Greetings Friends!
What is the “Light of God?” The “Light of God” is the very inner celestial Being of the holy Triune God who exists in the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. (Matt.28:18-20; 2 Cor.13:14). In Scripture, God is called the “Father of Lights” (Jam.1:17-18; also, 1 John 1:5).
Paul refers to the Holy Spirit as “the Spirit of His Son” in his letter to the Galatians, “God has sent the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, and now you can call God your dear Father” (Gal.4:6, NLB; also, Phi.1:19). Whenever the name of God or Jesus is used in Scripture, it must be applied and understood through God’s integrated and harmonious Tri-Personal Godhead of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Later, Jesus said this about Himself, “I am the Light of the World. Whoever follows Me will never walk in darkness, but will have the Light of Life” (John 8:12).
John confirmed this glorious, eternal, truth about God, saying, “No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him” (John 1:18, NKJV). By saying the Son exists in the “bosom of the Father,” it makes reference to Jesus’ coeternity with God, and His intimate one-on-one, and face-to-face, relationship with the Father. Jesus is the “Light of God” for He springs from the inner wellspring of the “Father of Lights” (Jam.1:17-18; 1 John 1:5). God’s self-revelation to humanity takes place through His self-giving to us in Jesus Christ His Son.
John continues, “The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14). This speaks of the wonderful truth concerning the incarnation of Jesus, wherein God became human in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the second Person of the Trinity, and became our Savior and Redeemer. The prophet Isaiah called Jesus, Immanuel, which means “God with us” (Isa.7:14; Matt.1:23).
Jesus spoke passionately to His listeners about His relationship with His Father, “I am not here on My own authority, but He who sent Me is true. You do not know Him, but I know Him because I am from Him and He sent Me” (John 7:28-29). So, Jesus originated from the “Father of Lights” and the inner trinitarian Godhead of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit (Jam.1:17-18; Matt.28:19)
Author Jon T. Murphree, said, “In the Trinity, Each Person “occupies” the Others’ personalities. Each of the thee Persons becomes a “home” for the other Two. One is Host and the Others are Guests (2 Cor.13:14). The Tri-Personal God (Trinity) are not separate human beings, but have always existed in the Spirit in coeternity as One triune Godhead. It is impossible for our limited human minds to conceptualize this astonishing truth without God revealing it to humanity openly and directly. (Matt.28:19; 2 Cor.13:14).
When we intergrate Genesis 1:2, and John 1:1, we see God utters the Word (Jesus), and the Spirit together, as Agents of the creation of heaven and earth. Sometimes, we may assume some physical likeness to overtly compare with the Trinity, but they all fall short of comprehensively expressing God in the richness of His bounty in His Trinitarian Being.
Humanity would be totally unknowing and ignorant of this beautiful divine truth unless it was revealed for our human comprehension through the revelation of Scripture. (Matt.28:17-20; 2 Cor.13:14; 1Pet.1:2; 2 Thess.2:13; Act.7:55; John 17:10-12; John 17:20-23; John 10:25-30; John 15:1-17; John 14:9-11; 16-21).
Remember, after arresting Jesus, the Jewish authorities sought grounds to falsely accuse Him. Matthew records the account as follows, “The high priests, conspiring with the Jewish Council, tried to cook up charges against Jesus in order to sentence him to death. But even though many stepped up, making up one false accusation after another, nothing was believable. Finally two men came forward with this: “He said, ‘I can tear down this Temple of God and after three days rebuild it.’” The Chief Priest stood up and said, “What do you have to say to the accusation?” Jesus kept silent.
“Then the Chief Priest said, “I command you by the authority of the living God to say if you are the Messiah, the Son of God.” Jesus was curt: “You yourself said it. And that’s not all. Soon you’ll see it for yourself: The Son of Man seated at the right hand of the Mighty One, Arriving on the clouds of heaven.” At that, the Chief Priest lost his temper, ripping his robes, yelling, “He blasphemed! Why do we need witnesses to accuse Him? You all heard Him blaspheme! Are you going to stand for such blasphemy?” They all said, “Death! That seals His death sentence” (Matt.26:59-66).
So, Jesus was falsely accused of blashemy for claiming He was the Son of God. Jesus came to reveal the truth of who God is in His Trinitarian Godhead (Matt.28:19). But the Jewish authorities never believed what Jesus told them. All they wanted was to find cause in accusing Jesus of sin. Jesus told His listeners, “I and My Father are one…If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and came from God; nor have I come of Myself, but He sent Me (John 10:30; 8:32, MSG).
Jesus goes on, “For I have given to them the words which You have given Me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came forth from You; and they have believed that You sent Me” (John 17:8, MSG). So, Jesus was falsely accused of the beautiful truth of His position as God’s one and only Son. He was crucified for revealing the truth about God the Father, and His Sonship as Jesus. Jesus was crucified for revealing the wonderful truth about the true God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The God Moses worshipped, whom the Jewish authorities held in highest regard.
Jesus further affirms this beautiful relationship of the Father and the Son, “Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by Himself; He can do only what He sees His Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does. For the Father Loves the Son and shows Him all He does” (John 5:19-20). This speaks of the unified coeternity of God in the Spirit through their spiritual existence as the Trinity.
How can this be? Unless humans were given divine revelation through Scripture, we would not believe such synchronized coeternity subsisting in the three divine Persons of the Trinity. In the Trinitarian Godhead, the Father is known only in relation to the Son; and the Son is known only in relation to the Father; and the Holy Spirit is known as the Spirit of God. What they are as spiritual Persons is what they are in relation to their coeternity in each other. In the Trinity, relational unity is basic to divine personhood.
In the Trinity, we will never witness ‘life’ lived independently as human persons, but for all practical and wholesome purpose, as One Spirit in coeternity within the Trinity from which divine Light proceeds. We are reminded again that whenever the name of Jesus or God is used in Scripture, it must be applied and understood through God’s omnipotent Tri-Personal Godhead in the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, wherein God’s Light consist and radiates forth.
God asserts His divine authority and sovereignty by saying, “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways,” declares the Lord. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts” (Isa.55:8-9).
In God’s loftiest ways and thoughts which is beyond human comprehension, Jesus projected this beautiful truth to His disciples this way, “Don’t you know Me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen Me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in Me? The words I say to you I do not speak on My own authority. Rather, it is the Father, living in Me, who is doing His work. Believe Me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me; or at least believe on the evidence of the works themselves” (John 14:9-11).
All of Jesus’ miraculous works, whatever they were, could not have taken place without the Love of the Father and the Son working together as One through the Spirit. Their miraculous work was the result of the spillover of their outgoing Love for humanity. The trinitarian quality for a healthy relationship with God is – Love! (1 John 4:8; John 3:16).
By saying, “It is the Father living in Me who is doing the work,” what did the disciples miss when Jesus asked, “I have been among you for such a long time, how can you say show us the Father?” What is the single ingredient which binds the Trinity together as One with no schism whatsoever? It is their Love for each other which they possessed from eternity…ever since forever!
John said this of the Love relationship between the Father and the Son, “Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by Hmself; He can do only what He sees His Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does. For the Father Loves the Son and shows Him all He does. Yes, and He will show Him even greater works than these, so that you will be amazed. For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son gives life to whom He is pleased to give it” (John 5:19-21). So, did the disciples missed this important Love ingredient in God’s Tri-Personal relationship within the Trinity?
If a relationship is coerced or enforced, it is meaningless. It has to be based upon genuine free voluntary fellowship. Anything else is mechanical or judgmental. God is complete within the Trinity because He is Love, and it is the nature of Love to desire fellowship with others, for “God is Love” (1 John 4:8, 16; John 3:16-17).
We are told, “We Love because He first Loved us” (1 John 4:19). If God had not first Loved us, we would not know how to Love others in return. Yet again John spoke about God’s Love, “This is Love: not that we Loved God, but that He Loved us and sent His Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins” (1 John 4:10).
In saying, “Believe Me when I say I Am in the Father and the Father in Me” Jesus means we are existing through His “living Faith” alone which Paul spoke of, saying, “The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who Loved me and gave Himself for me” (Gal.2:20, also Rom.3:22).
Jesus further asserted, “And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Advocate to help you and be with you forever— the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept Him, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him. But you know Him, for He lives with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you…On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in Me, and I am in you” (John 14:16-18, 20-21).
Jesus is identified as our glorified human High Priest in heaven in the Father’s presence. So, essentially mankind through Jesus is made to come face-to-face with God Almighty. How can this be? Through the Book of Hebrews, Jesus is called our High Priest who brings humanity before the Father, “Therefore, since we have a great High Priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a High Priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have One who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet He did not sin. Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence (face-to-face), so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need” (Heb.4:14-16).
Through the principle of substitution and exchange commanded by God through Moses in the first Passover ceremony (Exo.12:12-13), it tells us that whenever God looks at believers, He sees us through the eyes of Jesus His Son, our Passover, not as human entities whatever our imagined merits. Paul said, “Just as one trespass (first Adam) resulted in condemnation for all people, so also one righteous (last Adam/Christ) act resulted in justification and life for all people” (Rom.5:18).
Thereby, the book of Hebrews tell us, we must look at ancient Israelite’s example and to, “Remember what it says: “Today when you hear His voice, don’t harden your hearts as Israel did when they rebelled” (Heb.3:15; 17-19). A whole generation of Israelites that left Egypt did not enter God’s rest (Promised Land) because of unbelief and disobedience. (Heb.3:18-19). Ancient Israel experienced a type or pattern of rest, but today we’re looking to the greater spiritual rest promised through Christ our Savior and High Priest.
God reveals His plan for humanity through Jesus, “When I am raised to life again, you will know that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you” (John 14:20, NLB). Note, the principle of coeternity and cohabitation – yes, all humanity will be unified with God through Jesus in the Spirit, as God has always been unified in His Tri-Personal trinitarian life forever. This objective of unification through coeternity with all humanity has always been God’s plan from the start. (Eph.1:11, NLB)
We had read earlier the bona fide beginning of the creation account from John’s Gospel (as contrasted with the traditional Genesis creation account), “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through Him all things were made; without Him nothing was made that has been made. In Him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it” (John 1:1-5).
So, the passage identifies Jesus is the Creator, and that “through Him all things were made; without Him nothing was made that has been made. In Him was life, and that life was the Light of all mankind. The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it” (John 1:3-5). While stating that He is Creator and essentially part and parcel of the “Light of God” radiating from the “Father of Lights” (Jam.1:17-18; 1 John 1:5).
Let me ask a relevant question, what would be this improbable divine direction Jesus explained His listeners is the enlightened but incredible pathway for humans to embrace “God’s Light” in Jesus, as this was God’s ultimate purpose for mankind – to take on the very Love-image of God. (Gen.1:27; Rom.8:28-30). Jesus expounded this inconceivable highway to the Pharisee Nicodemus, “You must be born anew in the Spirit” (John 3:3, 5-6). It may sound absurd as much as it is incredible, yet it is the truth.
It fulfills what John the Baptist told his hearers, “I baptize you with water. But One who is more powerful than I will come, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire” (Luke 3:16). Without the Holy Spirit we will remain where fallen Adam has consigned humanity – we remain in the utter darkness of sin. The Holy Spirit was given to humanity through Christ mediation as Savior and Redeemer of mankind. (John 7:39; 1 Cor.3:16).
We read this after Jesus’ resurrection and ascension into heaven, “Now He (Jesus) is exalted to the place of highest honor in heaven, at God’s right hand. And the Father, as He had promised, gave Him the Holy Spirit to pour out upon us, just as you see and hear today” (Act.2:33). Yes, with the coming of the Holy Spirit, we can be made complete in God through Jesus Christ.
John reminded us of our ultimate destination, “This then is the message which we have heard of Him, and declare unto you, that God is Light, and in Him is no darkness at all…If we walk in the Light, as He is in the Light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanse us from all sin” (1 John 1:5, 7). Sin is utmost darkness emerging from the devil himself, while “God’s Light” is reflected through Jesus Christ. This passage speaks of saved humanity becoming Lights with Christ, who is the “Light of the world” (John 1:4; 8:12; 9:5; 12:35-36, 46; Matt.5:14).
John speaks of eternal life this way, “Now this is eternal life; that they know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You sent” (John 17:3). John attested, “For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in Him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day” (John 6:40). Yes, the Light of Life exists in the divine presence of the holy Trinity of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
Recall, humanity was cut-off from access to the Holy Spirit, as illustrated by the Tree of Life in the Garden of Eden, when our first parents disobeyed God. Think back about what God said when He created Adam: Adam was created to exist fully in the “image and likeness” of God. (Gen.1:27). But in Adam’s moment of weakness, he fell for Satan’s devious guile and cunning, and ate the forbidden fruit. (Gen.3:1-6)
The Scripture tell us, “And the Lord God said, “The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the Tree of Life and eat, and live forever.” So the Lord God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken. After He drove the man out, He placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the Tree of Life” (Gen.3:22-24).
Now, in God’s time, with the divine manifestation of the incarnation, Jesus took our fallen humanity upon Himself as the Immanuel, just as John attested, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen His glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14; Isa.7:14; Matt.1:23). Through the incarnation, Jesus has opened the pathway for the Spirit, the third Person of the Trinity, to enter human life again as it was before the fall of Adam. (1 Cor.3:16-17; Act.2:33).
By stating the “Word became flesh” in the above passage, does not mean the Word (Jesus) ceased being God; rather, the Word, who was God, also took on humanity as the Immanuel (Phi.2:6–7; Isa.7:14; Matt.1:23). The incarnation is the most remarkable event in all of human history. And with the coming of the Messiah to redeem humanity, Jesus had given passage for the Holy Spirit, (and the Trinity) to unite the triune Godhead with mankind forever (Act.2:33). Yet, its ultimate fulfilment will be known fully at Christ’s second coming in God’s time. (1 Cor.15:50-58).
On the day of Pentecost, when all the believers were gathered, the Holy Spirit was poured upon mankind. This momentous activity inevitably inaugurated the new covenant under Christ (2 Cor.3:6; Rom.7:6; Heb10:16).
We read the following from Scripture, “When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues a as the Spirit enabled them” (Act.2:1-4). What an astounding revelation of the introduction of the Holy Spirit, the third Person of the Trinity, ushering in the new covenant in Christ for all humanity.
Then Peter told his listeners the unmitigated truth, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call” (Act.2:38-39). What a beautiful revelation of God’s divine nature and wondrous declaration of the third Person of the Trinity. (Matt.28:19; 2 Cor.13:14).
Later, Peter was given a vision and to baptize the whole household of Cornelius, the Roman centurion, into the church. Cornelius was a Gentile. But this act was a message from God that He was opening the message of Christ’s gospel, so the whole Gentile world may also be saved as His people. (Act.10:1-48).
Through Jesus’ mediation as human Savior, He gave passage for the Holy Spirit to enter human life, as affirmed in Scripture, “Exalted to the right hand of God, He (Jesus) has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear” (Act.2:33). Yes, with Jesus’ work as mankind’s Redeemer, He has given validation for the Holy Spirit to enter the heart of human life. Paul said, “Don’t you realize that all of you together are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God lives in you?” (1 Cor.3:16).
After Adam’s fall, Satan introduced his most potent weapon to keep humanity enslaved to sin: fear! By accepting the spirit of fear, Adam became a product of the devil’s evil fortification which engulfed mankind as a whole. However, with the coming of Jesus in the incarnation, He gave passage for the Holy Spirit to enter the human heart, and bring the “Love-Fruits” of the Spirit to repeal and defeat forever every spirit of fear of the devil in humanity. (1 Cor.13:1-12; Gal.5.22-23; Gal.5:19-21; 1 Cor.3:16; see Appendix **** below).
What we are seeing here is the Tri-Personal Godhead in the Trinity, comprising the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, being united in Love for and in saving all humanity through Jesus forever. (Act.2:38; Matt.28:19; 2 Cor.13:14; John 3:16-17). Thus, we read of our oneness and completeness in Him, “Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Col.1:27). The Love of God is bound up in all humanity through the Loving triune Being of the three Persons in the Trinity forever.
Jesus declared openly, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows Me will never walk in darkness, but will have the Light of Life” (John 8:12). Yes, Jesus is the true Light of Life, and the true Life of the Light. Jesus openly promised the gift of the Holy Spirit from the Father, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.” By this He meant the Spirit” (John 7:37-39; John 14:26; Luk.24:49; Act.2:33).
Author J.T. Murphree said, “In the Trinity, intimacy is complete. Through Love, diversity, and unity they are so inextricably interwoven that the Father, Son, and Spirit do not exist as Persons alongside each other as much as they exist in and through each other.” (Pg.29, “The Trinity and Human Personality”).
Yes, the Holy Spirit is freely available to humanity when humans abide in Jesus, and Jesus correspondingly indwells mankind. For apart from Him, we remain in the dark without His Light, and we will be unfruitful, and barren. (John 15). Speaking of immortality, Paul said this of the Spirit, “And if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of His Spirit who lives in you” (Rom.8:11).
So, let’s go back to our first question about the title of this post about the “Light of God.” “God’s Light” is found nowhere except in the divine adorable Love and Light of the divine trinitarian presence of God composed of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. (Matt.28:19). What does Light means in other terms? It would be the same as equipping a person to allow the Spirit’s Love to empower and immerse a person’s life.
That being the case, we read John’s passage, “God is Love. Whoever lives in Love lives in God, and God lives in them” (1 John 4:16). “God’s Light” means to be immersed in the Love-Fruits of the Spirit. (See the Spirit’s Love-Fruits, at Appendix **** below).
Jesus said passionately, “A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it in a bowl. Instead, they put it on its stand and gives Light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your Light shine before others that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven” (Matt.5:14-16).
James gives us an aerial perspective into the way of this evil world, and the Love-Fruits of the Spirit, “If you are wise and understand God’s ways, prove it by living an honorable life, doing good works with the humility that comes from wisdom. But if you are bitterly jealous and there is selfish ambition in your heart, don’t cover up the truth with boasting and lying. For jealousy and selfishness are not God’s kind of wisdom.” Continuing,
“Such things are earthly, unspiritual, and demonic. For wherever there is jealousy and selfish ambition, there you will find disorder and evil of every kind. But the wisdom from above is first of all pure. It is also peace loving, gentle at all times, and willing to yield to others. It is full of mercy and the fruit of good deeds. It shows no favoritism and is always sincere. And those who are peacemakers will plant seeds of peace and reap a harvest of righteousness” (Jam.3:13-18).
Notice how the Spirit’s Love-Fruits is associated with Godly light and wisdom. (See the Spirit’s Love-Fruits below: Appendix ****).
The Scriptures say, “But He gives us more and more grace [through the power of the Holy Spirit to defy sin and live an obedient life that reflects both our faith and our gratitude for our salvation]. Therefore, it says, “God is opposed to the proud and haughty, but [continually] gives [the gift of] grace to the humble [who turn away from self-righteousness].” So submit to [the authority of] God. Resist the devil [stand firm against him] and he will flee from you. Come close to God [with a contrite heart] and He will come close to you.” (Jam.4:6-8, Amp. Bible).
As humans, we enter the life of the Trinity through Christ who is in every way the true reflection of the “Light of God.” Jesus is the “Light of God” in each human life. Individually as a person we can only reflect Him and His Light in us. The apostle Paul tells about the path of believers, “We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life (and Light) of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that His life (and Light) may also be revealed in our mortal body” (2 Cor.4:10-11; John 1:4; 1 Peter 4:12-13).
The Psalmist tells us zealously concerning our ultimate human destination, “Send out Your Light and Your Truth; let them guide me. Let them lead me to Your holy mountain, to the place where You live. There I will go to the altar of God, to God—the source of all my joy. I will praise You with my harp, O God, my God!” (Psa.43:3-5).
Let us end this post in contemplative prayer to our great triune God: “Almighty God, Father of all humanity, Father of Lights, thank You for Your infinite mercy for humanity, that though death has been our tragic lot because of Adam’s fall in Eden, You prepared the Second Adam in your Son Jesus Christ, to enter our temporary existence as the Immanuel and Savior and redeemed and saved us from sin and death. (Rom.6:23).
“Thank you most mighty God of Lights that through Your Son, Jesus, You have shone Your divine Light through Him upon humanity. Thank You that in Jesus You have brought humanity out of our darkened and deathly world into your marvelous “Light of Life” (John 8:12).
“Grant Your promised celestial life in Your Son through Your Holy Spirit, and open our eyes to the wondrous gifts You have divinely conferred upon us all so we may serve one another in Your Love. We praise and glorify You in your Son, Amen.”
Prayer is A Solemn One-On-One Spiritual Love Dialogue Between a Person and God the Father.
Each and every human being has an open welcome into the celestial life of Love in God’s holy, eternal Family. (1 Tim.6:19) Then keep in touch with God’s Word for you by reading and studying your Bible, and visiting this blog and website and look at various subjects that may be relevant for your situation – go to: http://bulamanriver.net. You can email me with your questions at the address shown below.
Blessing: Until we meet again in my next post, may the blessings of the God who ceaselessly expresses Himself in His dependable Triune Love, be with you always. May the Spirit enliven your spirit and make all things concerning you possible as you live the “Triune Life” of God. Be strong in the Lord’s joy.
In Love, farewell for now!
Kiang, (Your Servant in Christ)
*Triune Life: “Triune Life” speaks of the process of theosis or deification of humanity. What is theosis or deification? “It refers to apotheosis, meaning “making divine.” Theosis or deification is a transformative process whose aim is likeness to or union with God (as taught by the Eastern Orthodox Church and Eastern Catholic Church).” (Wikipedia.org)
The belief in the process of ‘deification’ is understood in accordance with Jesus’ teaching, when He said, “Is it not written in your Law, ‘I have said you are “gods” ’? If He called them ‘gods,’ to whom the Word of God came—and Scripture cannot be set aside (cannot be broken)” (John 10:34-35; Psa.82:6). (You can read about the Triune Life at: http://bulamanriver.net/9199, and other posts)
The Human Resurrection to Immortality Through Jesus
“The Empty Tomb” – Persuasive Imagery of Jesus’ Own Resurrection to Immortality and the Promised Deification of Humanity in Christ Who Directly Reflects the “Image of God” (Col.1:15; Rom.8:29; Gen.1:27; John 11:25)
Adam was solitary and incomplete until God made Eve. He said, “It is not good for the man to be alone (solitary). I will make a helper suitable for him” (Gen.2:18, italics mine). So, God gave Adam a family to raise composed of a father, mother, and offspring, to reflect Himself in His plural Being. The Bible states that the Church’s or humanity’s destiny is to marry Christ, the second Person of the Triune Godhead, in the new age to come which will be an everlasting divine relationship. (2 Cor.11:2; Eph.5:23-27, 32; Rev.19:7) The Bible is abundantly clear about God’s nature and declaration of Himself in His relational Triune Being from the past, the present, and the future. God has never lived as a solitary Being, but a Tri-Personal Being.
It’s noteworthy to understand that Eve was not created an individual creation from the dust of the earth as was Adam. She was not created apart from Adam as an individualized separate human being, instead, she was taken out from Adam’s side to show she was biologically one and indivisibly part of Adam, like God is in His Tri-Personal Being of the Father, the Son, and Holy Spirit. Eve was not detached (solitary) from Adam, but intrinsically inseparable from Adam’s innermost humanity, as God is in His divine triunity. When Adam saw Eve, he said, “This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called ‘woman,’ for she was taken out of man” (Gen.2:21-23) God created humanity to reflect Himself in His unified Tri-Personal Being (Trinity)
Rublev’s Icon of The Trinity (Wiki Commons)
Each one of us was created as an indivisible relational human being incubated and given birth from Adam’s mold as one species, for God created humanity to reflect the eternal likeness in His triunity. We are born for relationships with the divine triune Love as our guiding principle. All this show that humans were created to be indivisibly one to reflect God’s Tri-Personal image of Oneness (Trinity), not solitary separateness.
When God sent Jesus His eternal Son, He became human in order to unify humanity spiritually to the Triune Being of God through Christ once for all time. Hence, when the prophet Isaiah proclaimed Jesus’ coming, and gave Him the prophetic name, Immanuel (Isa.7:14). The name means “God with us” (Matt.1:23). Humanity is ‘organically’ one with the Triune God through Christ, just as humanity is one with Adam who was created in God’s image and likeness. (Gen.1:26-27)
Most religions believe God as some solitary being. The true God is not solitary by any means, He is the one Triunity in His Tri-Personal Being. God consist of three Persons in One divine triune Godhead. (Matt.28:18-20) They exist in One “homoousion” meaning consisting in one substance, or “consubstantiality.” The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit exist in One hypostatic union, One substance, like Eve was biologically part of and never physically separate, but of one substance from Adam, for she came out of Adam. Likewise, humanity is made of one spiritual substance with the triune God through Jesus Christ who took our humanity upon Himself and joined it to the divine Light of God in His triune Being forever.
The three-dimensional Triune Light/Life/Love is opposed to living the one-dimensional solitary life of the fallen humanity inherited from Satan through Adam’s rebellion. For additional information about the Triune Life: http://bulamanriver.net/?p=8036. Also at: http://bulamanriver.net/9092.
**Bulamanriver: is the metaphor describing the union of man with the Love and Light of the Triune God flowing in humans, making possible the “Triune Life” – the source of the miraculous life in man. To read the different facets of the life of the Bulamanriver, you may obtain a copy of my book, “Bula Man-River,” from Amazon.com; xulonpress.com, barnesandnoble.com, and other online book stores. All proceeds will go towards furthering the work of Gospel of Jesus Christ around the world.
“Bulamanriver” Book Cover
***Mission Statement: Read the Triune Love Mission, Vision, and Value statements at: http://bulamanriver.net/8664.
Mission, Vision, Value, Statements
(Our Home address: www.//bulamanriver@gmail.net).
****The “Love-Fruits of the Holy Spirit:” *the fruit of patience, *the fruit of kindness, *the fruit of contentedness, *the fruit of modesty (unboastful), *the fruit of humility, *the fruit of honor, *the fruit of unselfishness, *the fruit of calmness and dignity, *the fruit of forgiveness and compassion, *the fruit of delighting in good and shunning evil, *the fruit of tolerance, *the fruit of responsibility, *the fruit of enduring hope, *the fruit of steadfast perseverance, *the fruit of joy, *the fruit of peace, *the fruit of goodness, *the fruit of faith, *the fruit of gentleness, *the fruit of self-control, *the fruit of zeal and spiritual fervor, *the fruit of friendship, *the fruit of sharing and generosity, *the fruit of prayerfulness, *the fruit of hospitality, etc. (1 Cor.13; also Gal. 5:22-23; Rom. 12:9-21).
God is never without His Love activity through the Love-Fruits in the Spirit, for His activity and His triune Being are essentially and eternally one. The act of God is not one thing, and His Being another, for they coinhere mutually and indivisibly in one another. God can never be anything but Love. These Love-Fruits may seem ordinary and mundane, but when empowered and propelled in the Spirit’s power, they are transformed into divine elements of growth and maturity.
The “Love-Fruits” of the Holy Spirit:
These Love-fruits speaks volumes and gives us a peek into the different tones of God’s Love. They are not rules to live by as if they are legalistic requirements to follow. They tell us how God in His Tri-Personal Being in the Father, Son, and Spirit, have lived in One unified shared Love-experience from eternity as God, and desires to share His “Triune Life” with believers. They reveal the holy emotions of the Tri-Personal Being of God. These are not human emotions, they reveal the divine passion and desire of how God lives “naturally” in an intuitive and spontaneous fashion amongst Them.
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