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An Illustration of the Christ – Part II
January 1st 2017
New Year’s Day
Milk
Last week, on the day celebrated as “Christ’s Mass” I delivered part one of a two part series called, An Illustration of the Christ.
In it I proposed the following and used scripture to support my views:
That there is One God and One Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
That God spoke all things into existence and that His Word is alive, eternal, Spirit and therefore Him.
That God’s Word was made flesh and Jesus, the Man from Nazareth, was created with a most unusual DNA – that of God and that of Mary.
That Jesus was God’s literal human son, His ONLY begotten.
I suggested that Jesus “learned obedience by the things He suffered” and having perfectly submitted His flesh to the will of His Father, this ONLY BEGOTTEN SON of God had victory over sin and death and took His rightful place next to the glory of His Father.
Upon reflection we might see Jesus, at birth, like we would see the seed of a Giant Redwood – possessing from birth all things necessary to become a Giant Redwood – but having to grow to the full stature expected and anticipated until the day He towered to the height of His Father, the One True God, a day reflected in what John saw and described in Revelation.
I think it was fitting that this Illustration was delivered on Christmas day and that now we deliver the follow-up to this vital message – New Year’s Day, the first day of the year of 2017.
Part One was all about Him.
Part Two is all about those who look to Him in faith, hope and love.
We ended our discussion of God’s Only Begotten Son last week reading what John the Revelator saw in His vision of the Ascended Jesus recorded in Revelation 1.
This said:
In this description we find a VERY different Jesus than the one born in a manger, than the one who wept, than the one who died on a cross and who (before so doing) cried, “My God, My God, why has thou forsaken me?”
Here we find the Son of Man, a Nazarene from birth, in a state of having not only overcome all things but exalted to the status of God where He even calls Himself
“the First and the Last” and adds “I am alive forever more.”
Jesus was not alive forevermore when He walked the earth. He died like all human beings die – I mean Jesus even says to John (here in Revelation), “I was dead.”
But at this point He had received all that His Father – the only True God – had for Him. All that He had. And His Son, at this point in Revelation, held even the keys to hades and death.
So this is the Only Begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.
This is the only human being who had God as His Father. This was the only human being to overcome sin and death, the first human being to rise from the grave, and the only Human being to become the Lord and Savior of the entire human race.
Jesus, the only begotten Son of God.
In addition to His atonement and sacrifice for sin, in addition to His resurrection (and His saving all of us from death and sin) what other purpose did and does Jesus play in the plan of the One God, His Father?
Where last week I presented, “An Illustration of the Christ,” today I will present Part II – how all He was and is relates to us.
So proposition number One
Revelation 1:13 And in the midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle.
14 His head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow; and his eyes were as a flame of fire;
15 And his feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and his voice as the sound of many waters.
16 And he had in his right hand seven stars: and out of his mouth went a sharp twoedged sword: and his countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength.
17 And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not; I am the first and the last:
18 I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.
All human beings become Children of God in one way (and one way alone) – by having faith in His Only Begotten Son.
Galatians 3:26 make this plain, saying:
Where there is little dispute about the need to believe on Jesus to be saved we might ask, Is this all God cares to do in and through the giving us His Son – to save the human race from Sin and death?
I would suggest (beat) that scripture suggests (beat) far more – for those who are willing to hear. For those who care. I trust that this is you.
Let me say something at this point that I believe is important:
Coming from 40 years of active Mormonism some of what I am going to share sounds very LDS – and in many ways, it does reflect some of their teachings.
But note – ALL that I will say I take from the Word of God (the Bible) and not from my LDS upbringing or teachings. You will see this as we go along.
So while the LDS do certainly teach “the exaltation of Man” (to the point where they suggest that worthy individuals are going to become gods of their own worlds and universes) I am going to strongly suggest that while Jesus did come forth to make us joint heirs with Him, there is a great difference between the extremes the LDS have taken the idea and the manner in which the Bible describes as “the apotheosis of Man.”
So let’s continue.
Galatians 3:26 For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.
We agree that we become children of God by faith in His Only begotten Son.
We also know that upon belief, all of us are given the power to become the Son’s and Daughters of God by Christ through faith. As that familiar passage in John reads:
Remember this line, “the power to become the Sons and Daughters of God.”
(emphasize) The power . . . to become . . . the Son’s and Daughters of God.
We ignore this line. We pay it no mind. But I am encouraging you to consider it today.
John 1:12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:
Now, looking to Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, we see someone born of a woman – as we are all born of women.
We discover a biblical picture of Him growing, learning, choosing, even setting His will aside to do the will of His Father.
And we find Him not only setting His will aside but His very life aside for others, dying to self, being taken outside the city walls, allowing Himself to be crucified, and going from “a seed in the manger to a towering Redwood in the book of Revelation.”
That growth was neither easy nor painless. And while He was on earth He was not seen nor recognized (except by the Devils) as the towering finished product Redwood.
His own apostles didn’t really understand who He was and what He was ultimately going to do – until after He did it!
Here’s the key – what Jesus did perfectly, “all who look to Him in faith are invited and empowered to do the same.”
To go from having the Seed of God in us to becoming towering Redwoods of some sort or another AFTER this life.
Listen to what John wrote in His epistle
This was written before John saw the exalted Jesus in Revelation. Since believers, who are given the power to become Sons and Daughters shall be as He is, we know that there is a great deal of change that is going to occur between how we are known here and how we will be known . . . there.
How does this occur?
Herein lies one of the big differences between the LDS teachings and the biblical.
As a means to make men heirs of God and to bring about “the exaltation of Man” the LDS have imposed – superimposed – resurrected elements of the Law (including temple rites and rituals, a false priesthood, Laws and Ordinances, and a litany of outward demands for righteousness.)
But but the Bible makes it clear what the path to human apotheosis looks like.
Let’s work this out before getting back to our verse by verse next week.
1st John 3:2 Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, (talking about Jesus here) we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.
First, let’s consider some passages that speak to apotheosis which might be defined (in our case) as “the taking of something or someone to it or their highest possible status.”
First, we’ve shown we become the children of God by faith and are saved.
Then we are told that as believers we are given “the Power to become Sons and Daughters.”
Are there other passages to add to those we’ve already discussed? Peter says
2nd Peter 1:2-4 Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord,
3 According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through . . . the knowledge of him . . . that hath called us to glory and virtue:
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.
He has given “unto us all things that pertain to life and godliness” . . . through KNOWLEDGE of Him and has called us to “GLORY AND VIRTUE” “whereby we are given exceeding great and precious promises THAT BY THESE (great and precious promises) we MIGHT BE PARTAKERS OF THE DIVIDE NATURE . . having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.”
Whoa wow.
The word translated “partakers” (as in partakers of the divine nature” might be familiar to some of you as the Greek is koinonia – and means “a sharing, a communion with” – so its NOT becoming God’s but sharing in His glory and virtue and righteousness.
God has given His Only Begotten Son all that He has – all. Being the only human with God’s DNA from birth, all that the Father is (and has) is rightfully His and was received as the first resurrected Human after He showed He was truly a Son and causing God to say AFTER His resurrection, “this day I have begotten you.”
We are not in the same boat as Jesus as none of us were born with God as our literal Father.
However, we are adopted and can become joint-heirs by and through Christ.
It all begins by faith in Him, then we are empowered to become the Son’s and Daughters of God, to be partakers (sharers) in His Glory and Virtue and Light and Righteousness.
But how?
Let’s be honest here – the idea of the apotheosis of Man has existed in nearly every walk of human existence, perhaps as the result of our being made in God’s image – And so its natural to surmise and postulate that we ought to be reaching for our most full potential.
So well before the LDS and their rituals, laws and ordinances came down the pike, the ancient Egyptians, the Greeks, the Romans have all appealed to some way (or means) whereby men become gods (with a lower case g).
Apotheosis is found throughout Hinduism, Judaism and Buddhism. The Japanese raise their Imperialist leaders to the heights of Deity and watching a recent series called “The Crown” even the King’s and Queen’s of England, through the Coronation, are anointed in a form resembling the LDS temple rituals – but in a form that predated Smith by 800 years.
Even the godless Nietzsche described the rare human being he named “the Ubermench” the superman and many atheists today are actually under the impression that they have an ability to transcend their natural human state and to elevate into a status of deity through reason and rationality.
Lots and lots of counterfeits. But just because there are counterfeits does not mean the entire principle is false.
God so loved the world that He gave us His only begotten Son that whosoever should believe on Him would first, be saved, and second, be given “the power to become Sons and Daughters of God, joint heirs with Christ.”
This notion was touched upon by even some of the early church leaders. And while some of what these church leaders suggested has been proven heretical they seemed to have tapped into something about Christian Apotheosis in their conjectures. For example
Irenaeus famously said:
“If the Word has been made man, it is so that men may be made gods.'(lower case g). Also
“For this is why the Word became man, and the Son of God became the Son of man: so that man, by entering into communion with the Word and thus receiving divine sonship, might become a son of God.”
In the fourth century, Athanasius repeats Irenaeus pretty much word for word, saying
“For He was made man that we might be made God.”
And then in the fifth century Cyril of Alexandria says that we shall become sons ‘by participation’ (that term, “by participation” comes from a Greek word, “methexis,” which originates with Plato and his forms and relates to “a part sharing in the form of something” – again, a VERY different concept than the LDS but something that does contain similarities).
Deification was also the central idea in the spirituality of Maximus the Confessor, an orthodox Christian monk living in the sixth Century AD.
To him the doctrine of apotheosis is the corollary of the Incarnation: ‘Deification, briefly, is the encompassing and fulfillment of all times and ages.” Then
Symeon, at the end of the tenth century wrote, ‘He who is God by nature converses with those whom he has made gods by grace, as a friend converses with his friends, face to face.’
Finally, Thomas Aquinas, a Catholic Priest of great mental capacity, said back in the thirteenth century:
“The only-begotten Son of God, wanting to make us sharers in his divinity, assumed our nature, so that he, made man, might make men gods.”(lower case g)
The Westminster Dictionary of Christian Theology (pretty much Catholic) contains the following in an article titled “Deification”:
Deification (Greek theosis) is for Orthodoxy the goal of every Christian. Man, according to the Bible, is ‘made in the image and likeness of God.’. . . It is possible for man to become like God, to become deified, to become god (lower case g here) by grace.
This doctrine is based on many passages of both OT and NT (e.g. Ps. 82 (81).6; II Peter 1.4), and it is essentially the teaching both of St Paul, though he tends to use the language of filial adoption (cf. Rom. 8.9—17; Gal. 4.5—7), and the Fourth Gospel (cf. 17.21—23).
So that’s plenty of insight from what men have said on the subject before us – and while they were capable of mistakes, where there’s smoke there’s fire and all they alluded to was not . . . at odds . . . with the written word.
What else does scripture say?
2nd Corinthians 3:17 Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.
18 But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.
2nd Corinthians 6:16-18 And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
17 Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you,
18 And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.
And then there’s Hebrews 12:10 which says
“For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness.”
When we think of “Jesus as the Only begotten Son of God,” when we examine Him – His makeup and His life – we get an idea of what this should mean, how this should look, what He would have been empowered to be and do.
And how do we find Him in the scriptural descriptions of Him? “Truthful,” “loving,” “gentle, selfless, holy, “willing to suffer,” “willing to give” His life for others,” “not of this world.”
If we are to be (shall be) Sons and Daughters of the Almighty we have to seek out how this way, this mind, this heart and hands can be genuinely obtained and secured in our nature.
It must come to us as it came to Him and cannot come by way of ritual or religion as these things are verboten throughout the New Testament narrative.
So, we have a historical precedence for apotheosis. We have an idea of it mentioned in the early church and thereafter. We have seen that there are numerous counterfeits, approaches and attempts toward it throughout world history.
And finally there is some strong scriptural evidence that this is a desire of God and a major purpose for the life of Jesus Christ – to make us partakers with Him in glory.
But again, how?
(long beat)
First we must agree with scripture that
we have been given the Power (to become Sons and Daughters) when we believed.
From where? From God. In what form? His Spirit.
So perhaps we can begin by saying that “the road to Son and Daughtership” is traveled in and by and through . . . the Spirit . . . and not the flesh.
This was a constant in the life and ways of Jesus, right, who reminded us (in John 3:6)
“That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.”
And so we know that in our dual natures – natures similar to Christ from His birth (which are given to us when we are born from above) that it is the Spirit that must reign and not the flesh.
This is what was in Christ, this is what it will be with those who are joint heirs with Him.
At this juncture we have another important principle to consider – there is a vital link between the Words of God and the operation and power of His Spirit.
Jesus said something really ( I mean REALLY) interesting toward this in John 6:63. He said
Did you get the connection? Jesus said: “The Words that I speak unto you THEY ARE SPIRIT (and) THEY ARE LIFE!
We started this two-part series off citing Jesus who said:
“And this is life eternal, to know thee, the Only True God AND Jesus Christ whom thou has sent.”
Here Jesus says that “the Words that He speaks are Spirit and they are Life!”
So we have some logical conclusions being presented here in somewhat of a syllogism:
(ON BOARD)
It is life eternal to KNOW God and Jesus.
The flesh is nothing but the Words that Jesus spake and Spirit and they ARE LIFE!
So “Words, which are spirit,” let us “Know the One God and His Only Son,” which is “eternal life!”
Go back with me to last week and our “Illustration of the Christ.”
I said the following:
“Perhaps when we think of God speaking we think of vocal cords vibrating and sound passing though a throat and over a tongue and through lips forming the Words.
In this anthropomorphic view we fail to understand that God is Spirit and His “Words” are Spirit.
So unlike our words, God’s words are “living, they have power, they never die or go away. And they have the very power of life in them.
Quite frankly, because God is Spirit and His Words are spirit God Words ARE Him. They are an extension of Him Himself.”
(End quote)
His Words are Spirit and they are life. Eternal Life. To know Him then is to know His Words, which we know by the Spirit and not the flesh, which come to us and abide in us by the Spirit because they are Spirit!
When the Man Jesus was made, He was the Word made flesh. His DNA was that of His Father (by the Spirit) which overshadowed Mary His fleshly mother.
I think we can reasonably say that what allowed or enabled Jesus of Nazareth to overcome His human flesh (and to live to the will of His Father) was the fact that God’s very Words dwelled in Him – so much so that when He spoke to His disciples He said that His “Words were Spirit, and His Words were life!”
So with the Word of God and the Spirit really and actually being almost synonymous, and with the fact before us that Jesus was the Word made flesh, and that He said Himself that His Words are Spirit (which give life), and since He overcame the World (as the Word made flesh), the absolute Key to our apotheosis is . . .
having the Word (by the Spirit) in us too.
Without God as His Father (the Word made flesh) Jesus would have been just another good guy or philosopher or prophet.
But He was far more. He was the Word of God made flesh.
Now stay with me. Being empowered by God to become His Son’s and Daughters we to overcome our flesh in the very same manner that Jesus overcame His – by and through the Word abiding in us!
There is no ritual in the flesh or observance through the flesh that will raise us up as Sons – there is the death of the flesh by and through the presence of the Spirit – and since Jesus has clearly stated that His Words are Spirit . . .
. . . every single believer today has a clear map laid before them that is key to their sanctification and ultimate apotheosis – the Bible, the Word (which is Spirit), the living Word, which leads to life, which leads to knowing the Only True God and His Son whom He has sent, entering us, just as it became flesh in God’s Son but now entering us by the Spirit of them and abiding.
John 6:63 “It is the spirit that gives life; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.”
1st Peter 1:23 takes us to the beginning of the Word in our walk, saying
“Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.”
James adds
James 1:18 “Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of first-fruits of his creatures.”
And the Psalmist adds (in Psalm 119:89) “For ever, O LORD, thy word is settled in heaven.”
Isaiah 40:8 says “The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever.”
Job 23:12 states: “Neither have I gone back from the commandment of his lips; I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary food.”
Jeremiah 15:16 wrote: “Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart: for I am called by thy name, O LORD God of hosts.”
And Peter quipped:
1st Peter 2:2 As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby.
2nd Timothy 3:16 gives us the all-familiar, “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:
17 That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.
And Psalm 119:11 reiterates “ Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.”
Deuteronomy 11:18 explains the devotion the Jews had to the Word of God saying:
“Therefore shall ye lay up these my words in your heart and in your soul, and bind them for a sign upon your hand, that they may be as frontlets between your eyes.”
And Paul says to the believers at Colosse (3:16) “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.
Psalms 119:105 reads “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.
And again (Psalm 119:130) “The entrance of thy words giveth light; it giveth understanding unto the simple.”
Peter wrote some significant passages relative to the Word and apotheosis, saying:
2nd Peter 1:19 We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts:
20 Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation.
21 For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.
And Jeremiah said
Jeremiah 5:14 Wherefore thus saith the LORD God of hosts, Because ye speak this word, behold, I will make my words in thy mouth fire, and this people wood, and it shall devour them.
Again, from Jeremiah:
Jeremiah 23:29 Is not my word like as a fire? saith the LORD; and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces?
Then Paul adds in Ephesians 6:17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:
Of course Hebrews 4:12 really makes the value and import of the Word clear saying:
“For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.”
And Ephesians emphasizes the fact that it is the Word that washes us, using the line:
Ephesians 5:26 That he might sanctify and cleanse the church with the washing of water by the word,
Romans 15:4 proclaims:
“For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.”
We know from the Parable of the Sower that all the external forces or enemies mentioned (the birds, thorns, stones) were at odds against the Seed (which Jesus says is “the Word of God”) and were all aimed at either taking it way, not allowing it to take root, or choking it out. Why?
Because it is the key to personal spiritual growth. It is the key to overcoming our flesh – again, when they are ingested and understood by the Spirit.
The key is to get the Word in our hearts – just as it was in the very DNA of our Lord. Words in the head is fine but they have to be planted in the hearts by the Spirit.
The Psalmist says:
Psalm 37:31 The law of his God is in his heart; none of his steps shall slide.
David later wrote:
Psalm 40:8 I delight to do thy will, O my God: yea, thy law is within my heart.
And we remember what God said to Jeremiah (and how these words were echoed by the writer of Hebrews) that in our day God said:
Jeremiah 31:33 I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.
34 And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.
This state lead Paul to say in 2nd Corinthians 3:3
“Forasmuch as ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart.”
So . . .
Filled with His Word by the Spirit (and His Spirit by the Word), we move in – lean in, push in – toward Christ.
Paul, as an apostle, said:
Philppians 3:14 I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.
And this pressing “in” “toward Him,” “toward His will,” “by the Spirit,” the Word, written on our hearts, we are lead, moved, empowered to actually LIVE by the tenets of our proclaimed faith.
Here we go – this choice, this day to day decision, is uncomfortable. Not easy. Even insufferable.
But not one whit more torturous than what our Lord, the Word made flesh, experience in the warfare of His soul.
Because the Word of God in flesh creates difficulty, and conflict, and tension, we read the following of all who are His by faith:
Romans 8:17 And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.
1st Peter 5:10 But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you.
Philippians 1:29 For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake.
It is the first of the year. We wrapped 2016 up examining both the nature of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and have now discussed the purpose He served beyond that of redeeming the world.
He came to take us from being creations, to becoming children; from being babes to becoming Sons and Daughters, and as Sons and Daughters, joint heirs, that we all may share in the glory that His Father has bestowed upon Him.
This does not occur in and or through the flesh. It all occurs by and through the Spirit, by the “washing of the Word,” which ingested and written on our hearts, as it was written on His from birth, we too will begin to honestly and heartfeltly suffer . . . the death of our flesh . . . because we are choosing to live by the Spirit, which IS to live by His Word, and to then enter into life eternal once our days here are done.
You may tire of the Word. It is a diet that weighs heavy on the human heart, and so we seek for the more superfluous.
My job is to feed all who hunger one thing – the Word by the Spirit. Thereby helping to equip you to be Sons and Daughters, joint heirs with Christ.
This we will continue to do week end and out through 2017.
Q and A
