While we are uncomfortable with ambiguity, God is not…and in his realm it is not ambiguity, but reality
Thanks for all the work you do to keep us up to date on current events. If I may try to repay the favor, I want to address a misunderstanding that many have when reading the first versus of John.
Seems to cause some to equate Jesus as God. But that idea is in contradiction with the first commandment. Jesus clearly states he is the Son of God, yet some are of the mind that it was God who came to earth and sacrificed himself on the cross.
Consider; it is believed when a person accepts Jesus and/or is baptized that the Holy Spirit comes and dwells within them:
John -17 “And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.”
To understand John, do realize they loved their metaphors in that culture (The kingdom of heaven is like…, I am the light of the world, the bread of life, a spring of living water…) so it is no surprise John was being metaphorical
In the days of Noah and Moses, and all before Christ, such was not the case. Christ was the firstfruits of those having an abiding spirit. Except, the spirit abiding in Christ was that of God the Father, as he explains later in John -38
“If I do not the works of my Father, believe me not. But if I do, though ye believe not me, believe the works: that ye may know, and believe, that the Father is in me, and I in him.”
Just as having the Holy Spirit dwell within you does not make you the NE personal loan for bad credit Holy Spirit, having the spirit of God the Father in Jesus did not make him God, yet it could be said, God walked among his people, in the form of His son, Christ Jesus.
I know you close with the statement that God the Father, his son Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit are firmly in control. Statements early in this video might lead some to think Jesus is God, especially if they were already in that camp.
John -21 Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.
When I consider these issues in the light of scripture, my first reaction is humility before the breadth and power of God. As human beings, we like things to be discrete…either/or. I accept that God’s ways are not our ways and his thoughts are not our thoughts.
When I read the scriptures, I see that Jesus and God are one, and they are also separate. Perhaps it can be both, except in the mind of man. (Remember that God the Father only…knows the day and the hour.) This view is further supported by the seemingly contradicting views about predestination and free will. R.C. Sproul used to say, we think these are incompatible views, but the Bible everywhere and always assumes they are not. If the bible says it is white and also says it is black, then both are true. I am called to faith, not dogmatism, because I see through a glass darkly…
