by Lynnford Beachy

Table of Contents

The Origin of the Trial

     Eve in the Garden of Eden

     The Great Controversy

     An Angel With a Vital Message

     The Most Important Trial of All Time

The Biblical View of God

     The One God of the Bible

     The Love of God

     The Only Begotten Son of God

     The Death of the Son of God

     The Holy Spirit

Christianity’s Foundation Under Attack

     Heresies Arose

     The Council of Nicaea

     Sonship of Christ Becomes Orthodox

     Eternal Generation

     The Foundation of the Man of Sin

     “Begotten” Deleted from Newer Translations

     Solid Rock or Shifting Sand

An Examination of Some of the
Most Popular Views About God

     The Official Catholic View

     The Athanasian Creed

     The Orthodox Trinity

     The Orthodox Trinity Illustrated

     Modalism (“Jesus only”)

     Modalism Illustrated

     Unitarianism

     Tritheism

     Tritheism Illustrated

     Applying the Knowledge

     A Few Questions

     Summary

Chapter 1

The Origin of the Trial

There was a time when all of God’s creation was in harmony with God. Everyone was aware of God’s great love for them. At that time, there was no question in anyone’s mind regarding the goodness and integrity of God. Yet, this harmony and peace would soon be broken by the rise of sin in the heart of Lucifer, whom we now call Satan.

The Bible says that Lucifer was created perfect. God said to him, “Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee.” (Ezekiel 28:15) Lucifer means “Light Bearer,” and was the name of Satan before he fell. God also said to Lucifer: “How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!” (Isaiah 14:12) Lucifer was perfect when God created him. He obviously obeyed the first and greatest commandment, which is to love God with all his heart, all his soul, and all his mind. In order for Lucifer to have loved God with all his heart, he must have understood God’s love for him, because the Bible says, “We love [God], because he first loved us.” (1 John 4:19) Love for God always begins with an understanding and appreciation of God’s love for us.

We are not told how long Lucifer remained in a perfect condition, but the Bible says that “iniquity was found” in him. It is hard to imagine how Lucifer, who lived in a perfect universe with a perfect God of love, could come to a point where he would sin against God. While this is a great mystery, God revealed to Ezekiel a few details regarding Lucifer’s fall into sin that help us to understand what took place.

God said to Lucifer, “Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness.” (Ezekiel 28:17) When God said that Lucifer’s heart was lifted up, that was another way of saying that he became proud, and God said this happened because of how beautiful and good he thought he was. This pride, God said, corrupted his wisdom. When God said that Lucifer’s wisdom became corrupted, what wisdom was He referring to? The only wisdom that would be relevant in this context is Lucifer’s wisdom about God’s character of love. This is the wisdom that became corrupted in Lucifer as a result of his pride.

While Lucifer was perfect, he viewed God as a Person who is loving, just, and fair in everything He does and, therefore, Lucifer loved God with all his heart. However, Lucifer began to turn his eyes upon himself and realize how beautiful, how perfect, how wise, he was. He started to become proud of himself, his beauty, and his abilities. As this went on, he started to believe that he deserved a more exalted position than God had given him. He started to think that since he was so wonderful, and deserved a better position in heaven, God was not being fair to him for withholding from him what he deserved. After this, Lucifer began looking upon God as a Person who is unfair, unjust, and selfish. No longer did he recognize God’s character of love. His wisdom about God’s character of love became corrupted; he began to doubt God’s love, causing his love for God to diminish.

Lucifer’s wisdom about God’s love became so corrupted that he thought he could do a better job of ruling the universe than God Himself. Lucifer finally said, “I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.” (Isaiah 14:14)

After Lucifer cherished evil thoughts about God, he was not content to keep his new views to himself. Soon he started to sow seeds of doubt in the minds of God’s faithful angels. He wanted others to have the same distorted picture of God’s love that he had come to behold. The Bible says that Lucifer was so successful in his campaign to misrepresent God’s character of love that he convinced one third of the angelic host to accompany him in his rebellion. (See Revelation 12:4, 7-9)

It was Lucifer’s lie from the beginning that God was not as loving and caring as He made Himself out to be. Sin began with a disbelief in God’s love, and Lucifer knew that if he could get others to disbelieve God’s love they would join him in his rebellion. He took up the unholy task of bringing God’s love into question; of putting God’s love on trial.

Eve in the Garden of Eden

Finally Satan was cast out of heaven, but he had not given up on his campaign against God. The controversy was continued on this earth. In the form of a serpent he tricked Eve into accepting his distorted view about God’s character. The Bible says, “Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.” (Genesis 3:1-3) At this point, Eve innocently and completely believed that God loved her with all His heart. She had every reason to trust that God was looking out for her best interests in withholding the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil from her. God had told her not to eat the fruit of that tree because if she did it would have a very negative effect upon her; she would die. Eve understood that the fruit was harmful to her and, therefore, she believed that God was good and loving to withhold it from her.

Here is where Satan seized the opportunity to share his distorted picture of God’s character. “And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.” (Genesis 3:4, 5)

Please notice the intention behind Satan’s lie. He was not merely contradicting God’s Word, by stating that Eve would not die, but his real intention was to give Eve a distorted picture of God’s character of love. Satan knew that as long as Eve understood the fruit of the tree to be bad for her, she would look upon God as good for withholding it from her. So Satan tricked Eve into thinking that the fruit of the tree was actually good for her, which would mean that God was bad for withholding it from her. This is what Satan wanted. He wanted Eve to look upon God in the same way that he did, as a Person who is unjust, unfair, unkind and unloving. This was the real intention behind Satan’s first lie to mankind.

Satan planted a seed of doubt in Eve’s mind. She began to wonder why God had withheld the fruit of that tree from her. She had understood that it was for her own benefit, but now she began to wonder. Gazing at the fruit, Eve thought something like this, “Could it be that God is withholding this fruit from me because He doesn’t want me to become wise, and be elevated to a higher level?”

“And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.” (Genesis 3:6) Satan succeeded in getting Eve to join him in his rebellion against God. What was it that caused Eve’s fall? How could Satan convince a perfect, sinless being to openly rebel against God?

Up until that time, Eve was convinced that God loved her very much. God had done many wonderful things for her. He always provided for her needs, and everything was wonderful in that beautiful garden. At Satan’s instigation, Eve began to wonder if God really did love her. She wondered if there was something good that God was withholding from her. Soon she believed Satan’s lie and doubted God’s love. She ate of the fruit, and we all know the rest of the story.

The Great Controversy

It was a disbelief in God’s love that started Satan on his downward path. It was a disbelief in God’s love that convinced Eve to sin. It is a disbelief in God’s love that keeps us in sin today. It is only through a revelation of God’s infinite love, and our appreciation of it, that we can be brought back to God in a loving relationship surpassing any we have yet had.

For many years the people of the world lay in darkness regarding the immense love that God has for them. It was to make clear God’s love, and redeem His children, that God sent His only-begotten Son into the world. Jesus came to declare the wonderful character of love that God has for each one of us. He came to clarify once and for all that God is love, and His love is so great that He is willing to give up everything dear to Him in order to save those who rebelled against Him.

God’s character of love has been at the heart of the great controversy between Christ and Satan. It has been Satan’s goal to deceive men concerning the true character of God. Satan would have us believe that God is not as loving as He claims to be. Satan knows that if he can convince us on this issue, we will never completely surrender our lives to God enough to have a hatred for sin so great as to cause us to stop sinning and gain the victory over the mark of the beast crisis so soon to be unleashed upon this world. It is only through receiving a true picture of God’s love that we can ever love Him enough to fulfill the commandment that Jesus called “the first and great commandment.” Jesus said, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment.” (Matthew 22:37, 38)

An Angel With a Vital Message

Because the controversy over God’s character is so fierce, and gaining momentum as we near the end of this world and the mark of the beast crisis, God sent a very special message to His people, symbolized by the first angel of Revelation 14. This message will enable us to gain “the victory over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name.” (Revelation 15:2)

Immediately following John’s account of the mark of the beast crisis in Revelation 13, he wrote, “I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people.” (Revelation 14:6) This angel represents God’s work through human agents to preach a message to “them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people.” This is the same message Jesus referred to when He said, “And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.” (Matthew 24:14)

Just before the end comes the everlasting gospel will be preached in all the world. What is the everlasting gospel? The word gospel means “glad tidings” or “good news.” “As it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!” (Romans 10:15) So this message, that is to go to all the world at this time, is everlasting good news of good things. What good news could be everlasting good news? Someone might tell you, “I’ve got good news! You’ve just won a million dollars!” This might be good news, but it is temporary good news; it is not everlasting good news. Everlasting good news is good news that will be good news throughout all eternity.

Paul shed light on this question when he wrote, “I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith.” (Romans 1:16, 17) The gospel reveals the righteousness, or the goodness, of God. Truly this is everlasting good news; good news that will still be good news a million years from now, and for all eternity.

Paul stated something else in these verses, which we need to particularly notice. He said the gospel is “the power of God unto salvation.” When the goodness and love of God is revealed to you it becomes the motivating power that changes your life. Paul expressed it in another place in this way: “the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance.” (Romans 2:4) Understanding the goodness of God, His love, compassion, gentleness, and mercy, leads us to repentance and motivates us to continue serving Him. Love is the agent that God uses to remove sin from our lives.

Now that we have a good understanding of what the everlasting gospel is designed to do, we can look at what this angel with the everlasting gospel has to say to us. He cried “with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.” (Revelation 14:7) Two more angels immediately follow this angel, with additional information to help us gain the victory over the mark of the beast, but this is the only one that directly instructs us to take action. There are three things we are instructed to do:

Œ “Fear God”

 “Give glory to Him”

Ž “Worship Him that made heaven and earth”

We can see that the first angel’s message is calling people to the acknowledgment and worship of the true God of heaven. Based upon what we just learned about the everlasting gospel, we know that this message is designed to reveal the goodness and love of God. It is calling people to know God’s identity and His character of love, which will enable them to love God with all their hearts and gain the victory over the mark of the beast. Only those who understand the everlasting gospel will be able to worship God in spirit and in truth, thus obeying the first angel’s message.

The Most Important Trial of All Time

Satan has called into question God’s love. He has put God’s love on trial, and you are a member of the jury. It is up to you to decide who is right in this controversy. The trial has come to you for a decision. Your decision will have everlasting consequences because it will determine how you relate to God, the depth of your love for Him, your obedience to His commandments and, ultimately, your eligibility to enter the kingdom of heaven.

Will you be one of those over whom God triumphantly proclaims, “Here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus”? (Revelation 14:12) Will you be one of the blessed ones who “do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city”? (Revelation 22:14) If you are going to be in that number, you will need to make the right decision in this great trial that all of us have been plunged into. You will need to examine the evidence for yourself, and come to appreciate God as He is revealed in His Word and through His Son, Jesus Christ. Only then will it be rightly said of you that you are a “true worshiper.” (John 4:23)

Please read on, because the evidence in this trial must be examined thoroughly before an accurate decision can be made. Solomon wrote, “He that answereth a matter before he heareth it, it is folly and shame unto him.” (Proverbs 18:13)

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Chapter 2

The Biblical View of God

God created mankind with an inherent desire to worship. You can go anywhere in the world, even to the most remote tribe in Africa, and you will find that they worship. There is something about believing that a God exists that fills a void in a person’s life.

Some, in their desire to worship, have made themselves gods of wood or stone. Others invent mystical gods in their own imaginations.

Every religion is based upon some conception of God. Unfortunately many religions are based upon a conception of false gods, and some are even based upon false conceptions of the true God.

One thing is sure, for those who choose to worship, their whole life and character is molded by the type of person they perceive their God to be. (See 2 Corinthians 3:18.) People who worship a harsh and cruel god will generally become harsh and cruel themselves. So a person’s perception of God dramatically affects whether that person is a good person or not, and it ultimately will determine whether that person will live forever or be destroyed in the lake of fire.

The biggest and most important difference between Christianity and paganism is the God that we worship. In order for anyone to be a Christian he must first begin by having an understanding about the true God.

There are many people who think that all Christians have the same ideas about God. However, it is amazing that within Christianity there are many different ideas about God, and these different ideas vary dramatically from one another. But how are you to know which one of these ideas is right?

My friends, we can be very thankful that God has not left us to guess on such an important subject as this. He has given us His Word to study and to find out what is truth. So, today we are going to look into our Bibles and see for ourselves what God reveals about Himself.

In John chapter 4 we read an account of Jesus talking with a Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well. In their conversation Jesus made a statement that we really need to consider. He said to her, “Ye worship ye know not what!” (John 4:22) You can just imagine how shocked this woman was to hear these words. You see, the Samaritans were not pagans. They claimed to worship the same God that the Jews worshiped. But Jesus told this woman that she did not know what she worshiped.

The Apostle Paul gave a similar testimony to the men on Mars’ Hill when he said, “As I passed by, and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription, TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you.” (Acts 17:23) Was Paul congratulating the men on Mars’ Hill for worshiping an unknown god? Was Jesus complimenting the woman at the well for worshiping something she did not know? Certainly not! That type of worship is useless, and is displeasing to God.

In Jeremiah 9:23, 24 God told Jeremiah, “Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches: But let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me, that I am the LORD which exercise lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth: for in these things I delight, saith the LORD.”

God desires us to love Him and worship Him because we know what He is like. He wants us to understand Who He is, and what His character is like so that when we worship Him we know Whom we are worshiping. When we worship something that we do not know or understand, then we are not really worshiping the true God. The men who set up an altar “to the unknown god” were not worshiping the true God at all. Their worship was directed to someone, but it certainly was not directed to the God of heaven. The Bible tells us that when we worship false gods or idols, we are actually worshiping Satan:

In 1 Corinthians 10:20, Paul wrote, “But I say, that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils, and not to God: and I would not that ye should have fellowship with devils.” And in Deuteronomy 32:16, 17, we read, “They provoked him to jealousy with strange gods, with abominations provoked they him to anger. They sacrificed unto devils, not to God; to gods whom they knew not, to new gods that came newly up, whom your fathers feared not.” So we see, the Bible teaches that if we worship idols or gods that we do not know, then we are actually worshiping devils.

Friends, this is serious! We better make sure that we know Whom we are worshiping because, if we are wrong on this, then we are worshiping Satan and will be lost.

Satan is at work in this world to deceive mankind into worshiping a false god. He is seeking to hide, from our view, a true picture of the God of heaven and His love for us.

If we worship a god whom we do not know, even if there is no outward idol for our eyes to look upon, we can be just as truly worshiping Satan as were the servants of Baal.

The One God of the Bible

Let us open our Bibles and see what it actually says about God. In Isaiah 44:6 God said, “Beside me there is no God,” and in verse 8 He continued, “Is there a God beside me? yea, there is no God; I know not any.” This is very precise language to indicate that the speaker is alone. All of the pronouns are singular, indicating that only one person is speaking. Who is this one person?

Paul clarified this in his first letter to the Corinthians. He wrote, “we know… that there is none other God but one.” (1 Corinthians 8:4) To make it abundantly clear who he was referring to as the God beside which there is none other, Paul continued. In verse 6 he wrote, “To us there is but one God, the Father.” Paul understood the one God of the Bible to be God, the Father, and no one else.

Jesus had the same understanding. After Jesus said, “Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord,” a scribe told Him, “Well, Master, thou hast said the truth: for there is one God; and there is none other but he.” (Mark 12:29, 32) Who is the one God the scribe was referring to? Was he referring to Jesus as the one God? Certainly not! He was referring to God, the Father, and Jesus knew it.

At another time, while Jesus was talking to the scribes and Pharisees, He said, “If I honour myself, my honour is nothing: it is my Father that honoureth me; of whom ye say, that he is your God.” (John 8:54) Jesus knew that when the scribes and Pharisees said “God,” they were referring to His Father. When this scribe said, “There is one God; and there is none other but he,” Jesus knew that he was talking about His Father.

Did Jesus correct the scribe by saying, “You’ve got it wrong, I am really the one God of the Bible”? Absolutely not! To the contrary, Jesus complimented him for his good answer by exclaiming, “Thou art not far from the kingdom of God.” Jesus knew that this man was correct, that there is one God, the Father, and there is none other God but He.

The Father is called “the only true God” (John 17:3), “the Most High God” (Mark 5:7), “the only Potentate [the only supreme ruler]” (1 Timothy 6:15), the “one God and Father of all who is above all” (Ephesians 4:6), and it is said several times that “there is none other God but He.” (Mark 12:32; See also Isaiah 44:6; 1 Corinthians 8:4; etc.) The Bible is very clear that the “one God” of the Bible is “God, the Father.” (1 Corinthians 8:6)

In the Bible, the Father declares that He is the only God, and there is none other god beside Him. Jesus taught the same truth, yet, in the New Testament, we find that Christ is also called God. (Hebrews 1:8) How can that be?

In the Bible, the word “god” has several different meanings. In a very limited sense, men are called gods. Both the Greek word theos and the Hebrew word elohim, which are most often translated “god” are used in reference to men. (See Exodus 7:1; Psalm 82:6; John 10:34) When the word “god” is used in that sense, then there are hundreds and thousands of gods.

In a less limited sense, angels are called gods. David wrote about man, “For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels [elohim].” (Psalms 8:5) The word “angels” in this verse comes from the Hebrew word elohim. The way elohim is used here it denotes a type of being that is higher than man, but it is still used in a limited sense, and with this definition there would still be many gods.

In reference to Christ, the word “god” is used in a much less limited sense, to denote His nature as being on the same level as His Father—something that cannot be said about any other being in the universe. The Bible says that Christ was “in the form of God.” (Philippians 2:6)

But even when the word “god” is used of Christ, it is used in a limited sense, because Christ has a God who is “the head of Christ,” “above all,” and “greater than” He. (1 Corinthians 11:3; Ephesians 4:6; and John 14:28) When the word “God” is used in its absolute and unlimited sense, there is only one person to whom it can apply, and that is God, the Father, alone. Jesus said that His Father is “the only true God.” (John 17:3) Paul said, “there is none other God but one… God, the Father.” (1 Corinthians 8:4, 6) Of the 1,354 times the word “god” is used in the New Testament, more than 99% of the time it refers exclusively to God, the Father, while it only applies to His Son four times. (John 1:1; John 20:28; Hebrews 1:8; 1 Timothy 3:16)

So, to clarify, there are many gods when the word “god” is used in a limited sense, to include men and angels. When the word “god” is used as an adjective to describe the nature of God, as in the last part of John 1:1, then there are only two divine beings, God, the Father, and Jesus Christ, His only begotten Son. The Son of God is completely divine by nature because His Father is divine, just as I am completely human, because my parents are human.

When the word “god” is used in its absolute sense, to denote “the most high God,” “the Sovereign of the universe,” or “the only true God,” then there is only one God; God, the Father, beside which there is no God.

The Love of God

Not only must we know the identity of God in order to worship Him “in spirit and in truth” (John 4:24), but we must also know His character of love. In the most well-known verse of the Bible, Jesus said, “God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16) When Jesus said God “so loved the world” He was saying, “This is how much God loves you, He loves you so much that He did something for you—He demonstrated His love for you by giving up His most precious possession, His only begotten Son.

If God had loved the world so much that He gave a goat, you and I would seriously question God’s love for us, because a goat would be an almost meaningless gift for God to give up, since it is something He created. If God had loved the world so much that He gave a human, what would we think then? Well, that is a little better than a goat, but it is still a small gift, because humans were also created. What if God had loved the world so much that He gave an angel? That is a better gift than a human, but it still falls far short of demonstrating how much God loves us. You see, our understanding of God’s love depends upon the value of the gift He gave up for us. The more valuable the gift He gave, the more we can see His love for us.

God gave His only begotten Son for us. He has other sons, but He only has one begotten Son. We can be “sons of God” by adoption (Romans 8:14), angels are “sons of God” by creation (Job 1:6; 2:1), but Jesus Christ is the only begotten Son of God. What sets Jesus Christ apart from everyone else in the universe, and by which we know God’s love for us, is the fact that He was begotten. This puts Him in the closest possible relationship with God.

God knows, from firsthand experience, the most valuable possession a person can have. He knows that nothing is more valuable to a person than a child whom they love. This is precisely where God tested Abraham’s love and loyalty when He asked him to offer his beloved son, Isaac, for a sacrifice. Abraham’s willingness to obey God’s command proved that he loved God with all his heart. It proved that he would be willing to give up every possession he had for God.

The same thing is true with God. When He gave up His only begotten Son it proved that He is willing to give up every possession, suffer any amount of pain, and endure any hardship in order to save those whom He loves. This is what Paul meant when he said, “He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?” (Romans 8:32)

God truly loves us, yet this love can only be comprehended by understanding that God gave His only begotten Son. Understanding God’s love as demonstrated in the gift of His Son is vitally important for us, for it is the key that enables us to overcome the world. John wrote, “Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?” (1 John 5:5) Believing that Jesus is the begotten Son of God enables us to overcome the world by elevating our perception of God’s love and enabling us to love Him with all our hearts in return. John expressed it this way: “We love him, because he first loved us.” (1 John 4:19)

The Only Begotten Son of God

What did Jesus mean when He said He was begotten? Jesus, speaking of Himself, said, “When there were no depths, I was brought forth [born]; when there were no fountains abounding with water. Before the mountains were settled, before the hills was I brought forth [born]… Then I was by him, as one brought up with him: and I was daily his delight, rejoicing always before him.” (Proverbs 8:24, 25, 30)

According to the Bible, Jesus Christ was begotten, which literally means born, before anything was created—long before God sent Him into the world. (See Hebrews 1:1-9; Colossians 1:15; John 3:16, 17; 18:37; and 1 John 4:9.) How He was begotten is not for us to know, but God wants us to realize that He and His Son have a close, genuine, father-son relationship that is not just a role or an act.

My friends, God really means what He says. He says that He gave His only begotten Son. If Jesus Christ was not the begotten Son of God before God sent Him into the world, then what did the Father give up? Many sincere Christians believe that Jesus Christ is an exactly equal, same-aged companion of the Father. If this were true, then all the Father gave up was a friend; a companion! If this were true, then the One who loves us the most is Christ, because He is the One who willingly died for us.

It is true that Jesus Christ loves us very much, and we praise and thank Him for that love. However, the Bible teaches that God, the Father, suffered tremendously when His Son was suffering under the weight of our sins. (Compare Psalm 18:4-11 with Matthew 27:45-51) In Abraham and Isaac’s story it was obviously the father, Abraham, who suffered more than Isaac when he gave up his beloved son. Jesus said, “the Father himself loveth you.” (John 16:27) John wrote, “Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us.” (1 John 3:1) We cannot behold the love of the Father if we do not know what He gave up for us. “In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him.” (1 John 4:9) God has an only begotten Son whom He willingly gave up so that you could be forgiven of your sins and live for eternity. Praise God for such wonderful love!

Some people think that God is beyond the possibility of having a Son, but Jesus said, “with God all things are possible.” (Mark 10:27) The Bible refers to Christ as God’s Son at least 120 times. The Bible does this by using the phrase “Son of God” forty-seven times. Regarding the genuineness of Christ’s Sonship, He is called “the only begotten” five times, “the firstborn” three times, “the firstbegotten” once, and God’s “holy child” twice. Four verses say He was “begotten” prior to His incarnation. Four verses say that He “proceeded forth from,” “came out from” or “camest forth from” the Father. The evidence on this subject is overwhelming. Christ truly is the literal begotten Son of God, brought forth from the Father before all creation. If God expected us to believe anything different, He did a poor job of presenting it in the Bible. In fact, if God had wanted us to believe differently, He purposely confused us by making so many clear statements indicating that Christ is literally the begotten Son of God, without the slightest clarification to indicate that we should not take His words in their common meaning. Yet, “God is not the author of confusion, but of peace.”(1 Corinthians 14:33)

Any writer or public speaker knows that when they use a word or a phrase that could be easily misunderstood, clarifications need to be made to prevent people from coming to the wrong conclusions. Yet, throughout the New Testament, where Christ is said to be the begotten Son of God, there is never any type of correction or clarification so that these words would not be taken in their natural sense. Jesus said that He is “the only begotten Son of God.” (John 3:18) Concerning another subject, but the principle can be applied with equal force here, He said, “If it were not so, I would have told you.” (John 14:2)

You might be thinking, “I have always believed Jesus is the Son of God.” Great! You might also be thinking, “Don’t all Christians believe that Jesus is the Son of God?” As we shall see a little later, the reality is that most who profess to be Christians actually do not believe Jesus to be the real Son of God.

The Death of the Son of God

Our salvation was accomplished by the death of the Son of God. “We were reconciled to God by the death of his Son.” (Romans 5:10) Notice, it was not the death of the Son of man (the human nature), but the death of the divine Son of God that reconciled us to God.

These few words of Paul mean much more than we can fathom with just a brief reading of them. God loves us so much that He sent His only begotten Son into this world to die for wretched sinners like you and me. This is more than a cliché. The thought contained in these words demonstrates the immense sacrifice that God made in our behalf. “He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?” (Romans 8:32) If God was willing to give up His own Son for us, it proves, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that He is willing to give up all that He possesses for our benefit, because His Son meant more to Him than anything in the universe. When we understand what took place at the cross, it will melt our hearts like nothing else can.

The extreme anguish Christ experienced at the cross is described in the following verses: “Thou hast laid me in the lowest pit, in darkness, in the deeps. Thy wrath lieth hard upon me, and thou hast afflicted me with all thy waves. Selah.” (Psalm 88:6, 7) Christ suffered the worst death that anyone has ever, or will ever, suffer. Others have suffered equally or even greater if we limit His suffering to His physical pain alone. Yet His death was the worst in that His relationship with His Father was so close that the loss of that relationship caused Him the greatest anguish that anyone will ever suffer. Christ’s emotional turmoil was great when He realized His Father’s displeasure. Though He had not sinned, He was tempted to believe that He would suffer eternal death for the salvation of you and me. Christ made the conscious decision that if it meant He must die for eternity so you can live with God forever, then He was willing to do it.

At any moment the Son of God could have cried to His Father to deliver Him, but He went on, knowing that some would be saved. When a group of soldiers came out to capture Christ, Peter began to fight for Him, but Christ rebuked him saying, “Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father, and He shall presently give me more than twelve legions of angels?” (Matthew 26:53) He was determined never to give up, even if it meant He would never live again. He had decided to surrender His will to His Father. “And He said, Abba, Father, all things are possible unto thee; take away this cup from me: nevertheless not what I will, but what thou wilt.” (Mark 14:36) The Son of God was “obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.” (Philippians 2:8) Finally, He cried out in anguish, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46) The Son of God suffered a real death for our sins, when the sins of the whole world were placed upon Him. (See Isaiah 53:6 and 1 John 2:2.) It was not pretend, it was not an act, it was real.

There are some who claim that Christ came down from heaven and inhabited a human body and that, when it came time to die, only the human body died while the divine being who came down from heaven remained alive. With this view we would have to conclude that there was only a human sacrifice made for our redemption. No matter how exalted the pre-existent Son was, no matter how glorious, how powerful, or even eternal, if the manhood only died, the sacrifice was only human. It is contrary to reason to believe that a human sacrifice is sufficient to redeem mankind, and it is contrary to Scripture to say that only half of Christ died. Let us see from the Bible why this is so.

In Hebrews chapter one, Paul portrays Christ as being highly exalted, the one who was begotten in the express image of His Father’s person. Then, in Hebrews chapter two, Paul explains the necessity of Christ becoming a man so that He could redeem us. In verse nine of this chapter he explains, “But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man.” (Hebrews 2:9) Paul explains the importance of Christ becoming a man, made a little lower than the angels, so that He could die; not so that a human body could die, but so that the divine Son of God could die. This verse would mean absolutely nothing if the Son of God did not die completely.

The fact that Christ did die is brought out even more clearly in the following verses: “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation [Greek: emptied Himself], and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name.” (Philippians 2:5-9)

These verses are very clear. The same identical Being who was in the form of God in verse six, died in verse eight. Jesus Christ Himself made it very clear to John that He was dead. Jesus said, “I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.” (Revelation 1:18)

In Isaiah 53 we read the following account: “it pleased the Lord to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin,… he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.” (Isaiah 53:10-12)

According to the Scripture, the soul of Christ died; the soul of Christ was made the offering for sin. The soul of a person constitutes the entire being. If a soul dies, the entire being is dead. The soul is more than just the body. Jesus said, “fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.” (Matthew 10:28)

We are told that the soul of Christ was in the grave. On the day of Pentecost Peter said, “He seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh did see corruption.” (Acts 2:31) The word hell in the preceding verse was translated from the Greek word hades. This word means grave in every case. The soul of Christ rested with His body in the tomb.

The Spirit of Christ inspired David to write concerning Christ’s death, “I am shut up, and I cannot come forth.” (Psalm 88:8) Christ was shut up in the tomb, and He could not come forth. The Bible says more than thirty times that God, the Father, raised Christ from the dead. (1) Paul wrote that he was an apostle, “not of men, neither by man, but by Jesus Christ, and God, the Father, who raised him from the dead.” (Galatians 1:1)

Paul also emphasized, in Ephesians 1:19, 20, that “the exceeding greatness” of the Father’s “mighty power” was demonstrated “when he raised” Christ “from the dead.” If Christ had actually raised Himself from the dead, as some people believe, then Paul’s words could not have been true. It would not have been the Father’s power, but the power of Christ which would have been demonstrated.

Christ did not raise Himself from the dead or else He would not have been dead to begin with, and His words could not be true, “I can of mine own self do nothing.” (John 5:30) When the Son of God was asleep in the tomb, He was as the rest of the dead who know not anything and whose thoughts have perished. (Psalm 146:4)

Of Christ we read, “Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared.” (Hebrews 5:7) Who was Christ praying to with strong crying and tears? Was He praying to Himself? Absolutely not! He was praying to His Father, and He was praying to the only One “that was able to save him from death.”

It would have been a mockery for Christ to have cried out to His Father to save Him from death, if all the while He was immortal and able to save Himself from death. Christ died completely, Friends, and He relied upon His Father to resurrect Him. He said, “Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit” (Luke 23:46), indicating His complete dependence upon His Father to save Him out of death, and His willingness to entrust His eternal life into the hands of His Father.

It was an immense sacrifice for God to yield up His only-begotten Son for us, yet He was willing to do it. If there was any other way that the human race could have been redeemed, God would have done it. Paul wrote, “I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain.” (Galatians 2:21) Redemption comes to us only through “the blood of Jesus Christ.” If redemption could have come to us any other way, then Christ died in vain.

The Holy Spirit

The Bible speaks of many spirits. There are spirits of men, spirits of beasts, spirits of devils, etc. In fact, every living being has a spirit. In the book of Job, we read, “There is a spirit in man: and the inspiration of the Almighty giveth them understanding.” (Job 32:8) The Bible says that a spirit is where a person thinks, reasons, is troubled, etc. David wrote, “My spirit was overwhelmed within me.” (Psalms 142:3) Isaiah wrote, “With my spirit within me will I seek thee early.” (Isaiah 26:9) Of Jesus it was said, “When Jesus perceived in his spirit that they so reasoned within themselves, he said unto them, Why reason ye these things in your hearts?” (Mark 2:8) Based on the testimony of Scripture we can conclude that the spirit of a man is the thinking, conscious, reasoning part of man.

We know that man has a spirit, but does God have a Spirit? Notice how Paul likened the spirit of man to the Spirit of God in 1 Corinthians 2:11: “For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God.” God has a Spirit, and that Spirit is holy, for God is holy. That is why God’s Spirit is sometimes called, the Holy Spirit. The word “Holy” is an adjective in every case, whether in English or in Greek. “Holy Spirit” is not a name, but a description of the Spirit of God.

The Holy Spirit is continually referred to as “the Spirit of God,” or “the holy Spirit of God.” (Ephesians 4:30) As we noted earlier, the one God of the Bible is the Father, so the Holy Spirit of God is the Spirit of the Father. This is precisely what Jesus taught when He said, “For it is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father which speaketh in you.” (Matthew 10:20) In Luke’s account of the same conversation this statement is recorded like this: “For the Holy Ghost shall teach you in the same hour what ye ought to say.” (Luke 12:12) When we compare these two verses we find that “the Spirit of your Father” is used interchangeably with “the Holy Ghost.” Therefore, the Holy Ghost, or Holy Spirit, is the Spirit of the Father.

Jesus said that the Holy Spirit “proceedeth from the Father.” (John 15:26) The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of the Father, and He sends His Spirit to us through His Son Jesus Christ. Paul expressed it this way: “Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour.” (Titus 3:5, 6) In this process we gain the added benefit of receiving the Spirit of Christ, who was “in all points tempted like as we are,” and is able to help us when we are tempted.” (Hebrews 4:15; 2:18) We find this truth proclaimed in Galatians 4:6, “And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.” When we receive the gift of the Holy Spirit, we receive both the Spirit of the Father and the Spirit of Christ (Romans 8:9-11), not a third being or person, separate and distinct from the Father and His Son.

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Footnote:

1.    Acts 2:24,30,32; 3:15,26; 4:10; 5:30; 10:40; 13:23,30,33,34,37; 17:31; 26:8; Romans 4:24,25; 6:4; 8:11; 10:9; 1 Corinthians 6:14; 15:15; 2 Corinthians 4:14; Galatians 1:1; Ephesians 1:20; Colossians 2:12; 1 Thessalonians 1:10; 2 Timothy 2:8; Hebrews 13:20; 1 Peter 1:3,21.

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Chapter 3

Christianity’s Foundation Under Attack

“If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do?” (Psalms 11:3)

The Sonship of Christ is the foundation of the gospel and of Christianity. This is the foundation of which Christ said, “upon this rock I will build my church.” (Matthew 16:18)

One day, when Jesus and His disciples came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, Jesus asked His disciples, “Whom do men say that I the Son of man am? And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets. He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” (Matthew 16:13-18)

Notice that the subject of this conversation was who Jesus is. When Jesus said, “upon this rock I will build my church,” He didn’t change the subject and refer to Peter as the rock, but He was referring to the truth that Jesus is the Son of God. Upon this t