Scriptures concerning Jesus and God

Submitted by Michael S (United States), Jun 12, 2018 at 14:38

Hi, Tovey

I appreciate your digging into ALL the scriptures pertaining to the natures of Jesus and God. Just to clarify, I accept the Apostle's Creed, a very early church document which delineates the common Christian belief in "God, the Father", in Jesus and in the Holy Ghost, together with belief in other core doctrines. It does NOT contain statements about the nature of Christ, other than the fact that GOD is the "father" and JESUS is the "son" -- implying that the two are separate entities, and that Jesus is not "God".

Starting in the Fourth Century CE, as Christianity received sanction from the pagan Emperor Constantine, holding office in Christian churches lost its stigma and became a tremendous social advantage. Quarrels soon erupted between clerics vying for power with one another; and the various camps began to tout their own doctrinal "purity" -- especially concerning the natures of Mary, Jesus, God and eventually the holy Spirit. This struggle, which involved expulsions and violence, went on for hundreds of years. It is impossible for me to believe that dogmas originating in that carnal atmosphere should be looked upon as divinely inspired. As for the Apostle's Creed, however, it enjoys widespread agreement to this day, among widely divergent denominations.

You wrote,

"For the Lord himself (Jesus) will descend from heaven......
So then the Lord Jesus, after he had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God. (Mark 16:19)"

This speaks of the Perousia, when the glorified Jesus will return to earth, along with those of the first resurrection, to rule with us. This accords with everything I have said. I hope you aren't implying that "The Lord" (in its Greek form, which can mean anything from the common "Sir", to the Lord or Creation) is identically equal with the ALL CAPS "LORD" used by the KJV translators as a substitute for "YHVH". That practice by the translators accords with common Jewish practice, which substitutes "Adonai" ("Lord", with approximately the same range of meaning as the Greek) when READING the word YHVH. This is done out of respect for the name; but the text of Torah clearly says "YHVH". The Greek NT, therefore, does not distinguish between these two terms, which have very different meanings from one another. This has led to a great deal of confusion among Christians, which Jews correctly criticize.

Also note that Jesus, the RESURRECTED and GLORIFIED Jesus, sits NEXT TO God, showing that the two are not one and the same. In other words, Jesus is NOT God -- something which I have held all along, and which has caused some dogmatic brothers and sisters to reject me.

Breakfast is on. Gottarun. God bless and keep you.

A Psalm of David. (Psalm 110)
The LORD says to my Lord:
"Sit at my right hand,
until I make your enemies your footstool."
Who is at the right hand of God

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