Who and What Is God?
I WAS RETURNING to my hotel in New Delhi some years ago from a private
conference with the
late Mrs. Indira Gandhi, Prime Minister of India. Ever since arriving in India
I had
noticed cows and oxen wandering through the streets. I had never seen such
animals
straying loosely through city streets in any other country.
"Don't these cattle stray quite a distance from home?" I asked of
the car
driver.
"Oh yes," he answered.
"But when," I asked, "they wander all over the streets so far
away, how do
their owners find them, to drive them back home for the night?"
The car driver smiled. "The owners don't. But the cattle and oxen know
their owners
and where they live. They find their own way home in the evening."
Immediately I thought of the scripture in the first chapter of Isaiah, which I
had never
understood so perfectly before this living explanation.
"Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth: for the Lord hath spoken, I have
nourished
and brought up children, and they have rebelled against me. The ox knoweth his
owner, and
the ass his master's crib: but Israel doth not know, my people doth not
consider. Ah
sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evildoers, children
that are
corrupters: they have forsaken the Lord ... they are gone away backward"
(Isa.
1:2-4).
And this was spoken of ancient Israel, a nation to which God had revealed
himself by many
evidences and miracles. How much less do other nations know about God -- about
WHO and
WHAT God is!
Nevertheless, other nations are human beings just like the nation Israel. It
is important
at the very outset of this chapter that you notice God calls these humans his
own
children. Many people say, "God just doesn't seem real to me." God
is a great
mystery to them. Their own human fathers don't seem like a mystery. They seem
real.
Why Does God Seem Unreal?
In this chapter I hope we will help make God as real to you as your own human
father. God
does reveal himself to us in the Bible, if we will just understand it, so that
he will
seem real to us.
Of the peoples of the Roman Empire, God inspired the apostle Paul to write:
"For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and
wickedness
of men who by their wickedness suppress the truth. For what can be known about
God is
plain to them, because God has shown it to them. Ever since the creation of
the world his
invisible nature, namely, his eternal power and deity [spiritual], has been
clearly
perceived in the things that have been made [physical]. So they are without
excuse; for
although they knew [about] God they did not honor him as God or give thanks to
him, but
they became futile in their thinking and their senseless minds were darkened.
Claiming to
be wise, they became fools" (Rom. 1:18-22, Revised Standard Version).
The billions now living on earth not only are ignorant of the most important
knowledge --
WHO and WHAT God is -- they seem not to want to know! They are willingly in
ignorance of
this most important knowledge and relationship possible in human life!
Astonishing -- but TRUE!
And why have humans been willingly ignorant of man's most important
relationship? One
explanation, only, is possible! All nations have been deceived (Rev. 12:9).
And the fact
of this universal deception makes certain the fact of a super Deceiver! More
of this,
later.
God UNREAL to the Ancients
The first created man Adam, taking to himself from the forbidden tree the
knowledge of
good and evil, was at the same time rejecting God as Creator. It is certain
that God had
revealed somewhat of himself, a certain knowledge to Adam.
Nevertheless Adam had cut himself off from God his Creator. Undoubtedly, some
of the
knowledge that God had imparted to Adam was successfully imparted from father
to son for
many generations. Jesus had called Abel, Adam's second son, "righteous
Abel." He
did the right thing in offering a lamb in sacrifice. Later, Enoch "walked
with
God." God spoke to Noah and gave him instructions for the building of the
ark.
After the Flood certain historic accounts imply that Shem, one of Noah's three
sons, had
some knowledge of the true God. But undoubtedly, as generation succeeded
generation of
humanity, knowledge of God had become greatly distorted.
Nimrod, as recorded in chapter 4 of this book, made a virtual god of himself.
Through the
succeeding generations and centuries knowledge of the true God faded almost
completely.
The ancient pagan nations made many different idols out of clay, wood, stone
and other
materials. Many examples of pagan idol gods have been dug up by archaeologists
and may be
seen in museums today. As the apostle Paul said, they worshipped the creation
rather than
the Creator (Rom. 1:25).
First Century A.D. Concept
Coming to the New Testament, we catch a glimpse of the ignorance of any
knowledge about
God. The scholarly of the world in the first century were the Athenian
intellectuals. Some
of them encountered the apostle Paul in Athens.
"Then certain philosophers of the Epicureans, and of the Stoicks,
encountered him.
And some said, What will this babbler say? other some, He seemeth to be a
setter forth of
strange gods: because he preached unto them Jesus, and the resurrection. And
they took
him, and brought him unto Areopagus [atop Mars Hill], saying, May we know what
this new
doctrine, whereof thou speakest, is? ...
"Then Paul stood in the midst of Mars' hill, and said, Ye men of Athens,
I perceive
that in all things ye are too superstitious. For as I passed by, and beheld
your devotions
[objects of worship -- Revised Standard Version], I found an altar with this
inscription,
TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto
you. God that
made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and
earth ... he
giveth to all life, and breath, and all things; and hath made of one blood all
nations of
men for to dwell on ... the earth ... for in him we live, and move, and have
our being
..." (Acts 17:18-19, 22-26, 28).
And now what of the scholarly of our Western world today? One would think, the
most highly
educated ought to know WHO and WHAT God is! Suppose you ask at random 100
university
deans, "Do you believe in God?" Perhaps three or four would answer,
"Oh, I
believe in the existence of God -- as a 'first cause.'" But they cannot
tell you WHO
or WHAT God is! They cannot tell you what God is like! God is not real to
them. In other
words, he is a mystery. Perhaps another six or eight of the hundred will admit
they are
agnostics -- they do not know "for sure" whether God exists.
I have said that education has become a matter of memory instillation. From
elementary
grades to higher graduate levels of study, our educational systems inject
ready-made
concepts, ideologies and a mixture of facts and fables into the unsuspecting
minds of
children, youths and young adults. Students in our school systems are graded
according to
how well they accept, memorize and can recite or write in tests what has been
taught --
whether true or false.
Modern education has given universal acceptance to the fable of evolution.
Evolution is
the agnostic's or atheist's attempt to explain the existence of a creation
without the
preexistence of the Creator. It removes God from the picture. It blinds itself
to the
mystery by attempting to remove God altogether.
Material creation Seems Real
The creation is material, visible, and therefore seems real. The system of
modern
education has become entirely materialistic. The modern scientific concept
denies the
invisible and the spiritual as having existence. Yet all our seemingly
unsolvable problems
and the evils in this world are spiritual in nature.
I quoted above from the first chapter of the book of Romans. The 28th verse
says,
"... they did not like to retain God in their knowledge." Little or
nothing is
taught about God, but even in the elementary grades the basic concept -- the
APPROACH to
knowledge -- is evolution.
Is it any wonder, then, that the scholarly do not know WHO or WHAT God is?
They believe
what they have been taught.
As I write I recently returned from my second four-day visit in Beijing
(Peking), as the
first religious leader from the world of Christianity to be invited by the
government to
speak before large groups at the Chinese capital. I have met in private
conference with
the vice chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress,
Tan
Zhen-lin, and now, on this second visit, with Deng Xiaoping, the unquestioned
leader of
China.
In speaking with China's leader, I was speaking to the top official now
molding the minds
and beliefs of over ONE BILLION people -- almost a fourth of all the people on
earth.
China, in population, is the world's largest nation. In very ancient times the
religion in
China was ancestor worship. Then came Confucianism, rivaled by Taoism. Later
Buddhism was
introduced from India, then Christianity. Today the nation is communist --
atheist.
I found China's leaders to be a very cordial, friendly and courteous people --
but knowing
WHO and WHAT God is most certainly is not what they are now concerned about. I
did not try
to tell them WHO and WHAT God is, but I did tell two large and important
audiences of
leaders what God is very soon going to do -- and I announced this forthcoming
book, which
I am writing now.
India is the second largest nation. What have they known about WHO and WHAT
God is?
NOTHING!
Russia is third largest in population. They did have Russian Orthodox
Christianity, and
now atheism.
I am not condemning or judging these people -- and I presume they are as well-
meaning as
any people. God is not judging them NOW -- as I shall explain later. Neither
is he
condemning them. He loves them and will call them all to eternal salvation in
his own
time. But they DO NOT know WHO or WHAT God is.
In ancient Egypt they worshiped the gods Isis and Osiris. The Greeks and
Romans anciently
had mythological gods such as Jupiter, Hermes, Dionysus, Apollo, Diana and
many others.
But they did not know, and their peoples do not know today, WHO and WHAT God
is. But WHY?
Why Willingly Ignorant?
Already, in the quotation from the first chapter of Romans, I have given you a
reason --
they were willingly ignorant of the things of the true GOD. But WHY? Why
willingly
ignorant? In Romans 8:7 it is stated plainly that the natural mind of humans
is hostile
against God. This does not necessarily mean that all unconverted human minds
are actively,
intentionally, maliciously hostile. Most humans are passively hostile against
God. They
simply do not normally think about God. If God is mentioned they become
embarrassed and
often try to change the subject. They probably do not realize, in their own
minds, that
they have a hostile attitude toward God. Yet that is the very reason,
psychologically, why
they want to avoid the subject. In other words, the average person has an
unrealized
passive hostility against God. Without realizing it actively, they want God to
"keep
his nose out of their business" -- except at a time when they are in deep
trouble and
they cry out for God's help.
Spiritual things -- invisible things -- are a mystery to them. They do not
understand
those things, real though they are, because they cannot see them. They remain
a deep
mystery so they deny their existence.
There was a cause for this willing ignorance. And the Bible clearly tells us
that cause,
which is dual: 1) what occurred prehistorically, and 2) what God himself
instituted
following the original sin of Adam. All this (to be explained in the next two
chapters),
and the CAUSE of all the escalating evils of today's world, are clearly
revealed by God
Almighty in his Word the Holy Bible. This will be made plain as we progress.
But first, what does the Bible reveal about WHO and WHAT is God? It is only in
this
inspired book that God reveals himself. But mankind in general has never
believed God --
that is, what God says! God spoke face to face, personally, to Adam and Eve,
the first
created humans. Then he allowed Satan to approach them. Satan got to Adam
through his
wife. Our original parents believed Satan when he said, "Ye shall not
surely
die," after God had said, "Thou shalt surely die" upon stealing
the
forbidden fruit.
When Jesus Christ spoke on earth 4,000 years later, only 120 people believed
what he said
(Acts 1-15) though he preached his message from God to multiple thousands.
No wonder, then, not one of these religions, sects and denominations, except
the small and
persecuted Church founded by Jesus Christ (A.D. 31), starting with that 120,
believes God,
which means these others do not believe what God says in his Word. God's Word
plainly
reveals who and what God is! But there is a reason for their ignorance. This
will be made
clear as we proceed.
Just WHO and WHAT, then, is God? How does he reveal himself? Already I have
quoted the
apostle Paul saying to the Athenian intellectuals that God is the Creator, who
designed,
formed, shaped and created MAN.
The prophet Isaiah quotes God himself, saying: "To whom then will ye
liken me, or
shall I be equal? ... Lift up your eyes on high, and behold who hath created
these things,
that bringeth out their host by number: he calleth them all by names by the
greatness of
his might, for that he is strong in power; not one faileth" (Isa. 40:25-
26).
Read this in the James Moffatt translation in modern English: " 'To whom
will you
compare me, then, and equal me?' asks the Majestic One. Lift high your eyes,
look up; who
made these stars? he who marshals them in order, summoning each one by name.
For fear of
him, so mighty and so strong, not one fails to appear."
Further, God himself says to the skeptics: "Now, the Eternal cries, bring
your case
forward, now, Jacob's King cries, state your proofs. Let us hear what happened
in the
past, that we may ponder it, or show me what is yet to be, that we may watch
how it turns
out; yes, let us hear what is coming, that we may be sure you are gods; come,
do something
or other that we may marvel at the sight! -- why," taunts God to the
doubter,
"you are things of naught, you can do nothing at all!" (Isa. 41:21-
24, Moffatt).
These scriptures reveal God's power but not what God is, in a manner to make
him real to
the reader. Other scriptures must do that.
God, Creator of Universe
God is Creator of ALL -- of everything in the vast universe -- the stars, the
galaxies in
endless space, this earth, man and everything in the earth.
That is WHAT God is -- what he does. He CREATES! He designs, forms and shapes.
He gives
LIFE! He is the great GIVER. And his law -- his way of life -- is the way of
GIVING, not
GETTING, which is the way of this world
But what is God like? WHO is God? There have been many conceptions. Some
believe God is
merely the good or good intentions, within each human -- merely some part of
each human
individual. Some have imagined God was some kind of idol composed of gold or
silver, or
carved out of wood, stone or other material. The Israelites thought, while
Moses was
communing with God on Mount Sinai, that God was, or looked like, a golden
calf. Many think
God is a single individual supreme Personage. Some thought he was a spirit.
But the generally accepted teaching of traditional Christianity is that God is
a Trinity
-- God in three Persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit, which they call a
"Ghost."
The word trinity is not found in the Bible, nor does the Bible teach this
doctrine. But
more about that later.
God in Prehistory
Now let's go back to the very beginning, in prehistory. If you were asked
where in the
Bible to find the very earliest description of God in point of the time of his
existence,
you probably would say, "Why, in the very first verse in the Bible,
Genesis 1:1, of
course." Right?
Wrong!
In time-order the earliest revelation of WHO and WHAT God is is found in the
New
Testament: John 1:1.
"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
any thing made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of
men"
(John 1:1-4)
"The Word" in this passage is translated from the Greek logos, which
means
"spokesman," "word" or "revelatory thought." It
is the name
there used for an individual Personage. But who or what is this Logos? Notice
the
explanation in verse 14:
"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."
When he was born as Jesus Christ, he was flesh and blood, materialistic and
could be seen,
touched and felt. But what was he? As God -- as the Logos? That is answered in
John 4:24,
"God is a Spirit," and spirit is invisible. We know what was his
form and shape
as the human Jesus. But of what form and shape was he as the Word? We will
explain that
later.
The Word, then, is a Personage who was made flesh -- begotten by God, who
through this
later begettal became his Father. Yet at that prehistoric time of the first
verse of John
1, the Word was not (yet) the Son of God. He divested himself of his glory as
a Spirit
divinity to be begotten as a human person. He was made God's Son, through
being begotten
or sired by GOD and born of the virgin Mary.
So here we find revealed originally two Personages. One is God. And with God
in that
prehistoric time was another Personage who also was God -- one who later was
begotten and
born as Jesus Christ. But these two Personages were spirit, which is invisible
to human
eyes unless supernaturally manifested. Yet at the time described in verse one
Jesus was
not the Son of God and God was not his Father.
Who Was Melchisedec?
We find regarding the beginning of his existence, something further described
in Hebrews
chapter 7. Speaking of Melchisedec, who was king of Jerusalem in the days of
Abraham, it
says also that he was the Priest of God Most High. This Melchisedec had
existed from
eternity "without father, without mother, without descent, having neither
beginning
of days, nor end of life; but made like unto the Son of God; abideth a priest
continually" (Heb. 7:3).
Since Melchisedec was "like unto the Son of God," and abides as High
Priest
forever continually, and Jesus Christ is now High Priest, Melchisedec and
Jesus Christ are
one and the same Person.
Therefore Christ was "without father, without mother, without descent [in
Abraham's
time], having neither beginning of days, nor end of life." God also had
existed
eternally with the Word. Jesus, when he was "the Word," was an
immortal being
who had existed ALWAYS -- there never was a time when he did not exist --
without
beginning of days. He was, then, "like" the Son of God -- but he was
not yet the
Son of God. He also was God, along with God.
These passages show that the Word, in the beginning -- before ANYTHING had
been created --
was with God, and he, also, was God. Now how could that be?
There might be a man named John. And John might be with the man named Smith,
and John
might also be Smith because John is the son of Smith, and Smith is the family
name. Yet
they are two separate persons.
The only point of difference in that analogy is that the Word, at the time of
John 1:1,
was not, yet, the Son of God. But he was with God, and he also was God.
They were not yet Father and Son -- but they were the GOD KINGDOM!
That family is composed, now, of God the Father, and Jesus Christ his Son, and
many
begotten humans who already, NOW, are begotten SONS OF GOD (Rom. 8:14,16; I
John 3:2),
forming the Church of God.
That FAMILY aspect -- the GOD FAMILY -- is vitally important, and this will be
thoroughly
explained later.
But now, where are we?
Long before anything else existed, there did exist two Supreme Beings,
immortal, who
ALWAYS had existed. Your mind can't quite conceive that "always,"
but neither
can it quite conceive of what is electricity! Yet you know electricity exists
and is real!
How Christ Was Creator
So back to our question, "WHO and WHAT is God?" Before anything else
came into
existence there was God and the Word, composed of spirit, not of matter, but
nevertheless
very real. Two Persons -- not three. And, verse 3 of John 1, all things (the
universe)
were made by the Word.
Now understand this, by adding Ephesians 3:9: "... God, who created all
things by
Jesus Christ."
Let me explain. In the first week in January, 1914, I was sent by a national
magazine to
Detroit, Michigan, to interview Henry Ford to obtain material for an article
on his
sensational new $5-a-day wage policy. I saw Henry Ford in the administration
building,
wearing a business suit with white collar and necktie. Then I looked across
the breezeway
into the giant factory (then the Highland Park factory) and I saw perhaps
thousands of men
in overalls, working at machines powered with electrical energy. Mr. Ford was
called the
maker of the Ford car. But he made the cars by these workmen, who used the
power of
electricity and machines.
In the same manner, God the Father is Creator. But he "created all things
by Jesus
Christ." Jesus is the Word. It is written, "He spake, and it was
done" (Ps.
33:9). God tells Christ what to do (John 8:28-29). Jesus then speaks, as the
workman, and
the Holy Spirit is the POWER that responds and does what Jesus commands.
Thus, as we read further, in Colossians 1, beginning verse 12, "Giving
thanks unto
the Father, which hath ... translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son ...
who is the
image of the invisible God [same appearance, form and shape and character] ...
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" (verses 12-13, 15-17).
Therefore God's Word reveals that God and the Word -- two supreme Personages -
- coexisted
ALWAYS -- and before ANYTHING had been created -- including this earth and the
entire
universe.
In the quotation above, Christ is in the image form and shape -- of God.
Perhaps it will
make God more real to you when you realize he is in the same form and shape as
a human
being. More proof of this will be given later.
There was a time, therefore, when those two Personages coexisted and NOTHING
ELSE did.
No third Person is mentioned -- no "Ghost." Is God, then, limited to
only two
Persons? The false Trinity teaching does limit God to three Persons. But God
is not
limited. As God repeatedly reveals, his purpose is to reproduce himself into
what well may
become billions of God persons. It is the false Trinity teaching that limits
God, denies
God's purpose and has palpably deceived the whole Christian world. Both God
and the Word
themselves are SPIRIT, and project their Spirit. Let me illustrate. By your
eyesight you
can see something across the room, or see to the sun or even to stars that are
many times
the size of our sun, only much farther distant. But through your eyesight you
cannot act
on those objects. In like manner, God can project his spirit to any place
regardless of
distance, but through his Spirit God is able to act on such objects or to
change it as he
wills. Thus, God is omnipresent.
How long must they have thought, and planned, and designed, before even
beginning to
create anything whatsoever!
But matter -- this earth, the stars, nebulae, galaxies -- was not the first
thing they
created. They created angels before the creation of matter.
God speaks of the creation of the earth in the 38th chapter of Job. He says
that, at the
creation of the earth, all the angels shouted for joy (verse 7). Therefore all
the angels
already were in existence when the earth was first created.
In Genesis 1:1 it speaks of God creating the earth and the heavens. In the
Authorized
Version the word heaven -- singular -- is used. But the original Hebrew as
Moses wrote,
and as other translations render it, is in the plural -- heavens -- implying
that the
whole material universe was created simultaneously with the earth. This is
plainly stated
in Genesis 2:4: "These are the generations [beginnings] of the heavens
[plural] and
of the earth when they were created, in the day that the Lord God made the
earth and the
heavens."
However, the word day in this context is not necessarily a twenty-four-hour
day, but a
general period of time. That might have been multiple thousands or millions of
years ago.
Angels were placed on earth before the creation of man. Since angels are
immortal spirit
beings, they might have dwelt here thousands or millions of years before the
creation of
man. How many God does not reveal. The earth, at first, was the abode of
angels. But, Jude
6, "And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own
habitation
[the earth] ...."
What Is God's Appearance?
Now more detail on WHO and WHAT God is. God is Spirit (John 4:24, Revised
Standard
Version). Why is God not real to so many people? Because God and the Word were
composed of
SPIRIT, not matter, not flesh and blood, like humans. God is invisible to
human eyes (Col.
1:15). He does not seem real. To seem real, the mind naturally wants to
visualize a
definite form and shape. But even though God is composed of spirit and not of
visible
matter, God nevertheless does have definite form and shape. What is God's form
and shape?
In Genesis 1:26, "God said, Let us make man in our image, after our
likeness."
We know the form and shape of man. That is the image, likeness, form and shape
of God.
In various parts of the Bible, it is revealed that God has a face, eyes, a
nose, mouth and
ears. He has hair on his head. It is revealed God has arms and legs. And God
has hands and
fingers. No animal, fowl, bird, fish, insect or any other kind of life we know
of has
hands like human hands. Even if any other living being of which we know had a
mind to
think with, without hands and fingers he could not design and make things as a
man does.
God has feet and toes and a body. God has a mind. Animals have brains, but no
mind power
like man's.
If you know what a man looks like, you know what is the form and shape of GOD,
for he made
man in his image, after his very likeness!
One of Jesus' disciples asked him what God the Father looks like. Jesus
replied:
"Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me,
Philip? he that
hath seen me hath seen the Father ..." (John 14:9). Jesus looked like the
Father.
Jesus was, actually, "God with us" (Matt. 1:23). Jesus was the
begotten and born
Son of God.
And what was Jesus' appearance? It was that of a human man, for he also was
the Son of
man. He looked so much like other Jewish men of his day that his enemies
bribed Judas to
point him out and identify who, in a crowd at night, was Jesus.
So now we know God has the same form and shape as a man. We also know he is
composed of
spirit, not of matter as is man. Spirit is invisible to human eyes, unless
manifested by
some special process.
And if so manifested we would see both God the Father and Christ now glorified
in heaven
with faces, though formed and shaped like human faces, as bright as the sun
full strength!
Their eyes flames of fire, feet like burnished brass and hair white as snow
(Rev.
1:14-16).
God's Nature and Character
Most important of all however is what is God's nature -- his CHARACTER --
like? One cannot
know what God is unless he knows what his CHARACTER is!
THE CHARACTER of both God the Father and Christ the Son is that of spiritual
holiness,
righteousness and absolute perfection.
That character might be summed up in the one word LOVE, defined as an
outflowing, loving
concern. It is the way of giving, serving, helping, sharing, not the "
GET way.
It is the way devoid of coveting, lust and greed, vanity and selfishness,
competition,
strife, violence and destruction, envy and jealousy, resentment and
bitterness.
God's inherent nature is the way of PEACE, of JUSTICE, MERCY, HAPPINESS and
JOY radiating
outward toward those he has created!
The Word and God LIVED. What did they do? They created. How did they live --
what was
their "life-style"? They lived the way of their perfect character --
the way of
outflowing LOVE. When Jesus was baptized, God the Father said, "You are
my beLOVED
Son." God LOVED the Word. And the Word LOVED God -- obeyed him
completely.
Two can't walk together except they be agreed. They were in total agreement
and
cooperation. Also two can't walk together in continuous peace except one be
the head, or
leader, in control. God was leader.
Their way of life produced perfect peace, cooperation, happiness,
accomplishment. This WAY
of life became a LAW. Law is a code of conduct, or relationship, between two
or more. One
might call the rules of a sports contest the "law" of the game. The
presence of
law requires a penalty for infraction. There can be no law without a penalty
for its
violation.
God -- Author of Government
The very fact of law presupposes GOVERNMENT. Government is the administration
and
enforcement of law by one in authority. This necessitates authoritative
leadership -- one
in command.
When the only conscious Life-Beings existed, God was leader -- in
authoritative command.
Thus, even when the only conscious Life-Beings were God and the Word, there
was
GOVERNMENT, with God in supreme command. The government of God is of necessity
government
from the top down. It cannot be "government by the consent of the
governed." Its
laws originate and are handed down from God -- never legislated by the people
-- never
dictated by the governed how the government over them shall rule them. Since
they created
other conscious, thinking life-beings, this very fact of necessity put the
GOVERNMENT of
God over all creation, with God supreme Ruler.
Our human civilization has assumed the prerogative of lawmaking. Human
governments,
whether city, county, state or national, have lawmaking bodies -- city
councils, state
legislatures, national congress, Parliament, Reichstag, Diet or Knesset. But
6,000 years
of human experience have demonstrated the utter incapability of humans to
decide right
from wrong, or to formulate laws for human conduct and relationships.
Human lawmaking bodies have made so many laws that the average policeman in a
city could
not possibly keep in his mind a fraction of the laws whose violations he is
supposed to
act upon. Some may remember a comic strip in American newspapers, "There
ought to be
a law." The comic strip was poking fun at the very idea that human
lawmakers have
made so many laws, and yet fail to cover every possible infraction.
God's law is spiritual and can be summed up in one simple but all-inclusive
word -- love.
His law for the guidance of human conduct is subdivided into the two great
commandments,
love toward God and love toward neighbor. These, in turn, are subdivided into
the 10
Commandments. Jesus magnified this law by showing how its principle expands to
cover
virtually every possible human infraction. The third chapter of II Corinthians
shows that
God's law is to be applied in principle. It is summed up in one single word,
love.
Nevertheless, it is so perfect that, by applying its principle, it is a
complete law.
There is only one perfect lawmaker, and that is God.
Bear in mind the government of God is based on the LAW of God, which is the
way of life of
outflowing LOVE, cooperation, concern for the good of the governed. And this
law of God
produces peace, happiness, cooperation through obedience.
God Is a Family
Now once again to Genesis 1:1: "In the beginning God ..." This
originally was
written by Moses as God inspired him. Moses wrote in Hebrew. The Hebrew word
translated
"God" is "Elohim" -- a noun or name, plural in form, but
normally
singular in grammatical usage. It is the same sort of word as family, church,
group -- one
family consisting of two or more members -- one church composed of many
members -- one
group of several persons.
It is referring to precisely the same Persons, making up or composing the one
God, as we
found in John 1:1 -- the Word and God -- and each of those TWO Persons is GOD.
IN OTHER WORDS, GOD IS NOW A FAMILY of Persons, composed so far of only the
TWO -- God the
Father and Christ the Son. But IF the Holy Spirit of God dwells in someone,
and he is
being led by God's Spirit, then (Rom. 8:14) he is a begotten son of God. But,
at the time
of Christ's return to earth in supreme power and glory to set up the KINGDOM
OF GOD,
restoring the GOVERNMENT OF GOD abolished by Lucifer, then all being filled
and led by
God's Spirit shall become BORN sons of God. The GOD FAMILY will then RULE ALL
NATIONS with
the GOVERNMENT OF GOD RESTORED!
The Trinity doctrine limits God to a supposed three Persons. It DESTROYS the
very gospel
of Jesus Christ! His gospel is the good news of the now soon-coming KINGDOM OF
GOD -- the
only hope of this world and its mixed-up mankind!
The Trinity doctrine, by contrast, is the doctrine of the great false religion
called in
Revelation 17:5: "Mystery, Babylon the great, the mother of harlots and
abominations
of the earth."
By that doctrine, along with others, Satan has DECEIVED all traditional
Christianity.
The Trinity Doctrine
The generally accepted teaching of traditional Christianity is that God is a
Trinity --
God in three Persons -- Father, Son and Holy Spirit (which is often called a
"Ghost").
How did this "Trinity" doctrine enter traditional Christianity?
It most emphatically did not come from the Bible. I have quoted Revelation
12:9 saying
that all nations have been deceived by Satan the devil. How, then, did the
wily Satan
introduce this doctrine into "Christianity"?
The history of this question is interesting. It seems incredible that a being
like Satan
not only could have deceived the whole world, but also
"Christianity" -- the
very religion bearing Christ's name and supposed to be his true religion. Yet,
paradoxically, Satan did!
He did it through his great false church, started A.D. 33 by Simon the
Sorcerer, described
in the 8th chapter of the book of Acts as the leader of the Babylonian mystery
religion in
Samaria. It is recorded in II Kings 17:23-24 that Shalmaneser, king of
Assyria, who had
invaded and conquered the northern kingdom -- the kingdom of Israel -- moved
the people
out of their land of Samaria, north of Jerusalem, and moved into that land
people of the
Babylonish mystery religion from the provinces of Babylon. They were, of
course, gentiles.
They inhabited this area of northern Palestine in the time of Christ. The Jews
of Judea in
Christ's time would have nothing to do with them, calling them contemptuously
"dogs." They still adhered to this pagan Babylonish mystery religion
in the
first century.
In A.D. 33, two years after Jesus Christ from heaven founded the Church of God
on that day
of Pentecost, the deacon Philip, who later became an evangelist, went down to
Samaria and
preached Christ's gospel. This Simon the Sorcerer came with the crowd to hear
him.
Simon had bewitched the people of that country, and they followed him as their
leader in
the Babylonian mystery religion "from the least to the greatest, saying,
This man is
the great power of God" (Acts 8:10).
When the people believed Philip, preaching the kingdom of God, they were
baptized, and
this Simon managed to be baptized with them.
Then Simon came to the apostles Peter and John, offering money as a bribe,
asking them to
give him the power to lay hands on people and have them receive the Holy
Spirit. Peter
rebuked him strongly. But Simon proclaimed himself a Christian apostle,
nevertheless, and
called the pagan Babylonian mystery religion "Christianity." He
accepted the
doctrine of "grace" for the forgiveness of sin (which the pagan
religions had
never had), but turned grace into license to disobey God (Jude 4). He aspired
to turn his
pagan religion, under the name "Christianity," into a universal
religion, to
gain thereby the political rule of the world.
Simon, the "Pater" (Peter) of his counterfeit religion, did not
accomplish this
in his lifetime. But succeeding leaders, with the headquarters moved to Rome,
did, later,
gain political control over the Roman Empire and its medieval successor,
called "The
Holy Roman Empire." This empire is in process of again being resurrected
in Europe
now!
Counterfeit Gospel
By the sixth decade of the first century, much of the Middle East had turned
from the true
gospel to a counterfeit (Gal. 1:6-7). As late as the 90s A.D. the apostle John
was still
living. He wrote the book of Revelation on the Isle of Patmos.
A little later the church started by Simon in A.D. 33 was trying to turn the
true
Christian Passover (Christ had changed its form from that of sacrificial lambs
to
unleavened bread and wine) into Babylonian ceremony, now called, in English,
"Easter" -- named after the goddess Astarte or Ishtar (pronounced
"Easter" in some Semitic dialects).
After the death of the apostle John, a disciple of his, Polycarp, waged a
controversy over
the Passover-Easter question with the bishop of Rome, by then leader of the
church started
by Simon.
Still later, another disciple of Christ's true Christianity, Polycrates, waged
a still
hotter controversy over the same Passover-Easter question with another bishop
of Rome.
This theological battle was called the Quartodeciman Controversy. Polycrates
contended, as
Jesus and the original apostles taught, that the Passover should be observed
in the new
Christian form introduced by Jesus and by the apostle Paul (I Cor. 11), using
unleavened
bread and wine instead of sacrificing a lamb, on the eve of the 14th Nisan
(first month in
the sacred calendar, occurring in the spring). But the Rome church insisted
that it be
observed on a Sunday.
About the same time another controversy was raging, between a Dr. Arius, of
Alexandria, a
Christian leader who died A.D. 336, and other bishops, over calling God a
Trinity. Dr.
Arius stoutly opposed the Trinity doctrine, but introduced errors of his own.
In A.D. 325, the Emperor Constantine called the Nicene Council to settle these
controversies. Constantine was not then yet a "Christian," but as
political
ruler he assumed control. The Council approved both the Easter-Sunday doctrine
and the
Trinity. Constantine, then civil ruler, made it a LAW. But he was not able to
make it
TRUTH!
Satan has deceived the entire world in regard to the very nature of WHO and
WHAT God is --
as well as of Christ and the Holy Spirit. Also of the GOVERNMENT OF GOD, based
on the
spiritual LAW OF GOD. And further, of WHAT and WHY man is, what salvation is,
how it is
received, what is the true gospel, what and why the church is and what of the
future!
What Is God Like?
The word trinity is not used anywhere in the Bible. I am going to make
completely clear,
as we proceed, God has not limited himself to a "Trinity." The
surprising truth,
once understood, is the most wonderful revelation the human mind could receive
or contain!
The very first idea or teaching about God being a Trinity began in the latter
half of the
second century -- a hundred years after most of the New Testament had been
written. The
counterfeit Christianity spawned by Simon the Sorcerer was promoting it
vigorously along
with the pagan Easter. But the true Church of God vigorously resisted it. The
controversy
became so violent it threatened the peace of the world. The then pagan Emperor
Constantine
called this Nicene Council to settle it. The Roman Emperor's supporters
greatly
outnumbered the persecuted true Church of God.
You will find a prophecy of these two churches in the book of Revelation. In
the 12th
chapter is the prophecy of the true Church of God, greatly persecuted. Jesus
called it
"the little flock." In the 17th chapter you will find the prophecy
of the
counterfeit church -- a very great church, named by God "Mystery, Babylon
the great,
the mother of harlots" (verse 5). She lined up with and sat astride the
political
governments. The whole world will gasp in WONDER (verse 8) when this religio-
political
medieval "Holy Roman Empire" is brought back to life! It is now in
the
preliminary stages of forming, starting from the Common Market!
False Scripture Added
There is only one small passage in the Authorized Version of the Bible that is
generally
used by Trinity adherents to support the Trinity doctrine. This passage is
found in I John
5:7-8, and is bracketed in the following quotation: "For there are three
that bear
record [in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three
are one. And
there are three that bear witness in earth], the Spirit, and the water, and
the blood: and
these three agree in one." The bracketed words were added by editors to
the Latin
Vulgate translation probably in the early fourth century. They do not appear
in any of the
older Greek manuscripts nor in other modern English translations. They were
added to the
Latin Vulgate during the heat of the controversy between Rome and Dr. Arius
and God's
people.
Bible commentaries explain that these words were never written in the apostle
John's
manuscript or any existing early copies of it. The apostle John in his three
epistles and
the Revelation speaks of "the Father, and ... Son" (I John 1:3), but
never of
"the Father and the Word," except in this uninspired part of I John
5:7-8.
There was a real reason why the arch deceiver Satan wanted that spurious verse
added in
the Latin Vulgate from which it crept into the Authorized Version. The Trinity
doctrine
completely does away with the gospel of Jesus Christ. His gospel is the
MESSAGE he brought
mankind from God the Father, the good news of the coming KINGDOM OF GOD! That
is the ONE
thing above all Satan wants to defeat. This will become plain as we proceed.
One world-famous evangelist said: "When I first began to study the Bible
years ago,
the doctrine of the Trinity was one of the most complex problems I had to
encounter. I
have never fully resolved it, for it contains an aspect of mystery. Though I
do not
totally understand it to this day, I accept it as a revelation of God .... To
explain and
illustrate the Trinity is one of the most difficult assignments to a
Christian."
Much is also made of the fact that in a number of places in modern
translations the
masculine pronoun he is carelessly used in connection with the Holy Spirit But
not always
-- sometimes the Holy Spirit is referred to as it in these very same
translations. For
example, in the passage describing the first coming of the Holy Spirit for the
founding of
the Church of God on that memorable day of Pentecost.
Holy Spirit Poured Out
The Holy Spirit came from heaven, audibly, sounding like a mighty wind,
"and it [the
Holy Spirit] filled all the house where they were sitting." Next, the
Holy Spirit
appeared -- WAS VISIBLY SEEN -- manifested -- "And there appeared unto
them cloven
tongues like as of fire, and it [the Holy Spirit in the form of divided
tongues] sat upon
each of them" (Acts 2:2-3). In verse 18, Peter is quoting from the
prophet Joel:
"I will pour out ... of my Spirit ...." The Holy Spirit, like water
or a fluid,
can be "POURED OUT." Can you pour out a person from one into another
-- as from
God into those assembled there? John 7:37-39: "In the last day, that
great day of the
feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me,
and drink.
He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall
flow rivers of
living water. (But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him
should
receive: for the Holy [Spirit] was not yet given; because that Jesus was not
yet
glorified.)"
Again in Acts 10:45, "... on the Gentiles also was poured out the gift of
the Holy
[Spirit]."
Summary
Finally, in briefest summary: God is a FAMILY composed at present of the TWO
Persons of
John 1:1-4, but with many thousands, already begotten by God's Spirit, in
God's true
Church, soon to be born into that divine family at Christ's return to earth.
Jesus Christ,
by his resurrection, was BORN a divine Son of God (Rom. 1:4) -- the first so
born into the
God family (Rom. 8:29).
Both God and Christ are composed of spirit, formed and shaped as a human
person, but with
eyes like flames of fire and faces bright as the sun full strength!
God is Creator of all that exists. Both God and the Word (who became Christ)
have existed
eternally and before all else. From them emanates the Spirit of God, by which
God is
omnipresent and omniscient. God the Father is the divine Father of the God
family, into
which truly converted Christians shall be born.