In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The Greek word translated Word is logos, meaning Word or Spokesman. This refers to the One who co-existed with the Father from eternity, who always existed and is one with the Father. The Word, who is the Eternal, has eternal life and made all things. The Spirit Being called the Word was made flesh. He did not merely enter into some mortal fleshly body or the body of another. He was not separate from the flesh, as a spirit being inside the flesh. It says that the Word became flesh, meaning completely flesh, just as you and I. Jesus was a fleshly Man. He was God who came in human flesh. When converted into human flesh, the life that kept Him alive resided in the blood that was in Him, as in all who are flesh. Jesus was also God; He was both human and divine. However, He was not God inside of yet separate from the body of flesh. He, God, was made flesh until He, still God, God with us, became God in the human flesh, God manifest in the flesh. That is, as we humans are partakers of flesh and blood, Jesus Christ also, in exactly the same manner, was partaker of flesh and blood in order that He might die. He had to die in order for God's plan to be continued. He does give aid to His church. Jesus did not come in the nature of angels, that is, spirit nature. He was a human being, made flesh. At birth, He took on human nature. He was tempted in all points as we are. He suffered as we do. This is something that He could not do if He were merely God taking possession of a body. He was actually flesh, as we are. He was forced to resist the pull of human nature, even as we are. He, God, became man so that He could die for us, so that our sins could be erased and forgiven! Jesus was dead following that crucifixion! For three days and three nights, the second Spirit Being of the God Family called Emmanuel, meaning God with us, that is, God made human flesh, was dead! Dead matter cannot impart life; life can come only from life. As a human, Jesus was the Son of God the Father. God was His only Father. Mary, a physical human woman, was His mother. He became the Son of God at His human birth, and now He was dead as a result of that crucifixion. If He was not dead, then the penalty of our sins is not yet paid; we are yet in our sins; we are without hope! It is very important that we understand that He had to have been flesh and died completely. If there were no other Person in the God Family, then the Giver of all Life was dead and all hope ended! However, the Father still reigned in heaven, and the Father had life inherent in Himself. Life can come only from life, and Christ Jesus was now dead. His life had gone from Him. His blood in which resided His life, shed from His veins, given for you and for me, had been poured out on the stake from which He hung. That is where His life resided: in His blood, not in spirit. He did not shed a spirit to save us from our sins. He shed His blood, and in doing this, He gave His life. God the Father raised Jesus from the dead. Jesus Christ was completely dead, not just halfway. God the Father did not cause Jesus Christ to get back into the body that had died when He spoke to people after His death. It was not only the body that died. Both the body in which Christ lived died, and Jesus Christ Himself died. If Christ did not die for our sins if it were only a mortal body that died then we do not have a Savior, and we have no hope of salvation. Again, we see how important it is to realize that He was completely flesh. What happened is that the Word the Eternal was changed into flesh. While on this earth and before His death, Jesus was flesh and blood, exactly as you and I are. His life was in His blood, and He gave His life by the fact that His blood poured out while He was on the stake. He had taken on a human nature. He was God, but now God changed into flesh and blood; He was Emmanuel God with us. The Word was made flesh, and H

Previously, we may have seemed to fixate on prophecy and timelines for God's masterplan rather than Christ as the central focus. The dominating significance of Pentecost is the celebration of Christ as the Firstfruit of God's spiritual harvest, providing a model for all those who follow Him. Consequently, from the Wave Sheaf offering to the two loaves presented to Almighty God at Pentecost, the firstfruits imagery points directly to Jesus Christ, "first in time and preeminence"—and then to His disciples, then and now, who emulate Him. We do not just receive the Holy Spirit, but we are to walk as He walked, abiding in Him as branches cling to the vine, relying on His strength and example to live godly lives, using the gift of the Holy Spirit to grow into the image of Christ. Consequently, Pentecost is far more than a religious ritual or prophetic speculation, but rather it is about Jesus as the Firstfruit, the Way, and the Vine-celebrating the Feast of Weeks as accepting His leadership, His life, and His ongoing work molding us into His image.