The INVISIBLE GOD (from God in Christ by John Paterson 1920)
Apr
13
Written by:
Wednesday, April 13, 2011 10:33 PM
It’s not just What was Jesus saying
BUT WHO was Jesus talking to???
He was not only talking to US through means of the recorded accounts of the Gospels ...
Jesus was ALSO, in fact reaching out to the people
that were standing there listening to Him...
They were, for the most part, "monotheistic Jews" ...
Practicing what we call today Judaism...
(Just Google “Monotheism – Judaism” ... & you'll see this everywhere)
one writer puts it like this…
Monotheism - Judaism is based on strict Unitarian monotheism,
the belief in one God. God is conceived of as eternal,
the creator of the universe, and the source of morality. God is one
The idea of God as a duality or a multi person Godhead is heretical for Jews to hold;
Now, I find this fascinating to consider as you read these accounts of Jesus
saying such things as "I & my father are 1" John 10:30
or when He tells Philip that "when you've seen me You've seen the Father". John 14:8-11
and read Rev. 21:6-7.
At no point do you see Jesus trying to convince those oneness believers
of anything but that He and that One God that they have always believed
in are one and the same....
He stands right in front of One God believers and to show them
He is the physical embodiment of the Invisible GOD...
The INVISIBLE GOD (from God in Christ by John Paterson 1920)
We have seen that the Father is a Spirit, that He fills all space and is everywhere present. Let us see if Scripture teaches that He IS visible. If, as some say, He is visible in a body separate from Christ, this would indicate the existence of two Persons (though It would NOT prove their co-existence in one Godhead).
But listen: "NO MAN hath seen GOD at ANY time" (John 1: 18; I John 4: 12);
"Now unto the King eternal, immortal, INVISIBLE, the ONLY wise God" (I Tim. 1: 17); "Whom NO MAN hath seen nor CAN SEE" (I Tim. 6: 16);
"Oh that I knew where I might find Him ... behold, I go forward, but He is not there; and
backward, but I cannot perceive Him; on the left hand, but I cannot behold Him; He hideth Himself on the right hand that I cannot see Him" (Job 23:3,8,9);
"Not that any man hath seen the Father" (John 6:46);
"The invisible God" (Col. 1:15);
"Him Who is invisible" (Heb. 11 :27);
"And the Lord spake unto you out of the midst of thy fire: ye heard the voice of the words, but saw no similitude. Take ye therefore good heed unto yourselves; for ye saw NO MANNER OF SIMILITUDE on the day the Lord spake unto you: lest ye corrupt yourselves, and make you a graven image, the similitude of any figure, the likeness of male or female" (Deut. 4:12-16).
From these passages it is evident that the Father is a Spirit, filling all things, everywhere present, and not only hath no man seen Him - no man can see Him. Doubtless some will ask, "How then did God show Himself to Abraham, eating and drinking before him?" (Gen. 18:6-8,33); or, "How did Moses see His back parts?" (Ex. 33:23); or, "How did the elders of Israel see the God of Israel, and did eat and drink?" (Ex. 24: 10, 11).
In the answer to these questions lies the secret of the mystery of God:
WATCH THE WORD…