Tuesday, July 3, 2018

Just Who or What is God?

     Theologians have really confused the identity of God by such terms as "persons", "personalities" and "substances" which they call homeostasis. Added  to that is "Godhead", "the Holy Trinity", and a few other "impersonal" descriptions. Even I, having used the word impersonal, have fallen into the trap because we tend to use words that we understand! Theologians, in their commentaries, even write chapters on "The Nature of God". God is not merely natural and neither does he only have substance.
     Now let me qualify my statements: until God made Himself Flesh. With that transition, God is a person, He has substance, and certainly a personality! On the other hand, God is not three persons; He is One. He does not have three "personalities" but only One, and He is not representative of three different powers (Godhead) but only One - God!
     Just what is a "god"? "A being or object believed to have more than natural attributes and powers and to require human worship." (Merriam-Webster Dictionary). This definition is of a generic god and has the following attributes:
  • "A being." All that means is that a god exists. By existing, gods are present, are real, and factual. True gods cannot be mythological or they are not truly gods.
  • An existence in whom there is "belief." Others must trust that these existences are indeed gods. With that, gods must believe that they are gods. That's not too hard for even members of the human race perceive themselves "as gods" (Gen 3:5). Gods, to be "gods" must claim to be gods. That is not to be taken lightly because recently on America's Got Talent Mel B  called herself a "goddess" - a female god.
  • Gods must have "more than natural attributes." Of course, gods can have appearance and actually be "natural" but they must also be supra or beyond natural. Not only are gods substances but spiritual (i.e,  supernatural). Human beings are not really "gods". Unlike false gods, though, humans do have natural substances and false gods' substances are material. Whatever "appears" is the idol. Since false gods are not real, mankind must construct them. False gods do not exist and without existence cannot create.
  • Gods have "more than natural powers." Gods are, thus, mighty. They must be able to do things which animals and humans cannot do. They must excel their substance. What I mean by that is that their power must be more than meets the eye. God's create! That's what god's do with their power! Mankind worships them because they are believed to have power. Sub-par gods, if they were real, could only create matter. The head god must be able to create life.
  • Gods, because  they are superior to mankind, "require human worship." Thus, gods have self-assigned authority. They demand obedience, adoration, and appeasement.
     Keep in mind that these comments are about generic gods - those who either claim godhood or those which people make into gods. Human beings are not truly gods because we are natural, and have only substance. One might believe that because we think we are greater than what we are but take away our substance, and cognition evaporates. Unless... unless we are more than substance! Indeed, we are! The One True God made us in His own image. What, then, are the differences between generic gods and the One True God?
  • Before substance, God Existed; not for a short time but He always was, is, and always will be. Take away everything created, and the One True God is still there!
  • Not even power was there before the beginning besides God. He was Almighty. All power exists in Him and always did. 
  • Because God is Almighty, all things are done through Him. That's everything!
  • Because other things exist, and were not always in existence, somehow they were created. Something cannot come from nothing! That is a physical law and is the First Law of Thermodynamics. The only real possibility is that all things were created. Everything but God needs explanation. Creation is the only valid explanation for the beginning. Hence, God really created all Existence except Himself because He always existed.
  • God created both the seen (matter) and the unseen (the spiritual). Thus, he created the heaven and the earth, or the supernatural and the natural. How was that performed? Through His Almightiness. Creation, again, is what the True God would do! Since God is Almighty, He doesn't need assistance. There is only One God. Any others who claim godhood are false gods. They are created but not real beings. Mankind created them in them in their minds. Therefore, having other gods besides God is irreverent!
  • There was a reason God created. He wanted love and companionship. Thus, creation was the first act of love. If God did not create, then divine love is non-existence. Divine love is almighty love. Why would anyone not want to be loved and to love? God is essential for peace in the world because without love the world would no longer exist..
  • Thus, since God creates, He is the source of love, and His love nourishes the world. Without God, love is farcical! 
  • Because God so loved the world, He wanted to empathize with His creatures. Therefore, God became Flesh to suffer what his creatures suffer. He suffered death because all men are destined to die. He wanted to feel that! However, he needed a reason to die. His reason was to save His creatures.
  • God was always supernatural. He had no substance as He was Spirit. Because He Created and was the Authority, God's Spirit is holy! He requires human worship because He so loves His creatures.
  • God made Himself natural. As Creator, God has that Power! That's what real God's would do. He put on flesh. Jesus is God's "person" who has a "personality". Jesus's person and personality is God incarnate. There are not three persons but One. There are not three personalities but one! However, God does have three attributes. He is Father (Creator), Jesus (God's Appearance), and Spirit (God's Power and love). God appeared in different forms in different eras, but His most notable is the Flesh.
  • God always appeared, thus Jesus always existed (John 1-2, 14). Where was He? Appearing to mankind as the Voice, saying the Word of God, as the angel of God, the burning bush, the fourth man in the fiery furnace, and the "man" who wrestled with Jacob. Jesus, the person, is God in the world, or God manifested. When God manifests Himself, He is called Jesus, the Christ, and Emmanuel. God still is without Name but for man's benefit, he is called the Name.
  • God took the Name as sort of a password to the gate to Heaven. That gate is guarded by cherubim, and to enter therein, because there is no other Way, the Name for entry is "Jesus". 
  • However, it is not merely saying the Name "Jesus" which allows passage into the supernatural, but what God did. It's taking God's name reverently because He died in our place. God was born to die for mankind as an offering. His Flesh was the propitiation for our flesh. It is God's own death - the crucifixion - which allows entry into the Garden of the Lord. 
  • Those who are allowed entry cannot take God's Name (purpose) in vain. He is called Jesus. His Name is taken in vain when the purpose for Jesus is taken flippantly or even casually. Jesus was born to die for us. By not accepting God's propitiation of Himself, His sacrifice is for naught or in vain.
  • God died for mankind. His death was in the person of Jesus. God's substance died. 
  • Even though His Flesh died, God's Holy Spirit experienced death. Power drained out of God as all the sins of all mankind was taken on. God felt virtue flowing from Himself to cover all sin.
  • When God incarnate died, his Holy Spirit experienced His pain. After God's death, the "Ghost of Jesus" still lived.
  • The Holy Spirit is still God with us. Because God's Spirit experienced death on the cross with God's Flesh, God's Spirit is called the Holy Ghost (of Jesus who Is God).
  • God didn't die but He experienced death. It was His Flesh which was sacrificed - called Jesus. His Spirit felt death but never died. 
  • In the beginning, God had glorious flesh. It could be what it needed to be for the occasion: flesh, smoke, fire, a cloud, light, a beautiful apparition which we call an angel, an audible Voice or Words which were spoken. After God's worldly Flesh was dispensed of, he was transformed with glorious Flesh - "glorified". Jesus still appears to mankind but in the same manner as before God had Flesh! His Word is still spoken but in a mental language. If Jesus's "Ghost" lives within the Creature, the Word is always audible through the conscience.
  • The human "conscience" is God's mouthpiece which guides the minds of men. The mind directs the traffic into the temple within. That temple is the soul. The mind allows sin to enter the soul if the flesh is weak (needing pleasure) but with too much levity, iniquity replaces God's "Ghost" which is imbued within its "cup". 
  • Because God resides in His creatures, if He does, then He is a personal God. God does not require (demand) entry. He is a graceful God, unlike generic gods. 
  • Therefore, the One True God is real substance who had human flesh and is a Unique God. Because God cannot be corrupted, his flesh was transformed into glorious incorruptible flesh not made of substance but "glory". Glory is God's presence. Since only God is "good", glorified flesh is perfect flesh.
  • Because God lives within His creatures, and guides and directs, He is a personal God. He feels what we feel and knows our every thought. 
     I hope that this commentary distinguishes the True God from impostor gods. I hope that people come to realize that they are not gods, but God Is! I would hope that they now understand that there are not different gods called the Father, Jesus, and the Holy Ghost but God who is the Creator, Jesus - God manifested, and Jesus's Holy Ghost - God within us! Christ is God with us. That's what God is called! We worship God only. We can call Him according to how he appears to us, but in the end, God just Is! Right now, God appears to mankind in Spirit. Because of dim eyes, we cannot "see" God. However, those who know God have bright eyes and realize that He lives within them. If we obey God, our conscience is in harmony with God's Will. That harmony is when our will is subservient to God's Will. 

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