God by David Richardson

God

1. https://www.pinterest.com/amyjackson1223/shekinah-glory/ 2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shroud_of_Turin 3. https://lifehopeandtruth.com/life/plan-of-salvation/pentecost/pentecost-and-the-spirit/ On September 19, 2020 (a Sabbath afternoon), while surfing the Internet, I inadvertently stumbled upon a YouTube video1 about Steve and Erielle Dexter, a married couple, who related an extraordinary tale of being excommunicated from their church because they embraced an unconventional perspective of Jesus’ physical lineage with His Father. I heard their perspective about their controversial beliefs that precipitated their excommunication; however, the decision of their Church Board surprised me. I don’t accept Steve and Erielle’s interpretation of Jesus’ relationship with God, because I think that they and others they follow (“The Final Protest, Episode 3 ‘The Son of God’”)2 misinterpreted the scriptures that led them to their perspective that Jesus didn’t have an eternal existence. A biblical scholar, with the knowledge of Hebrew, might be able to help them understand the secrets revealed in the Bible and the Spirit of Prophecy concerning Jesus’ relationship with His Father. Nevertheless, I think that it’s unconscionable that they were excommunicated from their church because of their conscientious belief. It would be an entirely different issue if they had voluntarily withdrawn their membership. What would Jesus do if He judged them? Like most zealots, they were earnest, sincere, and prayerful in their approach to their studies. Every soul is precious, and “…joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance (Luke 15:7).”

This paper is a response to Steve and Erielle’s perception and the perceptions of those with similar views about Jesus as the Son of God and His physical relationship to God. The Bible supports the assertion that Jesus existed before he joined humanity’s ranks. Evidence of His pre-existence is found in 1 Corinthians 10:1-4: “Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea; And were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea; And did all eat the same spiritual meat; And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ.” Jesus Christ is a member of the Godhead who addressed Moses and the Israelites at Sinai. John said, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not anything made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not. There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe. He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. 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. But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth (John 1: 1-14).” These verses are unequivocal biblical evidence that Christ was with God, the Father, and one with God, the Father. The Word is Christ, and He interrupted His eternal existence to transmutate into flesh. It was Christ, in His pre-existence, who led Israel with a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. It was Christ, in His pre-existence, who provided Israel with manna from heaven and potable

water during their forty-year sojourn in the desert. It was Christ who wrote the commandments with His finger on Tablets stored in the belly of the Ark of the Covenant. It was Christ on Mount Sinai who descended in a cloud and stood before Moses and proclaimed the name of God (Exodus 34:5). When Moses asked, “show me thy glory” (Exodus 33:18), and the Lord said, “thou canst not see my face: for there shall no man see me, and live (Exodus 33:20).” And the Lord said, “…Behold, there is a place by me, and thou shalt stand upon a rock: And it shall come to pass, while my glory passeth by, that I will put thee in a clift of the rock, and will cover thee with my hand while I pass by: And I will take away mine hand, and thou shalt see my back parts: but my face shall not be seen (Exodus 33:21-23).” Moses saw the back parts of Christ (in His pre-existent state). When Moses returned to Israel’s encampment, he reflected an inkling of Christ’s glory (Exodus 34:29). According to 1 Corinthians 10:1-4, Moses’ entire experience on Sinai was with encounters with the “Rock” that guided Israel for forty years in the wilderness, and that “Rock was Christ”. At the burning bush, Moses asked the Entity “…what is …[your] name?...”, and Christ responded, “…I AM WHO I AM…thus you should say to the children of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you (Exodus 3:14)’”. “I AM WHO I AM” is a nomenclature that denotes a continuum of existence. Before circa 6 to 4 BCE, Christ existed in another form (perhaps in the guise of Michael the Archangel). Jesus Christ sojourned on earth until circa 30-36 CE. After the resurrection circa 30-36 CE, Christ resumed His heavenly status in the form of the resurrected Savior with the marks in His wrist and feet forever representing His sacrifice for humanity. The Spirit of Prophecy says, "the Lord Jesus Christ, the divine Son of God, existed from eternity, a distinct person, yet one with the Father. He was the surpassing glory of heaven. He was the commander of the heavenly intelligences, and the adoring homage of the angels was received by Him as His right. This was no robbery of God."—Review and Herald, April 5, 1906. "From the days of eternity the Lord Jesus Christ was one with the Father; He was 'the image of God,' the image of His greatness and majesty, 'the outshining of His glory.'"—The Desire of Ages, p. 19.

"In speaking of His pre-existence, Christ carries the mind back through dateless ages. He assures us that there never was a time when He was not in close fellowship with the eternal God. He to whose voice the Jews were then listening had been with God as one brought up with Him."— Signs of the Times, Aug. 29, 1900. The confusion concerning the Trinity is in nomenclature. We refer to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and who are these personalities? They are the tripartite God. Genesis 1:1 hints of a tripartite God in the familiar verse that says, “‫ִ֑הים ְוֵ֥את ָה ָ ֽאֶרץ׃‬x‫ִ֑הים ֱא‬x‫ִ֑הים ֱא‬x‫”ְבֵּראִ֖שׁית ָבָּ֣רא ֱא‬ (“bə-rê-šîṯ bā-rā ’ĕ-lō-hîm;’êṯ haš-šā-ma-yim wə-’êṯ” translated into English -In the beginning created God -the heavens and the earth.) The Hebrew word for God in Genesis 1:1 is ’ĕ-lō-hîm, and Elohim is the plural of Eloah; therefore, ’ĕ-lō-hîm means more than one deity created the heavens and the earth. Also, in Genesis 1:26 says, “ And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.” Who are the “us”? A plethora of deities surrounded ancient Israel during the reigns of the kings of Israel. Israel faced the Mediterranean Sea on the west; the Arameans on the north (with Adad, Sin, Ishtar, Shamash, Tammuz, Bel, Nergal, El, and Anat as their deities), the Philistines and Amalekites on the southwest (with Dagon, Baal, and Astarte as their deities); and Edomites and Moabites on the southeast (with Chemosh (their primary god), Qos, Aluzza, Allat, Manah, and Hubal among their multiplicity of deities). The God of Israel showed His disdain for wandering after other gods. The first four commandments describe God’s expectation of humanity’s relationship with Him when He said, “ I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them:

for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments. Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain. Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: But the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it (Exodus 20:1-11).”

Elohim wanted to establish an important connection with Israel. He alone was God, the creator of the heavens and earth, and that salvation sprung from the propitiation of the One who would be without sin. The Israeli Temple services pointed to the imminent first coming of Jesus Christ and His willingness to shed blood for the salvation of humanity. After the fall of our original parents, God said, “…I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel (Genesis 3:15).” This was the first of more than four hundred old testament texts that would foreshadow the coming of the Messiah. The “us” in Genesis 1:26 represents the triune/tripartite God, i.e., God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. So, you might ask why did Elohim use these nomenclatures. The answer is simple. God wanted to set in motion a mechanism of salvation for fallen humanity. Propitiation was pivotal to the mechanism of salvation. Humanity had sinned and Lucifer accused God of being unfair; therefore, God’s character had to be vindicated. The triune God established a way out for humanity with the sacrifice, in human form, of One of the trinity and the infusion of Another of the trinity into the world like a raging wind.

Another justification for looking at Jesus as the Son of God is that He is the Son of God. Jesus came into the earth through a virgin, and the Holy Spirit descended upon Mary and “…she was found with child…(Matthew 1:18)." So, indeed, God is Jesus’ father because Christ interrupted his eternal existence to join the ranks of humanity and to undergo the humiliation of the cross for our salvation. We have no idea how an eternal God could transform into a gamete within a virgin’s birthing chamber. However, God being God devised a biological mechanism that permitted Him to be implanted into a mortal woman. If we believe Ronald Eldon Wyatt (an amateur archeologist who claimed to have found the Ark of the Covenant in Jerusalem), then the blood on the mercy seat of the Ark of the Covenant tested for 24 chromosomes (23 chromosomes from the mother’s side and one Y chromosomes that did not originate from a human male) rather than 46 chromosomes.3 The Holy Spirit would come after Christ’s sacrifice, and the death of Christ would eradicate the decree for eternal death (the second death). Pentecost witnessed the presence of the Holy Spirit (God the Supporter) in the form of a strong wind. After Christ’s death, resurrection, and the forty days He spent on earth following the resurrection, the Holy Spirit satiated the earth and manifested Himself in the presence of a strong wind. The family structure, i.e., the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost outlined in the Bible is for salvation. God, in the form of the Holy Spirit, descended upon Mary and she conceived. After nine months, she gave birth to Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Christ existed as God before His conception and birth on earth. The Holy Spirit exists as God by indwelling in believers and helps them embrace the living God and His Son, Jesus Christ, as the only source of grace by which we may receive salvation. Once the individual accepts God’s grace, he/she has the indwelling of Christ’s righteous character enabling them to live faithful lives committed to Jesus Christ, and “if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness (Romans 8:10).” There is one God in three persons – the Father (the Architect), the Son (the Implementer), and the Holy Spirit (the Supporter). All three exist as one in executing creation and establishing

salvation. When the Father said, “…This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased (Matthew 3:17)”, He authenticated Christ because He, through a God-induced mysterious process, was the progenitor of Jesus the Christ, and the birth of the Son was the beginning of His primary reason for visiting the earth - to save humanity by being its propitiation. God is Christ’s Father even though Christ existed in another form before Christ came to the earth to be a human sacrifice. There are two sides to eternity- the eternity before sin (EBS) and the eternity after sin (EAS). God, God, and God assumed the nomenclature Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit during the EAS dispensation with the caveat that the Son would be the propitiation for the sins of humanity. The possibility of Jesus’ failure existed, but the sustaining power of His Father enable Him to overcome all temptations. He spent 33 years in preparation for His sacrifice which closed death’s door forever. God said, “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Romans 6:23). Also, He said, “…the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die (Genesis 2:17).” Jesus’ victory over the cross and subsequent resurrection provided a pathway for any individual who believes in Him to escape the decree that leads to the second death. The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are names and positions created for salvation, and the transformation in nomenclature from Elohim (God, God, and God) to Father, Son, and Holy Spirit will be eternally established in the new heaven and the new earth as a demonstration of what God relinquished to save humanity and offer all, who willingly embrace Jesus Christ as God and the Son of God, eternal life. Jesus said, “…he that hath seen me hath seen the Father…” (John 14:9) Just think, God, who always was and always will be, interrupted the continuum of His eternal existence to die a mortal death so that we would not have to die the second death (a permanent death). This is a powerful show of affection that a mighty God, who truly loves us, has for His crowning creation.

God is three identifiable entities wrapped in one objective-creation. The universe is a testimony to His omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent creative powers. God, the Father, is physically different from God, the Son. God. God, the Son, is physically different from God, the Holy Spirit. The Father, the Architect, dwells in the Holy of Holies and has a physical appearance analogous to the Shekinah Glory that hovered above the mercy seat in the earthly anti-type Temple. The Temple of God reflected His presence, and He dwelt there until the Israeli/Judaean kings and the people apostatized and worshiped false gods. The united kingdom of Israel (lasted about 100 years) had three kings, and only one, David, was righteous in the sight of the Lord. Solomon practiced idolatry and encouraged the people to practice idolatry. Saul inappropriately practiced the rites of the priesthood; therefore, he displeased God. The divided kingdom of Israel lasted about 204 years (from Jeroboam to Hoshea), and 100% of the kings practiced idolatry and encouraged the people to practice idolatry. The divided kingdom of Judah lasted about 339 years (from Rehoboam to Zedekiah), and 70% of the kings practiced idolatry and encouraged the people to practice idolatry. Consequently, the majority of the kings blatantly violated the first three commandments. Their unwillingness to remain faithful and devoted greatly displeased God. God, the Son, the Implementer, exhibits a humanoid physical appearance that transformed from a mortal and a corruptible state, after the resurrection, to an indestructible state. So, like Him, at His second coming, “…with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God…(1 Thessalonians 4:16)”, those who died in Christ will be resurrected, and then “…this corruptible shall…put on incorruption, and this mortal shall put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory (I Corinthians 15:54).” The Holy Spirit dwells in the hearts of men and women as a comforter stimulating and advocating on behalf of God, the Father and God, the Son. like the wind permeating the minds of humanity, He encourages and stimulates sinners to ask for forgiveness of their sins and to be cloaked in the righteousness of Jesus Christ. The bottom line is that you must “believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved (Act

16:31)”; “He who believes in the Son has eternal life, but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him (John 3:36).” “Then I saw a great white throne and Him [God] who sat upon it, from whose presence earth and heaven fled away, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them; and they were judged, every one of them according to their deeds. Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire (Revelation 20:11-15).”

“God is now declaring to men that all people everywhere should repent, because He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man [Jesus Christ] whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead (Acts 17:30-31).”

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