Date sent: Sat, 28 Apr 2001 15:34:52
-0700 (PDT)
From:
Subject: my essay
To:
alan.myatt@pobox.com
I am not a writer, I don't even enjoy reading that much, but I felt it necessary at this time in my life to get a few things down on paper.
Ya know, I have been a church kid as long as I can remember. I have always had a desire to know God, however a lot of church doctrine has only left me with questions. I have had so many people tell me that it is all a great mystery and that no man can fathom the ways of God. In some ways that is true, but I don't believe that the basic question of "Who Is God" can exist without answers.
The Bible tells us that God is omnipresent. That means that He is everywhere all the time. I've learned a bit about the stars, planets, galaxies and space as we know it, and let me tell you, it sounds like a pretty big place, no end in sight. If God is truly omnipresent does His Spirit span the entire universe at the same time? Psalms 139:7-8
Why do people pray for the Spirit of God to present at their particular worship service? It sounds like He's already there filling that building and every other square inch of the universe! There's just no getting away from God. This must be a hard concept to grasp. Man has a hard time breaking away from the confines of the five senses. We seem to have to assign three dimensions to everything and everything must exist in that space. I think this is why God is so blessed when we believe, because we have stepped out of these confines and reached out to someone that we can not see.
John 1:1-3 "In the beginning was the Word, and the
Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning
with God. All things were made by him: and without him was not anything
made that was made." Sounds like God and his Word are knit very closely
together. What is God's Word? ...
What is your word? It is your thoughts, your mind, and
your will, all that makes you, you. If you write your words on paper,
it is your thoughts recorded in a way that others can learn from.
God is Holy. God is Spirit, John 4:24. If you could analyze the essence of God you would find two things, Spirit and Holiness. God is Holy Spirit as you and I are flesh and bones. So when we read the phrase Holy Spirit in The Word it refers to "what" God is in contrast to who He is. Where the confusion sets in is the fact that the term holy spirit is also used to describe the gift that the believers received on the day of Pentecost. This is also a gift that you and I receive when we are "born again". The Word says that we are "new beings, created in Christ Jesus." The word "created" is very important to understand. Whenever the word "created" is used it means to bring into existence something that was not there before. When God "created" the heavens and earth, He brought into existence something that was not there before. So when we are "born again" we receive the gift of holy spirit, something brand new, something that was not there before, it is "created" in us. The King James translators tried to show this contrast by capitalizing the words "Holy Spirit" when they referred to God and using lower case "holy spirit" when referring to the "gift". So any time we see these words, we must determine through the context if it is referring to the "Giver" or the "gift".
WHO IS JESUS CHRIST
Jesus Christ is:
1-Second in authority to God only, - John 14:28 I
Corin. 11:3 and I Corin. 15:27,28
2-The promised seed, son of Mary, conceived by God, Gen.
3:15 Matt. 1:18, 20 Gal. 3:16
3-Son of man, Luke 5:24
4-A man tempted as we are, Hebrews 2:16, 18 Hebrews
4:15
5-A faithful high priest who fulfilled all the law, Hebrews
3:1, 2 Matt. 5:17
6-A man, the mediator between man and God, I Tim. 2-5
7-Our brother, Hebrews 2:11
8-Limited in knowledge, Mark 13:32
9-Our passover lamb, I Corinthians 5:7
10-Foreknown before the foundation of the world, I Peter 1:20
As fathers and sons are similar, Jesus Christ and God are
similar, but not identical. God cannot be tempted, Jesus Christ
was. God sits on his throne. Jesus Christ sits on God's right
hand. Jesus Christ is head over all except God. Jesus Christ
had his own will separate from God and could choose his own path as we
see when he prayed to his Father before his crucifixion. Matthew 26:39.
At that point, he knew what was going to happen, he had his own free will,
the soldiers had not yet come, He could just of easily walked off into
the sunset. But we know he chose to follow the will of his Father
and not his own. We also see this very clearly in John 5:30 (Jesus speaking)
"I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment
is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the
Father which hath sent me.
According to the Church history the Trinitarian doctrine was formulated in 325 AD by the Nicaean Council of Consstantinople (sic). Let's take a quick peek at the originator of the Nicaean Council. Its promoter was an interesting young man named Constantine. A second generation Emperor of the decaying Roman Empire. Constantine was not only the promoter, but also the 100% financier of this little political convention. He had a lot riding on the outcome of this council and the six documents that it produced. (Most only concern themselves with one document; The Nicaean Creed).
Anyways, as I was saying, Constantine was an interesting fellow. He was certainly an able leader, a so-so diplomat and a loving son, but it kind of goes down hill for him from there. He was loved by his ruthless army and by his mother (who proclaimed herself a Christian) but beyond that, most either feared or steered clear of him. Today, 1664 years after his death, Constantine is still listed by historians as one of the most disloyal, self-serving, treacherous and tyrannical leaders that the world has ever seen.
Years later, when Martin Luther broke away from the Roman
Catholic Church, changes were made in the Trinitarian doctrine. If
this doctrine were true there would not be any need for changes.
He didn't seem to like the idea that Mary was the mother of God,
but if Jesus Christ is God and Mary was his mother ...
well, why would you want to mess with it, if indeed this
is "Biblical" doctrine. Note: We do not find the following
words in scripture: Trinity, God the Son, Deity. Interesting,
isn't it.
The Messiah of God Luke 18:19
The Father who sent me John 5:37
Christ Jesus, himself human I Tim.
2:5
I am assending to my Father, to my God
John 20:17
No one is good but God alone Mark
10:17, 18
The Lord our God, the Lord is one Mark
12:28-34
No one hath seen God at any time I John 4:12
The Church claims to worship the God of Israel but all through history, Israel has never proclaimed a "three in one" God. What is wrong with this picture? God does not change. Should the coming of the Messiah have changed who we believed God to be?
Who is the God of Israel?....
Hey, I've got an idea !!!
Why don't we ask Israel.
The following are excerpts of a letter sent to me by
Rabbi Don Rossoff:
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God is one. The watchword of our faith - that which
believing Jews have on their lips to their dying moment - is
the declaration know as "Sh'ma" from the book of Deuteronomy:
Sh'mah Yis-ra-ayl Ado-nai Elo-hay-nu, Ado-nai eh-chad!
Hear, O Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is one!
To say that God is one is also to affirm the essential unity of God's creation and of all humanity. "One family on earth just as there is one God in heaven."
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Either God's
Word is Truth or it isn't.
There are doctrines of God and there are doctrines of
man.
I choose to trust God.