference to the
Holy Ghost's not being the Spirit of God, which is Christ, but the
angel Gabriel, and my belief that the 144,000 will be Jews who will
acknowledge Jesus as the Messiah. On all fundamental points I am in perfect
harmony with our people; but when I try to show what seems to me to be new
light on the truth, those in authority, none of whom have seemingly ever made
a personal investigation of the matter, refuse to look into the Bible, but
brand me as a fellow with queer ideas of the Bible.'" Written by Ellen
White to Brother Chapman from Petoskey, Michigan, June 11, 1891, Manuscript
Releases, vol. 14, p. 175. In the above statement it
is implied that Ellen White did not want Brother Chapman to be sent out by
the Conference to present the truth to others until some points held by him
were changed in order that the views regarded by us as a poeopld shold be
properly set forth. One of those ideas was in reference to the Holy Ghost not
being the Spirit of God, which is Christ. Ellen White taught that the Holy
Spirit (Ghost) was the Spirit of Christ Ron Beaulieu |