Christ the Creator
Submitted by Dirk Gently on October 31 1999 at 01:20:37
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This is actually a continuation of a thread way down below. Here I only want to address a point that Andy raised. I'm hoping tomorrow I'll be able to make a positive statement on the subject of the Trinity that follows on F.O.D.'s line of thought way down there. The subject of that one will be "Self-giving Love," and I'm hoping by the time I'm done my babbling, we'll see the connection between doctrine and life in regards to the Trinity. Elsewhere in the scripture, we are convinced that God himself had no beginning; he always was, and alway will be. But Jesus had a beginning, therefore he cannot be the same person as God. Jesus was the beginning of God's creation. He was also the end of God's creation. "I am alpha and omega, the beginning and the end. (Revelation) This might look like quibbling, but I think it's important to say that the man Jesus did not exist before the Incarnation of the Word. One way of putting it is to say that the Son is begotten of the Father without mother before time, and was born in time of a mother without father. (I'll get into that "eternally begotten" thing in another post, probably tomorrow evening.) John goes on to say. "All things were created by him and there was nothing made that was made that was not made by him." (Jesus) Therefore everything else was made by Jesus. Hang on a second! John said all things were created by him,and that nothing was made that was not made by him. How could the Word be a creature himself if he created everything? Paul made the same point in his letter to the Colossians. Colossians 1:15-17 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist. This same theme appears in Hebrews 1. I'm only going to post v. 10-12, but I really recommend you read the whole chapter. Hebrews 1:10-12 "You, Lord, in the beginning laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of Your hands. They will perish, but You remain; and they will all grow old like a garment; like a cloak You will fold them up, and they will be changed. But You are the same, and Your years will not fail." The author of Hebrews was writing about the Son when he quoted Psalm 102:25-27. The interesting thing is, Ps. 102 addresses the LORD (Jehovah). Zechariah 12:1 describes the LORD as the one who stretches out the heavens, lays the foundation of the earth, and forms the spirit of man within him. Isaiah 48:12-13 provides another interesting comparison: "Listen to Me, O Jacob, and Israel, My called: I am He, I am the First, I am also the Last. Indeed My hand has laid the foundation of the earth, and My right hand has stretched out the heavens; when I call to them, they stand up together." Now things start to get really interesting. I did a search for all the verses which contain the words "first" and "last". (I love my Bible software!) Once I sorted through the results, I was left with three interesting passages from Isaiah and four from Revelation, which you've already alluded to. In the Isaiah passages, it is the LORD (Jehovah) who is making the statements. Isaiah 41:4 Who has performed and done it, calling the generations from the beginning? 'I, the LORD, am the first; and with the last I am He.' Isaiah 44:6 "Thus says the LORD, the King of Israel, and his Redeemer, the LORD of hosts: 'I am the First and I am the Last; besides Me there is no God.'" And we've already seen Isaiah 48:12-13. Now when we turn to Revelation, we see that Christ uses the same terminology t o refer to himself. Revelation 1:8,10-11 "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End," says the Lord, "who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty." I was in the Spirit on the Lord's Day, and I heard behind me a loud voice, as of a trumpet, saying, "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last," Revelation 1:17-18 And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead. But He laid His right hand on me, saying to me, "Do not be afraid; I am the First and the Last. I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of Hades and of Death." Revelation 2:8 And to the angel of the church in Smyrna write, 'These things says the First and the Last, who was dead, and came to life' Revelation 22:12-13 "And behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to every one according to his work. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last." It's true that the word "trinity" doesn't appear in the Bible. However, I think it's safe to say that the Word is no mere creature. He is the Creator of all things. As such, Scripture teaches that he is to be worshipped. A quick list includes Heb. 1:6, Rev. 4:8-11, 5:11-14, 7:9-12, 14:6-7. In most of the Revelation passages, worship is offered to the One on the throne and to the Lamb. As I mentioned in a post below, this indicates that there is a distinction between Father and Son -- it's not just one God pretending to be two people -- but it also shows that the Son must be God, for otherwise we're guilty of idolatry and false worship. And here I shall stop for the evening. I hope I haven't put anyone to sleep. Tomorrow I'll try to babble about how two (or three) can be one. Biblically. Dirk |