“Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12; Philippians 2:9)
We are now living in that day, referred to above, when we are to praise the Lord God who created us and call upon His Name. "Through the tender mercy of our God; whereby the dayspring from on high hath visited us ..." (Luke 1:78) As the scripture further declares, His Name is JESUS for He shall save His people from their sins. Emmanuel, being interpreted, God with us. (Matthew 1:21-23)
"For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily ..." (Colossians 2:9)
He is the Good Shepherd who willingly laid down His humanity for the sheep, whilst we were still His enemies. (John 10:11-18, 30) This same God who created us in the beginning -- the Alpha and Omega -- loved us enough to become our Saviour.
"To wit, that God was in Christ reconciling the world unto Himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the Word of reconciliation." (II Corinthians 5:19)
After the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared. (Titus 3:4)
The Word made flesh and dwelt among us. (John 1:1-4)
This didn't just happen by chance (as some like to surmise) but rather, God's plan of salvation was prophesied from the very beginning. God's ultimate plan of salvation decided before the foundation of the world was formed. That at a time appointed when God would declare -- "This day have I begotten Thee" -- His right arm would go forth to bring you and I salvation.
"O sing unto the Lord a new song; for He hath done marvellous things: His right hand, and His holy arm, hath gotten Him the victory." (Psalm 98:1) The Lord coming forth as a mighty man. (Isaiah 42:13; Isaiah 9:6)
However, sadly, the current modern day religious culture falsely suggests that God exists in thirds, including one third of Him offering Himself on a cross. And in some religions, the teachings even worse, suggesting that Jesus is a second person of a trinity -- a triad, triune god wherein we are left worshipping G/god as persons. And then if we follow that analogy, there must also be a third person in the G/godhead because apparently a first and second person is not sufficient for our salvation. It is no wonder Almighty God asks -- "What is man?" (Psalm 8:4; Psalm 144:3; Job 7:17)
Instead of glorifying the Lord that is God as Almighty, and giving Him all the praise and honour and glory He so rightly deserves, we instead reduce God to a person like you and I. A created being without acknowledging that God is and is to come and always was and therefore, can never be reduced to a person. Nevertheless, the false religious culture wants us to believe that there is more than one King of kings and Lord of lords, even when scripture clearly indicates otherwise. (Revelation 1:8) And the outcome is sad.
This explains why Jesus could legitimately say, "I AM the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No man comes to the Father but by Me." And then, also as Jesus said to Philip, "Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known Me, Philip? he that hath seen Me hath seen the Father; and how say thou [then], "Shew us the Father?" Believe thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of Myself: but the Father that dwells in Me, He doeth the works. Believe Me that I [AM] in the Father, and the Father in Me: or else believe Me for the very works’ sake." (John 14:9-11)
"And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the Name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God." (I Corinthians 6:13)
Throughout the scriptures, there has only ever been One God, and in this current dispensation -- the fullness of times -- the time in which we live -- His Name is JESUS. The same Spirit of the Lord God that moved upon the face of the waters in Genesis is the SAME SPIRIT of the Lord God that dwells within the hearts of believers today. (Genesis 1:1-2)
You see, the first Adam was made a living soul, but the second was the Lord from heaven. Jesus had to go in order for the Holy Ghost - the power from on high to fall upon His people on the day of Pentecost. Indeed, the man Christ Jesus said to His disciples that ye shall see Him no more. (John 14:19; John 16:10)
Further clarity is offered in Acts 1 -- "Until the day in which He [Jesus] was taken up, after that He [Jesus] THROUGH the Holy Ghost had given commandments unto the apostles whom He [Jesus] had chosen: to whom also He [Jesus] shewed Himself alive after His passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God ..." (Acts 1:2-3)
Apostle Paul further clarifies, "Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?" (II Corinthians 13:5)
The good news? That even when we so wrongly misunderstand His abundant love and mercy for His people, the Lord our most awesome God still sets His heart upon His beloved creation -- you and I, remaining faithful that He will eventually receive a family, His beloved bride, His body of Christ church without spot or wrinkle. He endures with long-suffering so that none would be lost -- even when Job asks -- "What is man, that Thou shouldest magnify him? and that Thou shouldest set Thine heart upon him?" (Job 7:17)
Indeed, this same Lord God of Israel willingly took on sin-prone flesh (yet without sin) so that we might personally know Him who created us, and experience His love and mercy dwelling within. As John writes, "He was in the world and the world was made by Him and the world knew Him not. He came unto His own and His own received Him not." (John 1:10-11; I Timothy 3:16)
And apostle Paul ought to have known, given his testimony. Yes, One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all. (Ephesians 4:5-6) Therefore, we too need to understand that the same Spirit of the Lord God who created the world and everything within is the same Spirit of the Lord God -- the Holy Ghost that dwells within us in the fullness of times.
Thus, God is not three distinct divine persons. Neither does He have three identities, three personalities, or three centres of consciousness. Rather, as the scriptures declare from beginning to end -- "Lo, behold, the volume of the book is written of Me!"
One God and in this current dispensation of grace, His Name is JESUS. The only name under heaven whereby we must be saved. (Acts 4:12; Colossians 2:9) Why? Because the resurrected Jesus -- the Bread of Life, the Living Water, the Way, the Truth, and the Life -- is the One and Only King of kings and Lord of lords, Alpha and Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the ending. (Revelation 1:8,11; John 4:10-11; John 7:38; John 6:33-51; John 14:6; Revelation 21:6; Revelation 22:13; Genesis 1;1; Matthew 1:21-23; I Timothy 3:16)
Stand in the offering plate.
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