Hello, fellow hunters. This is the end of John chapter 3, verses 31-36.
Verse 31 - "He that cometh from above is above all: he that is of the earth is earthly and speaketh of the earth: he that cometh from heaven is above all."
John is talking about Jesus here. What Jesus has seen and heard from the father, he testifies; and no man receives his testimony. John had already said this once in chapter one, verse 10. "He was in the world, and the world was made by Him, and THE WORLD KNEW HIM NOT. Why not? Why doesn"t the world know Him? I believe, because they are spiritually blind.
Verse 34 - "For He who God hath sent speaketh the words of God: for God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto Him." Measure - (Greek) metron"means a limited portion. According to this verse, Jesus has the unlimited measure of the Spirit. We must, then only have a limited portion. I only found one other verse that seems to support that we only have a limited measure. Romans 12:3, "For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith."
Verse 35 - "The Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things into His hand." It looks here like the Father and Son are two different entities. I believe this is a mystery just like the husband and wife becoming one flesh is a mystery.
Ephesians 5:31 says, concerning the husband/wife relationship, "And they shall be one flesh." Are a husband and wife really one flesh? In verse 32 of Ephesians it says, "This is a great mystery." I believe the same can be said about Christ Jesus and God being one. I believe this is a great mystery as well.
Here is one of my favorite verses to support Jesus being God - Hundreds of years before the birth of Christ, Isaiah declared that the Messiah was to be uniquely the Son of God and still in some mysterious sense God the Son. "For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, MIGHTY GOD, The Everlasting FATHER, The Prince of Peace" (Isaiah 9:6).
Verse 36 - This is a real clear verse reminding us for the second time that everlasting life can only come through JESUS, the Son. "He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son SHALL NOT SEE LIFE; but the wrath of God abideth on him."
2 important things here...
1] There is no other means /way to everlasting life except through Jesus Christ. And not only does one miss out on life here and after but the wrath of God/ a death sentence hangs above their heads.
2] Does it matter if we believe that Jesus is God or not? I am seriously asking this question? I was going to hit this area in a non-chalant way but was prompted of the Lord to study it out. I did study it out. And through my study ,although a mystery I believe that Christ is God. You may ask me then,and who was He praying to in the garden? I can only answer ....The Father ,that part of the mystery I do not understand with my finite mind.
QUESTION
If indeed Christ is God and we don't recognize Him as that ,will that somehow hinder our faith?
I will answer first. First I thank God for Leaf and Doc for bringing this up so much. You are the first in my entire Christian experience to bring this topic up in a different light. Up to this day I would say nah..it makes no difference. But after I studied it ,yes I believe FOR ME it makes a difference. I am going to treat President Bush alot more respect if I met him than I would if he wasn't the president. My worship now will be alot more respectful and reverence knowing I am worshipping God Almighty as spoken about in Isaiah 9:6. Yes ,Christ Jesus is worthy of ALL of our glory.Every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess that Jesus is Lord of ALL.
Hey Chuck, you did pretty good with that, . .the oneness of God is a beautiful study to me when you put all of the pieces of the scriptural puzzle on the table and start connecting them. Good man, I'm proud for ya.
__________________ And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another.
You too Chuck, uh . . .You may have heard that Jesus was 100% God, and 100% man. This is a short version because I don't have time here at work. But it boils down to, that Christ was praying in His humanity in the Garden. If you would like , when I get home I can elaborate.
__________________ And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another.
Leaf,
Yes, I would like for you to do that . Any extra insight on this would be very good. Keep it in this post if you will so others can benefit as well.
Chuck , when I first had a revelation of the oneness of God , I felt like Moses when God hid him in the cleft of a rock and allowed him to see His back as He passed by. Praise God !! If there is ever any question you may have on this subject, I would be glad to answer it , or find someone that can.
Lot"s of folk have asked me about Jesus praying to the Father. It can only be that the man Jesus prayed to the eternal Spirit of God. God did not need help, only the man did. As Jesus said AT THE Garden of Gethsemane , " The Spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak" (Mat 26:41). Heb 5:7 makes it clear that Jesus needed to pray only during "the days of His flesh". During the prayer at the Garden , the human will submitted to the divine will. Thru prayer He as a human submitted and was obedient to the Spirit of God. (Philipians 2:8 & Heb 5: 7-8) This was not a struggle between 2 divine wills but the submission of the human will to the divine will. As a man Christ submitted Himself to and received strength from the Spirit of God.
Of course , I know that others will jump in and say " Your saying that Jesus prayed to Himself", . . .it"s to be expected and I won"t carry on a debate in this study of yours. But one has to realize that, unlike any other human being, Jesus had two perfect and complete natures. . . .humanity . . .and . . .deity. What is impossible for an ordinary Joe, is not so strange with Jesus. Jesus did"nt pray to Himself , that would be saying that the man was the same as the Spirit. But rather . . .we should see it as the man prayed to the Spirit of God, while also recognizing that the Spirit dwelt in the man.
__________________ And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another.
Luke 24:39 Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have.
Col 1:15 Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature.
John 4:24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.
II Cor 5:10 To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself.
John 14:9 Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Show us the Father?
John 10:30 I and my Father are one.
Col 2:9 For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.
1Tim 2:5For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.
1 Tim 3:16 And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.
Titus 2:13 Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ.
James 2:19 Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well:
Jude :25 To the only wise God our Savior,
Rev 1:8 I am Alpha and Omega, the beggining and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.
Col 2:2-3 to the acknowledgement of the mystry of God, and of the Father, and of Christ; In whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
Jn.3: 31-36 Again, Jesus is the only WAY
