A Historical Overview of God and his Word!
by Robert Schmid, September 2005
“In the beginning God” (singular, i.e., ONE God Being).
It does NOT say: “In the beginning ONE God in THREE persons,” nor does it say: “In the beginning ONE God in TWO persons.”
To believe in ONE God is monotheism - that’s Biblical.
To believe in TWO or THREE Gods is polytheism - that’s not Biblical.
To believe in both, monotheism and polytheism is syncretism - that’s eating of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
The concept of mixing monotheism and polytheism as in the trinity and twinity doctrines is the result of mixing Babylonish mystery beliefs with Roman Catholic Church beliefs which is condemned by God. The teachings of "ONE God in TWO or THREE persons" are illogical mystery doctrines.
God spoke, and by the power of His Word He CREATED the heavens and the earth and Adam. Then God MADE Eve from Adam.
God (not Gods) walked and talked with Adam and Eve in the garden, and told them NOT to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
Then, a wanna-be god came along and said that they would be like God, knowing good and evil, if they would eat of that good looking tree, and by the way, they would not surly die!
Both statements, by the false god Satan were correct, but in a deceptive way. God indeed has a knowledge of good and evil, but He also has the character to never commit evil. In contrast, Adam and Eve ended up with the knowledge of good and evil (before, they only had knowledge of good, and therefore could not sin) but, without the necessary godly character (tree of life) sin quickly became a way of life. They did not die “that day” physically, as Satan meant, but they did die “that day” spiritually, as God meant.
Then Adam and Eve had children, Cain and Abel, by a process known as PROCREATION that was build into them by God. It is incorrect to say that people are created by God, for all, except Adam and Eve, are the result of procreation, i.e., birth.
With God’s curse on the earth, and on Adam, everything began to deteriorate quickly, and polytheism, the making of multiple, false gods, became the religion of the nations of the world.
Then, God in His mercy, raised up Abram and the nation of Israel – but why? To bring human beings back to an understanding of the ONE true God who walked with Adam and Eve in the Garden, and who created Adam, and the world, through and by the power of His Word.
And so, we ended up with a nation called Israel, who’s battle cry was, and is: “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is ONE LORD; and you shall love the LORD your God (singular) with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might. And these words which I (singular) command you this day shall be upon your heart….” (Deut. 6:4-6)
This brings us to the end of the Old Testament. However, please note carefully: In the Old Testament there is no mention of a “co-equal, co-eternal God.” No mention of a second God Being called “Jesus” or “Jesus Christ.” No mention of a third person called the Holy Spirit. God is never referred to as “God the Father.” There is no mention about an existing “Son of God” or a “God Family,” no mention of a “Spokesman” or a “second in command.” Why not? For the simple reason that none of them existed in the beginning, and throughout Old Testament time!
What then was in the beginning? In the Old Testament the answer from Gen 1:1 is clear and unambiguous (except when read with pre-conceived notions) – God was in the beginning. Would the New Testament contradict this statement? Of course not! John 1:1 is just as clear and unambiguous (except when read with pre-conceived notions). It just adds some additional details that are important to understand, and to know what is to come.
“In the beginning was the Word; and the Word was with God; and the Word was God.” What was in the beginning? The “Word of God” was in the beginning (anything more than that becomes the false reasoning of men). The beginning, as it pertains to mankind, was when the ONE God spoke, by and through His Word, the world and Adam into existence.
How do we know God? In addition to the written and living Word of God, and the Holy Spirit of God, given after repentance and baptism, we know God by the things He created, and His greatest creation was man (kind). Look at your neighbor, or stand in front of a mirror and personalize John 1:1; In the beginning is my word; and my word is with me; and my word is me. Now ask yourself, and give yourself an honest and logical answer, as to how many people this describes? Gen 1:1 and John 1:1 say exactly the same: There was but ONE God, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, God Almighty, Yahweh Elohim, the great I AM.
We now come to the most important verse in the Bible (John 1:14), the verse that bridges the Old Testament with the New Testament. “And the Word became flesh.”
The Word of God (O.T.) BECAME the Son of God! (N.T.) How? By an incarnation? No! “Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child of the Holy Spirit.” “….she will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus….” (Matt 1:18-25). Does that mean the Holy Spirit is the Father of Jesus? No, the Holy Spirit is the agent/power of God (not a separate God Being). God is the Father of Jesus. God impregnated Mary, an act of procreation! God is reproducing Himself by implanting His seed/sperm, His Word (not a separate God being) into the uterus of Mary, “therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God” (Luke 1:34).
“He [Jesus - as the Word of God] was in the beginning with God; all things were made through Him [Jesus - as the Word of God], and without Him [Jesus - as the Word of God] was not anything made that was made” (John 1:2-3).
In other words, whereas the Old Testament was all about God and His Word – ONE God Being, the New Testament is all about God and His firstborn Son – TWO God Beings. This then is the beginning of the ONE God Family which will culminate in MANY God Beings.
When Mary bore her firstborn son, she delivered a human being because she was a human being. However, this human being, Jesus, was begotten, not by a sinful human father, but was begotten at conception by a sinless Father - God. What that means is that Jesus throughout His earthly life was a born human being, and a begotten God Being. He was not “fully man and fully God” as a popular doctrine (falsely) proclaims. Jesus was a fully born man, but (only) a begotten Son of God. He lived, He suffered, He died and He was resurrected. By the resurrection from the dead, Jesus became the firstborn Son of God, returning to the glory He had with God, as the Word of God.
In contrast, we human beings who are also born of woman are begotten at conception by a sinful father. That means that we were sinful human beings until God in His mercy called us and begot us anew through baptism and the giving of the Holy Spirit, which implants the Word of God into our minds, and makes us precisely what our elder brother Jesus was - born human beings and begotten God Beings. We then live, we suffer and we die, and will become, after being resurrected, additional born children of God, born into the Family of God.
Jesus is our example and forerunner in this process, obviously with the difference that He was begotten of God at conception [we at a later age], and that He lived a sinless life [we a sinful life], and that He is already resurrected and born again [whereas we will be resurrected and born again in the future].
Post-script:
Luke 17:5-6: The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!” And the Lord said, “If you had faith as a grain of mustard seed, you could say to this sycamine tree, ‘Be rooted up, and be planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.”
Is this a true statement? Absolutely! Do we believe it? No!
Jesus Christ, as a born human being, begotten of God (i.e., the un-born Son of God), not only changed water into wine, but He forgave sin and raised the dead to life.
You and I, if converted, are born human beings, begotten of God, i.e., the un-born children of God, and could do the same, if we would have faith as a grain of mustard seed.
The problem is that we do not have faith as a grain of mustard seed, unable to move the tree and for the most part unable to heal anybody. Therefore, we ask with the apostles: “Lord, increase our faith!”
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