Acts 8:26 "And the angel of the Lord spake unto Philip, saying, Arise, and go toward the south unto the way that goeth down from Jerusalem unto Gaza, which is desert."Much of how I believe about Christianity is my view of John Chapter 1. All credible theologians agree on the following from those passages:
- The Word was God.
- The Word was with God.
- The Word was there in the beginning.
- All things were made by The Word.
- In The Word was life.
- The Word was life.The true life.
- The light of The Word is for all mankind.
- Those those in the dark fail to comprehend The Word.
- The Word came into the world.
- The Word wasn't understood by the world.
- The world rejected the Word.
- The Word gave power to those who believed on his name.
- The Word was made flesh.
- The Word dwelt among us,
- The glory of The Word is the glory of the Father.
- The Word is full of grace and truth.
- "Grace and Truth" came with Jesus Christ.
- No man has ever seen God.
- The only begotten Son of God declares him.
- The Word was before John the Baptist.
The three synoptic gospels are of Jesus Christ's ministry. I have referred to these three as "Christ in 3D". (Jesus in 4D). Obviously, from the link I call the Book of John "Jesus in 4D".
Summarizing that commentary, the life of Jesus is viewed by three different writers from three different perspectives, whereas John is viewed by several people with the added perspective of a fourth dimension; a spiritual being! This one chapter is the answer to the riddle: "What is the mystery of Christ?" (See Mystery of God and Loves a Mystery). John 1 is the mystery in detail. Here is mention of the mystery whose detail was provided by John:
Colossians 1:26 "Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints: 27 To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory: 28 Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus:"
- Part 1 is that there is a mystery.
- Pafrt 2 is the mystery was before hidden.
- Now the mystery is revealed.
- It is revealed to Christians.
- Part 3 of the mystery is that the hope of salvation through Jesus Christ is also for the Gentiles.
- Salvation is not only for the Jews, but for all mankind.
- Part 4 of the mystery is implied that the "hope of salvation" was always through Jesus and that salvation was never by works, but by grace.
The mystery points toward God's Plan A and only plan: salvation by grace through Jesus who is God and was with him in the beginning! With that said, it's obvious from John Chapter 1 that it was the pre-incarnate Jesus Christ who was "The Word"and was always, being without beginning nor ending!
In my life I've had two epiphanies: 1) That I'm doomed to eternity without Jesus and he is my only hope, and 2) The Old Testament is all about Jesus,, my hope being the same hope that the patriarchs had! With the first epiphany I was "born again" and with the second I was enlightened, God revealed the mystery to me (i.e, the Holy Spirit spoke with me and I listened!).
With the mystery revealed to me new light was shined on the entire Bible. Rather than the Old Testament being about an invisible impersonal God, it became the story of the One called Jesus!
What John Chapter 1 says is that Jesus always was and was with God when it all began! Knowing that, the question remains "Just where was Jesus in the Old Testament?" He was everywhere God revealed himself to man by word or vision. Jesus first showed himself as God "The Voice" walking in the Garden in the cool of the evening (Genesis 3:8). He was "the angel of the Lord" who spoke to Moses from the burning bush (Exodus 3:2). He wrestled with Jacob where he said "I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved." (Genesis 32:30).
The pre-incarnate Jesus is "the angel of God" in the Old Testament. He appeared in human form (wrestling with Jacob) and in the fiery furnace with Shadrach, Meshak and Ebednego and as Melchizedek to whom Abraham made an offering. On the other hand the pre-incarnate Jesus appeared to Moses as a burning bush. He was with Moses as a cloud. The implied mystery is that all these times when God appeared to mankind, it was "The Word" or Jesus who was manifested!
This brings us to the verse for today (Acts 8:26). "The angel of the Lord" spoke to Philip. Who was this angel? Theologians would argue that he was a messenger, an ordinary angel. However, those who translated from the original Greek had reason to translate "the angel", not "an angel", indicating this angel was a particular angel! In the Hebrew most theologians agree that "the angel of the Lord" or "the angel of God" was his messenger, The Word, pre-incarnate Jesus the Messiah.
"The angel of the Lord" rolled back the stone in front of Jesus' tomb. (Matthew 28:2) . There were many instances of Jesus changing his appearance and Paul even compared himself to "the angel of God" and referenced Jesus (Galatians 4:14). (For more on this read Will We Recognize Jesus).
I believe that Jesus spoke to Philip just as he later did to Paul! With that said, I believe that Jesus still speaks to us! How so? Just as Jesus is "the declaration" of God and is God, the Holy Ghost, being the stand-in for Jesus, is also "the declaration" of God! Just as The Word was always with God, so was the Holy Ghost! The Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost remained silent for 400 years and then God came on strong until this day!
Some will say that the time of Pentecost was for a budding church only' for those who needed the direct contact with God through the Holy Ghost. That same Holy Ghost always was and always will be because he is "the declaration" that God is with us. When the Holy Ghost "speaks" to Christians, it's The Word, Jesus Christ whose voice we comprehend. The Holy Ghost sheds the Light which was the purpose of Jesus! Jesus is alive in heaven, but is Spirit is with us always!
John 4:24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.
John 16:13 Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.Jesus is God incarnate, God is Spirit, the Spirit of truth is promised. That Spirit is the Holy Ghost. Therefore, the Holy Ghost is God and since Jesus is God, the Holy Spirit is the invisible identity of Jesus Christ!
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