Tag: Galilee

From LITTLE FAITH to Precious GRACE: The Disciples’ Journey and Ours*

Introduction: The Spark

Peter’s boots were still wet from the Galilean fishing boats when he stepped onto the storm-tossed sea. Waves churned, wind screamed, and for a fleeting heartbeat, he walked—walked!—toward Jesus. Then his eyes snagged on the chaos, his heart sank faster than his feet, and down he plunged, swallowed by doubt. “O you of little faith,” Jesus said, voice slicing through the gale, “why did you doubt?” (Matthew 14:31). I used to hear that as a slap—Peter, believe harder. But lately, I’ve wondered: what if it wasn’t about faith’s size? What if Jesus was peeling back the sodden layers of Peter’s soul—and all the disciples’—to show them something raw, something frail, something crying for Him?

This isn’t a one-off slip. The Gospels thrum with it: “O you of little faith” rings out like a haunting refrain, from storms to bread baskets to a withered fig tree. By Matthew 16:8, it’s the third bread crisis, and they’re still blind. I started asking—why? Was Jesus just prodding their weakness, or was He sowing something deeper? What I found wasn’t a scolding but a story: a windswept journey from sinking in doubt to fishing for souls, from human lack to divine grace, all borne on the Spirit’s wings. It’s their story—and ours. Step into the boat; let’s ride the waves together.

The Deficiency Exposed

Picture this: the sun bleeds low over Galilee, and 5,000 hungry faces press in. The disciples clutch five loaves, two fish—barely a fisherman’s lunch. “Send them away,” they mutter, practical men with empty hands (Matthew 14:15). Jesus smirks, blesses the scraps, and suddenly they’re staggering through the crowd, hauling 12 baskets of leftovers—bread spilling, mouths agape. Fast forward: 4,000 now, seven loaves, a few fish—seven baskets left, crumbs still clinging to their tunics (Matthew 15:32-38). They’ve touched the miracle, felt its pulse. Yet, in Matthew 16:8, they’re on a boat again, breadless, voices hushed: “We forgot the loaves.” Jesus spins, eyes blazing: “O you of little faith, why are you whispering about this? Don’t you remember the five loaves for the five thousand, or the seven for the four thousand? Do you not yet perceive?”

Three times they’ve tripped this wire—bread, lack, doubt. Peter could wrestle nets in a squall, but walking on water? He sank, legs buckling, waves mocking. They could steer through storms, but calm one? They cowered, boat pitching, fear choking them (Matthew 8:26). Jesus keeps yanking them from their turf—fish, boats, grit—into a wild, supernatural deep where their tricks unravel. It’s no fluke. He’s not quizzing their recall; He’s stripping them bare. “You can’t do this,” He’s saying, voice soft but steel-edged. “Your hands are empty, your hearts flicker—don’t you see?”

They don’t—not yet. They’ve walked with the Prince of Life, watched Him snap nature’s spine, yet they grip doubt like a lifeline. It’s not just a lapse; it’s human degeneracy, a soul-sickness Jeremiah pins: “The heart is deceitful above all things, desperately sick” (17:9). Jesus knows it—He’s cracking it wide, not to shame them, but to show them their “utter worthlessness” without Him. Step one: expose the lack. Step two’s brewing.

By Matthew 17, the stakes climb higher. An epileptic man writhes, demon-tossed, and the disciples stand powerless—nets empty again (17:16). Jesus heals him, then turns, voice taut: ‘O faithless generation… If you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, this mountain moves’ (17:17, 20). A grain? They didn’t even have that, not a crumb. Their lack wasn’t just little; it was lethal—dead wood without the Spirit’s spark. Yet Jesus doesn’t discard them; He’s pointing, again, to the gulf only He can fill. “Their nil faith wasn’t the end—it was the forge.”

The Need for a Savior

When Jesus called, ‘Follow me,’ it wasn’t just to teach them tricks—it was to torch their self-sufficiency. He dragged them from familiar nets into a wild sea of storms, scarcity, and seizing demons, where every wave and wail stripped them bare. The natural world’s grip—vicious, unyielding—left them helpless, and that was the point. Only in the muck of their lack could they taste the reality: apart from Him, they were nothing.

“Why do you doubt?” Jesus asked, hauling Peter from the waves, water streaming from his cloak, beard dripping like a sodden net. It’s three words that slash deep, a blade to the marrow. He’d ask it again in the boat, wind snarling through the rigging: “Why are you afraid, O you of little faith?” (Matthew 8:26). And again, breadless and muttering like scolded kids: “Why don’t you perceive?” (Matthew 16:8). He’s not fishing for excuses—John says He “knew what was in man” (2:25). He’s holding up a cracked mirror, and the reflection’s stark: Peter’s legs trembling under the waves, the Twelve white-knuckling the boat’s edge, their hushed panic over a loaf they forgot. This isn’t a stumble—it’s a gulf, a soul-deep fracture no human can ford.

Peter sank because waves don’t kneel to fishermen’s swagger. The disciples gripped the boat because storms scoff at sailors’ guile. They fretted over bread—three times!—because miracles don’t root in hearts curled inward, hearts Jeremiah calls “desperately sick.” They’d seen Him turn scraps into feasts, yet their faith flickered like a guttering wick. “With men it is impossible,” Jesus would say (Matthew 19:26), and here’s the proof: even with the Son of God in their bow, they’re deficient, degenerate, adrift. But that’s the brilliance—He’s not shaming them; He’s showing them. Every “why” is a lantern swinging in the dark, every “little faith” a blazing sign: you need Me.

They had to feel this—their “utter worthlessness” gnawing at their pride—to crave the Savior standing there, dripping with sea and grace. He’s the “author and perfecter of faith” (Hebrews 12:2), not them. “Apart from me you can do nothing,” He’d say (John 15:5), and they’re living it—sinking, shaking, muttering proof. This isn’t the end; it’s the pivot. He’s splitting them open for a gift they can’t clutch alone.

The Promise of Greater Works

Jesus didn’t stop at miracles—He was kindling a wildfire. “Greater works than these will you do,” He promised, voice steady as dawn igniting Galilee, “because I go to the Father” (John 14:12). He raised Lazarus, shroud unraveling, bones creaking back to breath (John 11:44). He fed thousands, baskets brimming, kids giggling with fish-stained fingers. But He locked eyes with these roughnecks—Peter stinking of fish, Matthew with ink-stained palms—and saw a tidal wave: “Follow me, and I’ll make you fishers of men” (Matthew 4:19). Not just bodies jolted from tombs, but souls ripped from death’s jaws—thousands, millions, a net tearing across time.

Lazarus staggered out, alive but bound for dust again. Peter’s Pentecost sermon? Three thousand souls blazed awake in a single gust (Acts 2:41), eternal sparks stoked by the Word. Jesus hushed a storm for a boatful; the disciples preached through tempests to nations, chains rattling, hearts splitting wide. Every sign was a spark—water-walking taught Peter to leap, bread-breaking taught trust, storm-stilling taught awe. He wasn’t just patching leaks; He was training them to wield His power, bigger, bolder, unbound. “I go to the Father,” He said—His exit was their launch, the Spirit their torch (Acts 1:8).

He raised the dead to prove He could; He trained them to raise the spiritually dead because He would—through them. Their “little faith” was a seed, bruised in the deep, yearning for the Spirit’s rain to burst it open. Greater works weren’t a whim—they were His design, and He was rigging the nets to rip.

Jesus didn’t stop at their lack—He unveiled the gift’s reach. ‘This kind ‘comes out only by prayer and fasting’ (Matthew 17:21)—faith as a cry, not a grunt. Then, ‘Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven’ (18:18). Their ‘little faith’ had crumbled, but the faith He’d plant—imputed, alive—would crack mountains, leash darkness, ripple eternally. Helplessness forged them; this was their fire.

The Spirit’s Precious Gift

They stood on the Mount of Olives, necks craned, watching Him rise—robes fluttering, sky swallowing their Master like a flame snuffed out (Acts 1:9). Alone now, hearts pounding—fear and fire wrestling in their ribs—they waited. Like purple herons stretching parched beaks to a rainless sky, poised in Kerala’s shrinking marshes, they ached for the promise: “Stay until you’re clothed with power” (Luke 24:49). Days bled into prayer, huddled in that upper room—dust swirling, oil lamps guttering, voices threading hope through dread (Acts 1:14). Then Pentecost roared in—wind howling like a lion unchained, flames licking their heads, tongues bursting free like rivers unbound (Acts 2:4). Their “little faith” crumbled, but the faith He’d plant—imputed, alive—cracked mountains, leashed darkness, rippled into eternity.   

They’d learned their lack—sinking in waves, fretting over crumbs, fleeing the cross—and it hollowed them out for this. “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,” Jesus had said (Matthew 5:6), and they’d starved, parched for life their hands couldn’t snatch. The Spirit was the monsoon, the “showers of blessing” I’d felt in Ezekiel’s echo (34:26). Peter, once a wave-walker turned wave-sinker, stood and thundered truth, nets hauling thousands. Their deficiency? Drowned. Their helplessness? Fueled. “Precious faith,” he’d call it later (2 Peter 1:1), because it wasn’t theirs to forge—it was grace, crashing in for all (Titus 2:11), turning their ash into flame.

This wasn’t a mend. The Spirit didn’t patch their “little faith”—He torched it, rebuilt it, sent it soaring. They’d waited like purple herons, beaks gaping in the dry, and the rain didn’t drip—it raged.

Grace Over Blame

If Peter’s soggy flop proves anything, it’s this: we’re all sinking sometimes. Ministers, hear me—those pews brim with disciples clutching torn nets, hearts flickering with “little faith.” Don’t club them with it; they’re bruised enough. Jesus didn’t leave Peter thrashing in the waves—He grabbed him, lifted him, sent him to fish souls from the deep. “My grace is sufficient,” He whispers through Paul (2 Corinthians 12:9), and that’s the anthem we need—loud, raw, relentless. Stop cursing the lack; start chanting the gift.

I’ve heard preachers growl, “Where’s your faith?”—fists pounding pulpits, eyes narrowed—like the disciples should’ve muscled it up by Galilee. But they couldn’t, and we can’t. Three bread miracles, crumbs still on their fingers, and they still muttered—degenerate, broken, us. Blame buries; grace builds. “No condemnation in Christ,” Paul shouts (Romans 8:1), and ministers should scream it too. Point them to the Spirit—tell them to stretch their beaks skyward like purple herons, beg for power (Luke 11:13), seize the grace that’s theirs.

The epistles sing it. Paul brags, “By the grace of God I am what I am” (1 Corinthians 15:10), not “Check my strength.” Peter, ex-sinker, pleads, “Grow in grace” (2 Peter 3:18). They knew their lack—that’s why grace hit like a monsoon, fierce and sweet. Ministers, don’t kick the boat-rockers; toss them the rope. Grace isn’t just the fix—it’s the wind, the fire, the soar.

Conclusion: Our Journey Too

So here we are—you and me, teetering on our own waves. Maybe your bread’s gone stale, bills stacking like storm clouds. Maybe the wind’s howling, and your net’s a knot. “O you of little faith,” He says, but lean in—it’s not a gavel. It’s a grip. The disciples sank, muttered, bolted—then stood, preached, conquered, all because the Spirit crashed in. “With God, all things are possible” (Matthew 19:26), and that’s our lifeline too.

I’ve doubted—bank dry, nights long, hope frayed. But this story’s alive: our “little faith” isn’t the grave; it’s the crack where grace floods. The Spirit’s here, not just for them but us—right now, nets trembling. From little faith to precious grace, the journey’s beating—step out, cast wide, feel Him lift you. The monsoon’s breaking. Soar.

The Paradoxical Nature of the BEGOTTEN MAN from GALILEE”

“Beyond Time and Begotten: Delving into the Paradoxical Nature of the BEGOTTEN MAN from GALILEE”

My study of the word of God identify that Jesus Christ possess two identity – one as the eternal Word (coequal with the Father, unbegotten) and the later, the Son of Man (first-begotten of the Father).

Please note, I assert that Jesus Christ as the “first-begotten” and not the “only begotten”. He was the only Son begotten of the Father until the Father begat many other sons with the word of truth (joint-heirs with Christ) – Heb 1:6/Rev 1:5/John 3:16/1John 4:9/James 1:18/1John 5:1,18/1Pet 1:3/Heb 1:5,6/5:5.

Eternal Word existed in God (the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one – 1 John 5:7); He is neither created nor begotten, He exists. The Word was God – John 1:1.

Keep in mind that what we are dealing with here is still a mystery and even if we try to decipher the Godhead for millenniums, we would not be able to comprehend the Mystery of godliness in Christ in its entirety. As I am trying to unwrap this mystery like anyone else did, know that I am doing this with the mind of a pupil or a child. Until and unless the restitution of all things takes places, and sin is done away with, and that our vile body be fashioned like unto His glorious body—none of the temporal minds would be able to fully understand the Godhead. And in his search for truth, some would end up being called heretical. The Pharisees of the first Century called Jesus a heretic/blasphemous and his followers a sect, didn’t they? Matt 26:65/Acts 24:14 – KJV

Certainly there are destructive heresies (2 Peter 2:1/1Cor 11:19) that, we must reprimand. There is also a bright side to heresies.

Apostle Paul said, When I was a child (spiritual infant – 1Pet 2;2/1Cor 3:1-3), I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man (mature in spirit – Heb 5:13:14), I put away childish things (1Cor 13:11).

I thank God that He did not let me publish many of my articles, which I had written during my weaning stage. I hope you understand what I am trying to convey! So don’t be hasty to conclude a man or woman as evil; we don’t know whether they are in the weaning stage and are still accepted in the beloved.

WARNING: But there are false apostles, deceitful workers out there, who have transformed themselves into the apostles of Christ—they are ministers of Satan, which masquerades as ministers of righteousness – 2Cor 11:13-15 – to beguile and draw away disciples from following sound doctrine.

Heresies are experiments in man’s unsatisfied search for truth – H.G. Wells

The Son of Man, the human person that the word of God incarnated into (the hypostatic union) is of the earth – the body that he took upon is from an earthly lineage. He has a lineage according to the flesh. He is the fruit of David’s loins – Hard to digest? Believe the word of God.

The Son of God is introduced to the creature right after the incarnation. If we carefully study, we can see that the begotten phase began by incarnation. Note also that Jesus is not a name, per se, but a title whose meaning is “Yahweh saves”. Until then the second person of the Godhead remained as the Word of God.

The begotten factor can only be appropriated to a creature. The Son of Man is identified with the creature. But the Word of God, who was with God is the Creator Himself. Before incarnation, the Godhead was: The Father, The Word, The Holy Ghost – these three are One. But after the word of God took upon the sinful flesh for the purpose of redeeming mankind from the shackles of sin and from the power of Satan, the immutable Godhead had a slight change of positioning within the Godhead. That is now the word had taken upon a mortal body – the Word of God (Rev 19:13) took upon him the form of a servant (Philippians 2:7).

The Scriptures agree that the Son of Man has a beginning. The man of Galilee is born after the Adamic proportion. In all things it behooved him to be made like unto his brethren (Hebrews 2:17) – it was expedient for us, that one man (a righteous man) should die for the people, and that the whole nation perish not (John 11:50/18:14).

Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same (Hebrews 2:14) – that he might taste death for us – Heb 2:9.

In incarnation, the son of Mary had to be taught obedience, and battle sin, sickness, overcome the world and Satan and be made perfect like any of us would – Heb 2:10/ 5:8,9/4:15/2:18. He was not an exception in the natural until the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, filled with wisdom: and the grace of God was upon him (Luke 2:40) – until he came to the realization that he is an exception. This knowing that: “I came forth from the Father, and am come into the world” (John 16:28), is a bold, unabashed statement was not a knowledge that he possessed from childhood but that which is imparted by the Spirit of His Father – Listen to this: Jesus KNOWING (eido – perceived, discovered) that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he was come from God (John 13:3).

Therefore, doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again. No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father (John 10:17,18). The Father who dwelt in the Son through His Spirit gave him the knowledge of who he is and his real identity.

I conjecture that, the incarnation process was like an operation done by God, like He did to Adam, that God put Adam into a deep sleep to create Eve. The last Adam too, the word of God had to go through a phase like Adam in incarnation, which only God understand to build Himself a tabernacle of men. Neither is the man without the woman, neither the woman without the man, in the Lord (1 Cor 11:11) – This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church (Eph 5:32).

Though it has been said that God gave His Son, it was a mutual consented plan of redemption. You see how submissive Isaac was when Abraham took him to sacrifice! And he said, Behold the fire and the wood: but where is the lamb for a burnt offering? (Genesis 22:7). Abraham bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood (Genesis 22:9) – we don’t read that Isaac had protested at all—which typifies that in God’s decision to redeem mankind, He had to sacrifice His own Son. When He was oppressed, when he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he opened not his mouth (Isaiah 53:7). He submitted to the will of His Father. I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me (John 5:30). Then said he, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God (Hebrews 10:7,9).

On the other hand, as the habitation of man was what the WISDOM of God delighted in the most – Proverbs 8:30,31/1Cor 1:24 – and there is no disunity in the Godhead, it was also the will of the word of God to come and save us. Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: (Phil 2:6,7). I lay down my life (John 10:17) – No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself (John 10:18).

Begotten not made: Made refers only to inanimate objects, as being made. ‘Begotten’ carries with it the sense of being the product of sexual reproduction.

While the incarnate Jesus was the Son of God—and Mary as His human mother, he was NOT the product of sexual intercourse. Additionally, since we also believe that God the Son has an eternal existence preceding His earthly incarnation, and ‘proceeding’ from God the Father, what can ‘begotten’ mean in that sense?

Or, perhaps the line simply refers to the fact that Christ was never ‘made’, in the sense that He always existed, bur rather assumed earthy form by being ‘begotten’ of God the Father and the Virgin Mary?

A human begets a human.

A human makes a chair.

Adam lived an hundred and thirty years, and begat a son (Genesis 5:3)

Jesus was not the outcome of God and Mary’s sexual union as many propound, which is blasphemy, but the Bible is clear that the omniscient, omnipotent Spirit of God formed the physical body of Jesus—from the lineage of the holy line of human descend. For it is evident that our Lord sprang out of Juda (Heb 7:14).

How, might you ask? God, who quickens the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were (Rom 4:17). The body of Christ is the fruit of the loins of David, period. It ought to be! David, being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne (Acts 2:30) – The Lord hath sworn in truth unto David; he will not turn from it; Of the fruit of thy body will I set upon thy throne (Psalm 132:11) – Concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh (Romans 1:3). Many Jewish people at that time knew this: They cried, thou Son of David, have mercy on me (Luke 18:39).

That is why it is been said that God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh (Rom 8:3). It was incumbent that he be made (Being made – Heb 1:4) like unto us that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people. For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succour them that are tempted (Heb 2:17,18) – and that he might taste death for us – Heb 2:9.

Without taking upon himself a sinful flesh, from the lineage of his sinful fathers, Jesus could not have had tasted death. If his body were perfect, the whole Scripture would contradict, and we could not rely on him as a person who could understand us in everything. But the truth is that He did leave his God state and took upon him a lowly state to experience death for all men.

And God made him, who knew no sin to be SIN for us – 2 Cor 5:21. It is a mystery to us since there are two natures in one person (Jesus Christ) – one person yet two natures (divine and human). Only the Holy Spirit could have created such a being as Jesus Christ, the Son of God and the Son of Man. The Supreme Being!

The right belief is the Hypostatic Union, which states that Jesus is entirely God and totally man (Col. 2:9), and that he did not relinquish any divine traits while on earth. Though some translations of the Bible says that He emptied Himself – Phil 2:6,7 – it is not proper to think that He desist from being divine. He is without change, confusion, division, or separation – wholly God and totally man; the enigma that has been buried for centuries. One natural human.

Didn’t Jesus say, no one can take it away from me? – John 10:18/John 1/5:26/8:58/14:9/Acts 7:37-39/Hebrews 1:3/1John 5:20/Titus 2:13/2Cor 3:17.

The term “firstborn” (prototokos) has a biological connotation: “And she gave birth to her firstborn son, wrapping him in swaddling cloths” (Luke 2:7). However, it can also signify dignity and primacy in a nonbiological sense!

Psalm 89:27 God says of the one who will sit on David’s throne, He shall cry unto me, Thou art my father, my God, and the rock of my salvation. Also, I will make him my firstborn, higher than the kings of the earth – Psalm 89:26-27. See, this term “Son of God” did not exist until the incarnation. When he brings in the first-begotten into the world (Heb 1:6) – when the fulness of the time was come, the son was made of a woman, made under the law (Gal 4:4) – the word of the oath, which was since the law* (The Covenant is backed by God’s promise that it will last forever. God will never withdraw or change his mind about these promises because of the pledge – Hebrews 6:16-18/7:18-22 – and that), *makes the Son (Hebrews 7:28).

This day have I begotten thee. I will be to him a Father, and he shall be to me a Son (Hebrews 1:5). And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore, also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God (Luke 1:35).

Does this not imply that he was never a son? Undoubtedly! It is abundantly obvious from this that the Son and Father’s connection began with the incarnation and that the Word of God was God (of one essence with the Father). Does this imply that the Son of Man existed beforehand?

The Son of man is begotten and is the first-born of every creature, as he was predetermined before the foundation of the world (the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world – Revelation 13:8) – but the Word of God coexists with the Father. Though the “Sonship” was intended in God (Plurality of God – The Father, The Word, The Spirit) before time began, it was made manifest only 2000 years ago. But now is made manifest (Romans 16:26/Col 1:26/ 2Tim 1:10/1John 1:2). By incarnation, the Creator Himself had become a mysterious Divine Creature, so to speak (an unfamiliar kind – the hypostatic union of God and Man – the combination of divine and human natures in the single person of Christ – or the union of Christ’s humanity and divinity in one hypostasis, or individual existence)—and it was proposed before the beginning of time or before any creation; hence we could conjecture that he* (the Son of man taken from man, the seed of Abraham – Gal 3:16 – in Isaac shall thy seed be called – Hebrews 11:18 – Accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead; from whence also he received him in a figure – Hebrews 11:19 – see the holy line of descend – The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham – Matthew 1:1) *thus became the first-born of every creature.

The Son of God is the Wisdom and Power of God – 1Cor 1:24/Pro 8:12-31, whose name is the Word of God – Rev 19:13. The Son of man (the man Jesus Christ) is the seed of Abraham, the fruit of David’s loins, from the tribe of Judah. Hence, Jesus Christ is fully God and fully man. Believe it!

According to Leviticus 25:48-49 – he should be a kinsman redeemer – Our redeemer kinsman – only a kinsman can redeem us – so he has to come from the same lineage of Adam – the Bible says of “the lineage of Jesus” – and this proves that His body is taken from man – of the tribe of Judah.

For both he that sanctifies, and they who are sanctified are all of one: for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren, Saying, I will declare thy name unto my brethren – Hebrews 2:11-12

Before incarnation, it was the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost. After the resurrection, it is, in the name of the Father, the Son (the divine human) and the Holy Ghost. Difference is that the Word became flesh and dwelt among us – John 1:14. Hitherto, the fulness of the Godhead was in the person of the Father, but it pleased the Father that in Jesus Christ should all fullness dwells – Col 1:19/2:9 – until the times of restitution of all things – Acts 3:21/1Corinthians 15:24-28.

Express image:

The Bible states that this eternal God has always had a flawless representation of himself (Col 1:15), a perfect expression of his splendor (Heb 1:3), a perfect stamp or imprint of his nature (Heb 1:3), and a perfect brilliance of his essence (Heb 1:3). (Phil 2:6).

I would postulate that God the Word is coeternal with God the Father and equal in essence and glory but the Son of God, who was taken from man is the begotten of God (the firstborn among many brethren – Romans 8:29). The Spirit of Christ (the Anointed, the Messiah, the Son of Man) is the divine “Word of God” – Rev 19:13 – Now the Lord is that eternal Spirit – 2 Cor 3:17 – the second man is the Lord from heaven (1 Cor 15:47).

To me, it was a natural man that died to redeem man. Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but A BODY hast thou prepared me (Heb 10:5). It was expedient/incumbent) that one MAN should die for the people (John 11:50/18:14) – by the obedience of one MAN (the MAN Jesus Christ – Rom 5:15/1Tim 2:5) shall many be made righteous (Romans 5:19).

Those who would not attest to this truth is in the position of claiming that Jesus Christ did not come in the flesh. And every spirit that confesses not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God (1 John 4:3). Otherwise, we would make him a liar. The truth is, he hath conformed unto his brethren

Though the Word of God coexists with the Father and with the Holy Ghost, and for the purpose of redemption, the Word had to renounce His first estate and become a servant – along with the relinquishment also came the positioning himself as a Son. He had to go through the process of being begotten of God.

Now the word of God is not only a Spirit but a Man as well. Mankind now has a Divine Human King whose kingdom shall never be destroyed – Daniel 2:44 – whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom – Daniel 7:27.

That eternal Spirit is the Lord from heaven or the Word of God – 2Cor 3:17/1Cor 15:47, but the Man Jesus Christ (human-being) is the Son of David. Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee? And again, I will be (future continuous – the speaker has the intention) to him a Father, and he shall be (the expression of propositions about the future (future tense) – describes an obligation or requirement) to me a Son? (Heb 1:5)

Apart from that, the Word is uniquely/solely God. The idea of Sonship and the plan of redemption was in God before the world began, even before the fall and according to God, the Lamb was slain from the foundation of the world (Revelation 13:8). Before the fall of man, the heavens got polluted by the rebellious angels, hence, heavens are not clean in his sight (Job 15:15/ Heb 9:23). Ergo, God knew beforehand (the foreknowledge of God – 1 Peter 1:2) what would take place and pre-determined things.

For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate (Rom 8:29,30/Eph 1:5,11). Christ, a lamb without blemish and without spot: Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world but was manifest in these last times for you (1 Peter 1:19,20).

Because God is present in the past, present and future at the same time. The future is in Him. When He took upon the form of man, YHWH had to give the Son a name according to man, and that name should have the meaning of “YHWH Saves” – so he would be called Jesus or Emmanuel (God with us – Matt 1:21,23). The name Jesus is taken from man; it wasn’t the name of God. The genealogies reveal that the name “Jesus” was a derivation of Joshua. Jesus in Hebrew is “Yeshua” which translates to English as Joshua (a shortened version of the name Yehoshua or Joshua and is the literal Hebrew word for Salvation).

The foreknowledge of God: And God doesn’t just know things as they happen. He has always known them. Already before the world began, God knew every last detail about the world as it would be right now. It is all factored into his eternal plan and purpose. God’s knowledge of past and present is complete and exact, and so is his knowledge of the future. God sees it all before it happens. Nothing can ever catch God by surprise. He already knows it all, has included it in his plan, and directs every detail in a way that serves his own good goal for his world – Dr. David Feddes

When it is said that all things were made by him; and without him was not anything made that was made (John 1:3) – this is about the Word, who was God. The preexisting Christ, the Word of God. For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by Him, and for Him: And He is before all things, and by Him all things consist – Col 1:16-17. The Word of God is the great I AM.

One could also argue that the Son had a kingdom – the kingdom of his dear Son (Col 1:13). Understand that the kingdom of Christ and the kingdom of God are two distinct things. Jesus Christ himself said, the kingdom of God is nigh at hand (Luke 21:31). If I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is come unto you (Matthew 12:28). So, the kingdom of God is spiritual in nature – Rom 14:17. But the kingdom of Christ must be inherited through birth (born of God) – Eph 5:5/2Pet 1:11/Rev 11:15 – the Father hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son (Col 1:13).

So, you see only the elect of God (by the regeneration of the Holy Ghost – born of the Spirit – born of water and of the Spirit – John 3:5) get to experience—can inherit this kingdom. And ye are come unto mount Zion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem – To the general assembly and church of the firstborn (Heb 12:21,22) – the royal priesthood and a holy nation (1 Peter 2:9). Christ hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father (Revelation 1:6/5:10).

Now ye know why he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS (Revelation 19:16).

On the other hand, the Heavenly kingdom (the Divine government), whose King is God Almighty, has a physical government that is distinct from that of the spiritual world. It is exhaustive, ubiquitous in nature — even the most trivial things are under His control, not to mention that which appears to be unattainable – Prov 16:33. “The plan of him who works out everything in line with the purpose of his will,” the Bible says (Eph 1:11). A little bird, according to Jesus, can’t plummet to the ground unless it’s God’s will (Matthew 10:29) – the very hairs of your head are all numbered (Matthew 10:30). God is depicted as the King of the Universe in both the Old and New Testaments.

The Heidelberg Catechism, describes thus: “Providence is the Almighty and ever-present power of God by which he upholds, as with his hand, heaven and earth and all creatures, and so rules them that leaf and blade, rain and drought, fruitful years and lean years, food and drink, health and sickness, prosperity and poverty––all things, in fact, come to us not by chance but from his fatherly hand.”

A servant cannot inherit but a son can – And the servant abides not in the house for ever: but the Son abides ever (John 8:35). Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ (Gal 4:7). Because ye are sons (by birth), God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father (Gal 4:6).

And only those that get inducted into the kingdom of God’s Son get to experience the spiritual life (all spiritual blessings – Eph 1:3) of the kingdom of God, which are, righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Ghost. Both kingdoms work in tandem.

When, did this kingdom come, one might ask? After the accuser of the brethren was cast down – Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God, day and night (Revelation 12:10). Jesus Christ having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it (Colossians 2:15) – bound the strong man and spoiled his goods – Matt 12:28,29/Mark 3:27. Through death he destroyed (incapacitated) him that had the power of death, that is, the devil (Heb 2:14). Now Jesus Christ possesses the keys of hell and of death (Revelation 1:18).

The Word who was with God, who was God (the wisdom and the power of God – 1Cor 1:24) descended, abased, humbled, declassed, relegated himself and had become a creature – to be classified as the firstborn of every creature (Col 1:15). And BEING FOUND in fashion as a man – John 13:3, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross (Phil 2:8).

“Death of the cross was reserved for only the worst of criminals. And despite your crimes, this method of execution was too abhorrent. Why it’s so humiliating? While the crucifixion is being carried out, you are completely naked (shame - Heb 12:2). Before being nailed to the cross, you would be flogged, whipped with pieces of leather that had small pieces of metal and stones attached (Matthew 27:26/Mark 15:15/John 19:1); not to mention, the nails would break your ligaments, bones and nerves. Usually, the bodies of Jewish crucifixion victims were thrown out with the rubbish, not buried, but left in a gully outside Jerusalem called Gehenna to be burnt with the rest of the rubbish.

Now, both kingdoms are in its spiritual form, so to speak. But the day is coming when the kingdoms of this world will become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever. (Revelation 11:15).

I saw in the night visions, and behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him. And there was given him (a future event) dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed. (Daniel 7:13,14). Until the Ancient of days came, and judgment was given to the saints of the most High; and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom (Daniel 7:22) – the “Stone kingdom of Christ”- the stone that smote the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth (Daniel 2:35).

I am the root and the offspring of David (Revelation 22:16). And hath raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David (Luke 1:69). He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David (according to the flesh)(Luke 1:32)

David in spirit call him Lord (Matthew 22:43)

The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham (Matthew 1:1)

In that day there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and for uncleanness. (Zechariah 13:1)

Jesus was born (Matthew 2:1) – Where is he that is born King of the Jews? (Matthew 2:2) – I have exalted one chosen out of the people (Psalm 89:19) – I will make him my firstborn, higher than the kings of the earth (Psalm 89:27) – He shall cry unto me, Thou art my father, my God, and the rock of my salvation (Psalm 89:26). For to which of the angels did God ever say, “You are my Son; TODAY I have become your Father? Or again, “I will be his Father, and he will be my Son”? And again, when God brings his firstborn into the world, he says, “Let all God’s angels worship him.”

I have sworn unto David my servant, (Psalm 89:3) – Thy seed (fruit of his loins according to the flesh) will I establish forever, and build up thy throne to all generations (Psalm 89:4)

Then I was by him, as one brought up with him: and I was daily his delight, rejoicing always before him (Proverbs 8:22-30)

In fact, seven centuries before Jesus’ birth, God sent out a birth announcement through the prophet Micah, stating that the ruler of God’s people, someone of eternal origin, would be born in Bethlehem – But thou, Beth–lehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting. (Micah 5:2)

If you claim that Jesus’ body was not taken from man and that his body is heavenly and sinless; then Adam who was created by God had to be better than Jesus of Nazareth as he didn’t even come out of a womb and had no earthly father. The Bible, in another place, even calls Adam “the son of God” (Luke 3:38). But Jesus had a lineage; prove me wrong! It was, indeed, a deplorable lineage (according to the Scriptures, incest, prostitution, adultery, and murder were all part of Jesus’ extended familial tree).

Even Adam was not created perfect as he was taken from the earth—he had a proclivity to fall, rebel, transgress, be tempted. Adam did not have a glorious body as many presume but he could eat of the tree of life and live forever. It was an earthly body that he possessed. But the children of God shall receive a glorified body which doesn’t need to be sustained by eating of the tree of life as Adam had to. The glorified body is incorruptible, eternal, and heavenly.

The IMMUTABLE and BEGOTTEN man of Galilee!

My study of the word of God identify that Jesus Christ possess two identity – one as the eternal Word (coequal with the Father, unbegotten) and the later, the Son of Man (first-begotten of the Father).

Please note, I assert that Jesus Christ as the “first-begotten” and not the “only begotten”. He was the only Son begotten of the Father until the Father begat many other sons with the word of truth (joint-heirs with Christ) – Heb 1:6/Rev 1:5/John 3:16/1John 4:9/James 1:18/1John 5:1,18/1Pet 1:3/Heb 1:5,6/5:5.

Eternal Word existed in God (the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one – 1 John 5:7); He is neither created nor begotten, He exists. The Word was God – John 1:1.

Keep in mind that what we are dealing with here is still a mystery and even if we try to decipher the Godhead for millenniums, we would not be able to comprehend the Mystery of godliness in Christ in its entirety. As I am trying to unwrap this mystery like anyone else did, know that I am doing this with the mind of a pupil or a child. Until and unless the restitution of all things takes places, and sin is done away with, and that our vile body be fashioned like unto His glorious body—none of the temporal minds would be able to fully understand the Godhead. And in his search for truth, some would end up being called heretical. The Pharisees of the first Century called Jesus a heretic/blasphemous and his followers a sect, didn’t they? Matt 26:65/Acts 24:14 – KJV

Certainly there are destructive heresies (2 Peter 2:1/1Cor 11:19) that, we must reprimand. There is also a bright side to heresies.

Apostle Paul said, When I was a child (spiritual infant – 1Pet 2;2/1Cor 3:1-3), I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man (mature in spirit – Heb 5:13:14), I put away childish things (1Cor 13:11).

I thank God that He did not let me publish many of my articles, which I had written during my weaning stage. I hope you understand what I am trying to convey! So don’t be hasty to conclude a man or woman as evil; we don’t know whether they are in the weaning stage and are still accepted in the beloved.

WARNING: But there are false apostles, deceitful workers out there, who have transformed themselves into the apostles of Christ—they are ministers of Satan, which masquerades as ministers of righteousness – 2Cor 11:13-15 – to beguile and draw away disciples from following sound doctrine.

Heresies are experiments in man’s unsatisfied search for truth – H.G. Wells

The Son of Man, the human person that the word of God incarnated into (the hypostatic union) is of the earth – the body that he took upon is from an earthly lineage. He has a lineage according to the flesh. He is the fruit of David’s loins – Hard to digest? Believe the word of God.

The Son of God is introduced to the creature right after the incarnation. If we carefully study, we can see that the begotten phase began by incarnation. Note also that Jesus is not a name, per se, but a title whose meaning is “Yahweh saves”. Until then the second person of the Godhead remained as the Word of God.

The begotten factor can only be appropriated to a creature. The Son of Man is identified with the creature. But the Word of God, who was with God is the Creator Himself. Before incarnation, the Godhead was: The Father, The Word, The Holy Ghost – these three are One. But after the word of God took upon the sinful flesh for the purpose of redeeming mankind from the shackles of sin and from the power of Satan, the immutable Godhead had a slight change of positioning within the Godhead. That is now the word had taken upon a mortal body – the Word of God (Rev 19:13) took upon him the form of a servant (Philippians 2:7).

The Scriptures agree that the Son of Man has a beginning. The man of Galilee is born after the Adamic proportion. In all things it behooved him to be made like unto his brethren (Hebrews 2:17) – it was expedient for us, that one man (a righteous man) should die for the people, and that the whole nation perish not (John 11:50/18:14).

Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same (Hebrews 2:14) – that he might taste death for us – Heb 2:9.

In incarnation, the son of Mary had to be taught obedience, and battle sin, sickness, overcome the world and Satan and be made perfect like any of us would – Heb 2:10/ 5:8,9/4:15/2:18. He was not an exception in the natural until the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, filled with wisdom: and the grace of God was upon him (Luke 2:40) – until he came to the realization that he is an exception. This knowing that: “I came forth from the Father, and am come into the world” (John 16:28), is a bold, unabashed statement was not a knowledge that he possessed from childhood but that which is imparted by the Spirit of His Father – Listen to this: Jesus KNOWING (eido – perceived, discovered) that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he was come from God (John 13:3).

Therefore, doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again. No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father (John 10:17,18). The Father who dwelt in the Son through His Spirit gave him the knowledge of who he is and his real identity.

I conjecture that, the incarnation process was like an operation done by God, like He did to Adam, that God put Adam into a deep sleep to create Eve. The last Adam too, the word of God had to go through a phase like Adam in incarnation, which only God understand to build Himself a tabernacle of men. Neither is the man without the woman, neither the woman without the man, in the Lord (1 Cor 11:11) – This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church (Eph 5:32).

Though it has been said that God gave His Son, it was a mutual consented plan of redemption. You see how submissive Isaac was when Abraham took him to sacrifice! And he said, Behold the fire and the wood: but where is the lamb for a burnt offering? (Genesis 22:7). Abraham bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood (Genesis 22:9) – we don’t read that Isaac had protested at all—which typifies that in God’s decision to redeem mankind, He had to sacrifice His own Son. When He was oppressed, when he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he opened not his mouth (Isaiah 53:7). He submitted to the will of His Father. I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me (John 5:30). Then said he, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God (Hebrews 10:7,9).

On the other hand, as the habitation of man was what the WISDOM of God delighted in the most – Proverbs 8:30,31/1Cor 1:24 – and there is no disunity in the Godhead, it was also the will of the word of God to come and save us. Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: (Phil 2:6,7). I lay down my life (John 10:17) – No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself (John 10:18).

Begotten not made: Made refers only to inanimate objects, as being made. ‘Begotten’ carries with it the sense of being the product of sexual reproduction.

While the incarnate Jesus was the Son of God—and Mary as His human mother, he was NOT the product of sexual intercourse. Additionally, since we also believe that God the Son has an eternal existence preceding His earthly incarnation, and ‘proceeding’ from God the Father, what can ‘begotten’ mean in that sense?

Or, perhaps the line simply refers to the fact that Christ was never ‘made’, in the sense that He always existed, bur rather assumed earthy form by being ‘begotten’ of God the Father and the Virgin Mary?

A human begets a human.

A human makes a chair.

Adam lived an hundred and thirty years, and begat a son (Genesis 5:3)

Jesus was not the outcome of God and Mary’s sexual union as many propound, which is blasphemy, but the Bible is clear that the omniscient, omnipotent Spirit of God formed the physical body of Jesus—from the lineage of the holy line of human descend. For it is evident that our Lord sprang out of Juda (Heb 7:14).

How, might you ask? God, who quickens the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were (Rom 4:17). The body of Christ is the fruit of the loins of David, period. It ought to be! David, being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne (Acts 2:30) – The Lord hath sworn in truth unto David; he will not turn from it; Of the fruit of thy body will I set upon thy throne (Psalm 132:11) – Concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh (Romans 1:3). Many Jewish people at that time knew this: They cried, thou Son of David, have mercy on me (Luke 18:39).

That is why it is been said that God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh (Rom 8:3). It was incumbent that he be made (Being made – Heb 1:4) like unto us that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people. For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succour them that are tempted (Heb 2:17,18) – and that he might taste death for us – Heb 2:9.

Without taking upon himself a sinful flesh, from the lineage of his sinful fathers, Jesus could not have had tasted death. If his body were perfect, the whole Scripture would contradict, and we could not rely on him as a person who could understand us in everything. But the truth is that He did leave his God state and took upon him a lowly state to experience death for all men.

And God made him, who knew no sin to be SIN for us – 2 Cor 5:21. It is a mystery to us since there are two natures in one person (Jesus Christ) – one person yet two natures (divine and human). Only the Holy Spirit could have created such a being as Jesus Christ, the Son of God and the Son of Man. The Supreme Being!

The right belief is the Hypostatic Union, which states that Jesus is entirely God and totally man (Col. 2:9), and that he did not relinquish any divine traits while on earth. Though some translations of the Bible says that He emptied Himself – Phil 2:6,7 – it is not proper to think that He desist from being divine. He is without change, confusion, division, or separation – wholly God and totally man; the enigma that has been buried for centuries. One natural human.

Didn’t Jesus say, no one can take it away from me? – John 10:18/John 1/5:26/8:58/14:9/Acts 7:37-39/Hebrews 1:3/1John 5:20/Titus 2:13/2Cor 3:17.

The term “firstborn” (prototokos) has a biological connotation: “And she gave birth to her firstborn son, wrapping him in swaddling cloths” (Luke 2:7). However, it can also signify dignity and primacy in a nonbiological sense!

Psalm 89:27 God says of the one who will sit on David’s throne, He shall cry unto me, Thou art my father, my God, and the rock of my salvation. Also, I will make him my firstborn, higher than the kings of the earth – Psalm 89:26-27. See, this term “Son of God” did not exist until the incarnation. When he brings in the first-begotten into the world (Heb 1:6) – when the fulness of the time was come, the son was made of a woman, made under the law (Gal 4:4) – the word of the oath, which was since the law* (The Covenant is backed by God’s promise that it will last forever. God will never withdraw or change his mind about these promises because of the pledge – Hebrews 6:16-18/7:18-22 – and that), *makes the Son (Hebrews 7:28).

This day have I begotten thee. I will be to him a Father, and he shall be to me a Son (Hebrews 1:5). And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore, also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God (Luke 1:35).

Does this not imply that he was never a son? Undoubtedly! It is abundantly obvious from this that the Son and Father’s connection began with the incarnation and that the Word of God was God (of one essence with the Father). Does this imply that the Son of Man existed beforehand?

The Son of man is begotten and is the first-born of every creature, as he was predetermined before the foundation of the world (the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world – Revelation 13:8) – but the Word of God coexists with the Father. Though the “Sonship” was intended in God (Plurality of God – The Father, The Word, The Spirit) before time began, it was made manifest only 2000 years ago. But now is made manifest (Romans 16:26/Col 1:26/ 2Tim 1:10/1John 1:2). By incarnation, the Creator Himself had become a mysterious Divine Creature, so to speak (an unfamiliar kind – the hypostatic union of God and Man – the combination of divine and human natures in the single person of Christ – or the union of Christ’s humanity and divinity in one hypostasis, or individual existence)—and it was proposed before the beginning of time or before any creation; hence we could conjecture that he* (the Son of man taken from man, the seed of Abraham – Gal 3:16 – in Isaac shall thy seed be called – Hebrews 11:18 – Accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead; from whence also he received him in a figure – Hebrews 11:19 – see the holy line of descend – The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham – Matthew 1:1) *thus became the first-born of every creature.

The Son of God is the Wisdom and Power of God – 1Cor 1:24/Pro 8:12-31, whose name is the Word of God – Rev 19:13. The Son of man (the man Jesus Christ) is the seed of Abraham, the fruit of David’s loins, from the tribe of Judah. Hence, Jesus Christ is fully God and fully man. Believe it!

According to Leviticus 25:48-49 – he should be a kinsman redeemer – Our redeemer kinsman – only a kinsman can redeem us – so he has to come from the same lineage of Adam – the Bible says of “the lineage of Jesus” – and this proves that His body is taken from man – of the tribe of Judah.

For both he that sanctifies, and they who are sanctified are all of one: for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren, Saying, I will declare thy name unto my brethren – Hebrews 2:11-12

Before incarnation, it was the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost. After the resurrection, it is, in the name of the Father, the Son (the divine human) and the Holy Ghost. Difference is that the Word became flesh and dwelt among us – John 1:14. Hitherto, the fulness of the Godhead was in the person of the Father, but it pleased the Father that in Jesus Christ should all fullness dwells – Col 1:19/2:9 – until the times of restitution of all things – Acts 3:21/1Corinthians 15:24-28.

Express image:

The Bible states that this eternal God has always had a flawless representation of himself (Col 1:15), a perfect expression of his splendor (Heb 1:3), a perfect stamp or imprint of his nature (Heb 1:3), and a perfect brilliance of his essence (Heb 1:3). (Phil 2:6).

I would postulate that God the Word is coeternal with God the Father and equal in essence and glory but the Son of God, who was taken from man is the begotten of God (the firstborn among many brethren – Romans 8:29). The Spirit of Christ (the Anointed, the Messiah, the Son of Man) is the divine “Word of God” – Rev 19:13 – Now the Lord is that eternal Spirit – 2 Cor 3:17 – the second man is the Lord from heaven (1 Cor 15:47).

To me, it was a natural man that died to redeem man. Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but A BODY hast thou prepared me (Heb 10:5). It was expedient/incumbent) that one MAN should die for the people (John 11:50/18:14) – by the obedience of one MAN (the MAN Jesus Christ – Rom 5:15/1Tim 2:5) shall many be made righteous (Romans 5:19).

Those who would not attest to this truth is in the position of claiming that Jesus Christ did not come in the flesh. And every spirit that confesses not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God (1 John 4:3). Otherwise, we would make him a liar. The truth is, he hath conformed unto his brethren

Though the Word of God coexists with the Father and with the Holy Ghost, and for the purpose of redemption, the Word had to renounce His first estate and become a servant – along with the relinquishment also came the positioning himself as a Son. He had to go through the process of being begotten of God.

Now the word of God is not only a Spirit but a Man as well. Mankind now has a Divine Human King whose kingdom shall never be destroyed – Daniel 2:44 – whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom – Daniel 7:27.

That eternal Spirit is the Lord from heaven or the Word of God – 2Cor 3:17/1Cor 15:47, but the Man Jesus Christ (human-being) is the Son of David. Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee? And again, I will be (future continuous – the speaker has the intention) to him a Father, and he shall be (the expression of propositions about the future (future tense) – describes an obligation or requirement) to me a Son? (Heb 1:5)

Apart from that, the Word is uniquely/solely God. The idea of Sonship and the plan of redemption was in God before the world began, even before the fall and according to God, the Lamb was slain from the foundation of the world (Revelation 13:8). Before the fall of man, the heavens got polluted by the rebellious angels, hence, heavens are not clean in his sight (Job 15:15/ Heb 9:23). Ergo, God knew beforehand (the foreknowledge of God – 1 Peter 1:2) what would take place and pre-determined things.

For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate (Rom 8:29,30/Eph 1:5,11). Christ, a lamb without blemish and without spot: Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world but was manifest in these last times for you (1 Peter 1:19,20).

Because God is present in the past, present and future at the same time. The future is in Him. When He took upon the form of man, YHWH had to give the Son a name according to man, and that name should have the meaning of “YHWH Saves” – so he would be called Jesus or Emmanuel (God with us – Matt 1:21,23). The name Jesus is taken from man; it wasn’t the name of God. The genealogies reveal that the name “Jesus” was a derivation of Joshua. Jesus in Hebrew is “Yeshua” which translates to English as Joshua (a shortened version of the name Yehoshua or Joshua and is the literal Hebrew word for Salvation).

The foreknowledge of God: And God doesn’t just know things as they happen. He has always known them. Already before the world began, God knew every last detail about the world as it would be right now. It is all factored into his eternal plan and purpose. God’s knowledge of past and present is complete and exact, and so is his knowledge of the future. God sees it all before it happens. Nothing can ever catch God by surprise. He already knows it all, has included it in his plan, and directs every detail in a way that serves his own good goal for his world – Dr. David Feddes

When it is said that all things were made by him; and without him was not anything made that was made (John 1:3) – this is about the Word, who was God. The preexisting Christ, the Word of God. For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by Him, and for Him: And He is before all things, and by Him all things consist – Col 1:16-17. The Word of God is the great I AM.

One could also argue that the Son had a kingdom – the kingdom of his dear Son (Col 1:13). Understand that the kingdom of Christ and the kingdom of God are two distinct things. Jesus Christ himself said, the kingdom of God is nigh at hand (Luke 21:31). If I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is come unto you (Matthew 12:28). So, the kingdom of God is spiritual in nature – Rom 14:17. But the kingdom of Christ must be inherited through birth (born of God) – Eph 5:5/2Pet 1:11/Rev 11:15 – the Father hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son (Col 1:13).

So, you see only the elect of God (by the regeneration of the Holy Ghost – born of the Spirit – born of water and of the Spirit – John 3:5) get to experience—can inherit this kingdom. And ye are come unto mount Zion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem – To the general assembly and church of the firstborn (Heb 12:21,22) – the royal priesthood and a holy nation (1 Peter 2:9). Christ hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father (Revelation 1:6/5:10).

Now ye know why he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS (Revelation 19:16).

On the other hand, the Heavenly kingdom (the Divine government), whose King is God Almighty, has a physical government that is distinct from that of the spiritual world. It is exhaustive, ubiquitous in nature — even the most trivial things are under His control, not to mention that which appears to be unattainable – Prov 16:33. “The plan of him who works out everything in line with the purpose of his will,” the Bible says (Eph 1:11). A little bird, according to Jesus, can’t plummet to the ground unless it’s God’s will (Matthew 10:29) – the very hairs of your head are all numbered (Matthew 10:30). God is depicted as the King of the Universe in both the Old and New Testaments.

The Heidelberg Catechism, describes thus: “Providence is the Almighty and ever-present power of God by which he upholds, as with his hand, heaven and earth and all creatures, and so rules them that leaf and blade, rain and drought, fruitful years and lean years, food and drink, health and sickness, prosperity and poverty––all things, in fact, come to us not by chance but from his fatherly hand.”

A servant cannot inherit but a son can – And the servant abides not in the house for ever: but the Son abides ever (John 8:35). Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ (Gal 4:7). Because ye are sons (by birth), God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father (Gal 4:6).

And only those that get inducted into the kingdom of God’s Son get to experience the spiritual life (all spiritual blessings – Eph 1:3) of the kingdom of God, which are, righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Ghost. Both kingdoms work in tandem.

When, did this kingdom come, one might ask? After the accuser of the brethren was cast down – Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God, day and night (Revelation 12:10). Jesus Christ having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it (Colossians 2:15) – bound the strong man and spoiled his goods – Matt 12:28,29/Mark 3:27. Through death he destroyed (incapacitated) him that had the power of death, that is, the devil (Heb 2:14). Now Jesus Christ possesses the keys of hell and of death (Revelation 1:18).

The Word who was with God, who was God (the wisdom and the power of God – 1Cor 1:24) descended, abased, humbled, declassed, relegated himself and had become a creature – to be classified as the firstborn of every creature (Col 1:15). And BEING FOUND in fashion as a man – John 13:3, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross (Phil 2:8).

“Death of the cross was reserved for only the worst of criminals. And despite your crimes, this method of execution was too abhorrent. Why it’s so humiliating? While the crucifixion is being carried out, you are completely naked (shame - Heb 12:2). Before being nailed to the cross, you would be flogged, whipped with pieces of leather that had small pieces of metal and stones attached (Matthew 27:26/Mark 15:15/John 19:1); not to mention, the nails would break your ligaments, bones and nerves. Usually, the bodies of Jewish crucifixion victims were thrown out with the rubbish, not buried, but left in a gully outside Jerusalem called Gehenna to be burnt with the rest of the rubbish.

Now, both kingdoms are in its spiritual form, so to speak. But the day is coming when the kingdoms of this world will become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever. (Revelation 11:15).

I saw in the night visions, and behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him. And there was given him (a future event) dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed. (Daniel 7:13,14). Until the Ancient of days came, and judgment was given to the saints of the most High; and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom (Daniel 7:22) – the “Stone kingdom of Christ”- the stone that smote the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth (Daniel 2:35).

I am the root and the offspring of David (Revelation 22:16). And hath raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David (Luke 1:69). He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David (according to the flesh)(Luke 1:32)

David in spirit call him Lord (Matthew 22:43)

The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham (Matthew 1:1)

In that day there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and for uncleanness. (Zechariah 13:1)

Jesus was born (Matthew 2:1) – Where is he that is born King of the Jews? (Matthew 2:2) – I have exalted one chosen out of the people (Psalm 89:19) – I will make him my firstborn, higher than the kings of the earth (Psalm 89:27) – He shall cry unto me, Thou art my father, my God, and the rock of my salvation (Psalm 89:26). For to which of the angels did God ever say, “You are my Son; TODAY I have become your Father? Or again, “I will be his Father, and he will be my Son”? And again, when God brings his firstborn into the world, he says, “Let all God’s angels worship him.”

I have sworn unto David my servant, (Psalm 89:3) – Thy seed (fruit of his loins according to the flesh) will I establish forever, and build up thy throne to all generations (Psalm 89:4)

Then I was by him, as one brought up with him: and I was daily his delight, rejoicing always before him (Proverbs 8:22-30)

In fact, seven centuries before Jesus’ birth, God sent out a birth announcement through the prophet Micah, stating that the ruler of God’s people, someone of eternal origin, would be born in Bethlehem – But thou, Beth–lehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting. (Micah 5:2)

If you claim that Jesus’ body was not taken from man and that his body is heavenly and sinless; then Adam who was created by God had to be better than Jesus of Nazareth as he didn’t even come out of a womb and had no earthly father. The Bible, in another place, even calls Adam “the son of God” (Luke 3:38). But Jesus had a lineage; prove me wrong! It was, indeed, a deplorable lineage (according to the Scriptures, incest, prostitution, adultery, and murder were all part of Jesus’ extended familial tree).

Even Adam was not created perfect as he was taken from the earth—he had a proclivity to fall, rebel, transgress, be tempted. Adam did not have a glorious body as many presume but he could eat of the tree of life and live forever. It was an earthly body that he possessed. But the children of God shall receive a glorified body which doesn’t need to be sustained by eating of the tree of life as Adam had to. The glorified body is incorruptible, eternal, and heavenly.