Jesus Christ, Revealing the Father

Richard Ritenbaugh, observing that Jesus Christ has been the most misunderstood Being who ever lived, cautions us that we could possibly come to share the same sort of misconceptions His Own parents had. Jesus' question in Luke 2:49, "Did you not know that I must be about My Father's business?" indicates that, at the early age of 12, Jesus knew the parameters of His mission. He realized from His earliest memory as a human being that He was more than a man and had existed with His Father from eternity. John 1:1-3 reveals Jesus Christ's pedigree as the Logos (or Spokesman), whose function was to declare or reveal the Father. God the Father was intimately involved in choosing His physical parents; yet, He left nothing to chance in His education, which consisted of continuous communication between Him and His Son. In John 14:10-11, Jesus proclaimed, "I do not speak on My Own authority but the Father in Me," implying that He and the Father had always been in each other's presence. The Father was in Him throughout His life, a relationship They seek to replicate in all of God's Children. When Christ cried out in agony the second the Father rejected Him because of our sins, He expressed the horror of losing His life-long link with His Father. Our faith rests on the indwelling of the Father and the Son. This special "bosom buddy" relationship Jesus, by teaching us about His Father, fervently desires as the ultimate destiny of God's Called-ones.

Richard Ritenbaugh, examining our belief regarding the nature of God, which rejects both the Catholic-fabricated trinity as well as the Protestant assumption that Yahweh was the harsh God of the Old Testament while Jesus was the benevolent God of the New, explains the context in Deuteronomy 6:4—"the LORD is One." The Hebrew noun transliterated Elohim is plural, but takes a singular verb, denoting that it is a collective substantive. More than one Being constitutes the God Family. Before Christ revealed God the Father, the world as a whole was ignorant of the Father—that Our Lord has a LORD to which we are all subject. The Old Testament Scriptures provide powerful hints about the existence of the Father, beginning with the proclamation in Genesis 1:26, "Let Us make man in our image." The substantiation of God the Father's identity was obscured by a narrower cultural understanding that "My LORD said to my Lord (Psalm 110:1)" referred to any anointed Israelite king, who the Scriptures recognize to be a son of God. After Christ revealed the Father (acknowledging Him as the Supreme Deity), it became clear that: (1) God the Father is Our Creator; (2) We physically resemble Him; (3) He has strict, unchanging standards for eternal life; (4) He is sovereign; (5) He is the Father to Christ and to us; (6) He works through His Son; (7) He bestows authority in the Son; (8) He aims to set up an everlasting Kingdom that will bring peace everywhere. Deuteronomy 6:4 refers to God as one, signifying unity of purpose and single-mindedness in character!

John Ritenbaugh, reiterating that God works in mysterious ways, assures us that, because of God's calling, we have a far clearer understanding of His purposes than those yet uncalled. Powered by the spirit in man, no individual is able to understand God, as witnessed by the consistently antagonistic reaction of the Pharisees and scribes to God's truth, as explained to them by Christ. To those called, the Bible is no mystery, but to the world at large, it seems inscrutable. For His Own reasons, God has chosen not to reveal His plan to those the world considers wise, but, instead, to work with the weaker sort of mankind. God told Cain how to overcome sin when He rejected his offering: Namely, we must wrest the control sin has over us at the formative stage of desire. Timing is crucial. We should never allow sin to escape its incipient stage of desire. Most of 'Christendom' fails to realize that God has called us to do battle with our carnal natures, a cross we bear until He resurrects us as spirit beings. At our baptism, He counsels us to soberly count the cost, asking ourselves if we are willing to give up everything, including our lives, to conform to Christ's image, becoming a new creation in the process. Even with God's initial gift of His Holy Spirit, we cannot form an on-going, growing relationship with God unless He continually strengthens us with additional gifting—more grace.

Bill Onisick, exploring the origins of Father's Day, suggests that it may have originated in Europe when the Roman Catholic Church set aside March 19th to honor fatherhood. In the United States, several women, seeking to honor their dead spouses who had died in accidents or military conflict, set various summer dates. Our most recent date, the third Sunday in June, was signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson. The ideal father-son relationship was expressed by our Elder Brother, who honored God the Father by keeping His Commandments. How we honor our Heavenly Father determines the level of our spiritual maturity. We often encounter individuals in our fellowship who serve as supreme trials to us. Perhaps God has placed them there so we can develop our ability to forgive. Others may also consider us their biggest trial. Whether we weed a garden of our physical father or do something positive for our Heavenly One, we should realize that nothing says "Thank you" like obedience.

Martin Collins, acknowledging that because we still have human nature, selfishness dominates our prayer, in contrast to Christ, who devoted 5 petitions on His own behalf and 21 petitions on behalf of His disciples entrusted to Him by the Father to help Him bring glory to God. Jesus revealed the Father to the disciples, including the instructions to regard the Father as a loving parent. The disciples preserved this relationship in their prayers and in their relationship with one another as siblings with Christ. God has planned our way, doing the lion's share of the work, continually keeping us on track if we maintain a teachable attitude. If we observe Christ's words, there must be a demonstrable difference in our behavior and a commitment to obey His teachings in order to bear good spiritual fruit, adopting a lifestyle which the people of this world hate. Christ prays for us as He did for His original disciples because we too have been called by the Father and entrusted to Him. Christ values us because the Father values us.We glorify Christ when we obey Him, carrying His example of holiness to the world through our behavior and actions. As Christ intercedes in prayer for us, we must intercede in prayer for our brethren, realizing we are all in this together.

John Ritenbaugh, reiterating that the heart is the generator or birthplace of our action, reminds us that we are a treasure in God's eyes, chosen, royal, and special, and we must guard and protect our calling, realizing it is the most precious possession we will ever attain- an opportunity to serve as the chosen retinue of Christ the King, the Bride of Christ, the 144,000 of Revelation 7:4, representing 12,000 from each tribe of Israel. In addition to the 144,000, the Innumerable Multitude consists of glorified spirit beings which have gone through great tribulation or stress, referring more to a perennial condition than a point event because the Greek did not contain the definite article (that is, the) in the original text. We are all currently going through this type of tribulation, which started with Adam and Eve's sinning and will crescendo right up until the end. The Church, or the Israel of God, started by Jesus Christ and the Apostles, is a unique educational institution, teaching the way of God and amplifying His Commandments, in contrast to the churches of this world, which take part in the world's politics as well as its wars and the emerging universality movement, which teaches there are many ways to God and that it is possible to be spiritual without being religious. The only institution that is qualified to preach the Gospel of the Kingdom of God is the one consisting of those specifically called by God, willing to follow His Commandments, and yielding unconditionally to His leadership. Consequently, it is essential to know who we are and how we fit in. The churches of the world don't hold the answer because they have rejected the Sabbath and Holy Days, and do not see themselves as citizens of God's Heavenly Kingdom, seeing no use to follow the footsteps of Christ, imitating His behavior. God's Church separates itself from the world's systems, but maintains its loyalty to God's Heavenly Kingdom, upholding its laws in the spirit and the letter. The Church of God is an educational system preaching

Joe Baity, reflecting on the electromagnetic spectrum, observes that the visible part of the range is a very small part of this continuum. We are only able to see when light rays bounce off luminous matter. There is much, much more that we cannot see—a kind of invisible connective tissue throughout the universe. More is unknown than is known. The luminous matter constitutes less than 5% of the universe. What we cannot see may constitute unseen spirit or spirit energy. Light is a metaphor of truth. In this world of darkness, we must walk in God's truth, seeing the spiritual path a little bit at a time until we arrive in the New Jerusalem, needing no external illumination. Eventually we will be like God the Father and Jesus Christ, seeing Them as They are

John Ritenbaugh observes that for over 50 years the Worldwide Church of God had no confusion about the nature of God, but in 1993, with the publication of the "God is..." booklet, the understanding of God as a family was surreptitiously replaced by the trinity doctrine, designated by the Roman Catholic Church as the most important doctrine in Christendom. The true understanding of the concept of Elohim thoroughly dismantles the entire trinity argument. What people worship is important to the quality of life within a nation, determining the ethics, art, fashions, and their vision for the future. As Emerson avers, we become what we worship. Unfortunately, there are many gods which compete for the loyalty we owe to the Almighty God, the God over all. God revealed Himself to Israel, but Israel has forsaken the legitimate knowledge of His nature, turning instead to vain Christological speculation. As late as 325 (at the Nicean conclave), the Catholic church could not find consensus with the trinity doctrine; not until more than 126 years later, in 451 AD, before the doctrine became accepted, as the people who would not accept it died off. Elohim wanted us to know that more than one personality (working in unity and harmony) was responsible for the creation of man. Jesus declared that the Son of Man came to reveal the Father of the spiritual creation, revealing how mankind can become children of God. God is recreating or reproducing Himself; we are being prepared to become a part of Elohim. To insert a third co-equal personality in the Godhead denies our opportunity for membership in the God family, and denies Christ's insistence that the Father is greater than He.

Focusing upon Galatians 4:6, John Ritenbaugh reiterates that Jesus Christ constitutes that Spirit that had been designated to dwell within us. There is no third person in a closed trinity. Jesus Christ and God the Father are one in spirit and purpose, purposing to draw us toward that same kind of unity that currently exists between them. The word Elohim is not limited to god-beings, gender, or family. There are two God beings working in such harmony (John 10:30) that they are one family. The Father and the son are both of the God-kind (group, class, family)- creating, ruling beings. Absolute can be considered a synonym for supreme; there is no one to whom God the Father must submit. Jesus Christ did yield to the Father and had as His function revealing the Father. By Jesus' own testimony, Jesus recognized the Father as greater (or superior) than He (John 5:30; 6:38; 8:29; 12:49-50; 14:28). Paul recognized that the Father was superior to Christ in rank (I Corinthians 15:27-28). Revelation 3:12 The lesser is submitting to the greater. As fully spirit, Jesus still recognized the Father's superiority; Jesus was admitting He was not the Absolute God, even though both were equal in terms of their kind. In terms of function and responsibility, God the Father is superior (I Corinthians 8:6, Ephesians 4:4-6, I Timothy 3:17); God's family has hierarchy. Jesus, subject to the Father- the Absolute God, is our Lord, Master, and Savior, and High Priest, and entirely worthy of our worship (Matthew 9:18, John 9:38).Jesus, His cousin John the Baptist, and the Apostle Paul gave substantiation to Christ's eternal pre- existence (John 1:1-2,30, 3:13, 8:58, 1 Corinthians 10:9, Hebrews 11:27)The God of the Old Testament was Jesus Christ. Jesus begotten siblings, once born into the God family as God-beings, are worthy of worship (Revelation 3:9); they are NOT the God head.

John Ritenbaugh asserts that the Father and the Son are two distinct beings, not co-equal as the trinity doctrine proclaims, but having a superior-subordinate relationship, with the Son deferring to the Father in all things. Likewise, we will be in the same God Family, but in subordinate positions to the Father and the Son. The Son provides the blueprint for us, aggressively submitting to the will of the Father, using the Holy Spirit to bring every thought into captivity. Sometimes we may do right and not receive smooth-going, as demonstrated by the harrowing experiences of the apostles. In imitating Christ, we have to learn to endure hardness, battling a life-and-death struggle with our carnal minds, totally submitting to God by walking perpetually in the Spirit, being transformed from carnal nature to the glorious character and image of God. Our submission to the Father and Christ will never end, just as Christ's submission to the Father will never end.

John Ritenbaugh asserts that Jesus Christ, after He was resurrected referred to His Father as "my God," indicating that the Father and the Son do not share equality, pre-eminence, or superiority. In other words, the Son, although sharing the Divine Nature of the Deity, is not a part of the Godhead. They are equal in kind, but one is clearly subordinate to the other. Christ was sent to do the Father's will, to testify of the Father and to die for our sins. The Son submitted totally to the Father's will, leaving an example for us to be a total living sacrifice to the Father. The Trinitarian term "Godhead" should have been translated Deity (or Divine Nature) in Colossians 2:9-or the Complement of the Father. Jesus Christ has unequivocally distinguished Himself from the Absolute Deity- His Father.

John Ritenbaugh reiterates that even though the Father and the Son work as one, they are distinctive Beings with separate functions. The Father is the source of all power, while the Son serves as the sole Mediator and the channel through which we interface with the Father. Through the Son (the Image, reflecting the Father's character and mind), we see the Father's power and wisdom. Jesus Christ is unique, serving as the divine link between God and man, intervening and negotiating on behalf of frail man with the full knowledge of the Father's mind and will. The ultimate goal of humanity is to know the Father and the Son, learning to live as they do. Only Christ has been composed of both divine and human natures, serving as Firstborn (having pre-eminence) of a special creation'one in which we are involved due to our calling. Hebrews 1-9 define His uniqueness as the Mediator (High Priest) between God and man, exalted over the angels, but nevertheless submissive to the Father.

John Ritenbaugh, refuting the fallacious Trinity doctrine, reiterates that Christ Himself asserted the superiority of the Father as the One True God. Jesus serves as the revelator, channel, and the image of the great God, providing the only means through which we have access to Him. John expresses that Jesus has continued to serve as the Revelator of the Father, having been identified as the God of the Old Testament. The pronoun with in John 1:1 actually should be translated toward, as in "toward God." The Word was the same Being as Yahweh, Adonay, or El Shaddai in the Old Testament. Christ demonstrated His power to take on the outward appearance of a variety of human forms, including that of a slave, divesting Himself of the prerogatives of His identity as the God of the Old Testament. We are obligated to follow His example of humility, working out our salvation with fear and trembling.

John Ritenbaugh, focusing upon I Corinthians 4:6, examines the contexts in which human reason has been misapplied to God's nature. The Catholic Encyclopedia admits that there is scant biblical evidence for a trinity, but that it is "substantiated" by "Christological speculation" only. This fallacious doctrine claims there are three co-equal Beings in the God-Head. Yet, A.E. Knoch in Christ as Deity, drawing more closely on Scripture, affirms that the Father is the source of everything, and the Son is the channel through which He carries out His purpose. By His own words, Christ asserts that the Father is superior to Him (though They are one in purpose and mind). Christ is the only means through which we can receive the knowledge of God, revealing the image, mind, purpose, and character of the invisible, immortal Father. As the Son projects the image of the Father, God wants to fill the entire universe with images that conform to the Son.

Martin Collins maintains that mainstream Christianity does not know who God the Father really is, seeing Him as a relatively ineffectual third Member of a closed Trinity, largely responsible for harnessing mankind with a harsh oppressive law that Jesus later annulled. Jesus Christ, designated as the logos, Spokesman or Word, reveals that the Father (the Creator and Sustainer of the universe) has always had supreme authority, and that He and His Father are absolutely at one in purpose. The Father is totally composed of spirit, omniscient, omnipresent, and omnipotent. His purpose or plan is to call individuals, regenerating them with His Spirit and instilling His changeless statutes into their minds, to transform them into members of His Family. We need to conform to the image of the Father Jesus revealed to us.

Father's Day is a time we honor our human fathers, but a time is coming, after the day of the Lord, when our ultimate Father in heaven will be honored for all eternity!

Many people think the third commandment deals only with euphemisms and swearing, but it actually goes much deeper than that! John Ritenbaugh explains that this commandment regulates the quality of our worship and involves glorifying God in every aspect of life.

John Ritenbaugh, citing Romans 1:20, reiterates that the invisible things of God are clearly seen through the things that are made. The numerous scriptural references to angelic beings (experiences of Abraham, Lot, and Daniel and the references to Michael, Gabriel, and Satan (the Prince of Persia) indicate that the spiritual entities have tangible substance. The main proof text of the "no parts, no shape or form" teaching (John 4:24), far from teaching that God has no body, indicates that spiritual substance is just as real as natural substance, except that it is a much higher type of matter, governed by higher laws including refined feelings, emotions, and thoughts. We have abundant testimony from the both the special revelation (God's Word) and the general revelation (the Creation) that God and angels are not universal nothingness floating around in nowhere.

Who is God? What is His nature? Is God one Being? Two? Three? Is God a family? What does Elohim mean, and does it speak of one or more than one Being? Students of the Bible have searched for the answers to these questions for centuries. The answers are found in the revelation of the Bible, the only place where true knowledge of God, His plan and His ways is explained. The truth is simple—and astounding!

John Ritenbaugh reveals that taking God's name in vain is far more serious than swearing or profanity. To appropriate the name of God means to represent His attributes, character and nature. God's names are the signposts or revelators of His nature and descriptors of His activities. The glory of God was revealed through Christ by what He said and did- His entire repertoire of behavior. Our daily behavior, likewise, must imitate Christ just as Christ's behavior revealed God the Father. Behaving in a Godly manner enables us to know God and live a quality life. The third commandment has to do with the quality of our personal witness to everything the name we bear implies. Profaning or blaspheming God's name implies living in a manner inconsistent with God's name.

John Ritenbaugh, suggesting that the prohibition against taking God's name in vain is the least understood commandment, asserts that the names of God (more than 250 mentioned in the Scriptures, eight of them concentrated in Psalm 23) represent the multitudinous characteristics, traits, attributes, or the very character or nature of God Almighty. Through the life, words, and works of Jesus Christ (The Way), we can see God the Father revealed. If we faithfully follow His example (emulating His life), we will not only find the Father, but also bring respect for God's character by our conduct. Eternal life is to know God by emulating His Character- living life as God lives life. Our most valuable asset we have is God's family name. When we bear God's name (which we acquire through our calling and baptism) we are also obligated to bear His character and nature, and not dishonor or blaspheme His precious name through our conduct.

John Ritenbaugh reiterates that Jesus was placed on trial not for what He did, but for what He claimed about Himself. John has provided at least eight separate forms of witness, establishing the veracity of Jesus Christ's identity as God in the flesh. Fulfilled prophecy from the Old Testament (over 300 separate prophecies) concerning Christ's identity and the events of His life is overwhelming, compelling, and mathematically irrefutable (The chance of fulfilling only eight of those prophecies would be 1 in 10 to the 17th power or 100 quadrillion). John makes a compelling proposal for belief and faith. The last part of the first chapter of John focuses upon the work of John the Baptist, a physical cousin of Jesus, the forerunner of Christ, who witnessed the Holy Spirit descending upon Christ at His baptism, again establishing Christ's identity as the Lamb of God.

John Ritenbaugh reiterates that the book of John was unique, designed for individuals predominantly educated in the Greek culture. One commentary organizes this 21-chapter book around nuances of believing, including proposals for, presentations for, reactions of, crystallization of, assurance for, rejection of, and vindication of belief, as well as a dedication of those who believe to the work of God. John, a physical first cousin of Jesus, emphasizes the truth, genuineness, or reality of Jesus as the Logos (a word revealing hidden thought) the manifestation of God in the flesh, emphasizing His pre-existence, His fellowship with God the Father, His divinity, His omniscience,and His creative power. Jesus is portrayed as the fountainhead of everlasting life, demonstrating how to live abundantly as God lives, exercising instinctively the fruits of God's Holy Spirit. As the Light of the world, Jesus Christ reveals our character flaws and illuminates the pathway to quality eternal life, displacing the darkness and ignorance of this world. John focuses upon the multiple ways that Christ bore witness to the scriptures and to the people with whom He came in contact, providing iron - clad evidence that God is reproducing Himself.