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God's Non-Transmittable Attributes (Part Two): Omnipresence

Bible Study by Martin G. Collins

Since God is spiritual, He is not restricted to any spatial dimension in the physical realm. He is always present everywhere and at any time with His whole Being. The Bible describes God with body parts similar to those of humans, confirming that He has shape and form, which manifests in a specific location. Both the Father and the Son, while being united in mind and purpose, have autonomous bodies.

Image and Likeness of God (Part Two)

Sermon by John W. Ritenbaugh

The goal of Christianity has been altered, leading to significant doctrinal adjustments, including the understanding of God's nature. It is now taught that the Godhead is a mysterious, unexplainable essence, closed to expansion, with no room for us to be part of it as God is God. Despite Jesus revealing God as the Father and Himself as the Son, showing a familial relationship, the new teaching denies that we, as children of God with His Spirit, will be in His image. God's form and shape, as described in the Bible, are often spiritualized away to support false doctrines, rendering His true nature incomprehensible and vague. Yet, why not accept what God says about His appearance with the same readiness as other teachings? God's revelations consistently show Him with form and shape like a man, providing a clear pattern for us to understand Him and our potential. Jesus, upon resurrection, emphasized His corporeality to His disciples, showing He was not a ghost but had flesh and bone, tangible and solid. He was restored to the glorious body He had before, as the model for Adam, composed of spirit but maintaining a recognizable shape and form. We are to be transformed to be like His glorious body, indicating that He possesses a body even now. Throughout the scriptures, from Genesis to the New Testament, God appears to various individuals—Abraham, Moses, the seventy elders, Gideon, Manoah and his wife, Job, Isaiah, Amos, and others—consistently described as having the appearance of a man. He is shown with feet, a voice, a face, hands, a waist, and a back, engaging in human-like actions such as eating and conversing. These accounts affirm His solid, tangible presence. In visions and encounters, such as the transfiguration of Jesus and Stephen's vision, God's form remains unchanged, still recognizable as a man, not an essence or vapor. The redeemed are promised to see His face in the kingdom of God, with no need for figures of speech or disguises, confirming that He has a face and a form like ours. The Bible's testimony, supported by numerous witnesses who saw God with their natural eyes, clearly presents Him as having bodily form and parts, not as a spiritual nothing. This revelation is plain enough that even the unconverted can comprehend aspects of God's nature through visible creation, particularly in how we, as humans, reflect His image and likeness bodily. Thus, God must have a body, an outward form and shape, as evidenced by the consistent usage of terms like tselem, demooth, and icon, which denote observable physical characteristics.

God the Father (Part 1)

Sermon by Martin G. Collins

God is Spirit, having no physical or measurable form, and thus is invisible. Yet, He possesses a form and shape, as revealed in various scriptures where God is described with a face, eyes, ears, mouth, arms, legs, hands, fingers, feet, toes, and hair on His head. Since man was made in His image and likeness, we understand what God looks like through the form and shape of humanity. If manifested, God the Father and Jesus Christ, now glorified in heaven, would appear with faces as bright as the full strength of the sun, eyes like flames of fire, feet like burnished brass, and hair white as snow, as seen in visions. Although God is Spirit and normally invisible to the human eye, Daniel was permitted to see the Ancient of Days, God the Father, in a vision, seated with a garment white as snow and hair like pure wool, His throne a fiery flame. This confirms that even as a Spirit Being, God the Father retains a distinct form and shape in the spiritual realm. Jesus conveyed that God cannot be confined to one place nor conceived as a material being, unable to be represented by idols or abstract concepts since He is not material. God does not dwell in physical temples made with hands, nor is He worshipped with human hands as though He needed anything, for He gives life and breath to all. True worshippers must worship the Father in spirit and truth, as He demands pure, holy, and spiritual worship.

Image and Likeness of God (Part One)

Sermon by John W. Ritenbaugh

God has clearly revealed Himself through His Word, asserting that He possesses form and shape. In Genesis 1:26-27, it is stated that God created man in His own image and likeness, indicating a physical resemblance, not merely a character trait. This foundational truth establishes that mankind reflects God's form, as He Himself inspired the scriptures to convey this reality. Despite human tendencies to question or spiritualize these plain statements, the consistent use of terms like "tselem" (image) and "demooth" (likeness) across various scriptures, such as Genesis 5:1-3 and Ezekiel 1, reinforces that these words denote a concrete, bodily resemblance when applied to both God and human creations like idols. Scriptures affirm that God is not a man that He should lie, as seen in Numbers 23:19 and I Samuel 15:29, emphasizing His trustworthiness in describing His own nature. Unlike human assumptions or mythologies that liken deities to flawed human character, God's self-revelation is distinct and reliable. His form is not a temporary or convenient manifestation but a true aspect of His being, as Jesus Christ Himself demonstrated post-resurrection in Luke 24:36-40, showing a spiritual body with flesh and bones, solid to the touch, yet not of earthly composition. Further, in John 5:37, Jesus confirms that the Father has a form visible to the eye and a voice audible to the ear, though not yet witnessed by those He addressed. The descent of the Holy Spirit in bodily form in Luke 3:22 also underscores that spiritual entities possess visible shape. Paul, in I Corinthians 15:35-49, supports this by discussing spiritual bodies, affirming that just as there are natural bodies, there are celestial ones, and believers will bear the image of the heavenly Man, reflecting God's form. The usage of "icon" in the New Testament, as in I Corinthians 11:7 and II Corinthians 4:4, denotes a direct relationship and resemblance to God, much like a reflection or a prototype derived from the original. This consistent biblical language across both Testaments, whether referring to God or to idols, points to an outward, bodily form and shape, not merely an abstract or moral likeness. Thus, God's revelation of Himself as having a body stands as a clear and undeniable truth in His inspired Word.

Image and Likeness of God (Part Three)

Sermon by John W. Ritenbaugh

The numerous scriptural references to angelic beings indicate that the spiritual entities have tangible substance. God is not a universal nothingness.

Image and Likeness of God (Part Four)

Sermon by John W. Ritenbaugh

The numerous figures of speech describing God's body parts substantiate that God has shape and form and occupies a specific location.

Image and Likeness of God (Part Five)

Sermon by John W. Ritenbaugh

The true nature of God differs greatly from the trinitarian concept. Having created us in His form and shape, God is developing us into His character image.

The Glory of God (Part 1): The Shekinah

Sermon by Richard T. Ritenbaugh

The Shekinah, the pillar of cloud and fire, depicts God's visible presence and protection. Yet His glory is manifested in many other ways as well.

The Holy Spirit and the Trinity (Part One)

Sermon by John W. Ritenbaugh

The architects of the trinity doctrine admit that it is a 'somewhat unsteady silhouette', requiring assumptions and inferences, but unsupportable by Scripture.

Lying to the Holy Spirit

'Ready Answer' by Richard T. Ritenbaugh

The apostle Peter claims Ananias and Sapphira lied to the Holy Spirit. Does his statement prove the Holy Spirit is a divine Person in a Trinity?

The Father-Son Relationship (Part One)

Sermon by John W. Ritenbaugh

The Father is the source of everything and the Son is the channel through which He carries out His purpose. Jesus declared that the Father is superior to Him.

The Covenants, Grace, and Law (Part One)

Sermon by John W. Ritenbaugh

The doctrinal changes made by the Worldwide Church of God have devastating ramifications. Predictably, when the vision was changed, God's law was cast aside.

Our Divine Destiny

Sermon by John W. Ritenbaugh (1932-2023)

God's called-ones have been given the ability to decipher the scattered concepts, revealing the purpose of their destiny throughout the Scriptures.