The Nature of God–Part Three: Genesis of the Last Adam (Resources & Notes)
[Note: The fundamental position of the Binity doctrine is the belief that God the Father and his son Jesus are both God and they have always existed as God. Some hold that God the Father and Jesus are one in essence and others believe that they are one in the sense of unity of mind, yet each is believed to be a distinct being called God. For those who believe that God is “one” in regard to unity of mind, we find that such an interpretation has led some to erroneously assume that God is a family, rather than being a Father who is bringing into existence a spiritual family—the children of God. In this case, the holy spirit is seen as being the power and life of God.] [Note: The fundamental position of the Trinity doctrine explains that God the Father, and God the son, and God the holy spirit, represent one essence called God, yet each retains a distinct sense of person and individuality within this “triune” concept of God.] [Note: The Binity doctrine was essentially the precursor to the doctrine of the Trinity.] [Note: Regardless of whether or not there is an acceptance of the Binity or Trinity doctrines, sometimes referred to as paradigms, it is evident that the biblical presentation does account for a “triune” expression of God in the Scripture. Thus the prophets and the apostles recognized that there was the unseen or invisible God, and there was the voice and thought of God, and there was the expressed power and creativeness of the spirit of God.] [Note: The apostles were aware of the god-man concept because this particular belief was not foreign to many peoples in the Middle East, Central Asia and Asia Minor. When Paul and Barnabas were in Iconium (Konya), which was in the southern part of central Anatolia, being modern-day Turkey, there were both Jews and gentiles who accepted the apostles’ teachings regarding the gospel of the kingdom of God. But the unbelieving Jews in the area stirred up trouble and convinced many of the people to cast Paul and Barnabas out of the city, and as a result they went on to Lyconia and came to the city of Lystra in Asia Minor. Upon arriving in Lystra we see that Paul and Barnabas found a: “certain man who was impotent in his feet, being a cripple from his mother’s womb, who never had walked: The same heard Paul speak: who stedfastly beholding him, and perceiving that he had faith to be healed, Said with a loud voice, Stand upright on thy feet. And he leaped and walked. And when the people saw what Paul had done, they lifted up their voices, saying in the speech of Lycaonia, The gods are come down to us in the likeness of men. And they called Barnabas, Jupiter; and Paul, Mercurius, because he was the chief speaker. Then the priest of Jupiter, which was before their city, brought oxen and garlands unto the gates, and would have done sacrifice with the people. Which when the apostles, Barnabas and Paul, heard of, they rent their clothes, and ran in among the people, crying out, And saying, Sirs, why do ye these things? We also are men of like passions with you, and preach unto you that ye should turn from these vanities unto the living God, which made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all things that are therein: Who in times past suffered all nations to walk in their own ways. Nevertheless he left not himself without witness, in that he did good, and gave us rain from heaven, and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness. And with these sayings scarce restrained they the people, that they had not done sacrifice unto them” (Acts 14:8-18).] [Note: There is the belief that the “beginning” that is addressed in John 1:1 is talking about a beginning that predates the creation of the heavens and the earth, which is a conclusion that has no biblical foundation or context. It is a fabrication that has led to much speculation about the relationship of God the Father and Jesus, assuming that both have always existed and perhaps—at some time in eternity—they both did not get along and had to come to an agreement before God created the heavens and the earth and humankind starting with Adam.] [Note: Jesus became the origin of those who would be “born” of God, noting that only God the Father through Jesus can give the power to become children of God, which is a conclusion that is understood from the writings of the Apostle John and the authors of the book of Hebrews.] [Note: Jesus’ Father, who was understood to be the “God of the fathers,” was the creator of the heavens and the earth, and the one—according to the apostles—who raised Jesus from the dead (Heb. 2:9-10; 3:4).] [Note: “For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified” (Rom. 8:29-30, ISV).] [Note: “The disciple ‘whom Jesus loved, who had lain close to his breast at the supper,’ in his own Gospel exhibits a true testimony that his lover is indeed the Christ, God’s son; that is that he is not only man, born at the end of the ages, of the Virgin’s womb, but also God, begotten of God the Father before all ages. All sacred Scripture, being divinely inspired bears witness to this truth but the original motivation as well as the text of this book by John defends that proposition in particular and in an especially lucid manner. The original motivation was derived from the fact that when the author was sent into exile by Domitian (the second persecutor of Christians as Nero