**The New Testament is more explicit about God’s triune nature. After Jesus’ baptism, the Spirit of God descended upon Him as a dove, and the Father said, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased” (Matt. 3:17). The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are together in the same scene.**
reed13k, the unspiritual understanding of men have given the world the confusion of ‘three co-equal, separate and distinct persons in the Godhead’. Consider the following:
Well, first of all, the man standing in the river is the Son of God, not God the Son. Neither Jesus Christ, nor his apostles, EVER used the phrase ‘God the Son’.
Secondly, why is it so hard to believe that God the Father could both speak AND give John a visual sign at the SAME time. We are talking about the ONE who has power to do anything! A TV is an physical object, but plug it in (the power), and there is visual and audio enhancements. I’m also sure electricity is REALLY important in making a TV set.
Better yet, compare man’s interpretation (like MacArthur’s) to the EXPERT,.....Jesus Christ. (Whose words I used several times below, in a short discussion I just sent off to anther FReeper on the previous thread of this series.)......
Jesus Christ said that all power was given to him. By who pray tell?
Jesus Christ said that all the words and works, that he said or performed, were from the Father.
Is the Father omnipresent? Jesus Christ declared that God the Father is a Spirit (Jn 4:23,24).
Is the Father found in the Son? If not, then the Father is not omnipresent.
Consider the Son’s prayer to the Father in John 17:1-3:
1. “Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee.†(see how the Son NEEDS the Father to glorify him so that he can glorify the Father.)
2. “As thou hast GIVEN him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as many as thou hast given him.†(the Father gave him this power, not vice versa. And the power is the gift of the Holy Ghost.)
3. “And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the ONLY TRUE GOD, AND Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.â€
Sent from where?
The soul of the Son was sent from the spiritual realm of God the Father, into the physical realm of God’s creation.
“Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me:†Heb. 10:5
In the trinitarian view, that has the Son as the creator of all things, who made the Son’s body?
Take a look at the Ark of the Covenant:
The focal point of worship was the invisible God that dwelt between the cherubims. God’s wisdom showed in that instruction, by making sure that the people wouldn’t worship the works of men’s hands. But symbolism of the Ark’s two main ingredients (wood, overlaid with gold inside AND outside) was shown in Jesus own words in John 14:10,11:
“Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works. Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me: or else believe me for the very works’ sake.â€
Remember what was put in the Ark? God put his words (the tablets of stone) in his Son.
“For I have not spoken of myself; but the Father which sent me, he gave me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak. And I know that his commandment is life everlasting: whatsoever I speak therefore, even as the Father said unto me, so I speak.’ Jn 12:49,50.
Also, the golden bowl of manna was preserved even before God commanded Moses to build the Ark. (Ex. 16:32-34) Yes, that’s proof that God’s bread of life was to be placed in his Son:
And so, Jesus Christ baptizes with the Holy Ghost. He had to go away so that the Holy Ghost could be given. That’s why the Ark had to disappear from view. The Son was going to disappear from view (ascend to heaven). Just as the Jews are going to bring an ark back into view, so also is the Lord Jesus Christ going to return to view when he comes again!
As Aaron’s rod that budded, blossomed, and brought forth almonds, was placed in the Ark, so also the resurrection power was placed in Jesus Christ:
“For as the father hath life in himself; so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself.†Jn 5:26
“Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I may take it up again. No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father.†Jn 10 17:18
“...Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father,...â€. Rms 6:4
The worldly entertainment industry is powered by the ‘prince of this world’. A favorite theme of it is people possessed by an evil spirit. They have a mind of their own, but to varying degrees, are shown to let the evil power use their body to do evil deeds. The subjects are often shown dying in that horrible condition of possession.
The Holy Ghost baptism is the power of God to empower people to be used of God for only good, and after death, raise them from the dead when the trump of God sounds.
The Son of God (man with a soul) was and is possessed with the power of God (the Father), and has expressed the will of the invisible God to all that will hear his voice.
Does that last comment sound familiar?.............
“The word which God sent unto the children of Israel, preaching by Jesus Christ: (he is Lord of all:) That word, I say, ye know, which was published throughout all Judea, and began from Galilee, after the baptism which John preached; How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good.....the Jews...slew and hanged on a tree: Him God raised up.....he rose from the dead. And commanded us to preach unto the people......remission of sins. While Peter yet spake these words, the Holy Ghost fell on all that heard the word.’ Acts 10:36-44 (abbreviated to simply get the main point across. Also read Peter’s initial testimony; Acts 2:14-40)
Wanna know how Jesus Christ is Lord of all? I think it is because the omnipresent, omnipotent, and omniscient Father is in him, and he in him.
Likewise; the phrase Mother of GOD is not found in Scripture.