Text Ref. 11

“But while he [Joseph] thought on these things [Mary’s pregnancy before they were married – and Joseph knew the child was not his], behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost.” (Mat 1:20)Sometime prior to that an angel had told Mary about her impending pregnancy. Mary was amazed and confused. “Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man? (35) And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.”  (Luk 1:34-35)

Allow me to use human terminology in my attempts to show you what happened (and bear in mind the following did not literally happen; I have to see it this way in order to dimly understand what occurred):

In fashioning Jesus, God gathered in all of His far-reaching Presence and all of His Great Power and all of His Essence and Being and compacted them in the seed that He placed within the womb of the Virgin Mary. But there was still all of His Presence and greatness and Essence in all of creation as there was before this Great Event. It is similar to the way in which a torch is initially set ablaze from another source, but the original source is not diminished in the least by the flame it gives to the torch.

God had amassed all of His divine attributes and placed them in a focal point named Jesus – but that diminished God not at all. The fullness of the Godhead was in Jesus while God still remained GOD. After Jesus’ baptism by John the Baptist, at which time Jesus symbolically received the Holy Spirit, no other being on earth could have the Spirit of God as an abiding Presence within him: the fullness was all in Jesus. Even John, who had the Spirit from birth, was affected by this truth. His ministry began to wane as the Spirit gradually withdrew Himself from John after Jesus publicly and symbolically received the Holy Spirit.

Jesus Himself Is God ‘Uniquely-Begotten’

We the people of God are quick to get stuck in ruts of our own making. For instance, when dealing with the old Truth that Jesus is the only begotten Son of God, we have no difficulty in accepting it; it is a “slam dunk” – IF it is presented to us in the standard way. The standard way – and it is certainly a miraculous way – is that God was in Jesus, reconciling the world unto Himself. It is far beyond our understanding, but we don’t worry our pea-sized brains about it because “God knows what He is doing” and “God can do anything”; and we are absolutely correct in accepting what God does although it is beyond our comprehension.

John 1.18 is one of many biblical passages that declare this old Truth. I am not asking you now to accept some great new revelation hidden in this verse: it’s the same old Truth, but it is rammed home even more effectively by looking at the verse from a different perspective. You might say further light is shed on the verse (it is in no way a new revelation) by studying different translations or versions of the original Greek. Kenneth S. Wuest’s version of   it, with an assist by the NIV, can help us see the oldTruth more clearly.

Now remember that John 1.18 is forever the old Truth on which our salvation is based. The only thing new is not the old Truth; it is the way in which the original Greek words are translated; and I am aware of no reputable Bible scholar who has disputed the three different translations of John 1.18

Following are the three versions in question:

Joh1:18 KJV:

“No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.”

John 1:18  NIV:

“No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him [God] known.”

John 1:18  Wuest:

“Absolute deity in its essence no one has ever yet seen. God uniquely-begotten, He who is in the bosom of [has a cherished relationship with] the Father, that One fully explained deity.”

You will observe that the NIV boldly states that Jesus “is himself GOD” and then Wuest drives home the finishing nail: “God [who is] uniquely-begotten [as the Son], … that One [Jesus of course] fully explained deity.”

Don’t view this divine masterstroke as Jesus’ being uniquely begotten, but as GOD Himself being begotten as the human Son of God. This confirms the co-identity of God and Jesus Christ.  God, of His own will and by His own power, was begotten as the Son Jesus Christ. Be careful: that does not make Jesus “His own father,” as some critics say contemptuously; Jesus in His divinity could have had no father as He was an eternal Being, never having been begotten. Only the glorified body of Jesus, which will merge with the essence of God in the summing up of all things, was begotten.

Man is basically body, soul and spirit. This will not change essentially in our eternal state. We shall then be glorified body, soul (our will and emotions) and spirit (the spirit of life or animate being that God gave us).

Jesus was also body, soul and spirit. In heaven He will be (and is now) glorified body, soul (having a will that is literally one with the will of God) and spirit (the spirit of life that He had forever because He was the Father who became the uniquely begotten Son). In the consummation of all things, Jesus, as one with the essence of God, will need no body, not even a glorified one.

Furthermore the full work of redemption will now have been accomplished; the body of Jesus will no longer be required for living and suffering and dying. He will be folded into the essence of God. Also the Holy Spirit, that constant, indomitable guide to the Church and its billions of needy individual members, will have accomplished His task of taking us all safe home. God sent Him; God shall bring Him back.

(1Co 15:28)  “And when all things shall be subdued unto him [the Son Jesus], then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him [God] that put all things under him, that God may be all in all.”

 “And what about Jesus?” Why… I thought you knew. You didn’t? Then let me assure you: That wonderful, glorious name can never be forgotten or dispensed with. He has done marvelous things for us and in us and through us… God – whose name is JESUS – will be our all in all, and He shall reign forever.

 

Phase One: Divinity Comes to Earth – continued

 

Lesson Two

 

Jesus’ Birth Was the First Step in Man’s Redemption

The Birth of Jesus

od had His thoughts and affections set on mankind from forever ago. It naturally follows that He also had his thoughts centered on redeeming mankind because He knew beforehand that man would tragically fall in the Garden of Eden.

He chose one nation out of all the nations that were then extant in the world, to carry His message of love and redemption to all men. The Law that God gave the nation of Israel carried within its many rites and duties and its various sacrifices, the plan by which God would deliver mankind from their sins and the predictable damning consequences of those sins.

But the first step in the actual redemption of all men was the birth of Jesus. Without His being born into this world, there could be no life, suffering/death, resurrection and ascension to the Father. If any one of these steps to the redemption of man had been left undone, there could be no redemption. We will deal with each step (birth, life, suffering/death, resurrection and ascension) as we progress in this study. When we have finished the study, you should have a clearer picture of all that was involved in the whole redemptive story of Christ. (Ref., Figure 1 in the forepart of the Text)

The Awesome Significance of Jesus’ Birth

There were five supremely important events in the life of Jesus Christ and, at the same time, these events left their mark on the history of all mankind. In other writings I have said there were seven highlights in Jesus’ life, but for this discourse I have condensed them into five. They were neither notable scientific discoveries nor were they great inventions. The events were much greater than the invention of the printing press. They were vastly more significant than the discovery of electricity, the invention of the light bulb or the many medical advances made in the past century. Without the events of which I am writing mankind would be forever damned and none of mankind’s brilliant discoveries would have mattered in the least. The five events were interrelated: To repeat, they are 1) Jesus’ birth, 2) His life, 3) His suffering and death, 4) His resurrection and 5) His ascension to the Father.

Nothing in all the annals of mankind can surpass the above mentioned five segments in Jesus’ life in their very deep, deep meaning to all men and women. Any one event, without the others, would have been impossible or in vain. For instance, without Christ’s birth there could not have been His death. Without His death His birth would have been a miraculous happening that was nevertheless insignificant to the salvation of man.

Man has made many big steps toward the alleviation of suffering from plagues and various illnesses that were deadly in

times past. But we still have plagues. Man has increased his knowledge greatly and is continuing daily to add to that enormous storehouse. But we still have not learned how to live with one another in peace. We have not learned how to love.

Man has improved his communications skills so that the world is no longer so big that we on one side don’t know what is happening on the other side. But what that really means, in the final analysis, is that we know instantly what we don’t like in the other fellow and are instantly prepared to go to war over it. Knowledge has brought neither love nor peace. Actually, knowledge without love has caused more anguish than it has solved problems.

Just think what the world would be like if the nations had, with all their accumulated learning, the love of God in their hearts! It would be a veritable Garden of Eden. God is trying to show all nations and all individuals that without Him they have nothing but ashes in their grasp. Impersonal knowledge and cold technology are the most tragic of substitutes for the warmth that the Prince of Peace brings to the heart and life of the person who accepts Him.

There will be no “Christian nation” in our time; the United States certainly does not deserve that title, nor does any other current nation. It is now left to the individual to make His choice to accept Christ or reject Him. Get rid of the idea that you can take the middle road and neither accept Christ nor reject Him. If you don’t accept, you are automatically rejecting Him.

“He that is not with me is against me; and he that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad.”  (Mat 12:30, Luke 11.23)

It’s ironic. Here are people who celebrate the birth date of a Man they have rejected. Similarly, on Easter they commem­orate the resurrection of a Man whose life means nothing to them. It is all a farce, a monumental tragedy. It is left only for you the individual to accept Christ into your heart. It is up to you to make both His birth and His death, in your life, the towering events they actually are.

If you have not already done so, come to this Man whose birthday you have previously celebrated without thought and without worship. If you do give your life to Christ, He will henceforth make every moment of your existence a time of celebration. It will be Christmas every day.

What you must do is simple. First you must see there is no alternative to serving Christ. You have neither the peace nor the joy you expect from serving the appetites of your own sinful self and doing what is pleasant and easy to do. Next, you should cast a wistful look at the children of God who are having the same troubles as you and who possibly haven’t the same material possessions as you – but they are enjoying life simply because they make Jesus Christ the center of that life.

Why don’t you (even you who are following Christ) accept the change of heart that God is offering you at this very minute? If you have been holding back something from this Savior who demands our all, talk to Him: He will hear you. Give in to Him and ask Him to come into your life and take full control. After all, things are not going right with you in charge and there are no signs of any change in the foreseeable future. Give up, my friend, give up to Jesus. Only He can give you the peace and joy you are seeking. Only He can give you the salvation you need.

The ‘Virgin Birth’ Was Even More Than That

Jesus’ birth was vital to man’s salvation: without the birth there could have been no death, no resurrection and no hope at all for mankind. You know how God put His plan into action. It is undeniably “the greatest story ever told.” He planted a seed of greatness in the womb of a virgin named Mary. It was totally impossible. Not only did a virgin conceive, but the Holy Spirit (to whom Jesus referred as “My Father”!) impregnated her. (Mat. 1.20; Luke1.35)

There was no human factor in the planning or implementing of the act itself. Joseph her husband did not contribute a sperm cell – she was a virgin – nor did Mary supply an egg cell. How could there be a seed of greatness, how could there be a sinless infant born if sinful humans had a direct part in its conception? Mary was only a willing donor of her body for the divine implantation of the fertilized egg cell and her subsequent nourishing of the embryo that was begotten and formed by God alone.