In recent times, many are continually attempting to place a stunch distinction and comparism with respect to the Word, the incarnate and the ressurected Christ by placing priority on one above the others or completely berating the Word and the Incarnate Christ as non signficant. In a recent sermon by a popular preacher he stated before his congregation that the Incarnate Christ was useless to him, while others have stated clearly that it is either the ressurected Christ or nothing, as the Word and the Incarnate Christ had no benefit to their new birth experience, hence they should not be amplified in the new creation realities.
The Word, the incarnate and the ressurected Christ are one and the same person, without a deminished form of status or identity as God, but depicted by scriptures to explain to men, God's role in the creation of the world, as well as His role in the redemption of mankind without the ambiguity of creating three different personalities out of one, or placing a preference on one or two above the other.
More also, inorder to get a better understanding of these descriptive roles as stated above, it is pertinent for us to go back to the beginning, during the era of creation by God. In the book of Genesis the writer give us an introspection into God's creative abilities with a continuous striking remark whenever He was about to create a thing, be it in the heavenlies or on the earth. His act of creation was always preceded by the phrase, " Then God said", and the outcome of this speech led to the physical manifestation of the realities of the thing that was spoken about. This was consistent throughout the six days of creation, with the following examples below;
Genesis 1:3,9,11
[3]Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light.
[9]Then God said, “Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear”; and it was so.
[11]Then God said, “Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb that yields seed, and the fruit tree that yields fruit according to its kind, whose seed is in itself, on the earth”; and it was so.
Furthermore, in the books of John 1:1, the phrase "God said" as recorded in the books of Genesis was expounded to represent a personality who actually performed the creation at God's command, and through Whom everything was created.
John 1:1,3
[1]In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
[3]All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.
However, while writing this article at the late hours of the night, my eyes of understanding were opened to the fact that God [ Father] stood as one entity from the beginning, which is to infer that the Word was inside of Him, so also His spirit [ The Holy Spirit] working in all and all. This lays Credence to the Statement of Jesus Christ Who was speaking introspectively and retrospectively by saying;
John 14:11
[11]Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me, or else believe Me for the sake of the works themselves.
I was also made to understand that every act of God from the beginning of the world with respect to creation, judgement and the general overseeing of man's affairs, were implemented by the Word at the instance of the Father's Command.
John 14:10
[10]Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on My own authority; but the Father who dwells in Me does the works.
The incarnation of the Word started from God [The Father], who opened up Himself, sending out the Word from Himself as a Spirit into the womb of a woman called Mary who is a Virgin, to take the form of a man. God literally released His nature from within Himself, or permit me to say that God gave birth to the Word from His inside, by sending Him forth out of Himself to take the form of a man.
John 1:14
[14]And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.
The Word was not a Son from the beginning, but dwelt spiritually in the Father and the Holy Spirit dwelling in them all, in what is referred to as the Deity of the Godhead. In trying to elucidate my point, let us take a coconut or an egg as an example, if I were to hand a coconut or an egg to you, it's evident that you would see only the outer shell, and not the white layer or the juice of the coconut, neither would you see the egg white or the yoke of the egg. This was the formation of the Godhead at the beginning, hence when the Father spoke, the Word in Him accompanied by His Spirit went into action to fulfill it.
Moreover, for the purpose of man's salvation, the Word was revealed out of the Father, inorder words begotten of the Father, which placed that identity of Sonship on the Word, who is called Jesus Christ, yet maintaining same attributes of the Father. In a likewise manner as the example stated above, the whitish content of the coconut was revealed side by side with the same coconut unbroken with the same juice content in them. It's a deep mystery of God.
Matthew 1:23
[23]“Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which is translated, “God with us.”
Mathew 1:23 was the fuilfment of prophet Isaiah's prophecy in Isaiah 7:14 about the Messiah, though His name Jesus Christ was not revealed to them, but a name suggestive of His personality and attribute was foretold before time - Immanuel [ God with us].
One might ask, if The Word who is Christ was not a Son from the beginning, why did King David make the following statement;
Psalms 110:1
[1]The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at My right hand, Till I make Your enemies Your footstool.”
King David was speaking prophetically based on the revelation he had into the future of what God was to do through Christ, by giving Him victory after spoiling principalities and powers, making a public show of them at the cross and ascending to Heaven to sit at the right hand of God.
Colossians 2:14-15
[14]having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.
[15]Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it.
Furthermore, the Word who became flesh through the conception of the Holy Spirit, whose name was revealed to the virgin Mary, as Jesus Christ by the Ark angel Gabriel who stands in the presence of God, was in no way inferior to the Father, for He is a manifestation of the Father, bearing the same nature and essence.
Philippians 2:6
[6]who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God.
The Incarnate Christ who is the very nature of God did not consider His power as God as something to be used as an undue advantage on the earth, but made Himself of no reputation that He may fulfill His mission and pay the price on the cross for mankind to inherit eternal life.
Philippians 2:7-8
[7]but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men.
[8]And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.
During my discussion with some believers on a subject related to this topic, they asserted that the incarnate Christ being in the form of man was limited and below the angels, hence the ressurected Christ was more powerful. This assertion is based on the scriptures in Hebrews 2:9 which states thus;
Hebrews 2:9
[9]But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, for the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, that He, by the grace of God, might taste death for everyone.
Hebrews 2:9, was used to reference the human nature of Christ, being made in the form of man, who is lower than the Angels, suffering death for everyone which does not in any way speak about His divine nature as God. Jesus Christ refused to use His power as God to an undue advantage, taking the form of a bondservant that He may experience humanity, feeling what man feels, and that through His humility in subjecting Himself to the conditions of man, that He may bear man's burden nailing it to the cross. This is evident with respect to the words I heard in my spirit recently at a crusade saying;
HE LOOKED LIKE THEM BUT HE WAS NOT LIKE THEM.
John 3:31
[31]He who comes from above is above all; he who is of the earth is earthly and speaks of the earth. He who comes from heaven is above all.
Hebrews 2:14-18
[14]Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil,
[15]and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.
[16]For indeed He does not give aid to angels, but He does give aid to the seed of Abraham.
[17]Therefore, in all things He had to be made like His brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.
[18]For in that He Himself has suffered, being tempted, He is able to aid those who are tempted.
Also, John the Baptist affirmed through revelation that the incarnate Christ existed before him and was preferred to him, giving credence to Christ's divine nature as God.
John 1:15-16
[15]John bore witness of Him and cried out, saying, “This was He of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me is preferred before me, for He was before me.’ ”
[16]And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace.
However, the Incarnate Christ who did not consider His equality with God as robbery or something to be beheld, had the fullness of God in Him, and in Him was life eternal which was released at the cross for mankind to inherit immortality.
John 1:4
[4]In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.
He had the fullness of the power of God, because He was a manifestation of the Father, having same power and authority as the Father to forgive sins, heal the sick, raise the dead, promising salvation to all who believed both during His time on the earth and thereafter, and in His name demons were cast out, that through Him men may see the good works of His Father and the Father glorified in Him (Mathew 8:16, Mathew 9:2, Luke 7:10-15, Luke 10:17).
The ressurected Christ is the incarnate Christ who bore the burdens of our sins on His earthly body, suffering chastisement, shame, beaten and wounded for the transgressions we committed, for He had no fault in Himself, nailing all to the cross that we might die to sin and be alive in righteousness.
1 Peter 2:24
[24]who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness—by whose stripes you were healed.
At the cross, Jesus Christ who was given a name above every name let go of His Spirit which He committed to His Father, for no man killed Him, that we may inherit His eternal life in His blood, and be justified by His blood (Romans 5:9, John 6:53-56).
John 10:17-18
[17]“Therefore My Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it again.
[18]No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This command I have received from My Father.”
Furthermore, at the cross, He put away the nature of corruption in the order of the natural flesh which He bore for the sake of man, taken up a glorified body which signalled the clothing of incorruptibility and immortality, that in like manner all who believe in Him would be raised from the dead.
1 Corinthians 15:42-44
[42]So also is the resurrection of the dead. The body is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption.
[43]It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power.
[44]It is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.
In conclusion, Jesus Christ seats with a glorified body physically at the right hand of His Father in heaven, representing mankind before the Father, for whenever the Father looks at Jesus Christ He sees mankind, and when whenever mankind look up to Jesus Christ through Faith, they see God.
Therefore, it's a great act of foolishness to berate the incarnate Christ and exalt the ressurected Christ, vice versa, because the personality of God was at work throughout the whole process, bringing His divine intentions into reality in our lives, that through Jesus Christ we may inherit immortality and His promises through faith.
Jesus Christ is the Word who was made manifest in the flesh, Who is the same yesterday, today and forever, hallelujah!!!
Blessings.
Min. Awe Hilary
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