Is Christ The Yahweh of The Old Testament?
Hi R____,Hi!
Here is a copy of my recent reply to a fellow member S____............ Hi! S____
I did read all seven of Mike's explanations but the one to D/ seemed the nearest. Jesus only came into being two thousand years ago:-- "that God hath fulfilled the same unto our children, in that he raised up Jesus; as also it is written in the second psalm, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee." (Act 13:33). -- Used as a verb this could imply that the carnal Jesus was created but the Word that was implanted in Him is His Son, it is now that Jesus becomes the Son of God or the Word that was made flesh. Jesus was not with Christ/Word at the very beginning doing the creating, it was the Word. But now with the Word being made flesh He automatically assumes that role.
This is that same Word/Wisdom/Christ/Son that was with God from the beginning, (Pro 8). He was not created and this is many millennia before Jesus' time that John is speaking of here -- "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God." (Joh1:1,2). " ....A voice out of the cloud, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him." (Mat17:5) & (Mar 9:7).
This tells me that Jesus Christ was a sort of dual personality, the same as we are now, the carnal with the Spirit of Christ in us. We have been created by God because He is the only One who can accomplish that feat, but Christ who is in us is a free gift from God, He was not created, He is the essence of the Father. The only difference being that it was the Word/Son that the Holy Spirit implanted in Jesus at conception.
It's very difficult to explain on paper so I hope I am getting my point over to you and deeply regret being such a bore.
Peace!
R____
Maybe you can throw some light on the subject. Was the Word a creation of God the Father or is He an inherent part of the Father, the Son in the Father's bosom, from the very beginning and who was only given birth to or brought forth for the purpose of Creation?R____
Thank you for your question.
The scriptures teach that it was the "spirit of Christ" that was with the Old Testament prophets.
1Pe 1:11 Searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow.
Christ is "of God" but He was obviously "of God" long before He came to this earth as flesh. That is why we are told that "He emptied Himself" of the glory He had with His Father "before the world was."
Php 2:7 but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. (NASB)There is no doubt that Christ's creation preceded all else because we are told:
Joh 17:5 And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.
Col 1:15 Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:
Col 1:16 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:
Col 1:17 And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.
Col 1:18 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.
Col 1:19 For it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell;
We are not told that 'Christ is the invisible God,' but that Christ "is the image of the invisible God... for it pleased the Father [the invisible God] that in Christ should all fulness dwell." So the Father makes the decisions and the Son implements them as would any obedient Eve who came out from her Adam. It is the marriage union that reveals to us the "invisible things of God, even His eternal power and God head."
Rom 1:20 For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, [even] his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:
I have learned that groups like the Christadelphians are totally unaffected by all these verses. To them the only verse in scripture that bears on this subject is this:
Rom 4:17 (As it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations,) before him whom he believed, [even] God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were.
But truth is not to be found in any one verse but in "the sum of thy word" (Psa 119:160), and that sum tells us that no man has ever seen or heard the Father, and yet many in the Old Testament, both saw and heard Yahweh.
Joh 5:37 And the Father himself, which hath sent me, hath borne witness of me. Ye have neither heard his voice at any time, nor seen his shape.
The Father Himself... hath borne witness of Me." I hope this helps you to see that while Christ was not known as Christ in the Old Testament it really was, nevertheless, "the spirit of Christ that was in them."
Your brother in Christ,
Mike
Your brother in Christ,
Mike