Part One:
Jesus the Anointed One
This series is about the true identity of the man,
Jesus of Nazareth: of his human weakness, temptations, and obedience to Yahweh
his Father, as he was perfected through suffering.
The dual nature of Christ doctrine is not only false and
confusing, but it is self-contradictory.
The contradiction is obvious to the logical mind, yet the majority of
Christendom continues to believe that Jesus Christ is two persons (one ‘human’
& the other person ‘divine’), which live in one body of flesh and
blood. The portrayal of Jesus
co-existing equally as ‘God’ (Deity) and as ‘Man’ (mortal human being) in an
eternal ‘hypostatic union’ (i.e. the merging of two beings into one existence)
is a depiction of him as a spiritual schizophrenic ‘God-Man.’ However, those believers whose minds are
continuing to function properly, and have maintained a reasonable, logical
approach to biblical hermeneutics, will identify the aforementioned theophanic
nonsense as a portrayal of ‘another Jesus’ that the apostle Paul warns the
churches to beware of.
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2
Corinthians 11:3-4 But I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his
craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in
Christ. 4 For if he who comes preaches
another Jesus whom we have not preached, or if you receive a different spirit
which you have not received, or a different gospel which you have not accepted
— you may well put up with it! New King
James Version
I recall sitting in a classroom full of Bible College students
many years ago. We were listening to a
theological lecture by one of my Bible College teachers. This particular course was part of the
required curriculum and it laid forth the rudimentary teachings of Christian
church theology and Christology. By
‘theology’, I mean the study of God’s inherent characteristics and by
‘Christology’ the study of the nature of Jesus Christ as ‘God’ & ‘man.’
In most Christian theological circles, the term ‘ineffable’ (i.e.
beyond description & incomprehensible) is frequently used whenever logic
and reason begin to shine the light of God’s truth from scripture on the
nonsensical Deity of Christ theory. One
popular Christian radio program broadcaster that deals with radio callers
questions live on air, uses a term ‘Theophany’ to depict Jesus as ‘God’ in the
Old Testament period, when he was yet unborn (i.e. uncreated; not yet conceived
by God in Mary’s womb & not yet born in Bethlehem). Below are the basic word meaning definitions
that I downloaded from Microsoft Encarta’s Dictionary to familiarize the
reader:
THEOPHANY = appearance of
the gods
1.
The
appearance of deity to person.
2.
The
appearance of a god in a visible form to a human being.
3.
Its origin is
the Mid-17th century via medieval Latin from the Greek ‘theophaneia,’ which is
literally ‘appearance of the gods.’
HYPOSTASIS = noun; the essential nature of Jesus Christ, in which
the divine & the human are believed to be combined.
1.
Philosophy essence:
the essence or reality of something.
2.
Christianity
one of Trinity: any of the three persons of the Christian Trinity.
3.
Christianity
essential nature of Jesus Christ.
4.
Medicine
settling of body fluid: the abnormal settling of fluid in an organ or other
part of the body, as a result of poor circulation, in patients kept in bed, and
after death.
5.
Its origin is
the early 16th century and it comes via the late Latin, which is from the Greek
compound word ‘hupostasis,’ meaning, ‘sediment, foundation.’ hupostasis then later came to mean, ‘
“essence,” from the Greek, ‘huphistasthai,’ (hupo = ‘to stand under, support,’
and histasthai = ‘to stand.’
*Microsoft® Encarta® Reference
Library 2002. © 1993-2001 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
Oftentimes the class teacher would point to the four gospel
accounts to illustrate how Jesus sometimes speaks as a ‘man’ (i.e. a human,
mortal being), while at other times, he speaks as ‘Deity’ (i.e. – he speaks as
the Almighty God). On one occasion, the
teacher illustrated one of his points by having all of the students open their
Bibles to John chapter 8, verse 40. He
uses John 8:40 as one of his New Testament proof texts in support of the ‘human’
aspect of Jesus Christ (i.e. when Jesus speaks as a ‘man’ not as ‘God’).
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John 8: 40 But, in fact, you {Jews}
are longing to kill me {Jesus}, a man who has spoken to you the truth which I have heard from God. Abraham did not do that.” Weymouth New Testament Translation
Then, immediately following this example, the teacher read aloud
from Jesus’ words of rebuke to the Jewish scribes and Pharisees in John
8:58. He pointed out that in the
original Greek manuscripts, from which the New Testament is translated in to
our modern English versions of the Bible, the words that Jesus spoke to the
Jews when he said, ‘I AM,’ are Greek terms ‘égoó eimi.’
&
John 8:58 Jesus said to them, “Most
assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM (égoó eimi)”
New King James Version
My Bible College teacher said the words spoken in John 8:58 are
uttered by Jesus as ‘God’ (i.e. as a divine oracle in which ‘God’ speaks in or
thru the human flesh of Christ).
Specifically, he took pains to present his interpretation of John
8:58. He contended that Jesus’ words ‘I
AM’ spoken to the Jews in John 8:58 are the same as the Old Testament words
spoken to Moses by Yahweh (God’s OT Name) in the first person singular form ‘I
AM’ found in Exodus 3:14. This incident
in Exodus 3:14 occurred when Moses asked God what His Name was, so that he
could tell his people Israel when he led them out of Egypt.
The original Hebrew words that are rendered ‘I AM that I AM,’ in
Exodus 3:14 are transliterated to English as, ‘ehyeh asher ehyeh.’ My Bible College teacher pointed out the
similarity in usage of the same Greek counterpart equivalent ‘égoó eimi’ (John
8:58 above) in the Greek Septuagint (Old Testament in Greek instead of
Hebrew). The Septuagint replaces the
Hebrew ‘ehyeh’ (‘I AM’) in Exodus 3:14 with the exact same Greek terms used in
John 8:58 ‘égoó eimi.’ These Greek words ‘égoó
eimi’ being identical in the Greek Septuagint version of Exodus 3:14, he
reasoned that it is biblical proof that Jesus speaks as ‘God’ (Yahweh of the
Old Testament) in John 8:58. Of course,
his reasoning is not only illogical, but based solely upon his own theological
and doctrinal prejudice.
For readers who are unfamiliar with the Septuagint Old Testament
Bible version, this is a Greek translation version of the ancient Hebrew Old
Testament Bible. The Septuagint was
prepared by Jewish scribes for use by the rabbinical teachers in Alexandria,
Egypt about 340-320 BC (approximate dates).
The Septuagint was needed as a Greek version of the ancient Hebrew Old Testament
manuscripts, which were scarcely few available due to the demographics at this
point in history. One major difficulty for rabbis who taught students of the
Old Testament Bible was the widespread discontinuation of the use of the Hebrew
spoken dialect. For the most part, the
Hebrew language had fallen into disuse and most rabbinical schools in
Alexandria exclusively spoke and read Greek, the language universal of the day.
Today, most theology professors in Christian seminaries and Bible
College teachers choose to interpret instead of
correctly translating the words spoken by Jesus of Nazareth to the
religious Jews ‘I AM’ in John 8:58.
It is merely their interpretation, and is NOT an
accurate translation to allege that the ‘I AM’ spoken by Jesus in
John 8:58 is identical in meaning, use, and application to the words, which
Yahweh spoke to Moses in the context of Exodus 3:14. My Bible College teacher did not have an evil
motive for his false theology, but he taught the scriptures thru a doctrinal filter
of church tradition. He did not see the
inconsistencies of his interpretation and because I had so little knowledge of
the Bible at the time, neither did I.
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1
Corinthians 13:11 When I was a child, I used to speak as a child, to prefer as
child, to reason as a child: now I have become a man, I have laid aside the
things of the child!
Like everyone else in the classroom, I was a young, impressionable
Christian man that was newly saved and had no Bible background. Naturally, I believed whatever my Bible
College teachers were teaching and in my naivety, I took every word they said
to be the gospel truth. Now, some 34+
years later, having been a Bible teacher myself for nearly three decades, and I
have a much deeper appreciation for the sincerity and dedication of all Bible
teachers. As much as we ought to
appreciate those who teach scripture, we must give a much greater weight of
appreciation and be diligent to search the scriptures daily, to determine what
the truth about Jesus is from God’s perspective. In reality, ‘sincerity’ and ‘truth’ are quite
frequently opposites, particularly when it comes to the correct interpretation
and/or translation of the Bible. Many
sects and cults today are sincere, yet they are deceived in what they propagate
to others.
Eventually, I discovered that my college teachers were wrong about
John 8:58 and their use of ‘I AM.’ It is
a serious responsibility to be a teacher of scripture, and should not be taken
lightly. For the past 14 years, I have been
diligently reexamining all of my former beliefs, especially my previous
theological and Christological views. I
do not claim that my teachings are flawless, or that mine is the only correct
view. My responsibility and what I
strive for every day of my life as a believer and teacher is to be as thorough
as possible whenever researching and seeking God’s help to interpret and teach
the Scriptures to others in the body of Christ.
Whenever identifying the meaning, use, or application of any Greek
word, especially Greek prepositions like the word ‘prín’ (John
8:58; ‘prín’ = ‘before’), one must consider the
context of the surrounding narrative. As
is the case in English grammar, words such as prepositions have multiple and
varying uses and application. For
example, prín is derived from another root word in Greek ‘pro’ and
pro means ‘before, first in
order or rank, superior
to, in front of, afore,
etc.’ This Greek preposition pro and its related word prín are used in a
variety of alternate uses for either order of time, position, relation (to
others or compared to others), and more.
Our English language derives many of its individual words from
pro, such as professional, protect, program, promote, proceed etc. Obviously, when pro is constructed with parts
of other words, its meaning and application dramatically changes. The same occurs with the preposition ‘prín,’
except prín takes on a more targeted, specified usage and is the basis for our
English words such as ‘principle (as in an important precept), principal (one
in charge or highest rank, such as the principal of the school), princely, etc.
To demonstrate how easily Bible translators make mindless but
costly errors in Bible translating, nearly every modern Bible version today
renders the word ‘prín’ as ‘before,’ in John 8:58
thereby making it as a measure of time ‘… before (prín)
Abraham was born, I AM.’ Earlier, I
discussed the Greek words used in the sentence construction of ‘I AM’ in the
text of John 8:58 are the words ‘egoó eimí’.
These two simple Greek words egoó eimí are tantamount to the English
equivalent of ‘I am he’ or ‘I am the one,’ or, ‘I am the person {you seek},’ or
a similar grammatical construction and application. However, modern Bible versions combined their
misguided interpretations of egoó eimí with their misguided interpretations of
preposition prín, and in the New King James Version, John 8:58 reads: Jesus
said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM.”
The phrase at the end of the sentence, ‘before Abraham was, I AM,’
is a poorly constructed and improperly translated text and makes it seem as if
Jesus existed literally BEFORE Abraham in time.
The Bible translator’s personal, theological prejudice (i.e. the belief
that Jesus is ‘God’ in human form) has interfered with his or her objectivity
in the translation process. Below is a
side-by-side comparison between the entire Greek text of John 8:58 and its New
King James Version English Bible counterpart:
&
Greek= Ieesoús
eípen autoís, “Ameén, ameén légoo humín prín Abraám genésthai egoó eimí.”
&
NKJV = Jesus
said to them, “Most assuredly, I
say to you, before Abraham was, I
AM.”
Making proper use of the Greek grammatical construction of John
8:58, the phrase highlighted in red above ‘prín Abraám genésthai egoó eimí,’ uses prín as a particle of
distinction. if properly rendered, the
Greek version of John 18:5b (‘prín genésthai egoó eimí’) reads as follows, ‘in former times, before Abraham’s birth, I was preferred.’ In other words, the forefathers of Israel’s
original patriarch (Abraham) such as Noah, Enoch, and others, gave their future
Messiah a place of honor and preference in their lives and hearts, even though
yet unborn or uncreated.
The Messiah is prophesied in the entire first chapter of the Book
of Genesis; later we will examine this chapter concerning Yahweh’s plan of
redemption from the foundations of the earth.
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and all true Old Testament believers looked
with hope to the future coming of Messiah, even though they only saw from a
distance by faith.
The Jews were boasting to Jesus about their genetic ties to
Abraham and earlier in the chapter, in John 8:56, Jesus rebukes them saying, ‘Abraham
your forefather exulted in the hope of seeing my day: and he saw, and was glad.’ Abraham did not literally see the physical
day that Jesus was born in the town of Bethlehem, but rather, he saw by
faith. Abraham rejoiced in the hope of a
Redeemer one day being sent to atone for the transgressions of his
descendants. By faith, he looked to the
Creator and Giver of all life and he believed that Yahweh would even raise His
Anointed One.
Abraham’s son Isaac is described in Hebrews chapter 11 (see below)
as a ‘type’ or symbolic of Jesus & his propitious death by crucifixion; the
parallel typology is prefigured in the scenario of Abraham obedient to Yahweh’s
Command, willingly places his only begotten son on the stone altar to
sacrifice. As Abraham raises the knife
to slay his only son, who lay upon the of sacrifice, Yahweh intervened &
the boy was spared; he was saved by the ram caught in the nearby bush.
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Genesis 22:8-18 And Abraham said, “My
son, God will provide for Himself the lamb for a burnt offering.” So the two of them went together. 9 Then they came to the place of which
God had told him. And Abraham built an
altar there and placed the wood in order; and he bound Isaac his son and laid him on the altar, upon the
wood. 10 And Abraham stretched
out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. 11 But the Angel of Yahweh called to
him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!”
So he said, “Here I am.” 12
And He said, “Do not lay your hand on the lad, or do anything to him; for now I
know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son,
from Me.” 13 Then Abraham lifted
his eyes and looked, and there behind him was a ram caught in a thicket by its
horns. So, Abraham went and took the
ram, and offered it up for a burnt offering instead of his son. 14 And Abraham called the name of the
place, Yahweh-Will-Provide; as it is said to this day, “In the Mount of Yahweh
it shall be provided.” 15 Then
the Angel of Yahweh called to Abraham a second time out of heaven, 16
and said: “By Myself I have sworn, says Yahweh, because you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son,
your only son — 17 blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heaven and as
the sand which is on the seashore; and your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies. 18 In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed,
because you have obeyed My voice." New King James Version (with author’s replacement of ‘the
LORD’ in text with ‘Yahweh’)
The ram is given as Yahweh’s provision and the Book of Hebrews
describes Abraham’s inner conviction that Yahweh is able & willing if need
be to raise the dead to fulfill His unshakeable promise. Abraham’s faith wasn’t flawless, and though
he wobbled and backslid a few times, as we all do, he remained steadfast in the
conviction that Yahweh would fulfill His oath of promise. The ancient eastern Semitic custom of cutting
covenant between God and men, or between two men was always given a final
mutual witness, in which both parties participated. This final mutual witness is generally called
the ‘oath of promise’ in scripture.
It was common practice in covenants of substantial importance, to
kill and sacrifice either a sheep, a goat, or a bullock. Before the animal was placed upon the altar
of fire and offered up to Yahweh for divine approval and as testament to the
agreement, the body of the sheep or goat was split in half lengthwise. The two halves were slightly parted and as a
sort of bloody, ritual signature on their covenant agreement, both parties
walked together between the split halves of the sacrificial animal. This bloody rite to us, living in today’s 21st
century, food from shelving of stores, while enjoying our sterile,
bacteria-conscious modern-day amenities, cannot imagine such gore and
crudeness. Yet, for the ancient Semitic day-and-age,
it served its purpose and was done to honor each man’s solemn word (oath)
before the Yahweh, the Judge of all men.
When Yahweh gave his oath of promise to Abraham concerning his
future, spiritual posterity (i.e. ‘in your seed shall all nations be blessed’),
HIS word WAS the guarantee. In reality,
when Yahweh gives His promise, the cutting of covenant with a sacrificial
animal isn’t a necessary requirement.
Yahweh IS God, so He cannot swear by anyone else’s word because HIS word
(oath of promise) to anyone is ALWAYS greater (more sure) than that of the
human party to whom He makes the covenant agreement.. Abraham in scripture is described as ‘the
friend of God.’ Concerning his future,
spiritual descendents & Yahweh’s promise to him that all nations will be
blessed in Abraham’s seed, he knew for a certainty God would raise the dead if
necessary to fulfill His unshakeable & unwavering word.
&
Hebrews
11:8a, 9-10, 12-13, 16-19 By faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed…9 By faith he lived as an
alien in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, fellow heirs of the same
promise; 10
for he was looking for the city which has
foundations, whose architect and builder is God…12 Therefore there was born even of one man, and him as good as dead at that, as many descendants as the stars of heaven in number, and innumerable as the
sand which is by the seashore. 13 All
these died in faith, without receiving the promises, but having seen them and having welcomed them from a distance…16 But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore, God is not ashamed to be called
their God; for He has prepared a city for them. 17 By
faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was offering up his only begotten
son; 18
it was he to whom it was said, "in Isaac your descendants shall be
called." 19 He considered that God is
able to raise people even from the dead, from which he also received him back
as a type. New American Standard Bible - Updated Edition
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NOTE: Additional reading about
Abraham’s covenant with Yahweh: Genesis 15:5,6; Genesis 22:1-10, 17; 32:12;
Genesis 23:4; Psalms 39:12
When Jesus uses the phrase, ‘‘in former times, before Abraham’s
birth, I was preferred,’ he is emphasizing either the faith of
Israel’s pre-Abrahamic patriarchs or he is speaking of Yahweh’s preference in
choosing Jesus as Messiah before the foundations of the earth were created
(i.e. in Yahweh’s prophetic plan, which is veiled in the creation accounts of
Genesis chapters One, Two, & Three).
Jesus is reaching back in time long before the birth of Abraham.
Another way of wording this phrase is, ‘in former times, before
Abraham’s birth, I was favored (chosen).’
If this is the correct rendering, (which I believe it is), then the
words that Jesus speaks to the Jews in John 8:58 are an affirmation of his
calling as Israel’s ‘chosen’ Messiah.
This being the case, Jesus also affirms as a bold rebuke to these wicked
religious hypocrites, that Yahweh’s initial calling and choosing (i.e. –
selecting Jesus as Israel’s Messiah) took place before the inhabited world
(i.e. human population).
The aforementioned implications found at the heart of Jesus’
message about Abraham, caused the religious façade worn on the countenance of
the learned Jewish elders to be unmasked for what is beneath the exterior
religion. He uncovered their hateful and
murderous hearts and evil motives. They
reacted by seeking to seize Christ and have him stoned to death. One other possibility does exist for
retranslating John 8:58, which in all fairness to the objective truth ought to
be presented.
In effect, this next and final rendering of John 8:58, is very
likely the way that the Jews heard and interpreted the meaning of Jesus’ claim,
‘‘in former times, before
Abraham’s birth,
{before God created the heavens & earth) I was His preferred
& chosen
{as the One to be His Anointed}.’ The words ‘favored’ and ‘chosen’
are simply English synonyms that help convey
the same basic idea, but these words do so from a
modern, western viewpoint. Most
Christians are unfamiliar with the way that the ancient Semitic people looked at
time and prophetic events. They did not
look at the ‘future’ the same as our modern conceptualization of time and
space. In Yahweh’s spiritual realm, they
saw things only as He {Yahweh} revealed them.
&
Ecclesiastes
3:11 He
has made everything beautiful in its time.
He also has planted eternity in men's hearts and minds; a divinely
implanted sense of a purpose working through the ages which nothing under the sun but God alone can satisfy; yet so that
men cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end. Amplified Bible
We also must remember that once Adam sinned, sin had a
progressive, deteriorating effect upon things in the physical, atomic
dimension. The 2nd Law of
Thermodynamics kicks in, and everything begins to wear down and wear out. Since Adam sinned, the properties of time
have not changed, but human perceptions of time have been dramatically altered
and distorted because our societies are increasingly godless. The reason that our perceptions of time have changed
also has to do with multiple factors, including advances in technology and
man’s understanding of the properties of light, physics, etc.
&
Ecclesiastes
12:11-14
The words of the wise prod us to live well.
They’re like nails hammered home, holding life together. They are given by God, the one Shepherd. 12 But regarding anything beyond this,
dear friend, go easy. There’s no end to
the publishing of books, and constant study wears you out so you’re no good for
anything else. 13 The last and
final word is this: Fear God. Do what he
tells you. 14 And that’s it. Eventually, God will bring everything
that we do out into the open and judge it according to its hidden intent,
whether it’s good or evil. The
Message Bible by Eugene Peterson 2002
None of mankind’s great scientific achievements or any of
mankind’s advanced capabilities (mental prowess) thru computerization,
mathematical equations, philosophy, or even religion will ever change the
reality of this human, mortal existence.
God told Adam, ‘In the day that you eat of the tree of the knowledge of
good and evil, you shall surely die.’ This applies to every person, without
exception.
& Genesis 3:15-16 Yahweh said to the serpent, “And, enmity, will I {Yahweh} put between you {the serpent & the devil} and the woman {Eve}, and between your {serpent} seed {representative of all humans that hate the light of truth & who love the darkness of sin}, and her {woman’s righteous} seed; he {seed of Abraham, which is the man Christ Jesus} shall crush your {the serpent’s} head, but, you, shall crush his {Messiah’s} heel {which occurred when Jesus heel was fastened with a metal spike to the cross, crushing the tendons & other smooth, striated muscles, and ligaments}.” 16 Unto the woman {Eve}, he {Yahweh} said, “I will, increase, your pain of pregnancy, in pain, shall you bear children; yet, unto your husband, shall be your longing, though, he rules over you.” (