Is the Trinity in Genesis?

This article is authored by Servetus the Evangelical, a.k.a. Kermit Zarley. Visit his website ServetusTheEvangelical.com to read fifty such articles. They represent condensations of his well-researched, biblically in-depth, 600-page book entitled The Restitution of Jesus Christ (2008).

Most Christians believe in the church doctrine of the Trinity, that God is one essence consisting of three co-equal and co-eternal Persons: the Father, the Son (Jesus Christ), and the Holy Spirit. Many cite three passages in the book of Genesis as their primary Old Testament (OT) support for the Trinity: Genesis 1.26; 3.22; 11.7. And they often refer to them when asserting that Jesus preexisted. These texts are as follows:

1.26 “Then God said, ‘Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness’”
3.22 “Then the LORD God said, ‘Behold, the man has become as one of Us, knowing good and evil’”
11.7 “And the LORD said,… ‘Come, let Us go down and there confuse their language’”

In all three instances God is the speaker, whom Christians view as God the Father. But none of these narratives identify the “Us.” Many Trinitarians have claimed the “Us” are the other two members of the Trinity: the preexistent Jesus and the Holy Spirit.

The four primary interpretations of the words “us” and “our” in Genesis 1.26 are as follows: (1) most Jews have interpreted them as God’s communication to a special group of angels who gather around God’s heavenly throne and constitute his royal court or council; (2) post-Nicene church fathers understood God the Father to be speaking to the other two members of the Trinity; (3) many commentators have regarded these words as a plural of majesty, which allows for Trinitarian belief but does not necessitate it; (4) God’s addresses himself. How one interprets this text usually determines how one treats the others, so that all three passages are interpreted the same.

The “Us” in Genesis 1.26 cannot be the supposed other two members of the Trinity because it says God made man in his image. If God is a Trinity of Persons, then man, being made in God’s image, would have to be tri-personal as well. Since man is a uni- personal being, God must be a uni-personal being. The closest man ever comes to being tri-personal is schizophrenia, a mental disorder which does not reflect God.

The word translated “God” in the Hebrew Bible is elohim, the plural of eloah. Elohim is often shortened to the proper name El. Elohim occurs about 2,570 times in the OT, either as a common noun or as a divine name. Most past Trinitarians insisted that elohim, being plural, indicates that God subsists as a plurality of persons.

Jewish and many contemporary Christian scholars disagree. They contend the plural word elohim merely indicates intensity, expressing the dignity or greatness of God. Jack B. Scott says most scholars insist that this “plural ending is usually described as a plural of majesty and not intended as a true plural when used of God. This is seen in the fact that the noun elohim is consistently used with singular verb forms and with adjectives and pronouns in the singular.” Then he cites antiquities authority William F. Albright, who claims that this plural of majesty was used commonly in the ancient Near East to express the “totality of manifestations of a deity.” Trinitarian F.F. Bruce says elohim is “a plural denoting God as including within Himself all the powers of deity.”

Besides, how could the most frequent word for God (except YHWH) in the Hebrew Bible accommodate a Gentile notion that God is three persons? That contradicts strict monotheism. And it seems presumptuous of Gentiles to tell Jews what Hebrew words mean. Few church fathers knew Hebrew, and their theology suffered from it.

This is a re-post of theological documentary, produced by the Restoration Fellowship, filmed by Mark Dockery, and edited by Paul Millunzi, tries to bring difficult theological understanding about the nature of Jesus of Nazareth down to earth.

The video has clips from world-recognized scholars, as well as some unknown skilled examiners of biblical theology and Christology.

The “man on the street” aspect of Dockery’s documentary keeps the interest of those who view the presentation. Dockery includes significant ecumenical material, with a view to erasing lines of hostility that separate Christians from the Jewish and Islamic communities. While there is a long way to go to accomplish this, the presentation is a necessary first step in accomplishing that goal.

DVDs of The Human Jesus ($12) are available from Atlanta Bible College at 800-347-4261 or 404-362-0052.

Restoration Fellowship is dedicated to recovering the beliefs of the first-century disciples of Jesus, the Messiah.

Dr. Anthony Buzzard is a Unitarian Christian, He was born in Surrey, England and educated at Oxford University and Bethany Theological Seminary.

He holds master’s degrees in theology and modern languages. Retiring after 24 years on the staff of Atlanta Bible College, Anthony continues to write, teach and travel, fulfilling a life-long desire to make the best of Bible scholarship available to the wider churchgoing public.

He runs the website http://www.Restorationfellowship.org.

Books by Dr. Buzzard:

1- The Doctrine of the Trinity: Christianity’s Self-Inflicted Wound (1998)

2- Jesus Was Not a Trinitarian (2007)

3- Our Fathers Who Aren’t in Heaven: The Forgotten Christianity of Jesus, the Jew (1995)

Restoration Fellowship was founded by Dr. Anthony Buzzard

http://FocusOnTheKingdom.org

Restoration Fellowship on Youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/user/AbrahamicMovement

John 1:1 and the Trinity (Audio)

The first verse of the Gospel of John is almost always used as a starting point to prove the Trinity. However, is there another way to understand John 1.1? Was John, a first century Jew, articulating the completely non-Jewish idea that God became a human being or have we read that into John 1.1? Join Anthony Buzzard as he explains the meaning of John 1.1-14 in its original Hebrew, thought context.

Originally posted at ChristianMonotheism.com.

The book of Revelation shows Jesus’ second coming to the earth to save Israel, the very people who, as a nation, once killed him. At his second coming to them, Israel will not miss his true identity, for each person will see him come in glory as the King. The book of Revelation portrays not the Lamb of God coming to take away the sin of the world, but the Lion of Judah coming to judge the world. Instead of “Behold the lamb,” a lamb who came for all but was recognized by few, we read:

Revelation 1:7 (NASB)
BEHOLD, HE IS COMING WITH THE CLOUDS, and every eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him; and all the tribes of the earth will mourn over Him. Even so, Amen.

In Adam and Eve, mankind was given the directive to subdue the earth. “‘God blessed them [Adam and Eve] and said to them, ‘Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground’” (Gen. 1:28). Implied in that directive, and expanded upon later in Genesis and the Law of Moses, is mankind’s responsibility to steward the world in a godly way. That actually started in Eden itself, because God’s instructions about the garden were “…to work it and take care of it” (Gen. 2:15).

However, instead of caring for the earth, mankind has, in essence, ruined it. Man’s disobedience to God and his abuse of the earth have been continuous (Isa. 24:1-6), and the pleas of God through His prophets for men and women to return to Him and His ways have, for the most part, been ignored. Even God’s own Son was horribly abused and eventually tortured and crucified. The book of Revelation portrays God and His Christ taking back the earth for the godly and judging the ungodly for all their ungodly deeds. This event, which is still future, has been foretold many times over the years. The book of Jude refers us to one of the early prophets:

Jude 14 and 15
(14) Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about these men: “See, the Lord is coming with thousands upon thousands of his holy ones
(15) to judge everyone, and to convict all the ungodly of all the ungodly acts they have done in the ungodly way, and of all the harsh words ungodly sinners have spoken against him.”

Enoch, the seventh from Adam, lived many thousands of years ago, but he foretold events that are still future. Many of those events are prophesied in both the Old and New Testaments, and the book of Revelation is the capstone of that prophecy. Before getting into specifics, an overview of the book of Revelation is appropriate. First of all, it needs to be understood that the book of Revelation is not addressed to the Christian Church. Christians can learn many things from the book of Revelation, just as we can learn many things from the Old Testament. However, there is a difference between things that are for our learning and things that are written to us. [1] The Christian Church, known as the Body of Christ, started on the Day of Pentecost in Acts 2 and will end with the Rapture, which is described in 1 Thessalonians 4. We believe that the book of Revelation is written to those who will be left on earth after the Rapture. [2] E. W. Bullinger concurs:

Our great fundamental proposition—which we may as well state at once—is that—The Church is not the subject of the Apocalypse.

However startling this may sound and may seem to some of our readers, we implore you not to dismiss it, but to test the reasons we shall give by the Word of God itself, and to weigh them in “the balances of the sanctuary.” Try to forget all that you have “received by tradition,” and ask from whom you learned this or that. Be prepared and ready to unlearn anything that you may have received from men, and learn afresh from the Word of God itself. The first chapter [of Revelation] furnishes us with fifteen proofs of our fundamental proposition. [3]

Whereas the Church Epistles are specifically addressed to the Church of the Body which started on the Day of Pentecost, the book of Revelation speaks of events which will occur on earth after the Church is taken up. Jesus Christ will be dealing with his Church, but his Church will be Jews and Gentiles, not the “one new man” that is the subject of Ephesians 2:15. [4] Revelation shows that Christ is active and still building his Church. In Chapter 1, he is dispensing revelation to angels to take to believers. In Chapters 2 and 3, Christ is authoring letters to assemblies in different towns, strengthening, encouraging, and warning them. Chapter 5 shows Christ taking the scroll from God’s hand and preparing to open it and begin the time of “Jacob’s trouble” (Jer. 30:7), also called the Tribulation. Starting with Chapter 6, there is a series of judgments. There are seal judgments, trumpet judgments, and bowl judgments. During this time, there is tribulation and then wrath on the earth. Interwoven into the record of this terrible time is information about the believers of the time and those who oppose them, particularly the man known as the Antichrist. Revelation 19 portrays the Battle of Armageddon in which Christ rides down from heaven followed by his armies. After defeating his enemies and reclaiming the earth for God and His people, he raises the righteous dead who come to life and live in his kingdom for a thousand years.

During this thousand years, the Devil is chained and powerless, but at the end of the thousand years he is released and manages to stir up a revolution against Christ’s kingdom. This revolt is ended by fire from heaven, which puts a quick end to the enemies of the Lord. [5] At that point God “…will judge the world with justice by the man He has appointed…” (Acts 17:31). All the dead who were not previously raised, either in the Rapture or the first resurrection, are raised and stand before Christ. He had said in John 5:22 that the Father entrusted all judgment to the Son, and this is the Final Judgment. Each and every person will get what he deserves. He had spoken this clearly while he was still with us on earth: “For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father’s glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what he has done” (Matt. 16:27). As the Judge, Christ will have the final word on who will live eternally and who will be condemned to die. After destroying all unrighteous people, Christ will reign with God, his Father, even as Revelation 21 describes.

The time of the Tribulation and the Judgments, will be a terrible time for God’s enemies, but for people who have been waiting for years for justice on the earth, it will be a time to be thankful. Evil people may have gotten away with their wickedness all their lives, but the Day of Reckoning is coming:

Revelation 11:17 and 18
(17) “…We give thanks to you, Lord God Almighty, the One who is and who was, because you have taken your great power and have begun to reign.
(18) The nations were angry; and your wrath has come. The time has come for judging the dead, and for rewarding your servants the prophets and your saints and those who reverence your name, both small and great— and for destroying those who destroy the earth.”

The book of Revelation opens in a fashion that shows the distinction between God and His Son, and also points to the exalted position that Christ now holds, having been enthroned in “the highest place” and having been given “…the name that is above every name” (Phil. 2:9). The content of the book of Revelation was passed from “hand to hand.” It was held first in the mind of God and then given to Jesus Christ, who in turn made it known to an angel, who then told it to John.

Revelation 1:1
The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants what must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John,

This verse establishes the distinction between God and Christ in that, even after Christ’s resurrection and glorification, each has a separate mind and separate thoughts. God knew the information contained in the book of Revelation and “gave” it to Jesus. Note that now, as always, Jesus is obedient to God. God gave Jesus the information to share with others, and that is exactly what Jesus did—he “made it known.” Often we say that “Christ set a perfect example for us, always obeying the will of God.” While that is true, a greater truth is that Jesus is still setting a perfect example because he is still perfectly obeying the will of God. This example is in stark contrast to Lucifer’s behavior when he once occupied a similar position. Scripture teaches that Christians are to be followers of Christ, and each day every Christian has a decision to make: “Do I follow Christ and do what he wants me to do, or do I do what I want to do?”

The fifth chapter of Revelation shows the Son as the Agent of God. God is portrayed sitting on a throne and holding a scroll with its contents sealed. No one can be found who is worthy to open the scroll until Jesus Christ comes and takes the scroll from God and begins to open it. The song of the 24 elders standing before God points to the great truth of why Jesus Christ is worthy to open the scroll: not because he is God, but rather because with his own blood he purchased men for God (Rev. 5:9). Let us not forget that the reason Jesus shed his blood was that he loved God and His people. What a great example to us as to how we ought to live.

Revelation 6 begins the accounting of the tribulation and wrath that characterizes so much of the book and is a large part of the judgment on the earth. It can be confusing to the uneducated reader as to whether it is God or Christ who is actually doing the judging. As we said, Revelation clearly portrays the distinction between God and Christ. Note how clearly this is set forth in the following verses:

Revelation 5:13b
“…To him who sits on the throne [God] and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power, for ever and ever!”

Revelation 7:10
And they cried out in a loud voice: “Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.”

Revelation 11:15
The seventh angel sounded his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, which said: “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord [God] and of his Christ [Jesus], and he will reign for ever and ever.”

Revelation 12:10a
Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say: “Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Christ….

Revelation 20:6b
…they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with him for a thousand years.

Revelation 21:22 and 23
(22) I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple.
(23) The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp.

Revelation 22:1
Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb.

These verses speak loudly against any concept of two, and certainly not three, “persons” making up “one God.” The clear distinction between God and Christ is always maintained, even after the resurrection and glorification of Christ. If Christ is “co-equal and co-eternal” with God as Trinitarians teach, then surely there must be two Gods: the Father and Christ, because the above verses clearly portray two distinct beings. But of course there are not two Gods, there is one God, and these verses make clear that even after the resurrection Jesus is “His [God’s] Christ,” not another part of God.

Another factor in the above verses that argues against the Trinity’s three “co-equal, co-eternal” beings is that there is never any third “person” (the “Holy Spirit”), present with God and His Christ. When all is said and done, only God and Christ sit on the final throne. Surely if the “Holy Spirit” were a “co-equal third person” in “one God,” he would be represented in some way as judging or reigning or would at least get some mention by the saints or elders. Please take a minute to re-read the above eight verses and note that if God were actually represented in three persons, then one of them is getting slighted. At these most important times in history, there is never “a third person,” the Holy Spirit, portrayed with God and Christ. [6]

As we stated above, the book of Revelation can be confusing as to exactly who is doing the judging of the earth and its people. Some verses seem to say that Christ will judge, while others say that God will be the one to judge. For example, Revelation 6:16 mentions “…the wrath of the Lamb,” while 15:7 mentions “the wrath of God.” Revelation 14:7 says that the hour of God’s judgment has come, while 19:11 says that Jesus Christ judges and makes war. Much of the confusion can be cleared up by understanding the biblical concept of agency. Under the heading “Agent,” The Encyclopedia of the Jewish Religion states:

The main point of the Jewish law of agency is expressed in the dictum, “A person’s agent is regarded as the person himself.” Therefore, any act committed by a duly appointed agent is regarded as having been committed by the principal. [7]

The fact is that both God and His Christ are involved in the wrath and the judgment, and there are clear verses that indicate this. For example:

Revelation 6:16 and 17
(16) They called to the mountains and the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who sits on the throne [God] and from the wrath of the Lamb!
(17) For the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?”

God is the Author, and Christ is His agent. The example in the Old Testament of Pharaoh and Joseph foreshadowed this tandem sovereignty. In the Joseph record, he acted out Pharaoh’s will. So it is here. Jesus is the agent of God’s wrath, and is God’s appointed judge. Even before his crucifixion, Jesus said, “…the Father judges no one, but has entrusted all judgment to the Son” (John 5:22). Acts 17:31 records that Paul knew and taught the same truth: “For He [God] has set a day when He [God] will judge the world with justice by that man He has appointed….” Of course, “the man” appointed by God as His agent to do the judging is none other than Jesus Christ.

Another interesting example showing Jesus Christ as the agent of God is the Battle of Armageddon, which is called “…the great winepress of God’s wrath” (Rev. 14:19). In this battle Jesus is the agent who carries out God’s wrath, and “he [Jesus] treads the winepress” (Rev. 19:15). The above examples give us some key information about the relationship between God and Christ. It is easy to see the love and trust that God has for His Son in having given him such great responsibility, making Jesus His agent to judge and make war and to administer the ages to come. Surely God has given Jesus the name above every name and has exalted him above all others. At the same time, we clearly see the obedience Jesus demonstrates in that he always did, and still continues to do, the will of God.

The fact that God “…seated him [Jesus Christ] at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come” (Eph. 1:20 and 21) is most clearly seen in the book of Revelation. The period of tribulation and wrath that will start in Revelation 6, with Jesus Christ opening the seven seals, comes to a close in Revelation 19 as he rides out of heaven on a white horse, with the armies of God following him, and conquers the earth:

Revelation 19:11-15
(11) I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and makes war.
(12) His eyes are like blazing fire, and on his head are many crowns. He has a name written on him that no one knows but he himself.
(13) He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God.
(14) The armies of heaven were following him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean.
(15) Out of his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. “He will rule them with an iron scepter.” He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty.

The Bible is very clear about the authority Jesus will have over the nations: “…He will rule them with an iron scepter…” (Rev. 19:15 is quoting the prophecy of the event in Ps. 2:9). The book of Revelation mentions the thousand year reign of Christ but does not take time to describe what it will be like. It is spoken of extensively in the Old Testament. The picture portrayed throughout the Old Testament of the thousand year reign of Christ is one of peace and security. Although there are many verses that show this, the following is a representative list: justice will prevail on earth (Jer. 23:5 and 6); there will be no war or weapons of war (Mic. 4:1-4); people’s homes will be secure (Isa. 32:18); children will be safe from harm (Isa. 11:8 and 9); animals will not kill each other (Isa. 11:6 and 7); there will be no sickness (Isa. 33:24, 35:5-7); there will be plenty of food (Amos 9:13); and even the animals will have more than enough to eat (Isa. 30:23 and 24). [8]

This future time of peace and security is possible, in large part, because the Devil and his demons will be chained and unable to influence mankind. Even this is prophesied in the Old Testament in veiled terms (Isa. 24:21 and 22; Dan. 7:12), but is clearly stated in Revelation:

Revelation 20:1-3
(1) And I saw an angel coming down out of heaven, having the key to the Abyss and holding in his hand a great chain.
(2) He seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil, or Satan, and bound him for a thousand years.
(3) He threw him into the Abyss, and locked and sealed it over him, to keep him from deceiving the nations anymore until the thousand years were ended. After that, he must be set free for a short time.

The book of Revelation is the “capstone” of the Bible, clearly showing the fitting conclusion to the odyssey of mankind. It portrays the just reward of the righteous and the punishment of the wicked. It portrays the godly vengeance of Jesus Christ, who, although he “knew no sin,” was treated worse than any sinner. It portrays the high position to which God has exalted Christ, even showing him reigning alongside God on the new earth. And, very fittingly, it portrays both God and Christ receiving the worship that they so richly deserve from all the saints, for whom they have each done so much.

Changes in the Relationship Between God and Christ

The book of Revelation highlights one of the problems with Trinitarian doctrine—that it leaves one with an essentially “static” (unchanging, invariable) view of Jesus. If Jesus were “God in the flesh,” with his dominant nature being deity, he is as changeless as God. Therefore, in essence, Christ never changed, and neither did his relationship with God.

On the other hand, the non-Trinitarian perspective of the Man, Jesus, results in a much more “dynamic” (capable of change and growth) relationship between God and His Son. Jesus grew and developed in “wisdom and stature”—ways in which all of us grow and develop (Luke 2:52). When he received God’s gift of holy spirit at his baptism, he was able to relate to his Father on a new and much deeper level. As he walked day by day, his relationship with God deepened, just as ours does as we walk in obedience. Understanding this allows us to relate to the Man, our brother, in an inspiring and refreshing way, for he truly did experience life as we do.

Understanding who both God and Jesus are is critical to understanding their relationship, which has evolved and changed at several key points. We must recognize these changes and the corresponding time factors. The first major change that occurred in their relationship was at the baptism of John, when Jesus was anointed with holy spirit and began his Messianic ministry (Acts 10:38). It was at this point that he literally became “the Christ,” or “the Anointed One” and from then on his working relationship with God was catapulted to a new level. Furthermore, because of the work set before him and his willingness to do it, his intimacy with his Father continued to deepen.

The next major change was at his resurrection, when he was given a “glorious body” (Phil. 3:21) and “all authority” in heaven and earth (Matt. 28:18). He ascended to the right hand of God and assumed joint rulership of the creation as “Lord.” In this present relationship, he and his Father are in a heavenly partnership, sharing cooperatively such functions as inspiring Scripture (Rom. 1:7; 1 Cor. 1:3; Gal. 1:11 and 12; et al.) and directing the leadership of the Church (1 Thess. 3:11). It is important to note that in the Four Gospels, Jesus had not yet been “glorified” (John 7:39). He had to suffer and die before he could be raised and glorified. Jesus’ own statements in the Gospels clearly show his total dependence on his heavenly Father.

When the exalted Lord Jesus has fulfilled all the prophecies about his second coming to the earth, including the judgment of all men and the restoration of Paradise, his relationship with God will change one last time. This truth is vividly illustrated in 1 Corinthians 15:24-28. It is a section of Scripture that we believe clearly portrays the changing nature of the relationship between God and His Son, as well as the clear distinction between the two.

1 Corinthians 15:24-28
(24) then comes the end, when He (Christ) delivers up the kingdom to the God and Father, when He (Christ) has abolished all rule and all authority and power.
(25) For He (Christ) must reign until He (Christ) has put all His (Christ) enemies under His (Christ) feet.
(26) The last enemy that will be abolished is death.
(27) For HE (God) HAS PUT ALL THINGS IN SUBJECTION UNDER HIs (Christ) FEET. But when He (God) says, “All things are put in subjection,” it is evident that He (God) is excepted who put all things in subjection to Him (Christ).
(28) And when all things are subjected to Him (Christ), then the Son Himself also will be subjected to the One (God) who subjected all things to Him (Christ), that God may be all in all.

As we stated, the book of Revelation is the complement to the Old Testament. It is God’s account of “…when the times will have reached their fulfillment—to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ” (Eph. 1:10). Because of the accomplishments of Christ, the “last chapter” of God’s Word has been written. We win!!! Amen!! Come quickly, Lord Jesus!

A New Race for a New Age

The book of Revelation does not speak much about the people who will live and reign with Christ forever, it just says that we will. Thus, Revelation is a wonderful conclusion to the odyssey of human history. Remember that the purpose of the Messiah was to redeem mankind from death, and that is exactly what Christ did. We now want to develop the tremendous truth that we introduced in Chapter 1, where we wrote in closing: “God’s original plan was to have many sons and daughters living together in Paradise forever. The First Adam was supposed to have been the father of that perfect race; the Last Adam will be the ‘father’ of such a race.” Because Jesus Christ has blazed for us a trail through the wilderness of sin and death all the way to everlasting life, we who choose to believe in him will be part of this new race for a new age. We should acknowledge the world’s most famous Bible verse in this connection:

John 3:16
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

This hope of everlasting life is to be for each Christian the anchor of our souls (Heb. 6:19), that which keeps us from being “…blown about by every wind of doctrine…” (Eph. 4:14 -NRSV) and dashed on the rocks of this tempestuous world with its many unbiblical religious beliefs and ethical systems. [9]

We will now consider a key word in regard to this issue, a word used only four times in the New Testament—Hebrews 2:10, 12:2; Acts 3:15 and 5:31, and we will examine each of these. The word is archegos, and it means “the first one in line in a rank or file.” We have already looked at the following verse containing one of its four uses:

Hebrews 2:10
In bringing many sons to glory, it was fitting that God, for whom and through whom everything exists, should make the author [archegos; KJV—“captain”] of their salvation perfect through suffering.

Jesus was the only one who could blaze a trail to salvation, one that all men who chose to do so could follow. Our salvation will not be consummated until he appears again and gives us new, everlasting bodies. In the meantime, we can walk confidently through this minefield of life looking always to him and carefully following his footsteps.

Hebrews 12:1-4
(1) Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.
(2) Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author [archegos] and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the Cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
(3) Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.
(4) In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood.

Jesus is not only the “author” of salvation, but he is also the “author and perfecter” of faith, and faith is the key to a person receiving salvation. Jesus is our perfect example of one who always trusted his heavenly Father, no matter what the circumstances were. His faith was in large part based on “…the joy set before him….” As he had the hope of reigning forever with his Father, so we have the hope of reigning forever with both of them. This hope should keep us going in the face of “opposition from sinful men.” For Jesus, such opposition included an ignominious death on the Cross. For most of us, the opposition is not as much from sinful men opposing us as it is from internal resistance from our old, sinful nature.

Shortly after the Day of Pentecost and the beginning of the Church of the Body of Christ, Peter and John healed a lame man who had begged daily on the Temple steps. Peter then addressed an astonished group of Israelites, many of whom had been a part of turning Jesus over to the authorities for crucifixion.

Acts 3:15 and 16
(15) You killed the author [archegos; KJV—“prince”] of life, but God raised him from the dead. We are witnesses of this.
(16) By faith in the name of Jesus, this man whom we see and know was made strong. It is Jesus’ name and the faith that comes through him that has given this complete healing to him, as you can all see.

Jesus is the Author of life because he is the first one who overcame death. The fact that he is the “first one in line in a rank or file” means that others will follow him on this road to everlasting life. Even in this fallen world, those who have faith in the authority of the name of Jesus can impart to others the kind of life that healed the lame man. Because they healed the lame man, Peter and the other Apostles were arrested and questioned by the Sanhedrin, the ruling body of Judaism, about their angelically-assisted jailbreak. Their reply is both informative and inspirational:

Acts 5:29-31
(29) Peter and the other apostles replied: “We must obey God rather than men!
(30) The God of our fathers raised Jesus from the dead—whom you had killed by hanging him on a tree.
(31) God exalted him to his own right hand as Prince [archegos] and Savior that he might give repentance and forgiveness of sins to Israel.

Jesus, God’s “Prince,” will one day in actuality be crowned King and rule his kingdom here on earth. In the meantime, as Lord, he is authorized to give repentance and forgiveness of sin to all who believe in him. When we have faith (Heb. 12:2), he gives us forgiveness of sins (Acts 5:31). This assures us of salvation (Heb. 2:10) and everlasting life (Acts 3:15). That is a summary of the four uses of archegos, which show Jesus blazing a trail for us to follow into the presence and very life of God. Because of Jesus’ faith and obedience, he was the firstborn from among the dead. As the “Promised Seed” of Genesis 3:15, Jesus will produce fruit after his kind, a new race of people who will live forever.

When Will the New Race Begin?

The question we want to look at now is when will this new race of people come into existence? Perhaps the fact that, on the Day of Pentecost, quite a number of people were born again at the same time foreshadows what could be called the largest “multiple birth” ever. When Jesus Christ comes again, hundreds of millions (maybe billions) of dead believers will be simultaneously raised to everlasting life, while living believers will also be clothed with immortality. To begin to answer the question of when this will happen, let us consider the following verses:

Galatians 1:3-5
(3) Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ,
(4) who gave himself for our sins to rescue us from this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father,
(5) to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.

Let us first note that the Greek word translated “age” is aion, from which we get the English word “eon,” meaning a period of time. Verse 4, about Jesus rescuing us, sure looks good, but it raises some specific questions. For example: Why is this “present age” evil? When did “the present evil age” begin? When will it end, that is, when will Jesus rescue us? To answer the first question, look at the following verse:

2 Corinthians 4:4
The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.

It is not difficult to figure out who the god of this age is. It is Satan, the Devil. But that raises another question: how did he get to be the god of this age? Once again God’s Word has the answer:

Luke 4:5 and 6
(5) The devil led him [Jesus] up to a high place and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world.
(6) And he said to him, “I will give you all their authority and splendor, for it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to.

No one can give away anything he does not have. Who had the authority over the world? The First Adam had it (Gen. 1:28), and when he disobeyed God’s commandment in the Garden of Eden, he relinquished it to Satan. Guess what? That also answers the second question as to when this present evil age began. It began when the Last Adam lost his original dominion to Satan. This present evil age will end when the Last Adam takes back that dominion by force. In the meantime, each Christian has both the choice and the ability not to conform to this “age,” but to be transformed by the renewing of his mind so as to prove the will of God in his life (Rom. 12:2).

When Jesus Christ comes again, he will not only raise to everlasting life all those who have believed in him, he will also provide a place for them to live.

Romans 8:18-21 (NEB)
(18) For I reckon that the sufferings that we now endure bear no comparison with the splendor, as yet unrevealed, which is in store for us.
(19) For the created universe waits with eager expectation for God’s sons to be revealed.
(20) It was made the victim of frustration, not by its own choice, but because of him [Satan] who made it so; yet always there was hope,
(21) because the universe itself is to be freed from the shackles of mortality and enter upon the liberty and splendor of the children of God.

Jesus Christ, the one born in a stable in Bethlehem and now the exalted Lord, will one day restore the Paradise that the first Adam lost. [[10] He will destroy Satan and all evil, and he will create a new heaven, a new earth and a new race for a new and everlasting age. That will complete the mission that was prophesied for him in Genesis 3:15, and which he saw elaborated upon in Isaiah 61:1 and 2. He will then come before his heavenly Father and say, as it were: “Last Adam reporting. Mission accomplished, Paradise regained!” And we can picture God replying, “Thank you, Son. Let’s enjoy our family forever.”

It is doubtful that you have ever seen a counterfeit thirteen-dollar bill. The reason you have never seen one is that there is no genuine thirteen-dollar bill to counterfeit. There is no such thing as a counterfeit without something genuine to copy. The truth of God’s Word is that there will be a “new race” for a “new age,” and therefore Satan has counterfeited both of these ideas. Just as they are inextricably linked together in truth, so are they in the Devil’s counterfeits. These counterfeits are encompassed by what is today called “New Age” philosophy. The roots of the “New Age” movement are not new. As a matter of fact, you can find them in Genesis 3. While he was in the Garden tempting Eve to disobey God, the Devil said to her:

Genesis 3:4 and 5
(4) “You will not surely die,” the serpent said to the woman.
(5) “For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

Satan lied to mankind then, and he is still promoting the same lie today, a lie that is also at the root of the doctrine of evolution. [11] “You shall be as gods” is the bottom line of New Age philosophy, which propounds that it will be this new race of “god-men” who will usher in a “new age,” the “Age of Aquarius”—an age of peace, prosperity, one-world government and everyone living happily ever after. Throughout history, a number of tyrants have attempted to produce this new race according to their own timetable. Perhaps Adolf Hitler is the most well known, but true Communists like Joseph Stalin and Mao Tse Tung also had as their goal a “regenerate” mankind—a new race living in peace on the earth with no “religion” but atheistic, humanistic materialism. Such tyrants were not above genocide and genetic manipulation to help speed up man’s “evolutionary destiny” to produce a “master race.” As we have seen, there is going to be a master race, but it is only THE MASTER who will ever produce it. There is going to be a NEW AGE of true peace and prosperity, and it will have a one-world government—headed up by JESUS CHRIST THE KING!

Jesus Christ, the Fulcrum of History

We have now come to the end of our Genesis to Revelation survey of the biblical evidence that there is one God, the Father, and one Lord, the man Jesus Christ, His Son. We have repeatedly made the point that the vivid and compelling view of Jesus thus portrayed greatly facilitates our ability to identify with him and to appreciate the majestic plan of God who sent him. Our minds reel at the immense love of both God and Christ to bring to pass our redemption. Our words fail, but the following passage says it best:

Romans 11:33-36
(33) Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out!
(34) Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor?
(35) Who has ever given to God, that God should repay him?
(36) For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory forever! Amen.

In concluding this section of this book, we ask you to consider, from the perspective of Jesus, what his life must have been like, and how that life brought such glory to his Father.

Born in a manger in Bethlehem, he grew up in Nazareth much like thousands of other Jewish boys. In the synagogue, the Temple and at home, Jesus heard the Old Testament Scriptures. What must it have been like for him in the moment that he first understood that he was the “promised seed” of Genesis 3:15, the Messiah to Israel and the Redeemer of mankind? Apparently, this realization dawned on him before he was twelve years old, because, in answer to his parents’ urgent questioning when they realized they had left him behind at the Temple in Jerusalem, he stated, “…Did you not know that I must be about My Father’s business?” Jesus’ understanding of his identity led to a corresponding understanding of his purpose in the fulfillment of God’s original dream. Jesus came to realize that he, and he alone, could do what was necessary to bring to pass an everlasting family of God in Paradise.

Think of the focus he must have had in his heart through his teenage years when, no doubt, many of his peers were frittering away their time with trivial teenage pursuits. Think of how goal-oriented he must have been throughout his twenties, when many other Jewish young men were consumed in establishing their secular careers. Think of how he steeled his heart throughout his earthly ministry, beginning with the time when he was face to face with the Devil in the wilderness.

Think of his agony in the garden of Gethsemane when he was tempted to the limits of his endurance and asked his heavenly Father if there were any other way than the Cross to redeem mankind. Unlike the first man tempted in a garden (the First Adam), Jesus chose to obey his God. Think of his resolve when, after hearing from his Father that there was no other way than the Cross, he arose and walked forth to meet his executioners.

Think how God must have felt as he watched his only-begotten Son suffer at the hands of evil men. Think about God’s fathomless love in sacrificing His Son for you. If you are a parent, you know how you hurt when your child hurts. If it were possible, most parents would gladly take upon themselves the suffering of their children. It took far more love for God, whose love for His Son is beyond our comprehension, to watch Jesus suffer and die than it ever would have taken for God to somehow become a man, if that were even possible, and go through the suffering Himself.

Think of the pressure on Jesus as he was beaten and tortured beyond description and then nailed to the tree, realizing that the destiny of all mankind was riding on his “going the distance” for his Father. Throughout his life, Jesus had built an unwavering trust in the Word of his heavenly Father. In entrusting the mission of the ages to His Son, God had “put all of His eggs in one basket.” In essence, all the Old Testament prophecies of Christ’s life, death, resurrection and exaltation comprised the “good reputation” God gave His Son to live up to. Because Jesus had genuine freedom of will, he could have made one big lie out of all the prophecies about him from Genesis 3:15 through Malachi. In the garden of Gethsemane, Jesus could have turned his back on his Father, just like the First Adam did when he was tempted.

No doubt the angels watched in horror and with bated breath as Jesus hung on the tree. Surely God was doing all He could to help His Son, yet at that point it was up to Jesus alone to be faithful unto death. The entire destiny of mankind was riding on the flesh-and-blood shoulders of the Man from Galilee. At exactly the right moment, when he had fulfilled all of the Word of God that he had hidden in his heart, Jesus breathed his last breath with the words, “It is finished,” and gave up his most precious possession—his life, entrusting himself to God’s promise of resurrection.

What a bittersweet moment that must have been for God and the heavenly host. How horrifying to see the Son of God die, and yet how scintillating to realize that the destiny of mankind was now in the hands of the Creator. There was no question that God Almighty would keep His Word and raise His Son from the dead. There was no question that God would then highly exalt him as Lord, upon whom those who so chose could believe and receive everlasting life. Because, by his free-will obedience, he died and was “planted” in the ground, the Promised Seed would one day bear much fruit after his kind.

The Church Epistles are the apex of God’s revelation to mankind, setting forth the “all truth” of God’s curriculum for those who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. Each and every Epistle begins with a greeting from “God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ,” and they illustrate the oneness of God and His Son. As with the gift of holy spirit, which Jesus Christ received from his Father and first poured out to mankind on the Day of Pentecost, so Jesus received the revelation of the Church Epistles and gave it to the Apostle Paul (Gal. 1:11 and 12). The Church Epistles are “the word of Christ” (Rom. 10:17), as he received it from his heavenly Father.

In the Church Epistles, God describes Himself as “the Father of Jesus Christ.” What an incredible illustration of God’s humility, and also of how highly He reveres His Son and what he accomplished. How God beams with pride as He says, in essence, “I’m Jesus’ dad.” How touched the Lord’s heart must have been when he received from his Father this revelation now recorded in the Epistles. This must be the epitome of recognition for the Lord Jesus.

By making Jesus the genetic equal to the First Adam, God equipped His Son to be the Redeemer of mankind. It was Jesus, however, who had to choose to obey the Written Revelation of his Father, and he did. God then kept His Word and raised His Son from the grave. How can we ever adequately thank God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ for what they have done for us? Certainly, one way we can thank them is to pour out our lives in service to them day by day.

If you are a Christian, God and His Son have equipped you to walk the path of righteousness that Jesus Christ blazed. Via the gift of holy spirit, you have the divine nature of God. You can do the works that Jesus did, and greater works. As you do, know that you will be richly rewarded for these works at his appearing, after which you will live forever with him and all God’s people in Paradise. All of this, and its unfathomable yet-to-be-made-known blessings, was made possible by one man, The Man who “…became obedient to death—even death on a cross!”

Philippians 2:9-11
(9) Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name,
(10) that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
(11) and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

When the testimony of Scripture is so profoundly clear about the identity of Jesus Christ, we must now examine how it became so radically altered in the historical development of orthodox Christian doctrine. How is it that the vast majority of Christians have believed something fundamentally unbiblical and unintelligible, and which effectively diminishes the accomplishments of the one they sincerely meant to exalt?

Endnotes:

1. We think most Christians have some understanding of this fact. For example, the Bible says in the Old Testament that to be in the covenant, a male must be circumcised. We today know that that does not apply to Christians. The Bible makes a distinction between that which is addressed to us and that which is just for our learning (Rom. 15:4—KJV). We today do not have a Temple in Jerusalem or animal sacrifices or require lepers to say “Unclean” when they walk along the street (Lev. 13:45). Back to top

2. See The Book of Revelation, audiotape seminar available from Christian Educational Services. Back to top

3. E. W. Bullinger, Commentary on Revelation (Kregel Publications, Grand Rapids, 1984), p. 3. Bullinger’s 700 page book is a masterpiece of accurate exposition. He knows the language and the customs involved, and shows clearly that the Church of the Body is not involved in the wrath of God and of the Lamb that is poured out in Revelation. Back to top

4. Many people are confused by the word “church.” It is from the Greek word ekklesia, which simply means “assembly” or “gathering.” It is the context that determines what kind of assembly is being spoken of. When the Church Epistles speak of the “church,” the word refers to saved Christians. In Acts 7:38, Moses was with the “assembly” in the wilderness (the KJV actually has “church”) though that assembly was the Jews with Moses. In Acts 19, a mob assembles in Ephesus, and that “assembly” was pagan Gentiles. Most of the time, the reader of the English Bible never sees the flexibility in the word ekklesia because the translators translate it according to context. Nevertheless, the point should be clear: when Revelation addresses “the church at Ephesus,” or “the church at Sardis,” it can be the same as Acts 7:38, where the “church” is a Jewish assembly, and the internal evidence of the letters themselves shows that is the case, as Bullinger points out. Back to top

5. Many people are confused about the Battle of Armageddon and this final war. The Battle of Armageddon is the battle before the 1000 year reign of Christ (Rev. 19), and the war that ends with fire from heaven occurs after the 1000 year reign of Christ (Rev. 20:7-9). Thus, Armageddon is not “the final battle” as so many teach. Back to top

6. For a biblical exposition of “the Holy Spirit,” see our book, The Gift of Holy Spirit, Every Christian’s Divine Deposit and Appendix I of One God & One Lord. Back to top

7. R. J. Z. Werblowski and Geoffrey Wigoder, The Encyclopedia of the Jewish Religion citing Ned. 72B; Kid 41B (Adama Books, New York, 1986). See also Appendix D. Back to top

8. See Chapter 5 (Dan. 2:44). Back to top

9. It is a little known truth that Scripture distinguishes between the concepts “everlasting” and “eternal.” God alone has inhabited “eternity” in a state of transcendent, perpetual immortality. Jesus had a beginning at his birth and was given “immortality” in his resurrection (see 1 Tim. 1:17; 6:15). We will be given “everlasting life” when we are either raised from the dead or transformed with new bodies, as clearly described in 1 Thessalonians 4:16 and 17. “Eternal life” is literally “aionian life,” from the Greek word aion, meaning “age.” Hence, we are actually given “life in the age to come.” Back to top

10. See The Kingdom Of God: Paradise Regained, an audiotape from Christian Educational Services. Back to top

11. See The Creation-Evolution Controversy, an audiotape seminar from Christian Educational Services. Back to top

Why did God need to fill this position of Redeemer? Because He had to “fire” the original general manager of His creation for gross impropriety and malfeasance. When God delegated the oversight of Creation to a man with free will, He anticipated the possibility of that man’s failure, and formulated a plan to solve the problem. The plan was for another man to rectify the catastrophic situation. Why another man, when He had such poor success with the first one? Why did He not just march down here and take care of things Himself???? Many Christians believe that is exactly what God did—that He became a man in order to redeem mankind. But since man was in such a sorry state that he could not redeem himself, was the only alternative for God Himself to do the job? We think there are a number of problems with this theory.

First of all, one of the most defining attributes of God is His absolute holiness. [1] This means that He transcends His creation the way Henry Ford transcended the automobile that he built. Though God can be intimately involved with His creation, He, by definition as “the Creator,” stands distinct and apart from it. He cannot make Himself into a rock or a tree or a frog or a man, because these are all created things. Neither is He “one” with them, as pantheism suggests—that God is “in” the rocks and trees and frogs and men. This is a very basic biblical truth.

Because He is so holy, God knew that He Himself could not legally redeem mankind by becoming one of us. Neither can He just make up the rules as He goes along. His righteousness and integrity are absolute, and He cannot break the rules that He has established. One of those rules is that He keeps His Word. That is important, because God never promised to send Himself ?to ultimately redeem mankind. Rather, He promised that the seed of the woman (Gen. 3:15-KJV) would come, and that this man would do the necessary work.

Furthermore, there is nothing in the Bible to indicate that God can become a true man, because He is God. One of the boundaries of God’s nature is given in Numbers 23:19: “God is not a man…” And from the beginning, one of Man’s defining boundaries was that the consequence for disobeying God’s command was death. Potential mortality, then, was always a defining part of man’s existence. God, therefore, cannot actually be a man, because He cannot die. [2] He is immortal, by definition. [3] The great pattern of the Bible is that God equips others to serve Him and act as His agents. Moses, Gideon, David and Jesus were each sent by God to perform a necessary job. In Jesus’ case, the job was the ultimate redemption of mankind and creation. But how could a man do such a job? He could do it by following the pattern established by all the men God sent to perform a task—being equipped by God and then precisely obeying His plan. This is exactly how Jesus Christ accomplished his task as Redeemer. Not only could a man do the job, but the job required that a man do it, since God Himself could not legally do so. To understand why this is so, we will now turn our attention to the source of the problem that necessitated the sending of another Adam to be Man’s Redeemer.

The First Adam

Exploring the biblical background of the need for a Redeemer is crucial to understanding both the integrity of the Bible and the identity of Jesus. Before we subject this remarkable man from Galilee to a needless onslaught of theological speculation, we must carefully analyze the biblical relationship between the “First Adam” and the “Last Adam.” Even modern biblical scholars are recognizing that this parallel between the two “Adams” was a key element of apostolic Christianity, and is probably the earliest and richest biblical insight concerning the identity of this unique man named Jesus Christ. [4] We, too, have come to the conclusion that this relationship is the key to understanding and appreciating Jesus’ identity, and that it establishes the first boundary marker in our survey of this subject.

Once upon a time—“in the beginning”—God was all by Himself. His heart’s desire was, in essence, a family to love and be loved by. First, He created angels and other spirit beings. He then made two people—a man and a woman—and gave them dominion over the earth, their home. God’s instructions were simple—He told them to multiply and to fill up the earth with more people after their kind, i.e., mankind. He gave them only one prohibition—not to eat of a particular tree in the garden. They chose to disobey their Creator, and thus wreaked havoc not only upon His originally perfect creation, but also upon their own offspring.

The First Adam was part of a creation that God declared to be “very good.” His “seed,” therefore, was perfectly designed to reproduce “fruit after its kind,” even as the plants and animals were. Therefore we can assert that Adam was genetically flawless, but he was not a robot. He had the quality that goes a long way in defining what a human being is, as distinct from animals: freedom of will. Where animals are governed by instinct, man was made with a brain that made him able to be self-aware and govern himself. He was therefore well equipped to understand that he was a being that owed his existence to his Creator. He could learn from his environment and choose his behaviors. It was up to him to make decisions in response to God’s commandments, whereas animals receive their “commandments” as a part of their genetic packaging. Raccoons do not choose whether or not to raid a garbage can.

This privilege to choose was not granted only to Adam. The same held true for his “wife,” Eve (they never had a formal ceremony—Adam just awoke from a nap and found out he was married!). It is not our purpose here to examine the mechanics of Adam and Eve’s original sin, but suffice it to say they did the one and only thing they were not supposed to do—they ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Though they both partook of it, God held Adam responsible. His disobedience revealed that in the depth of his heart, Adam came to doubt God’s true love for him. Thus, he did not believe that God would provide for him what he really needed, and he chose to take matters into his own hands and provide for himself. Of course, the consequences were far reaching—for him, his wife and all their descendants.

In fact, Adam’s disobedience set the general pattern of all men’s subsequent disobedience to God (Rom. 1:18-21). He also set the pattern for the coming Messiah in other ways as well, in particular as the following Scripture indicates:

Romans 5:14 (NRSV)
Yet death exercised dominion from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sins were not like the transgression of Adam, who is a type of the one who was to come.

There are many people in the Old Testament who could be called “types of Christ.” But this is the only place in the New Testament that directly points back to a particular person who would set the pattern for who the Messiah would be like. Adam was a “…pattern of the one to come,” in that both Adam and Jesus Christ were men who by one act had a universal effect on mankind.

The record of Adam’s transgression makes it clear that the verb “to sin” means to disobey the Word of God. By his action of sinning, he introduced “sin” into God’s perfect creation. Thus, a state of corruption was imposed upon God’s perfect Creation, which was now indelibly tainted and would require a process of redemption. For the catastrophic consequences of sin to be completely rectified, a new heaven and earth were necessary.

The entrance of sin caused an even greater problem for God to solve—death. The following verse clearly illustrates this:

Romans 5:12
Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned—

Thus, the twofold problem that God had to solve was sin and death. Adam and Eve disobeyed God, which was an individual act of “sin.” But by this one unrighteous act, they catalyzed a transformation of Creation from a state of perfection and righteousness to a state of “sin.” When they did, they and all their descendants became subject to death, the direct result of sin. After that, the only kind of children they could produce were children “…separated from the life of God…” (Eph. 4:18), and hence, from the moment of their birth, destined to die.

God’s Solution: Another Adam

What was God’s solution to the problem of sin and death? The only solution legally available: another Adam! In fact, if we had to sum up the whole Bible in five seconds, we could say: “It is the story of two men and their effect on mankind. The first man wrecked everything; the second man is fixing it.”

Like the First Adam, the Last Adam would have to be, first of all, genetically flawless and without a sin nature. [5] It was God’s responsibility to create him that way, which He did via the virgin birth. But more than that, the Last Adam had to be behaviorallyflawless. God could not be responsible for that. He could only hope that, in contrast to the First Adam, the Last Adam would be obedient throughout his life and thus accomplish the redemption of mankind. In essence, God took a risk and trusted that the Last Adam would trust Him. This is love in action: taking a risk, giving second chances, demonstrating commitment to a promise. As the Bible says in 1 John 4:8, God is love, and He has therefore modeled it perfectly. In our view, His plan, as revealed in His Word, exemplifies a far greater love than if He had somehow become a man Himself.

Before looking at God’s initial reference in Genesis 3:15 to the special promised offspring of Adam and Eve, we want to get a running start in the broader context of the passage.

Genesis 3:21 (NRSV)
And the LORD God made garments of skins for the man and for his wife, and clothed them.

Were Adam and Eve’s outfits the first clothing ever mentioned in the Bible? No, they had earlier become the first tailors in the Bible, as the following verse indicates:

Genesis 3:7
Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.

Here we have, in essence, the birth of “religion.” After having failed to keep God’s commandments and thereby stand righteously before Him, the first humans tried to cover their own sin, to “justify” themselves. This marked the beginning of a sinful human pattern: man attempting to cover his guilt with the works of his own hands in a self-righteous effort to earn favor with God. The futility of such religious efforts to remove the guilt inherent in all mankind is revealed by the fear that gripped them in the presence of God, as the next verse shows.

Genesis 3:8 (NRSV)
They heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden at the time of the evening breeze, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden.

We can see that religion is a very poor substitute for a personal relationship with the Creator based on trust in Him, and it failed to produce any confidence or faith in God’s loving care. In fact, the first humans tried to hide from Him, which is precisely the naked effect of sin—it drives a wedge between God and man!

It is very significant, then, that the first thing God did for mankind, after they sinned but before He ejected them from Paradise, was to get rid of their fig leaf underwear and make them some new clothing. In effect, He said to them, “You can’t go out looking like that—and you are going out!” The clothing they had made for themselves was not a sufficient covering as far as God was concerned. Most significant is the material from which the new clothes were made—animal skins. Did God get the skins from animals who donated their extras? No, animals like to be clothed too. What we have here is the first shedding of blood in the Bible. In His grace and mercy, God instituted a substitutionary sacrifice for the sin of Adam and Eve, one that clothed them in a temporary righteousness and allowed them to live until the seeds of death planted in them came to fruition some 900 years later. The blood of animals was shed to provide a covering for mankind that was “suit-able” in God’s sight.

Remember that from Genesis 3:15 on, Scripture is pointing toward the coming Redeemer. The shedding of the animals’ blood was a foreshadowing of the shedding of the blood of “the Lamb of God,” a sacrifice necessary for God to be able to clothe with His righteousness those who would believe on this Redeemer. With the sacrifice of animals, and the subsequent clothing of Adam and Eve in their skins, God made temporary atonement for the sin they had just committed. In light of this pattern, we can appreciate that the shed blood of Christ, the “Lamb of God,” made permanent atonement for mankind, and also made it possible for people to be “…clothed with power from on high” (Luke 24:49). No longer is anyone who believes in Jesus Christ spiritually “naked.”

Jesus Christ had to be the Last Adam, a “lamb from out of the flock,” but “without spot or blemish” so that he could die as an acceptable sacrifice. [6] By being both genetically and behaviorally flawless, the Last Adam’s life would be a sufficient sacrifice for thesin nature inherent in all men, as well as for all their sinful behavior in the future. We will see in the book of Hebrews that the reason the Last Adam had to be a true man was so that he could die to pay the price for the sins of all men. We will also see that via his death, he “took the Devil’s best punch,” and that in his resurrection, he got up “off the canvas.”

In Genesis 3:9-13, God questioned both Adam and Eve about their disobedience, and then prophesied concerning the consequences of their sin. But God’s harshest judgment was reserved for His nemesis, the “Serpent,” Satan. He turned to Satan and pronounced the death sentence upon His archenemy, the one who had masterminded the downfall of the first man. How fitting that the first announcement of the coming Redeemer was made “in your face” to the one responsible for the introduction of sin, evil and death into God’s creation.

Genesis 3:15 (NRSV)
I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring [seed] and hers; he will strike your head, and you will strike his heel.”

Let us now unpack this verse, which is one of the most loaded-with-truth verses in the entire Bible. Theologians refer to this verse as the “proto-evangelium” because it basically capsulizes all the rest of Scripture by foretelling both the sufferings and glory of the Messiah. It also foretells the “head-to-head” conflict between the Promised Seed and the Serpent, until the destruction of Satan is accomplished in one of the final acts of redemption before Paradise can be restored. [7] To us, this verse stands as a marvel of God’s poetic and literary genius. It is no wonder that the Bible has been called “the literature of eternity.” In two simple sentences this verse sets forth the promise, the conflict and the destinies of both Christ and Satan, who were to be the two principal antagonists in the great struggle to complete the process of redemption. Today we can view this verse with 20/20 biblical hindsight and see in it truths that those of Old Testament times did not clearly understand.

It is very significant that Satan is presented as a serpent crushed under the foot of the woman’s offspring. First of all, we should note how appropriate this image is, because a poisonous snake is best killed by crushing its head so it cannot rear back and strike. But before being crushed, the Serpent would bite “the heel” of the Promised Seed, causing a time of suffering. [8] This was the first prophecy of his suffering and death required for the redemption of mankind.

It is obvious to us today that there is a temporal sequence of events being set forth. This coming seed would recover from being struck in the heel and then strike the head of his adversary after that. [9] From our vantage point in the Church Age, we can see that the Serpent’s head will be crushed by the exalted one who was raised from the dead with a new, glorious body and made Head, first of the Church and later of the whole earth in his Millennial Kingdom. As we will see in 1 Corinthians 15:24-28, Christ must reign until all God’s enemies are subdued, and Satan is “Public Enemy #1.”

The next truth in this verse is that the coming one, the solution to the problem of sin and death, would be a man. We know this by the reference to him as a “seed.” Adam and Eve were the only two people ever to start tall and without navels, that is, they did not begin as seeds in the wombs of their mothers. Of course, Adam and Eve could not be born because there was no one to father and mother them, so God created them. Then He made it plain that they were to “be fruitful and multiply and fill up the earth.” God wanted them to do this while they were in their original state, so that their descendants would live forever in the original Paradise. However, as we know, they disobeyed God and thus could produce nothing but a race of mortals—people doomed to die.

Because the Last Adam had to be a man, he had to start as a seed and be born of a woman. But in order to have the potential to become the Redeemer of mankind, he had to start with a sinless nature like the First Adam did. Genesis 3:15 predicts how God would accomplish this seemingly impossible feat, and that is the next great truth revealed in this verse. Note that God referred to the seed as “her” seed. In retrospect, we see in these words a foreshadowing of the virgin birth. [10] In a normal birth, it is the man who puts the seed into the woman, where it combines with an egg and grows for nine months. When it came to Jesus Christ, however, it was God who put a perfect human seed (the Greek word for “seed” is sperma) into the womb of a virgin named Mary. [11] The child resulting from this union, therefore, had the same genetic flawlessness as the First Adam. The following verses make it plain that God was the direct cause of Jesus’ conception:

Luke 1:30-35 (NRSV)
(30) The angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God.
(31) And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus.
(32) He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David,
(33) He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”
(34) Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?”
(35) The angel said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be holy; he will be called the Son of God.

Mary asked the angel Gabriel a very logical question: How would a baby be conceived in her womb without a man being involved? Gabriel’s reply contains a great truth that many Christians throughout history have overlooked because of their theological assumptions. In verse 35, the Greek conjunction translated “so” (NIV) and “therefore” (KJV) indicates the cause responsible for the eventual birth of “the holy one,” the Son of God. From the Greek word for “born” (genao), we get the word “Genesis,” and it denotes the beginning of Jesus in the womb of Mary. [12] This makes it very plain that Jesus Christ began in the womb of Mary, just as every human being begins in the womb of his or her mother. If Jesus Christ is truly a man, the Last Adam, he could not possibly have existed prior to his birth. How can one exist before he exists? [13]

The third great truth in Genesis 3:15 is that the Man, man’s Redeemer, would suffer. His “heel” would be “struck.” This was a prophecy of his suffering and death that was required for the redemption of mankind. The fourth truth in this verse goes hand-in-hand with the third. It is obvious to us today that this coming seed would recover from being struck in the heel and strike the head of his adversary. What we see foreshadowed here is the resurrection of Jesus Christ and his future destruction of the Devil. Revelation 20:10 tells us that the old Serpent will one day be cast into the lake of fire where he will burn for “ages unto ages,” and Ezekiel 28:18 tells us that he will eventually be brought “to ashes.” [14]

The last truth that we see in Genesis 3:15 is perhaps the piéce de resistance! It also relates to the other reason why Jesus Christ is called a “seed” in this, the first mention of him in Scripture. What is the purpose of a seed? To produce fruit after its kind. This is clearly communicated in the first chapter of the Bible, where we see God establish the fruit—seed—fruit cycle. Every plant produces a “fruit” wherein is “seed,” which when germinated will reproduce the same “kind” of plant.

Genesis 1:11-13 (NRSV)
(11) Then God said, “Let the earth put forth vegetation: plants yielding seed, and fruit trees of every kind on earth that bear fruit with the seed in it.” And it was so.
(12) The earth brought forth vegetation: plants yielding seed of every kind, and trees of every kind bearing fruit with the seed in it. And God saw that it was good.
(13) And there was evening and there was morning, the third day.

God also made the animals to reproduce their own “kind.” That is, the “seed” of the male would combine with the egg of the female and reproduce the same “kind” of animal. Is not this same principle also being communicated in connection with the Last Adam in the following verse?

John 5:26 (NRSV)
For just as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself;

The chief property of a seed is that it has “life in itself.” That is what enables it to reproduce after its kind. One day, as we will see in Chapter 12, Jesus Christ will produce a new race for a new age. He will do this by reproducing himself “after his kind.” This truth is clearly communicated in the following verses:

Philippians 3:20 and 21 (NRSV)
(20) But our citizenship is in heaven, and it is from there that we are expecting a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.
(21) He will transform the body of our humiliation that it may be conformed to the body of his glory, by the power that also enables him to make all things subject to himself.

Adam: The Pattern of the Coming Redeemer—Two Men, Two Acts, Two Universal Results

The plan of redemption summed up in Genesis 3:15 is from then on unfolded throughout the rest of Scripture. Another “Adam,” who could exist only by means of birth, had to come and live a life of perfect obedience to God, all the way to a torturous death on the Cross. As we have pointed out earlier, some say that the redemption of mankind could have been accomplished only by God becoming a man and laying down His life, and this is known by the non-biblical term, “the Incarnation.” [15] The answer to this very common teaching is so important that we must repeat it here. Such a “man” could not be a true man, as Adam was. As we are seeing, Scripture makes it plain that the Redeemer had to be a man so that he could die for the sins of all mankind (Heb. 2:9 and 14; Rom. 5:17). Is it really plausible that God, who is the Author and very essence of life, could die? Justice required that a representative of the race of those who sinned be the one to die to atone for that sin. This is the irrefutable logic of Romans 5:12-17, to which we will refer many times in discussing who Jesus is. [16]

Jesus Christ’s original genetic purity, coupled with his subsequent behavioral purity, made him the perfect sacrifice for both the sin nature all men inherited from the First Adam and the corresponding sinful behavior of all men who would ever live. [17] Because of His Son’s sinless life and substitutionary sacrifice, God then had the legal right to extend grace to mankind. Jesus Christ became the perfect sacrifice and died in place of all men. Thus, those who appropriate unto themselves the benefits of this sacrifice by faith in Christ’s atoning death exchange their inherent guilt for his righteousness. Hallelujah!

Not only did the Last Adam have to be able to die; he had to be able to sin as well. Many Christians have been taught that it was impossible for Jesus to sin, but, logically, the Last Adam, of necessity, had to have had the same freedom of will that the First Adam had. To say anything less is to devalue Jesus’ walk of righteousness. His behavioral perfection was ultimately dependent upon him alone. He had the choice of whether or not to obey God, and hence he was temptable. Scripture makes it clear that God cannot be tempted (James 1:13). If Jesus had not been able to sin like the First Adam, his temptations would have been inauthentic, and his “accomplishment” of perfect obedience would have been a foregone conclusion rather than truly praiseworthy. We will examine this subject further in the next chapter.

Remember that the whole Bible is essentially the story of two men and their effect upon mankind—the First Adam and the Last Adam. It points up the contrast between the First Adam’s disobedience, death and production of a race of mortals (people destined to die), and the Last Adam’s obedience, life and his production of a race of people who will live forever. This truth is clearly highlighted in the book of Romans, which is the foundational doctrinal treatise of the Church Epistles. The key passage we need to examine is found in Romans 5:12-19, where we see summarized the stark contrast between the First Adam and the Last Adam. Verse 12 delineates the twofold problem of sin and death that all mankind faces due to the sin of the First Adam.

Romans 5:12-14 (NRSV)
(12) Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death came through sin, and so death spread to all, because all have sinned—
(13) Sin was indeed in the world before the law, but sin is not reckoned when there is no law.
(14) Yet death exercised dominion from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sins were not like the transgression of Adam, who is a type of the one who was to come.

There are many people in the Old Testament who could be called “types of Christ.” But this is the only place in the New Testament that directly points back to a particular person who would be the pattern for who the Messiah would be like. Adam was a “type (pattern) of the one to come,” in that both Adam and Jesus Christ had a universal effect on mankind by one act, as the next verses in the context elucidate:

Romans 5:15-19 (NRSV)
(15) But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died through the one man’s trespass, much more surely have the grace of God and the free gift in the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, abounded for the many.
(16) And the free gift is not like the effect of the one man’s sin. For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brings justification.
(17) If, because of the one man’s trespass, death exercised dominion through that one, much more surely will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness exercise dominion in life through the one man, Jesus Christ.
(18) Therefore just as one man’s trespass led to condemnation for all, so one man’s act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all.
(19) For just as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous.

It is easy to see the contrast between the two men in the above verses. This truth about the two Adams is also featured in another Church Epistle closely related to Romans—1 Corinthians. It addresses the practical failure of the Corinthians to adhere to the doctrine set forth in Romans. [18] It is therefore logical that the theme of the Last Adam should be revisited, and it is:

1 Corinthians 15:21 and 22 (NRSV)
(21) For since death came through a human being, the resurrection of the dead has also come through a human being.
(22) For as all die in Adam, so all will be made alive in Christ.

These verses sum up what we already saw in Romans 5:12-19. The question is, how did the Last Adam’s “one act of righteousness,” his dying on the Cross, make available everlasting life to all who believe in him? First, we will sum up the answer, and then we will look at a magnificent section of Scripture that expands upon it in more detail. The answer in a nutshell is this: only another “Adam,” that is, a man, could rectify the tragic situation caused by the sin of the First Adam and accomplish the complete redemption of mankind. This is how we know that the Last Adam was a total human being.

As stated earlier, the problem God faced was twofold: sin and death, not just for the First Adam, but for all his descendants. The way in which the Last Adam would solve the problem would be in direct contrast to how the First Adam caused it. The First Adamdisobeyed; the Last Adam was obedient unto death, even the death of the Cross. The First Adam’s disobedience brought death; the Last Adam’s obedience unto death brought life, via his resurrection. The First Adam produced a race of people born dead in sin; the Last Adam made it available to be , and he is now in the process of producing an everlasting race of perfect people. [19]

God’s original plan was to have many sons and daughters living together in Paradise forever. The First Adam was supposed to have been the father of that perfect race; the Last Adam will be the “father” of such a race. Since the ultimate problem that mankind faced was death, the Last Adam had to defeat this daunting and terrifying enemy. The only way he could do so was by dying, so that God could then raise him from the dead, thus conquering death and giving him everlasting life. This truth is clearly conveyed by the following verses:

Romans 6:9 and 10
(9) For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him.
(10) The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives [by resurrection], he lives to God.

Hebrews 2:9 and 14 (NRSV)
(9) but we do see Jesus, who for a little while was made lower than the angels [being made a man of flesh and blood who could die], now crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.
(14) Since, therefore, the children [of Adam] share flesh and blood, he himself likewise shared the same things, so that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil.

What was God’s goal? The restoration of ?His original dream of ?humans living forever on a perfect earth. The entire Bible points to the one who would be God’s agent for bringing this about—Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ saw in the Old Testament Scriptures that if he would be obedient unto death, God would raise him from the dead and give him the power to produce a new race for a new age, an age in which he would rule on earth with God. Jesus Christ defeated our ultimate enemy, death, and he has guaranteed the same victory to all who believe on him.

As we see in the following verses, when Jesus Christ has completely accomplished the restoration of Paradise and produced a new race for a new age, he will report to God, his Father, and say, in essence, “Last Adam reporting; mission accomplished; Paradise regained.” Then he will take his place as the Head and Firstborn of a great company of redeemed brothers and sisters in an everlasting family reunion in Paradise with his Father and his spiritual siblings. This awesome truth is communicated clearly in a section of Scripture that we will be visiting often in our journey to understanding the relationship between God and His Son Jesus Christ. It is particularly relevant here in connection with the completion of the Last Adam’s work:

1 Corinthians 15:24-28
(24) Then the end will come, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father after he has destroyed all dominion, authority and power.
(25) For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet.
(26) The last enemy to be destroyed is death.
(27) For he “has put everything under his feet.” Now when it says that “everything” has been put under him, it is clear that this does not include God himself, who put everything under Christ.
(28) When he has done this, then the Son himself will be made subject to Him who put everything under him, so that God may be all in all.

This magnificent passage attributes the glory for the entire plan of redemption to its original Architect, God.

We have now squared off one aspect of the cornerstone for the Christian faith: in order for him to redeem mankind, Jesus had to be whatever Adam was before his fall. Jesus Christ is the Last Adam, a man like Adam who could undo what Adam did. The Last Adam, by dying on the Cross, sacrificed himself as an offering for the sin that the First Adam introduced into the world. This Adamic parallelism establishes one of the most foundational biblical truths regarding Christ, one that allows us to see the entire span of the Bible: two men, two gardens, two commands, two decisions, two deaths, two universal results, two races of people and two Paradises.

With such a simple but profound basis for biblical understanding, why engage in theological speculation about Christ’s identity that can only complicate and compromise the beautiful literary symmetry and integrity of Scripture? We will now continue to compare and contrast the two Adams by looking at how both first and last are related to the important phrase, “the image of God.”

Endnotes:

1. See Lev. 19:2; 20:7,26; 21:8; Josh. 24:19, et al. Back to top

2. However, He can (and occasionally did) “appear” as a man. Regarding the rare examples of God coming into concretion in the form of a man, see Appendix A (Gen. 18:1 and 2). In these cases, however, God did not actually transform Himself into a man, but took on the appearance of a man so that He could have fellowship with certain people at crucial times in redemption history. Back to top

3. 1 Timothy 1:17 clearly identifies God as being immortal, meaning that He cannot die. In fact, He is the very Author of Life itself. An enormous burden of proof is laid upon those who would argue that God Himself could die for our sins. If He were able to die, who would raise Him from the dead? See Appendix A (1 Tim. 6:14-16). Back to top

4. In theological terms, this is called “Adam Christology,” and many scholars acknowledge that this was the “Apostles’ doctrine” concerning the identity of Jesus. James D.G. Dunn, Christology in the Making (Grand Rapids MI, W. B. Eerdmans, 1989) notes on pp. 114 and 115: “We have…seen how widespread [his emphasis] was this Adam Christology in the period before Paul wrote his letters—a fact not usually appreciated by those who offer alternative exegeses of the [Phil. 2:6-13] hymn.” Dunn also quotes Young: “It is eschatology, not incarnation, which makes Christ final in the New Testament…Christ is final for Paul, not as God incarnate, but as the Last Adam.” The Apostle Paul compares and contrasts Jesus and Adam in three key places in Scripture: Romans 5:12ff, 1 Corinthians 15:22 and 45, and Philippians 2:6-13 (and also Hebrew 2:7 and 8 if Pauline authorship is accepted). We will visit and revisit these passages throughout the book. Back to top

5. Because the First Adam was genetically flawless, we can safely conclude that the Last Adam was also. Scientific evidence corroborates this truth. In his book, The Seed of the Woman (Brockville, Ontario, Doorway Publications, 1980), Arthur Custance does an admirable job on the subject of the genetic perfection of Jesus Christ. Although the entire thesis of the work is important to our point, pp. 282-286 are especially relevant. Back to top

6. We use “lamb from out of the flock” to bring together two concepts—first, that Jesus was the true Passover lamb, a lamb taken from the flock of sheep; and second, that there are many Scriptures that say that Jesus was one of us. He was one of the “brothers” (Deut. 18:18; Heb. 2:11), he was a man, the Last Adam, and thus he was like the Passover Lamb in that he was “of the flock,” not an outsider, but truly one of us. Back to top

7. See Appendix F on the Satan/Christ parallelism, which will also be addressed in Chapter 3. Back to top

8. It is significant that only two body parts are mentioned in this verse: the head and the heel. The heel represents the time when the Messiah had a body vulnerable to the Serpent’s bite, which caused death. The “head” foretells a time in the future when the Redeemer would be in a place of authority, and able to crush the Serpent’s head. God has given the Promised Seed all the authority he needs to complete the job he has been given. Back to top

9. The NIV and some other versions make a differentiation in the verbs usually translated “bruise,” “strike” or “crush.” The Hebrew text uses the same word for both verbs used in this sentence. The Hebrew word is shup and it means “to bruise” or “to crush.” Although it could be shown from the entire scope of the Word that the Serpent would only “bruise” Jesus’ heel, and that Jesus will “crush” his head, that truth is not clearly brought out here. It is more accurate to translate the verb shup the same way, either “bruise” or “crush.” The Serpent did crush Jesus’ heel, but having a crushed heel only put him down for a short time—three days and three nights. When Jesus crushes the Serpent’s head, it will put him “down for the count.” Back to top

10. It is often taught, and until recently we also believed, that Genesis 3:15 was a specific prophecy of the virgin birth because of the phrase “her seed.” We assumed a literal meaning of the word “seed,” equivalent to “sperm,” and took that to be a figure of speech to emphasize that God was the author of such a seed, since a woman does not generate “seed” herself. While the Hebrew word zera, here translated “seed,” occurs more than 200 times in the Hebrew text of the Old Testament, and does mean “seed” (literally, like what is sown in the ground—See Gen. 1:11, etc.), or “semen” (Gen. 38:9; Lev. 15:16), it can also mean “offspring,” “descendants,” or “children” (Ps. 22:23; Isa. 1:4). It was quite understandable to the Hebrews, then, that in this sense a woman could have “seed,” i.e., children. That fact is very clear in the Old Testament. In Genesis 4:25, when Seth was born, Eve comforted herself over the death of her firstborn, Abel: “Adam lay with his wife again, and she gave birth to a son and named him Seth, saying, ‘God has granted me another child [seed] in place of Abel, since Cain killed him.’ “ This verse makes it very clear that Eve had “seed.” In Genesis 16:10, an angel was talking to Hagar, Abraham’s Egyptian slave, about her children: “The angel added, ‘I will so increase your descendants [seed] that they will be too numerous to count.’ ” The angel was talking to Hagar, and spoke about her “seed,” yet she was not even in the genealogy leading to Christ. Later, when Abraham wanted a wife for his son, he sent his servant, who found Rebekah. As her family sent her away to Abraham, they blessed her and spoke to her of their hopes for her children: “And they blessed Rebekah and said to her, ‘Our sister, may you increase to thousands upon thousands; may your offspring [seed] possess the gates of their enemies’“ (Gen. 24:60). Back to top

The book of Leviticus also speaks of a woman having seed: “But if a priest’s daughter becomes a widow or is divorced, yet has no children [seed], and she returns to live in her father’s house as in her youth, she may eat of her father’s food. No unauthorized person, however, may eat any of it” (Lev. 22:13). The book of Ruth contains a pertinent reference. The elders of Bethlehem spoke to Boaz, who had just stated that he would marry Ruth. The elders said, “Through the offspring [seed] the LORD gives you by this young woman, may your family be like that of Perez, whom Tamar bore to Judah” (Ruth 4:12). In this verse, the offspring, the seed, was the gift of the LORD given to Boaz by Ruth. Obviously we are not talking about the sperm, but we are talking about the children, because it would be by Ruth that the LORD would give children (seed) to Boaz. This same truth is found in 1 Samuel 2:20: “Eli would bless Elkanah and his wife, saying, ‘May the LORD give you children [seed] by this woman to take the place of the one she prayed for and gave to the LORD.’ Then they would go home.” Again, the husband is being given “seed” by the wife.

From Hebrew lexicons and from the text of Scripture itself, the word “seed” can mean “offspring” or “children.” Women did have “seed,” not in the sense of “sperm,” but in the sense of “children.” This fact explains why the Jews were not expecting Christ to be born of a virgin, and even Mary herself, a believer and descendant of David, asked the angel how she could give birth to Israel’s Messiah without having a husband (Luke 1:34). We now know that Christ was born of a virgin, and looking back we can see that the possibility is allowed for in Genesis 3:15. However, to say that Genesis 3:15 specifically prophesies a virgin birth is not correct. The verse was written by Israelites for Israelites, and presumably they knew their own language well, yet they read the verse for centuries and understood that it referred to the Messiah, without knowing or believing it foretold a virgin birth.

11. It could be argued that God did not create “seed” or “sperm” in Mary that then fertilized her egg, but rather that He created a zygote, a fertilized egg inside Mary that then grew into the child, Jesus. This latter view is the view of all Trinitarians who argue that Jesus, who pre-existed his birth as some form of spirit being, “incarnated” (literally, “came into flesh”) in the womb of Mary. Scripture is not explicit about this, which is not surprising because the conception of Mary occurred long before test tube babies, surrogate mothers and in vitro fertilization. Nevertheless, we believe the language of Scripture is still capable of revealing to us what happened. If God created a zygote in Mary’s womb, we believe the language of creation would appear somewhere in the records of the conception and birth of Christ. Instead, we find that Christ is called the “seed” (Greek = sperma) in the Bible. Also, the Word of God talks of Mary’s “conception,” which would not really be accurate if she had not in fact conceived. Furthermore, when the angel was explaining to Mary how she would become pregnant, the terminology he used of God’s interaction with Mary, i.e., “come over you” and “overshadow you,” seems to portray God’s role as a father and impregnator, not as a creator. Lastly, we would point out that Jesus is said to be from the line of David through his father and his mother. For us it is easier to understand him being called that if Mary were his mother in the ordinary sense of the word. We do not believe that Mary having a genetic contribution to Jesus would have placed his genetic perfection in jeopardy. This is no doubt at least a large part of what Philippians 2:6 (KJV) means when it says that Jesus was in “the form of God.” That is, his body was the result of the direct action of God, even as Adam’s was. The difference between the two Adams in this regard was that one awoke fully formed while the other was formed in a woman’s womb and went through the entire process of human development. Back to top

12. Two similar Greek words, genesis and gennesis, can be translated “birth.” But genesis can also mean “creation,” “beginning” and “origination.” Since these words are very similar, a scribe could have easily changed the one to the other to eliminate the idea that the so-called “eternal” Son of God had a “beginning,” which was the position of the “heretical” Arians. Bart Ehrman proposes a reason why the text was corrupted in this way, with genesis changed to gennesis:

When one now asks why scribes might take umbrage at Matthew’s description of the “genesis” of Jesus Christ, the answer immediately suggests itself: the original text could well be taken to imply that this is the moment in which Jesus Christ comes into being. In point of fact, there is nothing in Matthew’s narrative [nor Mark’s or Luke’s, for that matter!], either here or elsewhere throughout the Gospel, to suggest that he knew or subscribed to the notion that Christ had existed prior to his birth. Anyone subscribing to this doctrine [of Christ’s “pre-existence” and “incarnation”] might well look askance at the implication that Matthew was here describing Jesus’ origination, and might understandably have sought to clarify the text by substituting a word that ‘meant’ the same thing, but that was less likely to be misconstrued. And so the term gennesis in Matthew 1:18 would represent an orthodox corruption.

Bart D. Ehrman, The Orthodox Corruption of Scripture (Oxford University Press, N.Y., 1993), pp. 75 and 76. See also Chapter 15 on “The Expansion of Piety.” Back to top

13. The concept of “the pre-existence” of Christ, and its companion concept, “the incarnation,” has caused many problems for theologians. We discuss the issue in detail in Chapter 17. Back to top

14. See our book by: Mark Graeser, John Lynn, and John Schoenheit, Is There Death After Life? (Spirit & Truth Fellowship International, Martinsville, IN, 2004), Ch. 4, pp. 45-49 Back to top

15. “The incarnation” is the phrase some theologians have coined to describe “when God became a man.” We assert that the Bible does not teach that God became a man, but rather that He had a Son. Allow us to point out that the word “incarnation” never appears in Scripture. See Chapter 17. Back to top

16. It is common for Trinitarians to argue that Christ must be God because “a man could not atone for the sins of mankind.” Theologians through the ages have varied greatly in their opinions of exactly how Christ could accomplish redemption for fallen man, and these theological musings can be found in any good theological dictionary under the heading of “Atonement.” However, a standard argument goes something like this: “Mankind has sinned against an infinite God, and therefore the sin is infinitely great. It takes an infinite being to atone for infinite sin, and the only infinite being is God. Therefore, since Christ atoned for sin, Christ must be God.” This argument, which seems reasonable to some people, is man-made, and nothing like it can be found in Scripture. What can be found in Scripture is simple and straightforward: “For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous” (Rom. 5:19). There is not a single verse anywhere in Scripture that hints in any way that “God” was a sacrifice for sin.

“The Church Fathers” tried to explain in great detail how Christ could atone for the sins of mankind, and offered many different theories as to how atonement could be accomplished. Origen, Augustine and others believed that Christ was a payment made by God to Satan. Others taught that Christ was not a substitute for man, but rather a representative of man, and somehow the effect of his sufferings and resurrection extend to all mankind. In the Middle Ages, Anselm taught that mankind’s sin offended God, and that Christ’s redemption was an act of “satisfaction,” to appease God. Abelard explained Christ’s atonement in terms of love and the response of love elicited from the sinner due to Christ’s example. The list of man’s theories about exactly how our atonement was accomplished is long, and entire books have been written on the subject.

The reason for the varying theories is that the New Testament does not set forth a “theory of atonement,” it just states the facts of the case, i.e., that Christ’s death paid for sin. Scripture makes many and varied references to the atoning work of Christ. Christ is called a “sacrifice” (Eph. 5:2; Heb. 9:26), a “sin offering” (Isa. 53:10; 2 Cor. 5:21 [NIV alternate reading]), a “ransom” (Matt. 20:28; 1 Tim. 2:6; Heb. 9:15) and an “atoning sacrifice” (Rom. 3:25; 1 John 2:2; 4:10). We do not see the need or reason to build a “theory of atonement” when none is offered in the Word of God. The words of the Word are sufficient. As far as the subject of this book is concerned, the most important conclusion that can be drawn from what is revealed in the Word of God is that it is unbiblical to assert that Christ had to be God to pay for the sins of mankind when the Bible explicitly says that payment for sin came “by man.” See also Chapters 16 and 17. Back to top

17. There can be a distinct difference in the usage of the terms “sin” and “sins” in the Word of God. Often, “sins” refers to the “fruit” of the old nature, while “sin” refers to the “root,” or the old nature itself. See E. W. Bullinger, The Church Epistles (1991 reprint Johnson Graphics, Decatur, MI, 1905) pp. 27 and 28. Back to top

18. The truth about the position and structure of the Church Epistles is vital for each Christian to understand. See Appendix J. Back to top

19. See Chapter 14 Back to top

BY MARY S. B. DANA, Author of ‘THE SOUTHERN AND NORTHERN HARPS,’ ‘THE PARTED FAMILY,’ ETC. BOSTON: 1845

View this entire book in a PDF

Read each section hyperlinked below…

INTRODUCTION

LETTER 1.
A change of views, The Trinity, Modified views, Spirit of Inquiry, Means of information, Solitary investigation, New Views

LETTER 2.
The terms God & Lord, Explanations of texts. Isa. vi. 1-10 compared with John xii. 41, Rom. ix. 5, Phil. ii. 6, 7, Rev. i. 6, Rev. v. 5-14, Rev. xxii. 16, 1 Tim. vi. 15, compared with Rev. xvii. 11, 2 Corr. xiii. 11, John i. 1, Isa. vi. 1-10 compared with John xii. 44, John xx. 28, Phil. ii. 6-7, 2 Pet. iii. 18, Heb. i. 6, Col. i. 16-17.

LETTER 3.
Scott’s notes, Whitby’s retraction, Extracts from Whitby, The Divine Will, Whitby on the opinions of the Fathers Sir Isaac Newton, Pliny’s letter to Trajan, St. John’s Gospel.

LETTER 4.
Correction of Doctrines, Always an inquirer, Collateral doctrines, The great point of difference, Sources of information, Importance of our influence, Scott and Newton.

LETTER 5.
Investigation no crime, Paternal faithfulness, Caution recommended, Review of circumstances, Exhibition of consequences.

LETTER 6.
Remarks upon Honesty, The Trinitarian Doxology, The Unitarian Hymn book, Dr. Watts aUnitarian, Watts’s Psalms and Hymns.

LETTER 7.
An Explanation, Early Opinions, Bible Phraseology, Inquiries and Replies, Extracts from Dewey’s Sermons, On the use of certain terms, On the Baptismal form, On the Atonement, On Human Depravity, On Election, On the Future State.

LETTER 8.
Inquiries answered, Morality of Unitarians, Involuntary Errors, Unitarian Writings, Lines onLukexviii.29-30.

LETTER 9.
An overflow of Feeling, Love and Honor to Christ, Christ a King, Mistakes corrected, Human Reason, Expression of sentiments, A Prayer.

The Bible is the Word of God. It tells us about the life and death — and resurrected life — of the greatest man who ever lived. His name is Jesus Christ. For centuries men have debated the identity of this unique man. Was he God? Was he a “mere” man? How did he do the things he did?

We assert that the answers lie in the Bible. If so, the question is: “What does the Bible say?” Here is a list of logical questions, with pertinent scripture verses, to help us know whether or not Jesus is God Almighty.

Question #1: If Jesus is God, how could he die for our sins?

1 Timothy 1:17
Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.

God cannot die, yet Jesus was killed and then resurrected (Acts 5:30). The Bible does not say that only his “human nature” died; it says that Jesus died, which would include all of Jesus (100%).

1 Corinthians 15:3
For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures.

Question #2: How can Jesus be “God” and have a “God” at the same time?

The God of the Bible is the Almighty, the Creator, the Most High, and no one compares to Him. Jesus Christ cannot be “God” if he says that our heavenly Father is his “God.”

You cannot be the “Most High God” and be in submission to the “Most High God” (1 Cor.15:28) and say that He is your God. This makes no sense.

If words truly have meaning, then one cannot be “God” and have a “God” at the same time.

Check out the verses below that clearly show that our Father is the “God” of our Lord Jesus Christ:

Ephesians 1:17
I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better.

Romans 15:6
…so that with one heart and mouth you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

2 Corinthians 1:3
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort…

Ephesians 1:3
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.

1 Peter 1:3
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ!

The above verses are very clear. Jesus Christ has a God. Who is the God of our Lord Jesus Christ? Ephesians 1:17 very clearly says that this God is our glorious Father.

Jesus Christ himself called our Father his “God” and Father many different times in Scripture.

John 20:17 (KJV)
…I ascend to My Father and your Father, and My God and your God.’”

Revelation 3:12
Him who overcomes I will make a pillar in the temple of my God. Never again will he leave it. I will write on him the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which is coming down out of heaven from my God; and I will also write on him my new name.

Revelation 3:21
To him who overcomes, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I overcame and sat down with my Father on his throne.

Question #3: If Jesus was sitting at the right hand of God in heaven when the book of Revelation was written, why does Jesus continue to make such clear statements that our heavenly Father is his “God” if he himself is God?

Revelation 1:6
…[Jesus] has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father– to him be glory and power for ever and ever! Amen.

Revelation 3:12
Him who overcomes I will make a pillar in the temple of my God. Never again will he leave it. I will write on him the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which is coming down out of heaven from my God; and I will also write on him my new name.

Question #4: If God cannot be tempted by evil, yet Jesus was tempted in every way we are, how can he be God?

James 1:13
For God cannot be tempted by evil.

Hebrews 4:15
For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin.

The Bible never says that Jesus’ “human nature” was tempted, it says “Jesus” was tempted. Nowhere does it say that “part” of Jesus was tempted; it was “all” of him. If Jesus is God, this is a clear contradiction. Fortunately, Jesus is the human Son of God, so there is no contradiction.

Question #5: If Jesus is God, then why does he pray to God and call Him “the only true God” in John 17:3?

John 17:3
Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.

In this verse, Jesus Christ makes a clear distinction between “the only true God” and himself. Jesus called his Father “the only true God,” and that doesn’t leave any room for Jesus to also be “God.”

Question #6: If Jesus is God, why did he pray at all?

Luke 6:12
One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God.

He would have been praying to himself, or another “part” of himself. Did he do it for our benefit alone? To be an example for us? If Jesus were praying to himself, or another part of himself, then he was just “acting.” It wasn’t real prayer (the way we know it), because we don’t pray to ourselves, we pray to God.

Was Jesus just “acting” when he was in the Garden of Gethsemane praying to God that there be another way, that “if it is possible, that the cup be taken” from him? He was asking God if there was another way (i.e., another way beside dying a horrible death on a cross). If Jesus is God, then all of his prayers “to God” make him look rather ludicrous.

Question #7: If Jesus is God, why did he say to his disciples: “Trust in God; trust also in me”?

John 14:1
“Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me.”

Notice that Jesus didn’t say “the Father,” he just said “God.” Jesus once again makes a clear distinction between himself and God.

Question #8: According to the doctrine of the Trinity, the Father and Son are co-equal. If that is true, how can the Father be (in any way) greater than Jesus?

John 14:28
“I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I.”

Mark 13:32
“No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.

1 Corinthians 15:27-28
(27) For he (God) “has put everything under his (Jesus) feet.” Now when it says that “everything” has been put under him (Jesus), it is clear that this does not include God himself, who put everything under Christ.
(28) When he (God) has done this, then the Son himself will be made subject to him (God) who put everything under him (Jesus), so that God may be all in all.

Clearly, 1 Corinthians 15:27-28 nullifies the idea that Jesus is God. It says: “Now when it says that ‘everything’ has been put under him (Jesus), it is clear that this does not include God himself, who put everything under Christ.”

How could God make it more plain?

Then it goes on to say: “Then the Son himself will be made subject to him (God) who put everything under him (Jesus), so that God may be all in all.”

Right now Jesus is exalted at the right hand of God, given all authority in Heaven and on Earth, and is “functionally” equal with God. But after Jesus has finished the job of restoring paradise, he will eventually be “made subject” to God, so that God may be all in all.

The doctrine of the Trinity states that Jesus is 100% man and 100% God. Logically, you can’t be 100% of one thing and then even “a little” of something else. That is, if words and numbers have definite meanings.

Question #9: How can Jesus “be like us in every way” and still be “100% man and 100% God”?

Hebrews 2:17
For this reason he had to be made like his brothers in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people.

If Jesus is God and also “like us in every way,” that means we are all 100% man and 100% God. This makes no sense. Either Jesus is not God and truly like us in all ways (a man), or he is God and so are we.

What makes more sense?

The Devil and demons call Jesus the Son of God.

Question #10: If Jesus is God and God cannot be tempted, why would the Devil tempt Jesus?

The Bible says that “God cannot be tempted” (James 1:13) and we know that the Devil knows Scripture because he quoted it while trying to tempt Jesus (Matt. 4:6). The Devil is totally evil and persistent, but he is not dumb.

Why did the Devil continue to ask Jesus “if you are the Son of God…” when he was tempting him?

Wouldn’t the Devil (Lucifer) and his demons know if they were speaking with the Almighty Himself?

In fact, he tauntingly said to Jesus:

Matthew 4:3
…“If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.”

Matthew 4:6
If you are the Son of God, he said, throw yourself down.

The Devil knew that Jesus was a man, the Son of God, and the promised Messiah, and that is why he did his best to try to get him to sin. The Devil knew that if he could get Jesus to sin one time, he could not be the perfect sacrifice that was necessary for the forgiveness of our sins.

We believe that Jesus Christ is a unique man because he is the only man who was born of a virgin, who is the Last Adam, who by his free will choices to trust God lived a sinless life, always doing the will of his Father. He died as the perfect sacrifice for our sins so that we too could have a relationship with God. Jesus Christ is the Son of God, our Savior, our Lord, and our Brother. Because of his obedience, God promoted Jesus to the highest place possible – “Lord” over heaven and earth (Acts 2:36; Matt. 28:18). He is now the Head of the Church, working with us to make known God’s love and truth on this earth. He is our Lord and we love him.

Acts 2:22
“Men of Israel, listen to this: Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs, which God did among you through him, as you yourselves know.

Acts 2:23
This man was handed over to you by God’s set purpose and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross.

Acts 17:31
For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to all men by raising him from the dead.”

1 Timothy 2:5
For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.

Romans 5:15
But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man (Adam) how much more did God’s grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many!

The Greek word for “man” in these verses is anthropos.

The Greek word anthropos means “a human being, whether male or female, generically, to include all human individuals, to distinguish man from beings of a different race or order.”

Anthropos is used to describe Adam, the first man. In the same verse (Romans 5:15) it is used to describe Jesus Christ. If words mean anything, one must believe that Jesus Christ was a flesh and blood human being just like Adam.

On the other hand, Scripture says “God is not a man.”

Numbers 23:19
God is not a man, that he should lie, nor a son of man…

Numbers 23:19 (NRSV)
God is not a human being, that he should lie, or a mortal…

Hosea 11:9
For I am God, and not man– the Holy One among you.

Jesus Christ is a man. He is the only man who is our Savior, our Redeemer, our Mediator, our Lord, our constant Companion, our Best Friend, our Big Brother, the Light of our lives, our Peace, our Joy, and our Mentor in the art of faith.

He is the Lover of our souls, and that is why we love him and confess him as Lord (Rom. 10:9).

Is the Trinity Biblical? (Audio)

Patrick Navas has been a Bible student for the last fourteen years–ever since one of the Gideons handed him a free pocket New Testament and he was gripped by John 3.16. In his quest to understand Christianity he quickly learned that there were quite a few differences between various groups which all claimed to have the truth. This propelled Patrick into long years of study as he researched the biggest question of all–who is God?

The result of that work was his 2006 book titled Divine Truth or Human Tradition?: A Reconsideration of the Roman Catholic-Protestant Doctrine of the Trinity in Light of the Hebrew and Christian Scriptures. His book not only lays out the clear biblical teaching about God, but it also interacts with top trinitarian defenders such as Dr. James R. White, John MacArthur, Dr. Wayne Grudem, Robert Bowman Jr., Dr. Robert Morey, Dr. R. C. Sproul, and others. Patrick defends his position with cogency and humility as he enumerates the reasons why the Trinity is not a biblical doctrine.

John 1:1
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. (NIV)

1. It is imperative that the serious student of the Bible come to a basic understanding of logos, which is translated as “Word” in John 1:1. Most Trinitarians believe that the word logos refers directly to Jesus Christ, so in most versions of John logos is capitalized and translated “Word” (some versions even write “Jesus Christ” in John 1:1). However, a study of the Greek word logos shows that it occurs more than 300 times in the New Testament, and in both the NIV and the KJV it is capitalized only 7 times (and even those versions disagree on exactly when to capitalize it). When a word that occurs more than 300 times is capitalized fewer than 10 times, it is obvious that when to capitalize and when not to capitalize is a translators’ decision based on their particular understanding of Scripture.

As it is used throughout Scripture, logos has a very wide range of meanings along two basic lines of thought. One is the mind and products of the mind like “reason,” (thus “logic” is related to logos) and the other is the expression of that reason as a “word,” “saying,” “command” etc. The Bible itself demonstrates the wide range of meaning logos has, and some of the ways it is translated in Scripture are: account, appearance, book, command, conversation, eloquence, flattery, grievance, heard, instruction, matter, message, ministry, news, proposal, question, reason, reasonable, reply, report, rule, rumor, said, say, saying, sentence, speaker, speaking, speech, stories, story, talk, talking, teaching, testimony, thing, things, this, truths, what, why, word and words.

Any good Greek lexicon will also show this wide range of meaning (the words in italics are translated from logos):

• speaking; words you say (Rom. 15:18, “what I have said and done”).
• a statement you make (Luke 20:20 – (NASB), “they might catch him in some statement).
• a question (Matt. 21:24, “I will also ask you one question”).
• preaching (1 Tim. 5:17, “especially those whose work is preaching and teaching).
• command (Gal. 5:14, “the entire law is summed up in a single command”).
• proverb; saying (John 4:37, “thus the saying, ‘One sows, and another reaps’”).
• message; instruction; proclamation (Luke 4:32, “his message had authority”).
• assertion; declaration; teaching (John 6:60, “this is a hard teaching”).
• the subject under discussion; matter (Acts 8:21, “you have no part or share in this ministry.” Acts 15:6 (NASB), “And the apostles… came together to look into this matter”).
• revelation from God (Matt. 15:6, “you nullify the Word of God ”).
• God’s revelation spoken by His servants (Heb. 13:7, “leaders who spoke the Word of God”).
• a reckoning, an account (Matt. 12:36, “men will have to give account” on the day of judgment).
• an account or “matter” in a financial sense (Matt. 18:23, A king who wanted to settle “accounts” with his servants. Phil. 4:15, “the matter of giving and receiving”).
• a reason; motive (Acts 10:29 – NASB), “I ask for what reason you have sent for me”). [1]

The above list is not exhaustive, but it does show that logos has a very wide range of meaning. With all the definitions and ways logos can be translated, how can we decide which meaning of logos to choose for any one verse? How can it be determined what the logos in John 1:1 is? Any occurrence of logos has to be carefully studied in its context in order to get the proper meaning. We assert that the logos in John 1:1 cannot be Jesus. Please notice that “Jesus Christ” is not a lexical definition of logos. This verse does not say, “In the beginning was Jesus.” “The Word” is not synonymous with Jesus, or even “the Messiah.” The word logos in John 1:1 refers to God’s creative self-expression—His reason, purposes and plans, especially as they are brought into action. It refers to God’s self-expression, or communication, of Himself. This has come to pass through His creation (Rom. 1:19 and 20), and especially the heavens (Ps. 19). It has come through the spoken word of the prophets and through Scripture, the written Word. Most notably and finally, it has come into being through His Son (Heb. 1:1 and 2).

The renowned Trinitarian scholar, John Lightfoot, writes:

The word logos then, denoting both “reason” and “speech,” was a philosophical term adopted by Alexandrian Judaism before St. Paul wrote, to express the manifestation of the Unseen God in the creation and government of the World. It included all modes by which God makes Himself known to man. As His reason, it denoted His purpose or design; as His speech, it implied His revelation. Christian teachers, when they adopted this term, exalted and fixed its meaning by attaching to it two precise and definite ideas: (1) “The Word is a Divine Person,” (2) “The Word became incarnate in Jesus Christ.” It is obvious that these two propositions must have altered materially the significance of all the subordinate terms connected with the idea of the logos. [2]

It is important to note that it was “Christian teachers” who attached the idea of a “divine person” to the word logos. It is certainly true that when the word logos came to be understood as being Jesus Christ, the understanding of John 1:1 was altered substantially. Lightfoot correctly understands that the early meaning of logos concerned reason and speech, not “Jesus Christ.” Norton develops the concept of logos as “reason” and writes:

There is no word in English answering to the Greek word logos, as used here [in John 1:1]. It was employed to denote a mode of conception concerning the Deity, familiar at the time when St. John wrote and intimately blended with the philosophy of his age, but long since obsolete, and so foreign from our habits of thinking that it is not easy for us to conform our minds to its apprehension. The Greek word logos, in one of its primary senses, answered nearly to our word Reason. The logos of God was regarded, not in its strictest sense, as merely the Reason of God; but, under certain aspects, as the Wisdom, the Mind, the Intellect of God (p. 307).

Norton postulates that perhaps “the power of God” would be a good translation for logos (p. 323). Buzzard sets forth “plan,” “purpose” or “promise” as three acceptable translations. Broughton and Southgate say “thoughts, plan or purpose of God, particularly in action.” Many scholars identify logos with God’s wisdom and reason.

The logos is the expression of God, and is His communication of Himself, just as a “word” is an outward expression of a person’s thoughts. This outward expression of God has now occurred through His Son, and thus it is perfectly understandable why Jesus is called the “Word.” Jesus is an outward expression of God’s reason, wisdom, purpose and plan. For the same reason, we call revelation “a word from God” and the Bible “the Word of God.”

If we understand that the logos is God’s expression—His plan, purposes, reason and wisdom, it is clear that they were indeed with Him “in the beginning.” Scripture says that God’s wisdom was “from the beginning” (Prov. 8:23). It was very common in Hebrew writing to personify a concept such as wisdom. No ancient Jew reading Proverbs would think that God’s wisdom was a separate person, even though it is portrayed as one in verses like Proverbs 8:29 and 30: “…when He marked out the foundations of the earth, I [wisdom] was the craftsman at His side.”

2. Most Jewish readers of the Gospel of John would have been familiar with the concept of God’s “word” being with God as He worked to bring His creation into existence. There is an obvious working of God’s power in Genesis 1 as He brings His plan into concretion by speaking things into being. The Targums are well known for describing the wisdom and action of God as His “word.” This is especially important to note because the Targums are the Aramaic translations and paraphrases of the Old Testament, and Aramaic was the spoken language of many Jews at the time of Christ. Remembering that a Targum is usually a paraphrase of what the Hebrew text says, note how the following examples attribute action to the word:

• And the word of the Lord was Joseph’s helper (Gen. 39:2).
• And Moses brought the people to meet the word of the Lord (Ex. 19:17).
• And the word of the Lord accepted the face of Job (Job 42:9).
• And the word of the Lord shall laugh them to scorn (Ps. 2:4).
• They believed in the name of His word (Ps. 106:12). [3]

The above examples demonstrate that the Jews were familiar with the idea of God’s Word referring to His wisdom and action. This is especially important to note because these Jews were fiercely monotheistic, and did not in any way believe in a “Triune God.” They were familiar with the idioms of their own language, and understood that the wisdom and power of God were being personified as “word.”

The Greek-speaking Jews were also familiar with God’s creative force being called “the word.” J. H. Bernard writes, “When we turn from Palestine to Alexandria [Egypt], from Hebrew sapiential [wisdom] literature to that which was written in Greek, we find this creative wisdom identified with the Divine logos, Hebraism and Hellenism thus coming into contact.” [4] One example of this is in the Apocryphal book known as the Wisdom of Solomon, which says, “O God of my fathers and Lord of mercy who hast made all things by thy word (logos), and by thy wisdom hast formed man…” (9:1). In this verse, the “word” and “wisdom” are seen as the creative force of God, but without being a “person.”

3. The logos, that is, the plan, purpose and wisdom of God, “became flesh” (came into concretion or physical existence) in Jesus Christ. Jesus is the “image of the invisible God” (Col. 1:15) and His chief emissary, representative and agent. Because Jesus perfectly obeyed the Father, he represents everything that God could communicate about Himself in a human person. As such, Jesus could say, “If you have seen me, you have seen the Father” (John 14:9). The fact that the logos “became” flesh shows that it did not exist that way before. There is no pre-existence for Jesus in this verse other than his figurative “existence” as the plan, purpose or wisdom of God for the salvation of man. The same is true with the “word” in writing. It had no literal pre-existence as a “spirit-book” somewhere in eternity past, but it came into being as God gave the revelation to people and they wrote it down.

4. The last phrase in the verse, which most versions translate as “and the Word was God,” should not be translated that way. The Greek language uses the word “God” (Greek = theos) to refer to the Father as well as to other authorities. These include the Devil (2 Cor. 4:4), lesser gods (1 Cor. 8:5) and men with great authority (John 10:34 and 35; Acts 12:22). At the time the New Testament was written, Greek manuscripts were written in all capital letters. The upper and lower case letters were not blended as we do today. Thus, the distinction that we today make between “God” and “god” could not be made, and the context became the judge in determining to whom “THEOS” referred.

Although context is the final arbiter, it is almost always the case in the New Testament that when “God” refers to the Father, the definite article appears in the Greek text (this article can be seen only in the Greek text, it is never translated into English). Translators are normally very sensitive to this (see John 10:33). The difference between theos with and without the article occurs in John 1:1: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with “the theos,” and the Word was “theos.” Since the definite article is missing from the second occurrence of “theos” (“God,”) the usual meaning would be “god” or “divine.” The New English Bible gets the sense of this phrase by translating it, “What God was, the Word was.” James Moffatt who was a professor of Greek and New Testament Exegesis at Mansfield College in Oxford, England, and author of the well-known Moffatt Bible, translated the phrase, “the logos was divine.”

A very clear explanation of how to translate theos without the definite article can be found in Jesus As They Knew Him, by William Barclay, a professor at Trinity College in Glasgow:

In a case like this we cannot do other than go to the Greek, which is theos en ho logos. Ho is the definite article, the, and it can be seen that there is a definite article with logos, but not with theos. When in Greek two nouns are joined by the verb “to be,” and when both have the definite article, then the one is fully intended to be identified with the other; but when one of them is without the article, it becomes more an adjective than a noun, and describes rather the class or sphere to which the other belongs.

An illustration from English will make this clear. If I say, “The preacher is the man,” I use the definite article before both preacher and man, and I thereby identify the preacher with some quite definite individual man whom I have in mind. But, if I say, “The preacher is man,” I have omitted the definite article before man, and what I mean is that the preacher must be classified as a man, he is in the sphere of manhood, he is a human being.

[In the last clause of John 1:1] John has no article before theos, God. The logos, therefore, is not identified as God or with God; the word theos has become adjectival and describes the sphere to which the logos belongs. We would, therefore, have to say that this means that the logos belongs to the same sphere as God; without being identified with God, the logos has the same kind of life and being as God. Here the NEB [New English Bible] finds the perfect translation: “What God was, the Word was.” [5]

5. It is important to understand that the Bible was not written in a vacuum, but was recorded in the context of a culture and was understood by those who lived in that culture. Sometimes verses that seem superfluous or confusing to us were meaningful to the readers of the time because they were well aware of the culture and beliefs being propounded by those around them. In the first century, there were many competing beliefs in the world (and unfortunately, erroneous beliefs in Christendom) that were confusing believers about the identities of God and Christ. For centuries before Christ, and at the time the New Testament was written, the irrational beliefs about the gods of Greece had been handed down. This body of religious information was known by the word “muthos,” which we today call “myths” or “mythology.” This muthos, these myths, were often irrational, mystical and beyond understanding or explanation. The more familiar one is with the Greek myths, the better he will understand our emphasis on their irrationality. If one is unfamiliar with them, it would be valuable to read a little on the subject. Greek mythology is an important part of the cultural background of the New Testament.

The myths were often incomprehensible, but nevertheless, they had been widely accepted as the “revelation of the gods.” The pervasiveness of the muthos in the Greco-Roman world of the New Testament can be seen sticking up out of the New Testament like the tip of an iceberg above the water. When Paul and Barnabas healed a cripple in Lystra, the people assumed that the gods had come down in human form, and the priest of Zeus came to offer sacrifices to them. While Paul was in Athens, he became disturbed because of the large number of idols there that were statues to the various gods. In Ephesus, Paul’s teaching actually started a riot. When some of the locals realized that if his doctrine spread, “the temple of the great goddess Artemis will be discredited, and the goddess herself, who is worshiped throughout the province of Asia and the world, will be robbed of her divine majesty” (Acts 19:27). There are many other examples that show that there was a muthos, i.e., a body of religious knowledge that was in large part incomprehensible to the human mind, firmly established in the minds of some of the common people in New Testament times.

Starting several centuries before Christ, certain Greek philosophers worked to replace the muthos with what they called the logos, a reasonable and rational explanation of reality. It is appropriate that, in the writing of the New Testament, God used the word logos, not muthos, to describe His wisdom, reason and plan. God has not come to us in mystical experiences and irrational beliefs that cannot be understood; rather, He reveals Himself in ways that can be rationally understood and persuasively argued.

6. In addition to the cultural context that accepted the myths, at the time John was written, a belief system called Gnosticism was taking root in Christianity. Gnosticism had many ideas and words that are strange and confusing to us today, so, at the risk of oversimplifying, we will describe a few basic tenets of Gnosticism as simply as we can.

Gnosticism took many forms, but generally Gnostics taught that there was a supreme and unknowable Being, which they designated as the “Monad.” The Monad produced various gods, who in turn produced other gods (these gods were called by different names, in part because of their power or position). One of these gods, called the “Demiurge,” created the earth and then ruled over it as an angry, evil and jealous god. This evil god, Gnostics believed, was the god of the Old Testament, called Elohim. The Monad sent another god, “Christ,” to bring special gnosis (knowledge) to mankind and free them from the influence of the evil Elohim. Thus, a Gnostic Christian would agree that Elohim created the heavens and earth, but he would not agree that He was the supreme God. Most Gnostics would also state that Elohim and Christ were at cross-purposes with each other. This is why it was so important for John 1:1 to say that the logos was with God, which at first glance seems to be a totally unnecessary statement.

The opening of the Gospel of John is a wonderful expression of God’s love. God “wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth” (1 Tim. 2:4). He authored the opening of John in such a way that it reveals the truth about Him and His plan for all of mankind and, at the same time, refutes Gnostic teaching. It says that from the beginning there was the logos (the reason, plan, power), which was with God. There was not another “god” existing with God, especially not a god opposed to God. Furthermore, God’s plan was like God; it was divine. God’s plan became flesh when God impregnated Mary.

7. There are elements of John 1:1 and other phrases in the introduction of John that not only refer back in time to God’s work in the original creation, but also foreshadow the work of Christ in the new administration and the new creation. Noted Bible commentator F.F. Bruce argues for this interpretation:

It is not by accident that the Gospel begins with the same phrase as the book of Genesis. In Genesis 1:1, ‘In the beginning’ introduces the story of the old creation; here it introduces the story of the new creation. In both works of creation the agent is the Word of God. [6]

The Racovian Catechism, one of the great doctrinal works of the Unitarian movement of the 14th and 15th centuries, states that the word “beginning” in John 1:1 refers to the beginning of the new dispensation and thus is similar to Mark 1:1, which starts, “The beginning of the Gospel about Jesus Christ.”

In the cited passage (John 1:1) wherein the Word is said to have been in the beginning, there is no reference to an antecedent eternity, without commencement; because mention is made here of a beginning, which is opposed to that eternity. But the word beginning, used absolutely, is to be understood of the subject matter under consideration. Thus, Daniel 8:1, “In the third year of the reign of king Belshazzar a vision appeared to me, even unto me Daniel, after that which appeared unto me AT THE FIRST.” John 15:27, “And ye also shall bear witness because ye have been with me FROM the beginning.” John 16:4, “These things I said not unto you AT the beginning because I was with you. And Acts 11:15, “And as I began to speak the Holy Spirit fell on them, as on us AT the beginning.” As then the matter of which John is treating is the Gospel, or the things transacted under the Gospel, nothing else ought to be understood here beside the beginning of the Gospel; a matter clearly known to the Christians whom he addressed, namely, the advent and preaching of John the Baptist, according to the testimony of all the evangelists [i.e., Matthew, Mark, Luke and John], each of whom begins his history with the coming and preaching of the Baptist. Mark indeed (Chapter 1:1) expressly states that this was the beginning of the Gospel. In like manner, John himself employs the word beginning, placed thus absolutely, in the introduction to his First Epistle, at which beginning he uses the same term (logos) Word, as if he meant to be his own interpreter [“That which is from the beginning…concerning the Word (logos) of life.” 1 John 1:1]. [7]

While we do not agree with the Catechism that the only meaning of beginning in John 1:1 is the beginning of the new creation, we certainly see how the word beginning is a double entendre. In the context of the new creation, then, “the Word” is the plan or purpose according to which God is restoring His creation.

8. To fully understand any passage of Scripture, it is imperative to study the context. To fully understand John 1:1, the rest of the chapter needs to be understood as well, and the rest of the chapter adds more understanding to John 1:1. We believe that these notes on John 1:1, read together with the rest of John 1 and our notes on John 1:3, John 1:10, John 1:14, John 1:15, and John 1:18 will help make the entire first chapter of John more understandable.

Broughton and Southgate, pp. 238-248

Buzzard, pp. 111-119

Morgridge, pp. 107-109

Norton, pp. 307-374

Robinson, Honest to God, p. 71

Snedeker, pp. 313-326

Back to the list of “Verses Used to Support the Doctrine of the Trinity”

Endnotes:

1. Arndt and Gingrich, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature (University of Chicago Press, 1979). Back to top

2. J. B. Lightfoot, St. Paul’s Epistles to the Colossians and Philemon (Hendrickson Publishers, Peabody, MA, 1993), pp. 143 and 144. Bold emphasis ours, italics his. Back to top

3. Dr. John Lightfoot, A Commentary on the New Testament from the Talmud and Hebraica (Hendrickson Pub., Peabody, MA), Vol. 3, p. 238. Back to top

4. The International Critical Commentary: St. John. Vol. 1, p. cxxxix. Back to top

5.William Barclay, Jesus as They Knew Him (Harper and Row, N.Y., 1962), pp. 21 and 22. Back to top

6.F.F. Bruce, The Gospel of John (William B. Eerdmans, Grand Rapids, MI, 1983) pp. 28 and 29. Back to top

7. The Racovian Catechism (Reprinted by Christian Educational Services, Indianapolis, IN, 1994) pp. 63 and 64. Back to top