If Ye Continue In The Faith, Grounded And Settled, And Be Not Moved Away From The Hope Of The Gospel Which Ye Have Heard - Part 2543

"And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters ..." (Genesis 1:2)

From the very beginning of time as we know it, the scriptures tell us that God is Spirit. 

Jesus said to the woman at the well,  "But the hour comes, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in Spirit and in truth: for the Father seeks such to worship Him. God is a Spirit: and they that worship Him must worship Him in Spirit and in truth." (John 4:23-24)

But within the scriptures, we see God revealing Himself in different ways. In the beginning, God. Thus, as the Creator of heaven and earth and all that dwells within, we see God revealing Himself to us is as a Father. Indeed, God spoke the world into existence -- and God said; and God called; and God made; and God created; and God blessed; and God set; and God saw every thing that He had made, and behold, it was very good. (Genesis 1:3, 5-11, 14, 15-17, 20-22, 31) 

By the time the Lord God formed Adam to become a living soul, breathing into His nostrils the breath of life, God envisioned within His creation plan, bringing forth a family. (Genesis 2:7) Up until this time, there had not yet been a man on earth to till the ground, but rather a mist that went up from the earth, to water the whole face of the ground. (Genesis 2:7) When the Lord God had made man -- becoming a Father in creation -- He put the man whom He had formed in a garden He had planted eastward in Eden. 

As we move forward in the scriptures, we see the Father emerging -- not only in the family figurehead of father within families, but also the Lord God as the Father in creation. Malachi writes, "Have we not all one Father? Hath not one God created us?" (Malachi 2:10)

The Lord God said to Moses, "I [am] the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob..." (Exodus 3:6)

"A Father of the fatherless, and a judge of the widows, is God in His holy habitation." (Psalms 68:5)

In mentioning the lovingkindness of the Lord, and the praises of the Lord, according to all that the lord hath bestowed upon us, according to His mercies, and according to the multitude of the lovingkindness, Isaiah writes, "O Lord, art our Father, our Redeemer; Thy name is from everlasting ... we are called by Thy Name. (Isaiah 63:16, 19) 

Apostle Paul writes, "But to us [there is but] one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in Him, and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by Him." (I Corinthians 8:6) 

One Lord, One Faith, One Baptism. 

God, who in sundry times and in diverse manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days, spoken unto us by [His] Son, whom He hath appointed heir of all things, by whom He made the worlds ..." (Hebrews 1:1-2) A good example of these sundry times and diverse manners is when the Lord appeared to Abraham in the tent. (Genesis 18:1)  

But in order for all of mankind to see Him visibly; for the Lord God to come forth as a mighty man; to bring us salvation, redeeming us as His people; this same Spirit needed a visible form. (Isaiah 42:13; Isaiah 9:6)  It is in this context, that God was manifest in the flesh. (I Timothy 3:16) To wit, that God was in Christ reconciling the world unto Himself. Indeed, in our weakness, we needed to touch Him and likewise, for Him to touch us. 

"He was in the world and the world was made by Him but the world knew Him not. He came unto His own and His own received Him not." (John 1:10-11) 

It is for this reason, the Lord said, "This day have I begotten Thee!" (Psalm 2:7; Hebrews 1:5; Acts 13:33) It is herein that the Holy Ghost, this signifying that the way into the holiest of all was not yet made manifest, while as the first tabernacle was yet standing. (Hebrews 9:8) 

The same God who created the world became a Son so that we (His desired family) might have everlasting life. As a Son, He is known as our Redeemer, having came Himself to redeem His creation that He, as Father, had created in the beginning. 

The reason the scriptures state that He was sent as the only begotten Son is because He was sent from the womb of Mary to become our Redeemer. Speaking of Jesus Christ, apostle Paul states: "In whom we have redemption through His blood, even the forgiveness of sins: who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature..." (Colossians 1:14-15)

God Himself, willingly became God our Saviour. (Titus 2:13; Jude 1:25)

Please note that the Son is not a distinct person from the Father, but the image of God the Father--a visible image while He walked on the earth and stood among His Creation. He was Son here on earth. Again, God in these last days hath spoken unto us by [His] Son -- who being the brightness of His glory, and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins ..." (Hebrews 1:1-3) 

"But unto the Son, He saith, "Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever; a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of Thy kingdom." (Hebrews 1:8) 

While on earth, the same Spirit that was in Christ now dwells within the hearts of those who believe, or as Jesus said, "that I AM He." (II Corinthians 5:19; John 4:26; John 6:51; John 7:29; John 8:24, 28) 

Now that He is risen, the Spirit who created, the Spirit who has now redeemed, is now the same Spirit who regenerates the believer to become like Him. The Father in creation, the Son in redemption, and now the Holy Ghost in regenerating us back to our rightful place -- in Him. The Lord God Himself breathing His Spirit of life into our very being, so that we might know Him as the Lord who in the beginning laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens the works of Thine hands -- that this same He loved us so much that He would pay the ultimate price for our salvation. 

"Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature. For by Him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers, all things were created by Him and for Him, and He is before all things, and by Him all things consist. And He is the head of the body, the church; who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things, He might have the preeminence ... for it pleased the Father that in Him should all the fullness dwell ..." (Colossians 1:15-20)

"In whom we have redemption through His blood, even the forgiveness of sins." (Colossians 1:14; Acts 20:28) 

Yes, the Spirit is still our Father but He is also our Redeemer. And now, He is working in the hearts of believers to bring others to Him, so that they too might understand that peace of God which passes all understanding, keeping our hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:7)

"Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His." (Romans 8:9) 

Note that the Spirit that is within us is not a distinct person or a member of a triad, three-headed God, but rather the One and Same Spirit that was in Christ. 

"To wit, God was in Christ reconciling the world unto Himself." (II Corinthians 5:19; I Corinthians 3:16; I Corinthians 6:19) 

The only begotten Son -- God robing Himself in flesh (yet without sin) so that we who believe in Him might know God our Saviour.  In this current dispensation of grace, the time in which we live right now, His Name is JESUS, for He shall save His people from their sin ... Emmanuel, being interpreted, God with us. (Matthew 1:21-23) 

"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world but that the world through Him might be saved; he that believes on Him is not condemned but he that believes not in the Name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil ... but he that does truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God." (John 3:16-21)

Stand in the offering plate.