GOD IS REVEALED IN THE FAMILY!!

By Derrick Gillespie (Sept. 2011) INTRODUCTION:

This writer contends that every error about God that exists in the world, in Christendom (maybe even your own church), or in any other religious movement, can be identified and Biblically defeated or stoutly refuted, once Gods image in the family of Man (Gen. 1:26, 27) is used as one of the MAIN God-given means of understanding the things related to God in the best way humanly possible!! Put another way, all of the false, yet seemingly correct (and oftentimes appealing) teachings about God, His Son, and their Spirit can be easily identified and refuted straight from the Bible itself, by simply interpreting the Bibles message about God through the imagery and parallelism seen in the family! Various Christian groups, admittedly, do have (in varying degrees) certain aspects of the truth about God in their teaching, but usually some other equally important aspects are either misunderstood, are being denied, or are being misrepresented. I guarantee you, that as you embark on this journey of discovery you will be amazed as to how God has revealed, from the very beginning, the helpful parables and object lessons in the human family so that we could understand Him and the things related to Him!! You will be amazed too to see how the Bible makes it easy (through the family) to identify every error about God wherever it appears. Why? Romans 1:19, 20 indicate clearly that the very eternal Godhead or, more accurately, the divine nature of God Himself, as it existed even from eternity, is revealed in humans themselves, and can be understood by the things that were made as it related to humans. Primarily, Gods nature was imaged in Man and the family, and hence we certainly are without excuse if we fail to look there to understand (if even in limited terms). I also contend that there is a certain language method of communication that the Bible uses in communicating certain deep spiritual truths about God, yet it is usually missed by very many well thinking people, and, as such, explains why so many are in confusion today about who God really is. This language method was established from the very beginning of the Bible, and is its method right throughout, to the very last book of Revelation. In fact, it is used so very often, and applies to several things of like nature to the Godhead (if even inadequately so) that one wonders why it is missed by so many. No wonder the Bible declares that spiritual things are spiritually discerned. 1 Cor. 2:14. And let no one think that this writer is about to reveal any new thinking or revolutionary viewpoint on the subject of God, but what I am about to do is to reveal how the Bible itself already had its own God-given tools for us to understand certain deep spiritual things about God. So without any further ado let launch into this adventure of discovery.
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WHO IS THE ONE TRUE GOD?

Theres no need to beat around the bush with this one. The Bible is consistent from Genesis to Revelation that the one true God is the Father, Jehovah by name, a singular personal being, or a numerically singular and absolutely non-composite person/being, who is simply the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Over and over, in the overwhelming cases, when the Bible uses the term God it simply is referring to the Father of Jesus. The texts are so abundant that there is no need to even explore the very many, such as Deut. 6:4, Is. 43:10, Is. 42:8, Is. 44:24, John 17:3, 1 Cor. 8:6, Eph. 4:6just to highlight a few. They speak clearly. At this point you may begin to think I dont see Jesus as divine, or that he is God in nature like the Father. Quite the opposite!! But every truth will (in its own time) fall into place quite naturally in this presentation, as we look honestly at the family; including what or who the Holy Spirit is, in relation to the Father, the one true God, and in relation to Jesus His Son. But you will have to read on to Biblically discover the TRUE relationships involved. It will all get quite interesting!!

WHY THE JEWISH AND MUSLIM OPPOSITION TO CHRISTIANITY?

There is an understandable problem and difficulty when the above quoted texts about the Father as the one true God (and ones similar in nature) are brought alongside other texts which make it plain, for instance, that God spoke from the very first book of the Bible in collective language when speaking of the creation of Man. Genesis 1:26,27 introduces the very first problem text, and to this very day the non-Christian Jews, who only accept the Old Testament Scriptures, and who are avowed monotheists (i.e. believers in one God being), but who are honest and open, admit that it creates much difficulty for them when it is considered that only God can create Man; not angels or any other created beings. Thus to whom, on behalf of whom, or of whom was God speaking, when he said let us (collective, plural) make man (collective, plural) in our (collective, plural) own image (singular; not images) and then proceeded to create Man or Adam in Gods singular image (not in the images of God and angels)? And more importantly, to whom, on behalf of whom, or of whom did God speak when he proceeded to make Man to be more than one person reflecting their singular image (Gen. 5:2)!! This passage creates seeming difficulty that has never been adequately resolved by the orthodox Jew, or the Muslims who (many of them) also accept the Old Testament Scriptures as coming from Allah or the one true God. So too has Gen. 3:22-24, Gen. 11:6, 7, and Is. 6:8 continued to be those texts the orthodox/non-Christian Jew (and Muslim) have given no adequate explanation for. Furthermore, the scholarly but honest Jews make it plain that Proverbs 30:4, speaking of the Creator God having a Son, whose mysterious name is like unto his own mysterious name, create difficulty for them to ascertain who this Son is. It could not be earthly Israel, as either a
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singular or collective son in imagery, nor could it be any normal king or normal human figure in Israel, since it seems illogical that any such person/group could be said to have a mysterious name akin to that of Jehovah. Angels are usually referred to in collective, as the sons of God, and no one angel (at least none the Jews or Muslims can think of) could be said to have such a mysterious name. And of course, to the Jews and Old Testament culture, ones name is indicative of ones inherent nature and character, and hence this Son that Jehovah challenges the reader of Proverbs 30:4 to identify must also have a name comparatively mysterious as that of Jehovah Himself, since God himself compares the two through the writer of Proverbs. To the orthodox Jew (and Muslim), God could never have a Son of his very own nature, otherwise that would fly in the face of He already declaring that his glory he would not share with another, and that no God was formed after Him. If at least a divine Son was present and creatively active in the picture at creation (as Proverbs 30:4 and Gen. 1:26, 27 would seem to suggest very strongly, as Christians argue) then, to their Jewish (or Muslim) minds, God would indeed be sharing His glory, he would have a person of like God-hood formed from Him and after Him (since that is what a son normally is)! That Son would be equal in nature with Him! Polytheism would be the result, and their monotheistic faith would be obliterated. Or so they thought. So they maintain to this day that all these are impossible realities, and hence no need to be bothered. That could not be the explanation they argue. All of this explains why the unconverted/orthodox Jews (like the later Muslims) rejected any notion that Jesus was Gods Son in the highest/truest sense (as modeled in the human family), and the main reason why the Jews of Jesus time even accused him of blasphemy and rejected his claims of his unique or special and genuine or primary-type Son-ship, in distinction to all other secondary-type sons of God (John 5:18 and John 10:33). However, the first Christians were enlightened Jews themselves who felt that the claims of Jesus was a new phase in the progressive revelation of the Godhead as connected to the plan for human redemption (Rom. 16:25,26; Eph. 3:3-11), and thereafter the New Testament Scriptures of Christianity abound with Jewish Christian writers simply accepting the later revelation about Jesus being God in nature.i.e. that Jesus not only personally pre-existed in Heaven alongside the Father, but existed as brought forth from from everlasting or from eternity past, as the exact copy of his person/being (Heb. 1:2,3; 1 Cor. 1:24; Prov. 8:22-31); that from before the foundation of the world (John 17:5, 24-26) the Father loved Him (thus he was a separate person/being to be loved), but still sent him to earth to save us (John 1:1-3,14,18; Is. 9:6); that he is truly Gods only begotten Son from eternity past, not just when he came to earth (John 3:16; Heb. 1:1-4; Prov. 30:4); that he was God in nature and was in the form of God before emptying himself as a man (Phill. 2:5-11); that he is worthy of worship like the Father (Heb. 1:6; John 5:23) to be even called my Lord and my God (John 20:28, 29); that he naturally inherited, as a true Son, his Fathers title of God (Heb. 1:8; Is. 9:6) and even His very own name of LORD or Jehovah (as TRUE sons naturally do; Heb. 1:4, 8-12); that he
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did the actual creating of the universe on his Fathers behalf (Heb. 1:2,3, 10-12; Col. 1:16,17); that he rules supremely alongside him (Rev. 3:21); that he will be the final Judge, Resurrector, and Giver of rewards/justice on His behalf (John 5:22, 25; Rev. 22:12); and that despite divine, yet he will forever be both divine and human as our Savior, since his incarnation (1 Tim. 2:5;Dan. 7:13,14;Matt. 24:30; Phill. 3:20-21; Titus 2:13,14). READ AGAIN ALL BIBLE TEXTS JUST GIVEN ABOUT JESUS BEFORE MOVING ON!! ITS VERY CRITICAL TO THE STUDY. To the orthodox Jew (and later Muslims) all these new Christian teachings are the greatest blasphemies that could be conceived, and hence explains why they reject not just Jesus as the ultimate Messiah, but also the New Testament Scriptures as being inspired by the same Jehovah God they believe in by way of the Old Testament. What is of interest to note, however, is that (as Luke 24: 27,44-48 shows) Jesus and the disciples only had at the time, and only used (at the time) the Old Testament Scriptures to prove, to the unbelieving, the truths regarding Jesus pre-existence, his divinity and TRUE Son-ship, his co-Creatorship with the Father, his divine earthly Mission, etc. (along with, of course, the disciples eyewitness accounts of his miraculous life, death and resurrection). The New Testament is largely a commentary on the Old Testament itself, and or a compilation of the later written version of the disciples eyewitness accounts of the marvelous new revelations these first disciples acquired. Ancient Judaism, which refused to accept gradually unfolding truth and new Christian thought, was naturally going to be in tension with Christianity, which itself grew out of Judaism.

WHY THE CONFUSION IN CHRISTIANITY?

However, the problem was not only with the Jews rejecting Jesus as divine and as their true and long awaited Messiah, but the issues became even more complex when the New Testament teachings and accounts, with all its newly introduced matters related to the Godhead (or divine nature) are considered as a whole. Not only were Christians now presenting more than one person with divine qualities, who should be worshipped to the same degree, but along with this came the newly emerging thought that the Holy Spirit has distinct personal qualities and acts on behalf of both Jesus Christ and the Father as if they themselves are present. Christians became pressed more and more (mostly by way of heretical teachers leading the flock astray) to be precise and definitive when speaking of the one God, the Father in light of these new and revolutionary teachings, and to show why they were not polytheists. As a result of this, over time, very many differing viewpoints have arisen as to how to resolve the seeming tension between the ideas of one true God the Father, and yet in the picture too is a divinely equal Son who became a genuine human, along with a seemingly personal, and oftentimes separately listed Holy Spirit, being depicted as God and acting on their behalf as God. For example see Acts 5:3-5; Matt. 28:19; Acts 13:2;1 Cor. 12:4-6, 11; Eph. 4:4-6, 30; Rom. 15:30; Rom. 8:26, 27; Heb. 9:14; Rev. 1:4,5; 2 Cor. 13:14). And this is just a small sample, mind you, of the Holy Spirit being depicted in new and more profound ways than in the Old Testament.
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These issues, when considered against the backdrop of the Father being the one true God, more than any other matters in Christianity, have historically created the most division, controversy, uncertainty, and outright confusion among someand continues so to do even to this very day. Why? Firstly because it is natural that the things of God would be the most challenging to man, otherwise he would not be God in the first place (Job 11:7-9). Secondly, because the Biblical method of presenting the Father of Jesus as the one true God (yet never denying His divinely equal Son, nor denying the Holy Spirits distinct and personal operation on their behalf) has been largely overlooked, has been oftentimes missed completely, or has been vehemently resisted! And in its place human inventions, inadequate illustrations, and speculative approaches have been used. Whats the much ignored or oftentimes overlooked Biblical method? God imaging Himself in the family of Man!! Gen. 1:28, 27 ; Rom. 1:19, 20. This writer contends that if people accept all that the Bible says about God, His Son, and His Holy Spirit, if they use the Biblical method which patterns the divine nature or Godhead (even if illustrated in a limited way), if they also accept that no one can fully explain the things of God to satisfy all questions and all critics (Job 11:7-9), and if they accept that we should leave the unexplainable alone, then much of the confusion and man-made difficulties would be avoided.

THE BIBLES METHOD OF PRESENTING GOD WHILE AVOIDING POLYTHEISM

I would have thought that if God made Man in his own image (Gen. 1:26- 28), then the best method or approach to expressing the nature of God is to look at Mans nature. After all, apart from Jesus exactly reflecting His Fathers person (Heb. 1:2, 3) nothing else in known creation on earth was ever said to be faintly paralleled with Gods image. Thus when we look at how God uses imagery in relation to humans to present truths about humans themselves, and about themselves in relation to God, then we can have a faint idea as to how best to look at the things of God. God admittedly uses other things in nature to illustrate the things of God (not just human related things), but it is prudent to realize that only Man himself, and the things related to human relationships, can best illustrate (however inadequate) the things of God. Here now is a summary of the main things am about to address in detail about the much overlooked language of the Bible. Consider very carefully: 1. Why was the very name Adam, as given to Man by God Himself, literally a collective noun, with no plural number, and this name can mean both an individual of the kind, as well as the whole group in collective? And why was this particular name given to the very specie that was made in the image of God to pattern his nature? Why did Eve take the very name of her husband, the head (Gen. 5:2), despite there was one true Adam, or the male at the beginning? Why did God see them, Adam and Eve, as one flesh or of one substance, as if they are one being, and the wife today is to be loved
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as if a man is loving himself, his own body (Eph. 5:22-30)? Despite Eve was already also called Adam, why did Adam call Eve the mother of all living in Gen. 3:20, and then her name just happen to literally mean the giver of life? Why did God commission Man to multiply and fill (replenish) the earth, and it just so happened that all of Mans manifold descendants all over the planet, as separate beings, can be expressed in the singular of being his personal seed (e.g. Gen. 12:7;Gal. 3:16, 29)? And why is the seed of Man (the medium of his life) always pictured as proceeding from the father figure, and yet that seed cannot be the manifold descendants of the male or head figure alone without the union of both male and female? Why does God focus on the head of a human group as being representative of the whole group? For instance, why was Adam and Eve together called the man or him and he in Gen. 3:22-24, and yet more than one individual was driven out of the Garden of Eden? Why are women, who originally came directly from the being and substance of the man/male, called the glory of the man (1 Cor. 11:7), just as Jesus was/is also called Gods glory and the exact copy of his person (Heb. 1:3)? Why are wives, sons, and daughters alike, given the same name the father has? Why are families and genealogy in the Bible traced through the father alone, as head of the family, despite a male alone cannot procreate? Why does Jesus, like in a marriage union, see the Church so much a part of himself, his body, that when Paul (out of ignorance) initially persecuted the Church, he was charged with persecuting Christ himself? Why has death passed on all men because of the failings of Adam, the head of the race? Why does the story of Israel (Jacob) mean that salvation, blessings and curses in the Old Testament were passed down to his whole family (in all generations) through the head ancestor? Why do prophecies of kingdoms and powers (in 2 Thess. 2, Daniel 2, 7, 8, and Revelation 13, for instance) focus on the head of those kingdoms or powers as representative of the whole nation, kingdom or power? Why is eternal life and future glory of humanity assured through one person (e.g. Ps. 8:4-6; Heb. 2:6-11), i.e. through Jesus, the Seed of Abraham (Gal. 3:16, 29) the human forerunner, the human first fruits, the second Adam, the head or father (Heb. 2:1014) of the children he was given, or the head of the Church body he is one with? And why does the Bible say all Christians are the same personal Seed (Gal. 3:29), and that they are the many members of Christ, and yet there is still one true Christ (1 Cor. 12:1214), the head, and he is the one true Seed of Abraham? Could it be that COMPOSITE UNITY of a closely related group (of like nature) or a unit of humans is best represented by, and is centered in THE HEAD of that group? 2. Why in everyday life is the head and face of an individual of prime importance and often represents the whole person, but cannot be excluded/separated from the body, since ones body is considered very much a part of whom one is, just like the head?

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3. God the Father, the one true God, acts in unison with those who FULLY reflect His glory (Heb. 1:3)or his divine fullness (Col. 2:9), and who even share his divine name (Matt. 28:19), simply because they are are of/from Him, i.e. His Son and Spirit. The Spirit is so much like God that the Spirit is even literally equated with the Lord or Jehovah while immediately depicted as distinct (2 Cor. 3:17, 18 and Eph. 4:4-6). Apparently the Father does not consider this reality as polytheism, even when, for instance, he orders/endorses worship for His Son, and in equal measure to that offered to Himself, mind you (Heb. 1:6; John 5:23). This can be easily seen where (just like in a family), despite there are many anointed members of Christ (1 Cor. 12:12), yet this does not many Christs make, since only Jesus is the one true Christ, or the sole head of recreated humanity in status, despite he and his brethren are of like nature in terms of being human and being anointed. Anointed members of the body of the one true Christ are not falsely anointed ones or lesser anointed ones in terms of their human and anointed nature, but they are not the person of Christ as the one true Head of the body, the Church. Eve being called Adam in name (Gen. 5:2), and being of equal nature to Adam, still meant there was still one true Adam, the original prototype of Man, the human father and head of the entire human race, who fathered the race through Eve the mother of all living (Gen. 3:20). Similarly, God clearly considers whatever is accomplished by His Son and Holy Spirit as if it was/is he himself who did/does it. He pictures the whole operational unity of the Father, the Son, and the Spirit as if it is the one and the same doing it (e.g. 1 Cor. 12:4-6). The Father is the one spiritual Head of Jesus, operating through the medium of the one visible and tangible Christ, and both are present everywhere by way of the one personal Spirit. Jehovah God is biblically said to, for instance, create by himself (see Is. 44:24; Is. 45:11,12), is Judge himself (Ps. 50:2-6), is called the First and Last and only Savior (Is. 43:11;Is. 44:6), is called the only Supreme King (1 Tim. 6:13-16; John 1:18), and yet Jesus, often times through the power from the Spirit, either did it all on His behalf, or represents him in the office in question, or is called the same thing he is called. How can this be and yet God the Father is still called the one true God? 4. God the Father is called the one true God, the Head of Christ, and is a separate individual being from Christ, and yet, despite a separate being himself (said to be sent by the Father to us), Jesus is depicted as Gods divine right arm (Is. 53:1, 2), his Wisdom and Power (1 Cor. 1:14), his Reason, or Logos (John 1:1), etc. Likewise the Holy Spirit, despite having his own mind and will (Rom. 8:27;1 Cor.12:11), despite being distinct enough to be sent by both Father and Son (John 14:26; 15:26), despite distinct enough to intercede to the Father on behalf of praying Christians (Rom. 8:26), despite manifested at times even in human form (Ez. 8:1-4) and despite exhibiting his own distinct personal characteristics (e.g. Eph. 4:30), yet is depicted as the hand of the Lord
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God (Ez. 8:1-4) or the finger of God (Luke 11:20;Matt. 12:28), while at other times depicted as the inseparable mind of God (1 Cor. 2:11), and still at other times depicted as his omnipresence (Ps. 139:7-10). Why is God using all of this imagery, regarding all three (i.e. Father, Son, and Spirit who shares the same name; Matt. 28:19), to picture them as if they are a single divine being in operation; a single being who has one head, one body, one spirit, and one name? And remember no part of a being can be LOGICALLY considered as inferior to him, or not be considered equally a member of that being himself. And why is it that the sum total of an individual human being, made in the image of God, just happens to be biblically presented as a threefold union of body, soul, and spirit (1 Thess. 5:23)? And why did God not just use the imagery of one individual being in operation to illustrate his operational unity with His Son and Spirit, but, more importantly, ALSO used the family union at the very beginning to image how God exists and operates? All of the foregoing relates to a deep spiritual principle found all over the Bible that many people have either missed, or ignored, and hence why the nature of the Godhead, as faintly imaged in the family and in man himself from the very beginning, is not properly understood. Lets now explore these vital truths in the Bible, and it will be quickly seen how certain difficulties about the Godhead is easily cleared up, and how certain erroneous teachings can be easily refuted.

THE IMAGE OF GOD IN MAN INTRODUCED

Lets start at the very beginning. God made Man (Gen. 1:26-28) *"in his image" (i.e. patterned after him). Interestingly it turned out that: (i) At the individual level, Adam and all individual humans thereafter for that matter, was/is a *threefold being (i.e. body, soul, and spirit united) which cannot be separated from his constituent parts (1 Thess. 5:23). (ii) At the generic or species level, a family of Man is considered as still one in essence (Gen.2:24), despite being also made up of a threefold union of (a) a father, as sole head (b) a mother, as a help-meet, and (c) the later arriving seed or manifold descendants resulting from their unity (thus *completing the family); with all bearing the same family name from the father, and all still forming part of whom is called Man (Gen. 5:1, 2). The two (Adam and Eve), when they combined at the deepest human level, produced a third human person like themselves, Cain, who was still called and was fully a part of Man (humanity, or the one specie), or the family of Adam. Notice that the union at the deepest human/physical level results in a personal entity that is deemed the seed of the man (or proceeds/comes from the man, the head), and yet, after inevitably channeled through the woman, equally belongs to both parents, and reflects and represents the features of both anywhere that personal entity goes.
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It becomes MOST interesting that in the same way a single/individual human, with the image of God, is a threefold union, likewise a complete family of separate humans, with the image of God, is a threefold union of father, mother, and their seed or manifold descendants, all in a closely knit a group, with all sharing the same family name of the father. There exist the very same but original principle of a threefold union of the Father, and Son and their Holy Spirit, though they are not one personal being literally (as is erroneously taught by many in Christendom; especially by most traditional Trinitarians and the oneness Pentecostals as well, but just explained differently). They are only one in metaphorical imagery, with the Father as Head, the one true God; just like the one true Christ and His Church. The three should be depicted metaphorically with only one Head; not three! Also the Father and Son united, as separate beings, at the deepest level, results in the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit (the life of the Father) is depicted, admittedly, as proceeding from the Father, the Head, but also as being channeled through Christ, and yet is shared and equally possessed by both (Rom. 8: 9-11, 27). The Spirit is also depicted as equally representing, in a personal way, both the Father and Son all over the universe wherever the Spirit goes or is sent; with all three sharing the name of the Father (Matt. 28:19) the Head of that divine group. No wonder the Bible declared And God said let us make man in our own image. The general parallels and matching principles (not necessarily the exact processes) are eye opening and compelling, and I will highlight these shortly. It becomes apparent why THE WORDS TRIAD, OR TRIO, OR EVEN TRINITY (AS A SIMPLE NOUN; NOT THE TRADITIONAL PROPER NOUN OF CATHOLIC TRADITION) ARE VERY APPLICABLE TO THE GODHEAD!! Why? Because the very nature of the Godhead has the one true God, the Father, united with His Son (as a separate being), and present everywhere through the distinct Holy Spirit; a Spirit who results from their mysterious union, just as a complete family is a threefold union. This is a triadic or threefold union indeed. Will come back to the Trinity issue later, and clear up a few misconceptions. Some may ask, if Adam was created first in time, then Eve, and then came their seed or manifold descendants from their deep physical union much later, then how would this relate to the Godhead of three persons whom Christians, like me, contend are equally eternal? Well, the parallelism with how Man was created may simply relate to the fact that the revelation of the Godhead persons to Man was to be progressive (despite all three existed in eternity), with the eternal Father (Ps. 90:2) clearly revealed to us first! Then much later the eternal Son (Micah 5:2; Proverbs 8:22-24; 1 John 1:1-3) was revealed more fully to us! And then the eternal Holy Spirit (Heb. 9:14), of whom we know much less about today than Father and Son, was to be revealed last; and probably more to be fully revealed later, but at this time it is not necessary. Remember that time came about only after creation began (since it relates to day and night, sun, moon and stars as time markers), and all that was the creation or invention of God. And so before time began God (plus His Son and Spirit) simply inhabited eternity, or the infinite ages called from everlasting! Within the infinite ages or from
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everlasting, there is no reality of before and after, since before and after concepts are time related realities ever since time was created. That is what very many people fail to understand, and hence why the eternality of the Father, Son, and Spirit is confused with time, and before and after concepts are imposed upon on them to limit the eternal nature of Jesus and the Spirit, for instance. However, the creation of Man within time should never be confused with the nature of beings that exist outside of time, despite some parallelism does exist. The parallelism that exist between the Godhead and the time sequence of Adams creation, then Eves (and then their later arriving seed or manifold descendants), may simply relate to the fact that we are to always see (by way of the method in Man was created) that both the Son and the Spirit are of or from the Father, the head of divinity, despite all three existed within eternity and operated together to create all things including time itself (see Is. 44:24; Heb. 1:2; Col. 1:16,17; Ps. 104:30). All three are eternal because they all ALREADY existed before time itself was brought into being at the beginning, i.e. when day and night, sun, moon and stars --- all time markers---- were first created. That reality no TRUE Bible believing Christian can escape!

*LETS NOTE A KEY CONSIDERATION HERE: *THE BIBLE SAYS SATAN, THROUGH HIS HUMAN AGENTS
ON EARTH TODAY (THE MAN OF SIN; A POWER OR SYSTEM OF PEOPLE, NO DOUBT) WILL DO WHATEVER IT TAKES TO OPPOSE *"ALL THAT IS CALLED GOD, OR THAT IS WORSHIPPED" (2 THESS. 2:4). THIS TRUTH, APART FROM IT GIVING INSIGHTS INTO THE LONG RANGING PLANS OF THE ARCHENEMY TO CONFUSE GODS OWN PEOPLE ABOUT GOD, BUT AGAIN THIS IS CLEARLY INDICATING THAT "GOD" IS A COLLECTIVE GROUP (SINCE THE COLLECTIVE WORD *"ALL" FURTHER PROVES THAT TO BE SO)! ALL THAT IS CALLED GOD MEANS *EVERYONE IN THE CLASS OR GROUP OF DIVINITY! OBVIOUSLY SATAN HAS NO NEED TO OPPOSE FALSE GODS, SINCE THEY ARE HIS OWN INVENTIONS. HE WOULD BE SEEKING TO OPPOSE AND EXALT HIMSELF AGAINST DIVINE BEINGS; GENUINELY SO CALLED. ITS ONLY LOGICAL, SINCE THE PATTERN/IMAGE IN MAN (A COLLECTIVE GROUP) MUST REFLECT THE FEATURES OF THE ORIGINAL BLUEPRINT OF DIVINITY. ALSO, UPON CLOSER EXAMINATION, IT APPEARS THAT JUST AS SATAN NOW OPPOSES ON EARTH ALL THAT IS [CORRECTLY] CALLED GOD, OR THAT IS [CORRECTLY] WORSHIPPED, SO TOO SATAN DID THE SAME IN HEAVEN AS LUCIFER BEFORE BEING CAST OUT AS SATAN. WHY DO I SAY SO? ISAIAH 14:13, 14 HAS A RATHER CRYPTIC YET FASCINATING EXPRESSION ABOUT LUCIFER IN HEAVEN. UPON HIS REBELLION AGAINST THE MOST HIGH, AND HE WANTING TO SIT IN THE SEAT OF THE MOST HIGH, HE ALSO CLEARLY WANTED TO INTRUDE UPON THE PLACE RESERVED FOR DIVINITY, OR WHERE THE DIVINE ONES MEET; A CONGREGATION FOR DIVINITY (AND NOT JUST A NORMAL MEETING PLACE FOR ANGELS, AS SOME COMMENTATORS THINK)! LUCIFER WAS THE HIGHEST ANGEL EVER CREATED, AND YET HE WAS EXCLUDED! AND SO JUST LIKE THE THRONE OF GOD, WHERE ONLY JESUS CAN SIT WITH THE FATHER (REV. 3:21), LUCIFER ALSO COVETED THE EXCLUSIVE PLACE OF ASSEMBLY FOR DIVINITY. CLEARLY IT TAKES MORE THAN ONE DIVINE PERSON TO MEET, OR ASSEMBLE, AND THIS EXCLUSIVE MEETING PLACE WAS CLEARLY OFF LIMITS TO LUCIFER; THE HIGHEST ANGEL EVER CREATED! HERE AGAIN WE SEE EVIDENCE OF THE GODHEAD BEING MORE THAN ONE BEING, SINCE IT TAKES MORE THAN ONE PERSON TO ASSEMBLE. CLEARLY THE THE MOST HIGH, JEHOVAH OUR GOD, IS ACTUALLY THE FATHER, AN INIVIDUAL (1 COR. 8:6), A "HE", YET HIS NAME INCLUDED OTHERS ONE WITH HIM IN AN EXCLUSIVE WAY. IN THE SAME WAY THE INDIVIDUAL AND GENERIC LABEL MAN AND THE FAMILY NAME ADAM MEANT ONE INDIVIDUAL WHILE ALSO EXTENDING TO OTHERS, SO TOO THE NAME JEHOVAH AND THE GENERIC LABEL GOD APPLIES TO THOSE WHO SHARE HIS NAME (MATT. 28:19); THOSE HE IS DISTINCTLY UNITED WITH IN THE GODHEAD, AND THOSE WHOM HE CANNOT BE SEPARATED FROM, AS AN EXCLUSIVE GROUP!! THESE ARE HIS SON, WHO IS *ALSO OUR GOD (JOHN 20:28, 29), AND THE HOLY SPIRIT WHOM IS THE RESULT OF THEIR UNITY; THE PRESENCE OF WHOM (PS. 139:7) REPRESENTS BOTH FATHER AND SON (ACTS 5:3, 4; ROM. 8:9, 10). BOTH FATHER AND SON ARE BIBLICALLY PROVEN TO BE OUR GOD, THUS THE HOLY SPIRIT, WHO IS THE REPRESENTATIVE PRESENCE OF THEM BOTH, MUST ALSO BE OUR GOD, SINCE THE BIBLE SAYS JEHOVAH OR THE LORD IS THE SPIRIT (2 COR. 3:17, 18). SINCE ALL THREE HAVE THE SAME NAME, AND THE SAME NATURE AND CHARACTER (SINCE "NAME" DENOTE ALL OF THESE) AS SEEN IN MATTHEW 28:19, THEN NO WONDER MAN WAS MADE IN GOD'S IMAGE!! THIS IS COMPELLING REASONING WHICH YOU SHOULD CONTEMPLATE DEAR READER.

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Dont fight the truth, but accept it!! Now lets delve deeper into these compelling issues!

THE JEWISH VIEW OF FAMILY ONENESS

Now, as it concerns the oneness of Man, or a human family, spoken of collectively by focusing on the head figure, let me say this. Lest you think I am taking liberty with ancient Hebrew of the Bible, let me demonstrate conclusively that the Jews did see both a family as well as all humanity as if only one person or being (the head of the family, the male) was involved. In popular but extra-biblical Jewish literature called the Wisdom of Solomon, despite it is not inspired like the Bible, yet the following quote from it is quite eye opening about how Jews thought about Man, (as well as about personified Wisdom, but I will elaborate on Wisdom later). Emphases and inserts in brackets are mine: Wisdom of Solomon 10:1-7 She [wisdom] preserved the first formed father of the world [i.e. Adam],
that was created alone [despite united as one with his wife], and [wisdom] brought him out of his fall [i.e. assured him/them of future redemption after his/their sin in Eden], And [wisdom] gave him [i.e. Adam, Eve and all men] power to rule all things. . [Later when] the earth being drowned with the flood, wisdom again preserved it, and directed the course of the righteous [i.e. Noah and family] in a piece of wood of small value. When the ungodly perished [in Sodom], she [wisdom] delivered the righteous man [i.e. Lot and his family], who fled from the fire which fell down upon the five cities [Sodom and neighboring ones]. Of whose wickedness even to this day the waste land that smoketh is a testimony, and plants bearing fruit that never come to ripeness: and a standing pillar of salt is a monument of an unbelieving soul.

This collective or group language, as centered in/on the male or head figure (with the he or him denoting all persons involved, and both genders), is seen in the inspired Bible too, and so confirms the Jewish way of speaking. Here are just a few examples: Gen 3:22 And the LORD God said, Behold, the man [i.e. Adam and Eve] is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he [Adam and Eve] put forth his hand [whether Adam or Eve], and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever: Gen 3:23 Therefore the LORD God sent him [Adam and Eve] forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he [both Adam and Eve] was taken. Gen 3:24 So he drove out the man [both Adam and Eve]; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life. Genesis 6:3 And the LORD said, My Spirit shall not always strive with man [i.e. all humanity], for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years. Job 7:1 Is there not an appointed time to man [all humanity] upon earth? are not his days also like the days of an hireling? Job 7:17 What is man, that thou shouldest magnify him? and that thou shouldest set thine heart upon him? Job 7:18 And that thou shouldest visit him every morning, and try him every moment?
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THE IMAGE OF GOD IN MAN EXPLAINED

Now that this often missed (or much ignored) Biblical principle, of the generic oneness of Man (demonstrating Gods image) is now well established, lets apply and reason further. When God made Man in his own image how many men (male gender) were first created? Only one! Adam. In a word there was one true Adam, the first male, the head (father) of the entire human race in the beginning. However, you will realize very quickly that Eve (the female) who came directly from his substance was also recognized as constituting Adam, or Man, or mankind, or humanity (see Gen. 5:1, 2). To be Man in the highest/truest sense did not require Eve to be the person of Adam, her husband and head, but by her being simply human. Thus Adam, as Man, must of necessity, and in the first instance, include the oneness with his wife who bears both his name and equal nature, despite difference of function. And this was the direct parallel/result of Man being made in the image of God, simply because God, after saying let us make man in our own image, then proceeded to make Man in Gods image. *If divinity or the Godhead was one person alone, then the image of God in man would be borne by only one person/gender alone. Only the male would be humanity; not all persons/genders! Despite Gods image in man first related directly to Adam, the first human and the one true Adam (1 Cor. 11:7), however the image of God in Man LOGICALLY applies to all persons (Gen. 1:26-28), and humanity in Man is a shared reality between all persons of Man. Correspondingly God-hood is a shared reality between the persons of divinity. The original blueprint must correspond in basic elements to the image, or else there is no image or pattern in the first place!! How many persons of Man first existed after creation on earth was totally completed? A plurality!! How many humanities has ever existed? Only one! No other human species has existed; even today (with billions of persons) it remains so. Was humanity only the male? No? Was Eve called Adam or Man (human) in the highest sense of nature? Yes! Because she was not an inferior specie member of Man in nature! Was she a man (male gender)? Clearly No! Why? Because she was not the person of Adam (the male)! Was the woman led by Adam! Clearly yes! Did this diminish her humanity? No! Was she Adam, the head, in status? No! Was she inferior to Adam (the male) in nature? No! Why? Because they were both of one (the same) substance, and thats why God did not make Eve from a separate lump of clay, but to forever keep them one flesh (as if one person), despite they would be separate persons, he took the woman directly from the substance of the male (the multiplication process was 1x1= 1)! If God had made the woman independently from another lump of clay the equation would be 1+1 = 2, and would have defeated the imaging of the Godhead which is always one true God the Father, who, before time began, literally begat a Son from His very own substance to and yet they remain in principle one (still 1x1=1) as a man and his wife are one, and as Christ and the Church are one. The same rule, in general principle (as described in the foregoing) is true when applied to divinity in almost every area! Jesus is clearly not the person of the Father, but is TRULY God in the highest sense, since TO BE GOD IN THE HIGHEST SENSE DOES NOT REQUIRE THAT JESUS BE THE FATHER IN PERSON. This is quite similar to saying, that any female is truly Man (human) in the highest sense, despite not being the person of a male (gender). Eve was not
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another man/male (or another head figure), as this would create two heads of the first family, yet still she was fully and truly Man or human or another person of humanity, and fully one with the one true Adam. Likewise the same principle applies to the Godhead. Jesus is also not another one true God (or another Head figure of divinity), but hes likewise fully and truly divine or truly God [capitalized] in nature, and fully one with the one true God the Father (the only divine Head figure in the universe), because as 1 Cor. 8:6 clearly says there is one God, the Father, and one Lord Jesus Christ! Yet Jesus, as another person of divinity, is also rightfully called my Lord and my God (John 20:28, 29); not just God in nature. Why? Because, in relation to us, Jesus is our Creator just like the Father! Some like to leave out the last part of 1 Cor. 8:6, and ignore the true import of John 20:28, 29 or Heb. 1:8, 10!! I will not!! The divine unity is inescapable. Paul, (just like Jesus in John 17:3) when speaking of divinity and the one true God, the Father, always IMMEDIATELY introduced Jesus along with Him to show the inescapable family unity, just as Eve was introduced IMMEDIATELY along with Adam when God made Man in his image. Gen. 1:26, 27. Why? The unity of persons demonstrated in the image of God in humanity was as inescapable as the unity of persons in the original blueprint of divinity!! As any truly begotten child knows, he doesnt have only one parent (i.e. reproducer and pre-eminent caretaking figure); but two!! Yet that child inherits only the name of the head parent, who gets the credit for his begetting. As in heaven during eternity (i.e. before all time), so too on earth (during time) Jesus was similarly begotten of the Father through the Holy Spirit, yet the Father ultimately get the credit!! No wonder God made Man in the image of divinity. The parallels are too plain to ignore.

Eve was not a man (in gender), or the head in status, however (like all wives thereafter) she also had family rights to the name Adam (Gen. 5:2), and was by specie also called Man. Man (the specie) was Adam primarily, but, along with Eve, was one specie, one existence, one in being; NOT that both are a single personal being or one person, but are one related existence- e.g. Acts 17:28. Please see the dictionary for the various uses of the word being. That should clear up many misconceptions as to its usage.

Concluding then, I ask again was it simply Adams leadership in the first family, or he being the first human creation, or being the one true Adam (the Man of the house) at the beginning, and the only biologically un-begotten human male that sets him apart as Man in the truest sense? Was it only Adam, the male, that bore or had rights to the family name Adam (see Gen. 5:1, 2), or was he the only one to be considered Man/human in the highest or truest sense of the word, simply because he (or his substance) was the source of Eve, the female, or because he was the head (lord) of his wife? Certainly not!! Yet, those who focus on headship, leadership, and ultimate group authority as the measure of true God-hood would certainly like to think so about the Father in the divinity sense, and would want to create distances between the members of the divine specie in terms of their TRUE nature, and the highest honor they deserve.
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WHY GOD IS CALLED HIM, AND YET DIVINITY IS COLLECTIVE?

As already proven, if the word Man or the name "Adam" is both an identifying term for an individual as well as a generic term to denote the collective specie (Gen. 5:1-3), then a few other truths start to emerge. Man in the collective is Biblically and logically called him as centered in any head figure of humanity. This has already been clearly proven in the Bible and the Jewish culture. A modern writer that I respect further demonstrates this often overlooked principle where humanity is concerned. Note carefully the collective wording below, denoting all men since creation: Man [collective] came from the hands of the Creator, perfect in organization and beautiful in form. The fact that HE [collective] has for six thousand years withstood the ever increasing weight of disease and crime is conclusive proof of the power and endurance with which HE [collective] was first endowed. E.G. White, S.D.A Bible Comm., Vol. 1, pg. 1082 Correspondingly, the word God is both an identifying term for an individual, the Father himself, as well as a generic term to denote the collective specie of divine beings, or the distinct manifestations of divinity who all share the NAME and FULL attributes of divinity, or the divine attributes of the Father (see John 1:1-3; Matthew 28:19; Eph. 4:4-6). Is it then proper to collectively refer to all three in the Godhead with singular pronouns like he or him? I stand upon the Word of God and by the God-given rule of the image of God in man to declare that it certainly is properno matter the principle not being understood by many, and is usually resisted or opposed!! The favorite author of mine (already quoted above), who always saw the Father as the one true God, understood this collective language and hence wrote: Have you been born again? Have you become a new being in Christ Jesus? Then cooperate with the three great powers of heaven *who *all three called who+ are working in your behalf. Doing this you will reveal to the world the principles of righteousnessGod says, [notice after this whom she means says this] "Come out from among them, and be ye separate, . . . and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, and will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty." This is the pledge of [not one person, but] the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit [i.e. the *pledge to receive and be a Father to you]; made to you if you will keep your baptismal vow, and touch not the unclean thing In order to deal righteously with the world, as members of the royal family, children of the heavenly King, Christians must feel their need of a power, which comes only from the [three] heavenly agencies that have pledged themselves to work in man's behalf. After we have formed a union with the great THREEFOLD POWER [singular; collective], we shall regard our duty toward the members of God's family with a sacred awe. -E.G. White, Signs of the Times, June 19, 1901
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Notice carefully that to this writer God says, or saith the Lord Almighty, and yet she explained it to mean the the great threefold Power (singular) of the Three (i.e. the Father, Son and Spirit) spoke as if one Lord Almighty spoke, and pledged themselves as if they are the one Father to all newborn Christians. This writer I quoted above NEVER, EVER believed the Three were one Being literally (she actually called the three the three Holiest BEINGS in heaven), but clearly she was in touch with the Biblical language I have been speaking about all along in this presentation. Language-wise, it is no strange thing for a group to be the intended focus but the pronoun "he" is used to represent the group, even if the head of that group is targeted primarily. The Bible is replete with examples of the singular pronoun "he" used to mean a collection of individuals united by a common feature or a set of attributes, but are represented by the head of that group. See for proof: (a) Gen. 3:22-24 (b) Dan. 2, 7, and 8 with Rev. 13 (c) Dan. 7:13, 14, 26, 27 with Rev. 12:1-5 and 1 Cor. 12:12 (d) Psalm 8:4-8 This reality seems likewise applicable to God who spoke from the very beginning as*"US", since the Father (an individual "he") is the head of divinity or is the primary focus of divinity, and thus He is used to represent the whole specie, just as Christ (an individual "him") is the head of humanity or the primary focus of humanity, and thus is used to represent the whole specie as the one Seed of Abraham (Gal. 3:16, 29)!! We see this imagery clearly in Daniel 7:13, 14 having Christ as the representative son of man receiving a kingdom, and thereafter ruling, and yet verse 27 of the same chapter shows how the application/interpretation applies it to all the people of the saints of the most High. Compare Eph. 2:4-6 with Rev. 3:21 and this truth become even clearer. Interesting indeed! If Man, i.e. human beings united, can be one (Gen.2:24; Gen. 11:1-8), and represented as speaking and acting as one, or represented together as "him" or "he" (Gen.3:22-24; Gen. 6:3;Psalm 8:4-8; Job 7;1,17,18) then God, speaking just like Man did e.g. "Go to, let us" (Gen. 11:3-8)He also can be pictured as a unity of beings speaking and acting as one (Gen. 3:22); even if they are *NOT one individual Being literally, but are one spiritually and one in essence, as Man himself is (Acts 17:28). And never forget that God saying "Let us make man" can never be blasphemously applied to the Father speaking in unison with angels, since man was never made in the image of angels and God, but only in the image of divinity. So let no one divert you from the plainness of this truth!
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No human male could ever say to a beloved pet (a lesser specie), let us reproduce a child in our image, and it happens. Why? The laws of the universe, as set in motion by divinity, means that it takes two of the same kind (humanity) to reproduce humans, just as Father and Son were of the same kind (divinity), and in union they created the universe (including man), but the Father created through His Son and gets the credit as Head (Is. 44:24). Only divinity can create. By the way, just as Eves name literally translates to mean the life giver (and she gave life, as it were, to all on behalf of Adam, the father of all humans), so too, Jesus as Creator, is pictured as the Life giver in John 1:1-3, and gave/gives life to all on behalf of the Father (John 5:21-29). And only God can give life!! Thus the term God is collective in Gen. 1:26, 27 because of the corresponding realities that took place right there and then at the beginning of Man. Man came from God as a collective group bearing the same family name (Gen. 5:2), therefore Man was made in the image of God speaking in a group as us, i.e. those of divinity spoke with one voice about our image (singular); not our images. Period! End of story and all protestations to the contrary!! Now, God even went as far as using the imagery of one individual being to represent the members of the Godhead, to illustrate the unity, despite the separateness of beings involved (just like the Church headed by Christ is similarly represented- 1 Cor. 11:3; 1 Cor. 12:12): The Father is pictured in imagery as the Head of Christ (1 Cor. 11:3), and He worked on earth through and controlled the man Christ Jesus (2 Cor. 5:19), who was then called the arm of the Lord (Is. 53:1-3). Before that, and even before all time began, He worked through Jesus depicted as the wisdom and power of God (1 Cor. 1:24; Prov. 8:1, 22-24), and as His Logos or Personal Word (i.e. His already expressed Word as a separate person; John 1:1-3) to create the universe (including day and night, sun moon and stars, which began time as we know it). These are all metaphorical imagery, to depict unity of operation as if only one being is involved, and yet we know that by making the family of separate beings and the church of separate beings to pattern or image that same original principle of Gods operation then we know we are not dealing with only one Being. In addition the Father is pictured as working through the Spirit who even at times appears with human form, and yet the Spirit is called the hand of the Lord God (Ez. 8:1-4), at other times the finger of God (Luke 11:20; Matt. 12:28; Ex. 8:19; Deut. 9:10), at other times his inseparable mind (1 Cor.2:11), and still at other times his power, etc. All these are simply imageries to show the inseparable unity of all three in operation; operating as if they are one being, with the Father as the Head of the whole operation, despite they are not literally one personal being. We know they are not because the family and the Church similarly patterns the united operation of the Godhead as if only one being or person is involved (the head figure alone), and yet they also reflect/pattern the distinction of separate beings at work!

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Here again is that helpful illustration from that writer I greatly respect, one who consistently saw the Father as the one true God, and yet insightfully wrote about the Godhead: Have you been born again? Have you become a new being in Christ Jesus? Then cooperate with the three great powers of heaven *who [notice all three called who+ are working in your behalf. Doing this you will reveal to the world the principles of righteousnessGod says, [notice after this whom she means says this] "Come out from among them, and be ye separate, . . . and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, and will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty." This is the pledge of [*not one person, but] the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit [i.e. the *pledge to receive and be a Father to you]; made to you if you will keep your baptismal vow, and touch not the unclean thing In order to deal righteously with the world, as members of the royal family, children of the heavenly King, Christians must feel their need of a power, which comes only from the [three] heavenly agencies that have pledged themselves to work in man's behalf. After we have formed a union with the great THREEFOLD POWER [singular; collective], we shall regard our duty toward the members of God's family with a sacred awe. -E.G. White, Signs of the Times, June 19, 1901

WHY I AM NOT THE USUAL TRINITARIAN

This leads me now to make it clear that despite this writer accepts, for the convenience of communication, the application of the word trio/trinity/triad when considering the Godhead, yet I am not a traditional or orthodox Trinitarian, since I do not believe that Father, Son and Spirit are literally one Being united indivisibly as one substance literally. I believe simply what the Bible teaches; that the Father and Son (and Spirit) are one as the members of the Church and Christ himself are one. Theyre SEPARATE BEINGS, OR THE THREE HOLIEST BEINGS IN HEAVEN, but one as the Church is. Anything else is futile speculation. I also dont believe that the Godhead (as seen in subsequent pictorial) is best represented with three heads or faces of Jesus on one neck, because the biblical imagery God uses nowhere supports that principle. Only the Father is the Head of the divinity of the Three; not Jesus!!

This principle too is seen imaged in the threefold family union, where the members of the human family are all equally human, and all have the same family name of the head of the
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family, but only the father is the head of the family in status (remember though that his headship does not imply that his wife or his seed/children are inferior in nature to him). The spiritual unity of the Godhead, pictured IN IMAGERY as operating like a human body is very apt indeed, but only as it applies as a metaphor; *not in literal terms as Roman Catholics believe God to be, i.e. in terms of *1 literal numeric indivisible substance, and depicted with three heads fused around one brain (as seen in foregoing Roman Catholic pictorial)! No human body has more than one head. Period!! And that's why only the Father is the "head" of Christ (1 Cor. 11:3), with Christ pictured in biblical imagery as the "arm of the Lord" (Isaiah 53:1), and the Holy Spirit pictured as the "hand of the Lord" or "the finger of God" (Ez. 8:1-5 with Luke 11:20/Matt.12:28). All of this biblical imagery indicates the spiritual unity of the Godhead in the same terms as Christ and the Church is!! These Scriptures clearly indicate that it is OK to picture the Godhead operating *LIKE a human body with united members acting in perfect unison!! And while all members of that union are equal in nature, all exist together, and all members are just as important as the other, despite they function in different roles, yet the equality of nature does not mean that all members are the Head!! That's how the Godhead has chosen to be seen in imagery when God simply said from the beginning, *"LET US MAKE MAN IN OUR OWN IMAGE!! Thus we need look no further, or strive to use man-made illustrations. God has already given us the illustrative pattern he himself invented, i.e. Man as an individual, and Man as a family--- all made in God's image!!

HOW THE FAMILY MODEL REFUTES ALL ERRORS ABOUT GOD!!

Lets now see how the image of God in Man helps us to be able to identify all heresies and errors in the Christian faith. I will elaborate on two such types of heresies, as examples.

1. Main Errors of the Jehovahs Witnesses: The Watchtower and Jehovahs

Witnesses (JWs), like the Arian heresy of the fourth century, appealed to Jesus being called the firstborn of all creature and the beginning of the creation of God, and sadly then concluded that this means Jesus is a creature, and is not God by nature, since the Father is the one true God. But if they had taken a little more time to patiently and objectively research, and if they had believed Jehovah God himself when he said that he and Jesus made Man in their own image, then they would not have found yourselves in this sad situation. Scholarly exegesis makes it plain that words have varieties of meaning, and not only the surface meaning should be grabbed and run with, and a text taken out of context is a woeful pretext. Interestingly, my research shows me that the Jews referred to the Father, or Jehovah Himself, as the firstborn of/over the world or all the creation (Hebrew, becoro shel olam), as the Adam Clarkes Commentary on the Bible indicates:
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The Jews term Jehovah becoro shel olam, the first-born of all the world, or of all the creation, to signify his having created or produced all things -Adam Clarkes Commentary on the Bible Now it is absolutely true, that Jews, who are the best expositors of their own language, should be trusted to at least know that this expression can be applied to God, or to divinity, and yet it does not mean he is a creature. And we find this clearly applying also to Jesus as the divine Son of God, without it applying to him being a creature, or the first thing created. Because the expression firstborn or first begotten, as well as the broader expression firstborn of all creation both have the added meaning of pre-eminence over, then we can see why they can be applied to Jesus in Col. 1:15-19. Paul, a Jew, rightly understood that it means simply that Jesus has pre-eminence over all things BECAUSE he himself created all things. Thats why Paul said in verse 16 of Col. 1 FOR BY HIM WERE ALL THINGS CREATED. The word for, in that context, clearly means heres the reason why. Paul, as a Jew, knew very well that the word firstborn also has meaning of preeminence when even things being created, or things being born are not the subject at hand. And so we find the Bible calling a disease like leprosy the firstborn of death (Job 18:13), or describing Jesus coming from the grave as the first begotten of those from the dead (Rev. 1:5). Why? Leprosy was the prime, pre-eminent, or leading disease in those days, so too was Jesus the prime, leading, or pre-eminent person to have ever been in the grave. Leprosy was not the first ever disease to exist in time, neither was Jesus the first to ever be resurrected from the dead, and so the emphasis shows it means, in context, PREEMINENCE OVER; not first in time. And even if Jesus, by way of his incarnation, became part of his creation, it was thousands of years after he himself created all things, and it was only after the MIRACULOUS incarnation process. In addition it was only after he was already MADE (Heb. 2:17) to became part of the human species of creation, incarnationally, that Paul applied the expression to Jesus, and so it still means his PRE-EMINENCE OVER ALL CREATION, just like he is pre-eminent over the Church, or over those who are from the dead, etc. Likewise, despite becoming himself a Jew long after Jews were in existence he was still called the firstborn among many *Jewish+ brethren (Rom. 8:29), because he has pre-eminence over all Jew. Correspondingly, the term the beginning of the creation of God MUST mean he is the ORIGINATOR, SOURCE, or BEGINNER of the creation of God, as well as being the PREEMINENT One over the creation of God, since the expression beginning comes from the Greek word arche, and just like the words architect and archenemy show, its use extends to these meanings too; not just to first in time. This means therefore that Jesus is the co-Creator!

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The main reason for the Jehovahs Witnesses not understanding Jesus TRUE nature, as Gods Only Begotten Son, is in them not accepting Gen. 1:26, 27 literally. Their blunder is two-fold: a) Over and over the Father Himself declares that Jesus is his ONLY BEGOTTEN Son, or His very special Son, His unique Son who is the exact copy of his very person/being (Heb. 1:1-3), who has the fullness of the Godhead or divine nature in Him (Col. 2:9), and so is unlike everyone else called sons of God. Now, their thesis, because of its failure to sufficiently/properly research, properly define words, and properly apply exegesis, it has reduced Jesus to being just like all other sons of God: a CREATURE!! If all other sons of God are CREATED beings (angels included), and if humans, as sons of God, are spiritually said to be begotten again by God, then in what sense could Jesus be said to be the ONLY Begotten Son God? Only in the sense no other son of God is. He was (past tense) literally BEGOTTEN of the very SUBSTANCE of God the Father Himself, by divine procreation or reproduction from the PERIOD the Bible calls from everlasting, or from eternity itself, since time is part of creation and was created by Jesus Himself (John 1:1-3). The known universe consists of (i) time and space (two invisible and intangible realities), as well as (ii) tangible matter making up all living and non-living things (as proper research would have indicated), and all three were the direct creation of Jesus Himself (Col. 1:16,17)unless JWs wish to defeat John 1:2,3 or Col. 1:16,17, which I am sure they cant, despite their futile attempts to (by even adding words to the Scriptures in John 1:13, and Col. 1:16, 17). How sad! The Greek word monogenes for only begotten, as seen in John 3:16, means first, an only child literally born from a parents own substance within a specie, as well as a unique member of a group, and it is precisely the word God uses to describe Jesus, IN TOTAL DISTINCTION FROM ALL OTHERS CALLED SONS OF HIS. JWs, however, deny all of what Jesus Himself said, what His apostles taught, what almost all Christian apologists of the first three centuries proved they inherited from apostles by way of their preserved writings, and instead makes Jesus a CREATURE like you and me, like the angels, and like the known created universe. Heresy I say!! JESUS IS NOT A CREATURE, but by Gods own admission, over and over, he is his TRUE Son, and by right of coming from His substance (like Eve came directly from Adams substance, as part of the demonstration of Gods image in man at the very beginning), Jesus therefore, like no other son of God ever can, has rights, by NATURAL INHERITANCE, to own ALL of what God Himself owns, including his name (as wives and literal sons do), his angels, his temple, his church, his children, his throne, his kingdom, et al). John 16:15. He even owns, in a spiritual way totally unknown to man, the very Spirit of God by natural right. Why? This is because he is a TRUE Son; NOT a creature.
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A creature is a new thing externally manufactured that never existed in its properties before, but a reproduction is a biological PROCREATION from a pre-existing prototype (big difference), and is the means by which a parent naturally/biologically brings about a copy of himself and his pre-existing properties. Since no other son is said to be Gods only begotten Son, or is said to be the

exact copy of his person, then it

stands to irrefutable reason that Jesus was a NATURAL reproduction of His Father before time began, i.e. from everlasting or from eternity, and hence he is NOT a creation or external manufacturing of properties never in existence before, but is of the divine specie before time began (and hence is from everlasting as well). Yes, he is of the divine specie, and hence is himself like his Father in terms of divine specie; not in terms of divine headship or leadership; a matter God demonstrated faintly in principle, in the image of God in man, when he made Eve to come directly from Adams substance, with Adam as the one true head of the first family and the entire human race. And this principle is what confirms that Jesus is God in nature, yes, God in highest nature, just like Eve was Man in highest nature, because she came DIRECTLY from Adams substance. And yet Jesus is not the person called God, the Father, despite inheriting his name and nature as TRUE sons naturally do of their literal fathers, and just like Eve was not the person called Adam, but was called Adam in name (Gen. 5:1, 2), and just like wives and children naturally or rightfully acquired the name of the head of the family. Why? This is because all are of the same human species, and are one as a literal family! I wonder if married women among the JWs see themselves as inferior to their husbands as head, or see themselves as unlike him in specie. b) Any teaching which denies that Jesus, by way of being Gods only begotten Son, is not God in nature, is not divine, and has no divinity whatsoever is anti-Christ in spirit because it denies the Father being a real Father in the TRUE sense, and denies that Jesus is a real Son in the true sense!! I can excuse, as weak argumentation, someone saying that Jesus being Gods only begotten Son is an expression which means that Jesus is God in fullest nature, is unique as Gods divine Son, but not that he was literally begotten or derived at the beginning, since that would mean he is not eternal. Weak argumentation, but excusable as it exists among some today (e.g. among certain mainstream SD Adventist leaders, writers, and teachers)! Why? Because it is critical (salvific) to accept that Jesus, as the Son of God, is God in fullest nature, even if you blunder on the how He is PROPERLY deemed to be so! But I cannot excuse someone saying that Jesus being Gods only begotten Son means he is a creature and is not divine. That is heresy, the spirit of anti-Christ, and by it the very teaching of Gods image in man is being obliterated. Any definition of God is erroneous if it only focuses on the Father, just like any definition of Man is erroneous if it focuses only on the male, or father or head figure. What is true is that like Adam, the one true Man
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(the prototype of humanity) at the beginning, the Father is the one true God, the prototype of divinity, from all eternity. Yet if Eve, just like Jesus in relation to the Father, was not the person of Adam, in the role of headship, did that mean she was not human, but a false human, or a lesser human? You the reader, already know, or by now SHOULD know the answer I am sure. Same with Jesus in principle, and even more, since he is not a false God, or a lesser God, but is the exact copy of the Fathers person (Heb. 1:3), and can even legitimately represent Him as the Everlasting Father (Is. 9:6)!

2. Main Errors of Oneness Pentecostals (Jesus Only)

Oneness Pentecostals or modalists or sabellians (commonly called Jesus Only) seem very Biblical in insisting on one God being, whom they say is Jesus only. Jesus, whom they say, is not just God in nature, but is the person of the Father Himself! But taking another look at the image of God in Man shows up their heresy in several ways! a) They make the Word (Logos) of God (John 1:1,2) to be the literal being or person of God the Father himself, by saying God Himself was literally the same being of Jesus (depicted as the Word) whom he was plainly said to be with (Greek pros, literally face to face). They seek to pass this off as logical, by appealing, first, to the Bible saying and the Word was God, and secondly by appealing to Greek philosophy about the Greek term logos (or word) also meaning the thought or the unexpressed word of a person himself (i.e. its secondary meaning). However, both the language of John in John 1, and the image of God in Man, or the family, defeats this teaching. The person called God that the Word or Logos was said to be with in verse 1 is designated in a way to show the clear distinction of beings. God, that the Word (Logos) was said to be with is designated as ho theos (or the God), with the definite article the (ho) indicating a proper noun. However, apart from saying that the Word was with the God (ho theos), clearly meaning a distinction, the Word or Logos was simply said to be theos in verse 1, without the definite article the (ho theos). If the definite article the (ho) was before both words God in verse 1 of John, then it would mean that both the Word of God and God, the God, are the same being!! But the literal Greek language construction of John 1:1 shows that when the Word or Logos was being described in verse 1, it simply said the Word was God, or simply theos without the definite article. This simply means that the Word or Logos was divine, or of like/same nature as God, i.e. Jesus was divine just like the God that he came from and was with. The same idea is worded differently in 1 John 1:1-3. b) Now since (in imagery) any word, once expressed, becomes distinct and separate from the source, then we know Jesus was ALREADY separate as a being from the Father he
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was said to be with in John 1:1. Here now is how the family, and the image of God in Man, perfectly illustrates John 1:1-3. In the same way, Eve came directly from the being of Adam, as a separate being, and then Adam fathered the race through her (never apart from her), so too God did not create the universe without his Personal Word; whom we now know to be Christ, a separate being. The parallel is simply unbeatable. The same way Adam did not procreate in isolation, but by/through the being who came directly from him, so too God, the Father, created by/through the being that came directly from Him before time began; the being depicted in imagery as the ALREADY expressed Word or Logos. God did not create by his unexpressed thought, but by/through His ALREADY expressed and personal Word, whom we now know as Jesus. Thats precisely why Jesus was depicted as the Wisdom of God ALREADY brought forth and ALREADY set up FROM EVERLASTING or from eternity past; long before anything was created (1 Cor. 1:24; Proverbs 8:22-24; Micah 5:2). In the same way, Adam could say in love to Eve let us make a child, and he then fathered that child through her, but only after she already came from him, in like fashion, only after Jesus was already in existence from eternity as a separate being, as the already expressed Personal Word, or as Wisdom ALREADY brought forth, could the Father naturally say to Him of like nature, let us make Man in our own image, and then by/through Him he created Man; just like he did all of creation in the entire universe (Col. 1:16,17)!! Its as clear as crystal!! c) In addition, the Jesus only or oneness Pentecostals are at a loss to show how God could be referring to his Son in Proverbs 30:4, long before Jesus sojourn on earth, and yet, according to them, it was only the human son of Mary that could be called Gods only begotten Son. They lamely try to squeeze into the picture God using futuristic language or prolepsis in Gen. 1:26, 27 and in Proverbs 30:4. But that will never cut it. Almost every early Christian writer and apologist of the first three centuries commonly understood and expressed Jesus begetting or his descent from the Father as first occurring during eternity, or from everlasting (Micah 5:2); not just on earth. This indicates strongly what they inherited in understanding from the apostles themselves. John 3:16 shows that God must have had a prior Son to give up to us in the first place! So therefore Jesus was begotten twice; only in two different ways by the same Father (first as spirit, then as flesh)! Saved Christians are also sons of God in double fashion; first originating physically from God through creation, and then begotten again spiritually (1 Peter 1:3) to be his recreated son. The parallels in Jesus Son-ship and ours are stubbornly alike in principle! No escaping it! Obviously, if Jesus is Gods only begotten Son among other type of sons (i.e. created and adopted ones), and is the only TRUE Son who was the exact copy of his very being long before even human creation (Heb. 1:2, 3), then, in terms of original specie or by TRUE reproduction (not by creation
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or adoption), Jesus could not have been be a fish, or an angel, or a lesser specie of person than who the Father Himself was/is. This is because Jesus originally came from the very Being of God Himself, who is Himself God in nature! Thus Jesus is truly God in nature; not the Supreme Being of the Father in headship, or in individuality or personhood. The Father must also have had someone existing prior to Jesus earthly birth to be able to send Him to us (John 17:3). And someone cannot send themselves, whether as Son or Spirit; only personal Representatives can be sent!! Most importantly, Jesus must have been a separate being from the Father before the creation of man, since God must have had someone to love from BEFORE the foundation of the world (John 17:24)! And since TRUE love, just like in the family, is a reciprocal relationship between separate beings, then we know (just like Adam and Eve reciprocating love) that Jesus already existed alongside the Father as a unit of love. The very essence of Gods nature is love (a reality finding TRUE meaning only among beings; not in the atmosphere of isolation and independence), and thats why God made us in his image *as a family of love to reveal to us what the divine specie is like. He is not as a single, isolated, dominant, and independent being in terms of divinity in heaven itself, as Jesus only or oneness Pentecostal people say. The family on earth or the image of God in Man does not pattern that isolation of the Father at all. We are therefore without excuse if we do not discern the object lesson in our own families to understand. In fact, only true love and humility would have the Father, despite being the Head of divinity, allowing Jesus to be all that he is to us, as God, on His behalf (i.e. on the Fathers behalf Jesus was our Creator, he is our Sustainer, he was Israels Protector, Israels Redeemer, Israels final Judge, Resurrect-or, etc.. and is the same to all of us on His behalf). Jesus in turn demonstrates his true love for the Father by never seeking to usurp his place of Headship, despite being equal to Him in nature. That is precisely what the mystery of godliness is all about. Humility, cooperation and love being demonstrated between/among leader and subordinate of like nature in a family of pure love. And by the way, anywhere God was/is emphasizing that he alone created, or he alone is Savior, or he alone is first and last, or he alone is called God, and that he would not share his glory, etc., this is/was ALWAYS in contrast to the false gods of human devising or human invention on earth!! NEVER were those words uttered by the one true God as a means of separating himself from His Son or Spirit that He is NATURALLY one with by nature. Never!! In fact, after Jesus was revealed fully in the New Testament, almost every time the Father is expressed as the one TRUE God by Jesus Himself, or by New Testament writers (e.g. John 17:3, 1 Cor. 8:6, Eph.4:4-6)
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immediately before or after that expression either Jesus himself or both Jesus and the Spirit is/are immediately introduced, to guard against us ever distancing the Father from His Son or Spirit in terms of divinity. Thats precisely because of what Jesus Himself (John 17:3), the Apostles (1Cor. 8:6; Eph. 4:4-6), and the family model (Matt. 19:4-6) has taught us about the image of God in Man, and about Adam, the one true Adam!! Moses, writing in Gen. 1:26, 27 immediately introduced the female along with Adam (both together) when speaking about God creating Man. Adam was to be ever considered in oneness with his family (starting with his wife Eve), and Adam and Eves physical oneness (at the deepest physical level possible) has, since Eden, produced personal entities all over the planet; in the billions literally! The race of Man today (resulting from their original oneness at the deepest physical level) is now equally representing our first human parents everywhere, and is personally walking around over the entire planet with both of their human characteristics, or their human nature, still united (in that sense) as the one family or race of Man! And this parallels, in the first instance, the oneness of the Father with his the Son, and thereafter this oneness (at the deepest spiritual level) is somewhat patterned in their omnipresent Holy Spirit equally representing both of them anywhere that Spirit is sent or is present on their behalf all over the universe! No wonder the Spirit is deemed as a sevenfold Spirit (Rev. 1:4, 5) or a manifold Spirit (in extra-biblical Jewish literature); the Spirit who equally sends greetings to the Church alongside the Father and Son, and is the Representative means by which the Father and Son are deemed to be personally omnipresent all over the universe. As it is in heaven, so it is on earth! The Father, Son and Spirit are together pre-eminent over lesser heavenly beings, with the Father as the final Head of all, while correspondingly on earth Man (meaning all humanity, with Adam as the human father of all), was set over earthly species of lesser nature (i.e. all species of animals, birds, fish, plants, etc.) as a reflection/imaging of the original blueprint of Gods government in heaven. This is precisely how the principles of oneness of the family of Adam work on earth. Even today, with Jesus as the second Adam, the same principle is at work. He is now, on his human side, the human Father of the entire recreated race of righteous children that God gave Him (Is. 9:6; Heb. 2:1013), despite all of saved humanity is simultaneously considered as his Bride that he is forever one with. The recreated race of Man (through the second Adam) will then be restored in its full inheritance of and ruler-ship over all things on the earth. The parallels with Gods original Model for Man are simply amazing! Jesus being FOREVER our Model of a true human son of God, NOW takes the place of the first Adam who lost out on the Model, and since that time Jesus NOW has the Father (since his incarnation) as His God (never before that), and demonstrates for us how we should worship God! And he will continue to be that Model for us throughout
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all eternal ages in the future as part of the plan of REDEMPTION. And yet he will still be God in divine nature, since his universal rule upon the one throne of the Father (Rev. 3:21) will never end (Daniel 7:13, 14). Amazing combinations in the one life of our Great God and Savior Jesus Christ, the one who is truly is called FOREVERMORE the Mighty God and the Everlasting Father!! Is. 9:6 *Never again, dear reader, should the Scriptures about the Father being the one true God ever bother you in terms of how they relate to Jesus as a separate being, or as the Wisdom or Word of God from everlasting (or from eternity)!! Never!!

DEPICTION OF THE PRE-EXISTENT AND ETERNAL JESUS

And by the way, before moving on, let me add that the unconverted Jews, and the later enlightened Christians, had interesting viewpoints regarding who the personified Wisdom in Old Testament imagery was all along. It is indeed eye opening! A comparison of Jewish literature and the inspired Bible shows clearly that that: In the Apocrypha [i.e. popular but extra-biblical Jewish literature], the most advanced step is taken regarding Wisdom [the Logos]... Wisdom [the Logos] is thought of as a heavenly being -Quoted from *INTERNATIONAL STANDARD BIBLE ENCYCLOPEDIA

*PERSONIFIED WISDOM IN IMAGERY, FOR THE ANCIENT JEWS, WAS AT TIMES EITHER EQUATED WITH, AND OR MADE ONE WITH GOD HIMSELF, AND AT OTHER TIMES MADE DISTINCT FROM HIM. BUT THE SAME WISDOM WAS LATER SEEN AS THE DISTINCTLY PERSONAL AND PRE-EXISTENT JESUS BY CHRISTIANS, DESPITE WISDOM WAS LINGUISTICALLY DEPICTED IN THE FEMININE GENDER IN OLD TESTAMENT HEBREW (SIMPLY AS LANGUAGE RULES OF COURSE). Proofs? COMPARE THE FOLLOWING CAREFULLY:

Wisdom of Solomon 10:15-20 She [Wisdom] delivered the righteous people and blameless seed [Israel] from the nation [of Egypt] that oppressed them. She entered into the soul of the servant of the Lord [Moses], and withstood [overcame] dreadful kings in wonders and signs [e.g. the Egyptian Pharaoh]; [wisdom] Rendered to the righteous [Israel] a reward of their labors, guided them in a marvelous way, and was unto them for a cover by day [pillar of cloud], and a light of stars [pillar of fire] in the night season; [wisdom] Brought them through the Red sea, and led them through much water: But she [wisdom] drowned their enemies, and cast them up out of the bottom of the deep. Therefore the righteous [all Israel] spoiled [defeated] the ungodly [Canaanites], and praised thy holy name, O Lord, and magnified [i.e. praised] with one accord thine hand [i.e. thy Wisdom or the arm of the Lord], that fought for them.
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NOW NOTICE WHOM THE BIBLE IDENTIFIES AS THIS PERSONIFIED WISDOM:

1Corintians 1:24 But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ [is] the power of God, and the wisdom of God. 1Corinthians 10:1-4 Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea; And were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea; And did all eat the same spiritual meat; And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ.

Proverbs 8:1, 22-25 Doth not wisdom cry? and understanding put forth her voice? The LORD possessed me [wisdom or Jesus] in the beginning of his way, before his works of old. I [wisdom or Jesus] was set up from everlasting, from the beginning, or ever the earth was. When there were no depths, I [wisdom or Jesus] was brought forth; when there were no fountains abounding with water. Before the mountains were settled, before the hills was I brought forth Hebrews 1:2, 3 [God] Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son [Jesus], whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds [Jesus] Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high; COMPARE AGAIN: Wisdom of Solomon 7:26-28 For she [wisdom] is the brightness of the everlasting light [i.e. God Himself], the unspotted mirror of the power of God [the exact copy/reflection of Gods omnipotence], and the image of his goodness. And [wisdom] being but one [i.e. distinct from God], she can do all things: and remaining in herself [i.e. distinct from God], she maketh all things new: and in all ages entering into holy souls, she maketh them friends of God, and prophets. For God loveth none but him that dwelleth with [i.e. is friends with] wisdom. Wisdom of Solomon 8:3-4 she [wisdom] is conversant with God [i.e. knoweth him fully], she magnifieth her nobility [i.e. is closest to God in royalty]: yea, the Lord of all things himself loved her. For she is privy to the mysteries of the knowledge of God, and a lover of his works. Wisdom of Solomon 7:22 For wisdom, which is the worker [creator] of all things, taught me in her is an intelligent spirit holy [i.e. the holy spirit], one only [i.e. one or distinct holy spirit], [yet] manifold [i.e. a manifold or sevenfold spirit in operation and presence] Wisdom of Solomon 9:10-11 O send her [wisdom] out of thy holy heavens, and from the throne of thy glory, that being present she may labour with me, that I may know what is pleasing
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unto thee. For she knoweth and understandeth all things, and she shall lead me soberly in my doings, and preserve me in her power. John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word [the Logos, Wisdom], and the Word [the Logos, Wisdom] was with God, and the Word was God [i.e. he was all God Himself was in nature, just like Eve was the same in relation to Adam]. John 1:2 The same [Logos, Wisdom] was in the beginning with God. John 1:3 All things were made by him [the Logos, Wisdom]; and without him was not any thing made that was made. John 1:4 In him was life; and the life was the light of men. John 1:5 And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not. John 1:10 He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. John 1:11 He came unto his own, and his own received him not. John 1:14 the Word [Logos, Wisdom] was made 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. Isaiah 53:1 Who hath believed our report? and to whom is [Jesus] the arm of the LORD revealed? Isa 53:2 For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.
*NOTICE THE STRIKING COMPARISON IN THOUGHT BETWEEN ANCIENT JEWISH LITERATURE AND THE BIBLES DEPICTION OF PERSONIFIED WISDOM AS JESUS HIMSELF, DESPITE MOST UNCONVERTED JEWS NEVER HAD A CLUE WHOM THE IMAGERY OF WISDOM WAS SUPPOSED TO BE REFERRING TO ALL ALONG. NO WONDER JOHN, A JEW, MADE A MOST STARTLING ADMISSION IN JOHN 1:10, 11. READ IT AGAIN AND CONTEMPLATE.

SUMMARY TABLE OF THE MAIN SIMILARITIES BETWEEN GODS NATURE AND THE NATURE OF MAN

GOD AND THE DIVINE NATURE

Jehovah, the one true God, is the Father of all; i.e. the Head of divinity, and the God of humanity. It was he who said Let us make Man in our own image! God, the Father, spoke with a collective-type voice (on behalf of another or on behalf of others) in several places in the Bible, and then carried out the intended action.

MAN AND THE HUMAN NATURE

In the beginning, Adam, the one true Man, the father and head of humanity, corresponds in limited image on earth with the Father of all above. God often referred to Man (Hebrew adam) all over the Bible in the collective, focusing on the male gender or the head figure as representative of all in a group.

Scriptural Support
John 17:3;Eph. 4:4-6; 1 Cor. 11:3,7; Luke 3:38; Rom. 5:12-21; 1 Cor. 15:22

Gen. 1:26; Gen. 3:22; Gen. 11:6,7; Is. 6:8; Gen. 3:22-24; Gen. 6:3, 5-7; Rev. 3:20

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GOD AND THE DIVINE NATURE

Out of Fathers own being (or spirit substance) came the Son, His TRUE descendant from everlasting (from eternity); who was symbolized as His personal Word, or His personified Wisdom that was brought forth from everlasting. He was Gods Divine Associate from eternity, and both are forever one in Spirit The Father and Son spiritually knows each other; intimately and fully. This full spiritual and mutual knowledge excludes all outsiders. Both Father and Son share one omnipresent Spirit (depicted as the Fathers life), which proceeds from the Father (the Head), through the Son, and fills the whole universe. The Fathers Spirit personally and equally represents the divine qualities and presence of both Father and Son all over the universe. On the individual level, only the Spirit knows the mind of the Father, because of the depiction of their spiritual inseparability. The Son is depicted as The Life Giver (as the Medium of the Fathers life, creation and redemption). The Son executed the full creation process on the Fathers behalf. The Father DID NOT create independent of Him, and In the future Jesus will also give immortal life to all the redeemed children of God, on the Fathers behalf. The Fathers name is shared by the threefold union of the Father, Son and Spirit. That shared name could either be Jehovah, or the title God, or the authority or nature of God, or it can denote all meanings. The Hebrew word for God, Elohim, is both singular and collective in nature The Son was/is the exact copy of the Fathers person, despite their different roles. Both are equal in nature, since the Son (having come directly from the Fathers

MAN AND THE HUMAN NATURE

Out of Adams own being (or fleshly substance) came Eve within time; who was his help-meet or human associate. Both were one in flesh. In the beginning Eve, as Adams associate, corresponds (in limited image) on earth with Jesus the preexistent Son of God, since Man, as a family, was made in the image of God or divinity. Adam physically knew Eve; intimately and fully. This full sexual knowledge should exclude all outsiders. Both share one Seed of manifold descendants (depicted as Adams life), which proceeded from Adam (the head), then through Eve in order to fill/replenish the whole earth. Adams Seed, personally and equally, represents the human qualities of both Adam and Eve all over the earth. Same principle operates in families today. On the individual level of Man, only a man knows his own mind or spirit (because of their physical inseparability); no one else can. Eves name literally means life giver, and she acted as the medium of Adams reproduction and begetting of children. Eve bore the brunt of the childbearing process, and a male CANNOT reproduce apart from a woman. Same pattern in families today.

Scriptural Support
1 Cor. 1:24; Prov. 8:1, 22-24; Micah 5:2; Prov. 30:4; Heb. 1:1-4; 1 John 1:1-3; John 1:1-3; John 17:5, 24; Phil. 2:5-8; Zech. 6:13; Gen.2: 18, 21-24; 1 Cor. 11:11,12

Matt. 11:27; Luke 10:22;1 Cor. 2:11; Rom. 8:9-11; Ps. 139:7-12;Jer. 23:24; John 15:26; John 16:7; Gen. 1:28;Gen. 4:1; Gen. 5:1-5; Matt. 19:3-11

John 1:2- 4; Col.1 :16,17; Heb. 1:2-4, 8-12; 1 John 5:11; John 5:29-29; Gen. 3:20; Gen.4:1; Gen. 5:1-5

The family name of a father is usually shared by the threefold family union of the husband, wife, and his seed or his descendants. Same pattern in families today. The word Man, from the Hebrew name Adam, is both a singular and collective name, and can relate to all humanity in terms similar character or nature. Eve was equally human in nature to Adam, despite their different roles. Both Adam and Eve were of the same substance, and the woman (coming directly from Adam) was

Matt. 28:19; John 16:15; Gen. 1:26, 27; Gen. 3:22; Gen. 5:2; Gen. 6:3,5-7

Heb. 1:2-4; John 14:9; Col. 2:9; Phill. 2:5, 6; 1 Cor. 12:4-6; Gen.2: 18, 2124; 1Cor. 11:7; Eph. 5:25-31

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substance) fully reflects the Fathers glory, and is His glory in heaven, despite the Father is Head of all. They are considered so one in Spirit and action that they are usually depicted as if only one being is in operation, though they are not!

said to be the mans glory, despite the male was the head of the family. In fact, a wife was to be deemed so one with her husband, that the man was to consider loving his wife as if he loved himself, though they are separate beings.

*(CONTINUED FROM OVERPAGE)

GOD AND THE DIVINE NATURE

The Father, Son and Spirit rules over lesser beings in heaven, and over all creation from the throne room in the Temple in heaven. The Father and Son shares the one Throne in heaven, while the Spirit (sent to us from a place before His throne) rules in our hearts on their behalf. The Son has an incredibly complex nature, both divine and human, and he fulfills several overlapping roles on behalf of the Father The incarnated Son (on behalf of the Father) personally suffered much pain and loss to produce spiritual sons of God. However, because he became a genuine human forever the Father restored/exalted Him to glory, power, and honor equal in nature with his own, even while he remains a man (with a glorified human form).

MAN AND THE HUMAN NATURE

Adam, Eve, and all their Seed (all humanity) was set over and commissioned by God to reign over lesser species on earth, as a pattern of heavenly government.

Scriptural Support
Eph. 1:20-23; Rev.22:3; Rev. 3:21;Acts 17:24-26; Rev. 17:14; 2 Cor. 3:17; Rev. 1:4, 5; 1 Cor. 3:16,17; Gen. 1:26-28; Ps. 8:4-8

The woman is the more emotionally complex member of the specie, and has the more active and creative brain, as wife, mother and homemaker Women (on behalf of the father of a family) go through much physical pain and suffering to produce physical children. However, despite their subjection to the man, and despite her experiences in suffering, it was through the medium of a woman (literally and spiritually) that the Messiah was to come and secure redemption for humans.

John 1:1-3, 14-18; John 5:20-29;Is. 9:6;1 Tim. 2:5;Prov. 31:10-31

Is. 53:1-12; Acts 8:26-35; Heb. 2:1117; Heb. 1:4-12; 1 Tim. 2:5; Matt. 24:30; Dan. 7:13,14;Gen. 3:15,16 ; Gal. 4:26,27; Rev. 12:--17

GROUP UNITY IN THE GODHEAD DOES NOT DESTROY MONOTHEISM

Dear reader, by now I hope the Biblical principles are well established in your mind, for you to now be able to apply your own reasoning to any teaching brought to you about the Godhead; whether that teaching presents either one, two, or three persons as being divine. I cant think and reason for you in all situations, but I have restored and brought to your attention Gods own method of revealing Himself to us. The rest is now up to you. *SEE THE APPENDIX AT THE END FOR ADDITIONAL THOUGHTS (INCLUDNG HOW TO ANSWER OBJECTIONS). But before I close, let me bring together the principles in a summary. Let me quote, for illustrative purposes, some Christian writers who, from as early as the first century, and long before the arrival of the Roman Catholic religion in the 4th century, spoke of God and the Godhead in the way the Bible supports (at least in the quoted portions):
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100 A.D. Ignatius of Antioch "There is then one God and Father, and not two or three; One who is; and there is no other besides Him, the only true [God]. For "the Lord thy God," saith [the Scripture], "is one Lord." And again, "Hath not one God created us? Have we not all one Father? And there is also one Son, God the Word. For "the only-begotten Son," saith [the Scripture], "who is in the bosom of the Father." And again, "One Lord Jesus Christ." And in another place, "What is His name, or what His Son's name, that we may know? And there is also one Paraclete. For "there is also," saith [the Scripture], "one Spirit," since "we have been called in one hope of our calling." And again, "We have drunk of one Spirit," with what follows. And it is manifest that all these gifts [possessed by believers] "worketh one and the self-same Spirit." Wherefore also the Lord, when He sent forth the apostles to make disciples of all nations, commanded them to "baptize in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost," not unto one [person] having three names, nor into three [persons] who became incarnate, but into three possessed of equal honour." (Letter to the Philadelphians, chapter 2). 150 A.D. Justin Martyr "But our Physician is the only true God, the unbegotten and unapproachable, the Lord of all, the Father and Begetter of the only begotten Son. We have also as a Physician the Lord our God, Jesus the Christ, the only begotten Son and Word, before time began, but who afterwards became also man, of Mary the virgin. For "the Word was made flesh." He became subject to corruption, that He might free our souls from death and corruption, and heal them, and might restore them to health, when they were diseased with ungodliness and wicked lusts. (The Epistle of Ignatius to the Ephesians, Chap. 7.) with respect to the most true God, the Father of righteousness and temperance and the other virtues, who is free from all impurity... both Him [the Father], and the Son and the prophetic Spirit, we worship and adore, knowing *them in reason and truth, and declaring without grudging to every one who wishes to learn, as we have been taught. (Justin Martyr- First Apology, Chapter 6) 200 A.D. Hippolytus "For who will not say that there is one God? Yet he will not on that account deny the economy, the number and disposition of persons in the Trinity As far as regards the power, therefore, God is one. But as far as regards the economy there is a threefold manifestation, as shall be proved afterwards when we give account of the true doctrine" (Against The Heresy Of One Noetus) There are so many like quotes I could furnish, but the point is already well established. Early Christians saw no problem in accepting the Father as the one true God, and yet equally accepting both the Son and Spirit as divine like himself, united with Him, and deserving of like
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honor. Notice carefully that they commonly recognized the Father as the one true God, but then sought to balance that truth by presenting the Biblical truths about the equally divine Son and Spirit in relation to this one true God. I find no problem there at all. It is indeed Biblical through and through. Only one God created (Mal.2:10) and also only one God rules the universe (1 Tim. 6:14-16) yet the Father created and rules through and united with Jesus His Son and through His Spirit!! See again Heb. 1:2, 3; John 1:1-3; Psalm 104:30; Job 33:4. Jesus (now a materialized human being, a man) shares the throne of the universe in heaven as supreme ruler or King of Kings (Rev. 3:21; Rev. 17:14; Rev. 19:11-16), while the Spirit rules in our hearts on God's behalf (1 Cor. 6:19; Rom. 8:9, 10)!! In addition, one God redeemed us (Is. 43:11) yet the Father redeemed us through Jesus, by way of the Spirit's involvement as well. Remember that it was the Spirit who overshadowed Mary on the Father's behalf and begot the human Jesus (but the Father gets the credit), and it was the Holy Spirit who empowered Jesus as a man to accomplish all he did. Yet the Father (as "Head") ultimately gets the credit for what was done on his behalf. That is how the Godhead works in unity of operation, just as a human family operates (with the head being credited with the begetting, despite the mothers key involvement), just like how a human body operates in unison led by the head, and just as Christ and his church is depicted!! See 2 Cor. 5:18, 19 with Heb. 9:14. And remember, a body is nothing without the head, and a being is not just the head!! The unity of operation of all Three of the Godhead is so much so that even in death Jesus is represented as if he himself was 'participating' in his own resurrection, though it was literally His Father through the Spirit whom resurrected him. Remember Jesus distinctly said "I have power to lay down my life and [I have] power to *take it up again"! And speaking of his body after death he said "In three days *I will raise it up"!! See John 2:19-22; John 10:17-21; 1 Cor.6:14; 2 Cor. 4:14; Rom.8:11 and ponder the mind-blowing implications of the operational unity of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, even as it concerns Jesus' resurrection, when we are assured that Jesus truly and fully died!! "Great is the mystery of godliness" is all I can say here!! 1 Tim. 3:16. Notice too that *heavenly greetings to the Church only comes from divinity (most times from the Father and Son), and yet we see at times that equally coming from Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit (depicted symbolically in the Bible as a sevenfold Spirit, as seen in Rev. 1:4-5; the same Spirit depicted in traditional Jewish literature as an intelligent Holy Spirit, one only, yet manifold- Wisdom of Solomon, chapter 7:22). Greetings didnt always come from the Father and Son, as some would have us believe from other scriptures. And notice that the greetings from the "sevenfold Spirit" (accepted by many scholars and Bible Commentaries to be the Holy Spirit in symbol) is not only placed on par with that from the Father, but is mentioned even before that of Jesus' own greeting. Who would really be so blasphemous to think that angelic spirits would be placed on par with the Father, and even given place of mention before Jesus

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Himself; an honor only a being of Deity could ever rightfully own!! If greetings can only be logically deemed as coming from persons, then we have but one conclusion:

CONCLUSION:

THE ONE TRUE GOD IS INDEED THE FATHER (THE HEAD OF DIVINITY, AND THE GOD OF HUMANITY), BUT THE GODHEAD CONSIST OF THE PERSONS OF FATHER, SON, AND HOLY SPIRIT. AND EVEN A YOUNG CHILD, WHO JUST KNOWS HOW TO COUNT FROM 1-10, WILL EASILY RECOGNIZE WHAT IT MEANS TO COUNT "1, 2, 3", WHEN CONFRONTED WITH THE FATHER, SON AND HOLY SPIRIT WHO ALL SENDS US GREETINGS, WHO TOGETHER CREATED THE WORLD, WHO TOGETHER RULES THE UNIVERSE, EITHER TOGETHER ON ONE THRONE, OR REPRESENTATIONALLY IN OUR HEARTS (MINDS); i.e. AFTER HAVING ACTED TOGETHER TO SAVE US FROM SIN AND UNBELIEF!! HALLELUJAH TO THE "NAME" OF THE FATHER, AND OF THE SON, AND OF THE HOLY SPIRIT; THE VERY SAME "NAME" JESUS COMMISSIONED ALL TRUE FOLLOWERS TO BE BAPTIZED IN. AMEN!! *[SEE THE APPENDIX ON THE NEXT PAGE FOR ADDITIONAL THOUGHTS]

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APPENDIX:
*SEE BELOW ADDITIONAL AND HELPFUL THOUGHTS (INCLUDING ANSWERING OBJECTIONS), AS TAKEN FROM A 2007 PAPER (FROM THIS SAME AUTHOR) ENTITLED:

THE GODHEAD IN THE FAMILY:

The Godhead, or divinity, is "imaged" in humanity, or the family, both in direct and indirect ways, since Man (generic) was made in God's image See Gen. 1:26,27 with Romans 1:19,29 and ponder their implications. We should expect that the family is therefore a pattern, of sorts, of the love relationship which existed in a sort of 'blueprint' among those of the divine specie since "God is love", and love is a group principle (1 John 4:8), even though the human species is finite and incapable of patterning FULLY the infinite. However the parallels are striking and cannot be ignored. And lest any think it is not proper to think of the Godhead as united in a principle similar to marriage let us remember it was God himself who presented his church (both of Old and New Testaments), consisting of both males and females, as his bride, and so the principle is simply a metaphor or imagery; not a discourteous comparing of human sexual relationship to God's nature. So here goes...

1.Jehovah God, the Father, is an individual, a he, and yet is inseparably joined in spirit to Another of his own kind- Jesus. Likewise, Adam was made in God's image, as an individual, a he, and yet was joined inseparably as "one flesh" to another of his own kind. How is it that two were still considered as one? God's arithmetic in the family is not 1+1=2, but rather 1x1 = 1 with one coming directly from the other. Once we understand this family principle then much becomes clear about the Godhead that Man was made "in the image" of. Compare Genesis 2:24 with John 4:24 ,John 10:30 and Romans 8:8-10.

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2.Jehovah God, the Father, is the "Head" of the divine-human Christ, or Messiah, who is spiritually united with him, and this union was patterned by the family since Adam was made the "head" of the woman, as Christ is now the "head" of the church considered as his family and his spiritual body that is "one" with him (Eph. 5:29, 30).See 1 Cor. 11:3 and this principle is undeniable. The Church has always been God's spiritual bride, and so through Christ's simultaneous union with us and His Father, or His "Head", the same principle has carried over from the Old Testament. It is interesting however that there has been only one Israel (Gal.3:28-9) one church (Acts 7:38;Eph. 4:4),and thus only one "bride", and yet that bride was both the bride of God, the Father, and is now the bride of Christ His Son! How is it possible for a father and son to both have the same bride? Because the unity of Father and Son is so close that what belongs to one belongs to the other (John 16:15), despite being separate beings. Remember, with God's type of union 1x1 = 1; not 1+1 = 2. Note carefully however that while the earthly marriage union is sexual, God's family union with his Son is purely spiritual and yet seems to be deeper than the sexual union in a marriage can even begin to pattern. More on that later.

3. Jehovah God, the Father, will always be a numeric individual, a he, (1 Cor. 8:6) and yet cannot be divorced from those of his kind who are one with him (Matt. 28:19), and who share his divine attributes, and his name. Likewise, Adam will always be one numeric individual, and yet his wife Eve shared his name "Adam" equally with him (see Gen.5:2), since they obviously share the same human attributes or human nature, even if they

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function in different roles. The family today follows that pattern as well. It is perfectly acceptable to say "Mr. and Mrs. Derrick Gillespie, since my wife shares my name "Gillespie", and so I cannot be divorced from her intended oneness with me. My son also is properly called "Mr. Gillespie", the son (of course), since he equally shares my name and title!! See any justification, then, in properly calling Jesus, "God, the Son", if the term "God" rightly functions as the title of His Father? It is simply to make the distinction since they are not the same person, or individual, as many misinterpret Trinitarians to mean when we say "God, the Son" to mean Christ. It would be similar to saying "Jehovah, the Son", since Jesus has/own his Father's own name, and is properly called "Lord" or "Jehovah", as His own Father testified to us in irrefutable tones in Heb. 1:10. See why in John 16:15. Remember, all sons take, and naturally *OWN the name and title of their father!!

4. Jehovah God, the Father, is one individual, yet His Son is so one with Him that Jesus, the Son, is exactly like His Father (Heb. 1:3 with Col. 2:9 and John 14:9), and it is never proper to think of God in isolation from His Son Jesus (or their Spirit). Remember 1x1x1 = 1!!! See John 17:3 and 1 Cor. 8:6 with Matt. 28:19, repeatedly using the conjunctive "and" when identifying the Deity, and think of God originally revealed to man as speaking as an "us" in Gen. 1:26, Gen.3:22-24 and in Gen. 11:6,7. Interesting, isn't it? Likewise, in the human family, a man is considered so one with his wife that for him to love his wife is considered as loving "himself" who is a part of him, as Eph. 5:28-30 plainly shows.1x1 =1!! The man cannot consider himself apart from his wife. This oneness is so close that though the "head", or the male, gets the focus yet the united group is always considered. Notice in Gen. 2:22-24 how the individual

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pronouns "him", "his", and "he" are denoting "the man", "Adam", and yet literally we know God drove two separate individual persons out of the garden of Eden. Even in Psalm 8, we still see how Man is considered in a group (generic) way even when the personal pronoun "him" is in focus. Today the family still patterns that too, since human sons logically take the family name of their father (as the wife does equally too), since they are together considered one.

This explains a lot about how we should consider the Godhead in terms of God, the Father, a "him", but never divorced from His Son, and His Spirit. Matthew 28:19 therefore takes on potent meaning, since it is logical to see the "name" of the Father being the *SAME name of His Son and Spirit. Hence a "trinity"-- from the prefix "tri" for "three" or "threefold", and from the suffix "nity" denoting a close relationship and a unity of three! That's all Trintarianism should be about!! Can't see why all the fuss. And so it is not logical to think that the Father's name is not logically His Son's name too. See again Heb.1:10 with Father calling his Son his own name "Lord" or "Kurios" in Greek, as translated from "Jehovah" in Hebrew, in just the same way the Father calls Jesus "O God" in Heb. 1:8 to indicate they have the same nature as a family unit. Notice too that it is precisely here that God reveals that His Son deserves worship like himself in Heb.1:6 (even when he was a made a human). Compare John 5:23.

Can we see why in the final analysis all will bow and confess that Jesus is "Lord" or "Jehovah" in name too, as Philippians 2:11 prophecies, even if many are unwilling to confess that truth today? So many resist that *BIBLICAL fact today, and yet fail to realize they are *NOT true Christians for that simple denial, as 1 John 2:23 so plainly shows. Notice that Jesus is so much one with His Father that the Son is supposed to receive the same degree of honor (i.e. worship)

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ascribed to the Father. See John 5:23 with John 20:28!! To deny the Son anything rightfully his is to dishonor and deny the Father he is one with. A dangerous notion indeed!!

The SDA church (my church group) is falsely accused by several offshoot dissidents as being "tri-theists", or believers in "three Gods", because we doctrinally "divide the substance" of the Godhead, when of course this is not so, since those very same critics usually have the Supreme being, the Father, as God, and yet also accept Jesus, another being, as "God" in nature, who is worthy of religious worship like the Father. This could also be called bi-theism, or the worship of two Gods, that is, if the arguments leveled against SDA Trinitarianism, in which we believe in the separate beings of Father and Son, were actually true. A binitarian and semi-Arian who believes Jesus deserves, as a separate being, religious worship, and is properly called "my Lord and *MY God" (John 20:28) is called upon to balance all those views in light of the first of the Ten Commandments! To properly do this they MUST accept the spiritual family union of the Father and Son as divine beings, or else polytheism stares both the binitarian and semi-Arian critics squarely in the face, since worship is exclusively reserved ONLY for the being called God .Only if Jesus is one with God in essence (like the husband and wife unity, in principle) could he share the same honor or receive the same degree of honor AS "MY GOD" (i.e. in possessive terms)!! See John again 5:23 compared with John 20:28,29 and Heb.1:6,8,10. Is this awesome truth sinking into your spirit, dear reader?

Satan/Lucifer has always been opposed to "*ALL that is called God or that is worshipped"!! Again, a group principle is clearly presented by the very use of the plural *"ALL" when Paul spoke of "all that is called God, or that is worshipped" in the Bible!! See 2 Thess.2:4!!

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Satan opposes "ALL that is called "God" by either denying the persons involved their proper place of homage, or by setting up counterfeits with the aim of parodying, and or causing contempt for the very nature of divinity. Ever consider why so many so-called "divine threes" are in false religions? Remember, similarity does not always mean source, but counterfeits usually indicate "borrowed" features of the original. But back to my main point.

5.Jehovah God, the Father, is presented as creating the universe by "himself", as seen in Isaiah 44:24, and yet while this sets him apart from false gods (who have no creative power) it is biblically proper to consider this creation as a 'group effort' by the divine family. Why? Simple! The Father Himself says in Heb. 1:10 that Jesus did the creating!! Contradiction? No!! Once we understand the foregoing principle of how the head of a family is attributed what applies to the family as a group then there is no contradiction. God created the world, united with and through His Son (Heb. 1:2; John 1:1-3), who both sent their Spirit to create on their behalf at the actual creation site (Psalm 104:30). To some it may appear that the Father simply 'sat back' and allowed the Son to exercise all the creative power on his behalf, while he got the credit, but it is because many fail to understand the love principle in operation (1 John 4:8) as the human family patterns the original divine family today. Among humans, the family lineage is traced through the man, or the head of the family (as even the Bible does trace family generations) , and yet no male has ever procreated others of his kind without a union with his wife. In fact, it could be said the man simply 'sat back' while the woman did the work of bearing the child, yet the man gets the credit. Yet this is also not properly appreciating the scheme of things God

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ordained from the beginning, in which the offspring is never belonging to only one parent, the head of the family, but equally to both. In fact an offspring equally represents both parents, and so while the father "begot" , the woman "bore" the child in a love operation needing both parents. This is a classic imaging of the Godhead union of Father and Son unitedly creating the universe by way of their Spirit.

This then brings into sharp focus the relationship between the Father and His Son having the same Spirit in common(see Rom.8:9,10 first)

6.Jehovah God, the Father has one Spirit (Eph.4:4),and yet this one Spirit is LITERALLY common to both the Father and his Son (as seen clearly in Rom. 8:9,10). This is another aspect of the Godhead union which may have been patterned in the human family, on the finite level of course. While, I will tread softly and humbly here, since I believe the nature of the Spirit is indeed a mystery, yet a few things are clear, which force us to stop and think on how God may have conveyed truths about himself in the family even as it concerns the Holy Spirit. Humanly speaking no wife and husband share a common spirit literally, since they have separate spirits unique to each! Their union is physical, since they are material beings, and so what is it that results from their physical union at the deepest level? Their physical union produces offspring which equally belongs to both, and represents the attributes of both wherever that offspring goes, with *"IT" (the offspring) even bearing the common family name they equally share-- as a family.

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Incidentally, ever wonder why a baby is ACCEPTABLY called an "it", even though it/he is a living, personal entity from two parents, which "it" is closely related to, and dependent on? Also, do you realize that human "soul" or living being is called an "it" in Ezekiel 18:4 ("the soul that sinneth *IT shall die") and yet is not just a thing? Do you realize even Jesus is symbolically presented as a "Lamb" in Rev. 5:6 being called an *"IT", and yet we know he is a distinct being, just as demon spirits are at times called an "it" as well as he in Luke 9:39-42, despite they clearly are spirit beings? Just 'picking your brain' since I am now looking closely at the controversial Holy Spirit, often called an "it", but only as far as the rules of Greek/Hebrew grammar goes (since the word for "Spirit" is neuter, i.e. it's not gender specific). Yet God is a Spirit, and is *THE Spirit, with the specific article, "the", being used (2 Cor. 3:17),and God is described by the same neuter word used for "Spirit", yet He is not an "it" literally, just as angels and demons are "spirits", but are not impersonal "its"!! Smile if that made sense!! But back to my main point.

I am not saying the Spirit is an offspring/child of the Father and the Son, in just the same way I did not EARLIER mean the Father and Son are married like husband and wife. I am simply showing the parallels as far as the spiritual unity and love principles go, since God Himself made the human family in his/their image (Gen. 1:26). Since, as the Bible already shows us, the union between the Father and Jesus is patterned, in principle (not literally), by the "headship" of the man with the woman (1 Cor. 11:3), then we may know that there is a possible similarity between the Father ("the Head") and Jesus, the Son, literally having the same Spirit in common resulting from their union at the deep spiritual level, just as human parents literally have an offspring in common from their union at the deep physical level.

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Notice, it is not proper to think that the Holy Spirit is not the Son's as well the Father's *OWN spirit, or their presence being represented by the Holy Spirit, since the Bible makes it plain that when the Holy Spirit comes it will be like the Father and Son both coming to us to dwell within us (as temples). And remember the Spirit literally comes to live with us. See Ezekiel 3:24 of how the Spirit can personally "enter us"; not as an impersonal force, but as having personal attributes. See Ezekiel 8:2,3 even showing the Spirit appearing with human features (anthropomorphism)! Interesting indeed!! But is the Spirit a thing, or a distinct being?

Now, notice in John 14:23 that right after Jesus promised the special "coming" of the Comforter (verses 16,17), i.e. the coming of the Spirit as "another"(from "allos" in Greek), or as Someone else distinct in personage (since that is what "allos" or "another" literally means, as in John 5:32), yet this "Comforter" would equally represent the presence of both Father and Son (while they remain in Heaven), as seen in verses 23 compared with verse 18. How is this possible? It must mean that the Spirit has the attributes similar to both Father and Son, so much so that "his" presence equally represents the presence of both Father and Son, just like the presence of Jesus represented the presence of His Father. The only difference is that while Jesus could only represent his Father in one location at any one time, the Holy Spirit is able to do that everywhere at once (see Psalm 139:7-12). Many think this Spirit is just an "extension" of God Himself, (or worse, a "slit-personality" of God, as in a mad man), but is not a personal being and yet they can't *properly account for the Spirit being biblically presented as distinctly personal (Acts 5:2 & 13:2) while, more importantly, being enumerated separately over and over (e.g. Matt. 28:19; 2 Cor. 13:14;

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1 Cor. 12:4-6; Isaiah 48:16), with him even appearing *SEPRATELY as the "sevenfold Spirit" in symbol "BEFORE [in front] of His [God's] throne" even in God's very enthroned presence in heaven, while equally, but *SEPARATELY sending greetings to the Church alongside the Father and the Son. Why, if the Spirit was just the Father himself, was there the reality of the Spirit noted as separate "before His [God's] throne", and was not just presented as on the throne inside of God Himself? Simple!! God, and the Spirit are personally distinct, despite united in the one Godhead, and are as inseparable as a human and his own human spirit is in the human sphere!! But what is impossible in the human sphere is possible with God, since he is not bound by the laws of nature. Thus his Spirit can be separate from Him in terms of personal distinction, unlike yours and mine. See again Rev. 1:4 with Isaiah 48:16 and ponder deeply it's implications.

These texts strongly suggest that we're to deem the Spirit as a Personage who can be, and has been "sent" by Father and Son, as the result of their divine union. We cannot fully explain the nature of the Spirit who proceedeth from the Father but is equally "sent" by the Son (John 15:26). And it is no argument at all (as some seek to present) that the Spirit must be an extension of the Father (not a separate entity), since the Spirit is presented as that which "proceedeth" from the Father, and hence "proceedeth" must denote a present and continuous tense or action (or so they argue).Yet of the few places the word "proceedeth" appear in the K.J.V. Bible it does not mean that, for instance, that "every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God" are not separate entities from Him, or are continuously streaming from him literally in a present continuous tense. Gen.24:50 and Numbers 30:2 show how "proceedeth" can refer back to some action or event of the *PAST (past tense); not to something continuously going on (as some would have us believe).

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Also, if one looks closely at John 15:26 a number of plain truths make this aforementioned faulty argument even more 'non sequitur'. Remember, first of all, that Jesus made the point that those who bear witness of him satisfy the Jewish rule of two or more bearing true witness of Him. John 5:31-32 and John 8:17,18 make the point that it takes "another" to properly bear witness or testify of him. So if Jesus was literally the Spirit in numeric personhood how could the Spirit bear witness or testify of Jesus as the disciples "also" do? John 15:27 shows the disciples testifying "also" as the Spirit does. It must mean they are personally separate to testify of Jesus!! Also remember that anything/anyone "sent" is usually distinct from the "sender", and this truth must be accepted of the Holy Spirit, even if we do not know exactly the mode of existence of the Spirit! It was the Spirit, denoted separately from God, that also "sent" the Messiah in Isaiah 48:16. Thus Jesus and the Spirit are distinct, despite united, just as He and his Father are distinct, despite united. Thus the "sent" must be distinct from the sender!! That cannot be denied unless we twist the Scriptures, or be inconsistent in our reasoning.

BUT, WHILE WE MAY NOT KNOW "WHAT" THE SPIRIT IS, (JUST AS WE DONT KNOW WHAT GOD, AS SPIRIT IS), BUT BUT WE KNOW WHO HE IS-HE IS "ANOTHER" COMFORTER EXACTLY LIKE JESUS (IN CHARACTER), AND WHO IS ENUMERATED SEPARATELY ALONGSIDE THE FATHER AND SON, AND AS HAVING THE SAME "NAME" THEY BEAR!! PARALLELISM IN MEANING MAKES IT PLAIN THAT THE SPIRIT IS PERSONALLY SEPARATE FROM FATHER AND SON (AS IN WHEN WE COUNT "1, 2, 3...") EVEN WHILE UNITED WITH THEM!!

But, dont get me wrong!! The INSEPARABLE unity the Spirit shares with

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Father and Son, like what a human has with his own spirit, is clearly taught by the Bible. See 1 Cor. 2:11. Yet the Bible equally teaches the Spirit possessing a distinction in his personage separate from the Father and Son unlike in humans!! Both truths are in the Bible!! This reality is not our problem to solve and dissect logically by human science, since human logic will always fail with the things of God (Job. 11:7-9), but it is a reality simply calling upon us to, first, accept by faith as Christians, and, secondly, declare without fear of dissent coming from whatever source !! It would take much denial and twisting of the Bible on my part for this author to accept or declare otherwise.

Now, how is all this patterned in the human family, if even in a faint way on the finite level?

As already proven human parents equally share ownership of their distinct offspring, just as the Father and the Son share equal ownership of the distinct Holy Spirit. Consider too that human parents have their attributes represented in their offspring who equally came from them both, just as the Spirit represent equally the attributes of the Father and the Son from whom he proceeds.

Adam, the first man, can now be considered as personally represented everywhere, in the billions, all over the globe, by his offspring resulting from the physical union he had with his wife, Eve, in just the same way the Holy Spirit personally represents both God, the Father, and Jesus everywhere, all over the universe as a result of the union God has with his Son; in the spiritual sense of course.

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7. Finally, Jehovah God, the Father, will never divorce himself from his Son, whom he considers to be the "outshining of his glory" (Heb. 1:3),and whom he considers so much spiritually a part of himself that he has no problems with His Son being equally revered as "my Lord and *MY God" just like Himself (John 20:28). In the same way, a man is to never divorce his wife whom he is to consider as his glory (1 Cor. 11:7), and whom should be so much a part of himself that she should never be ignored (Eph. 5:28,29). Also, just as Jesus equally owns everything the Father has (John 16:15) including his name, honor, property, etc., so ought men to share all with their wives in love as the Godhead family has originally set the example for us, puny finite beings, made in the image of God, the Infinite. Ultimately, it cannot be ignored how the "First Family" of the Godhead did everything, and continues to do everything in harmony with each other, with each other seeking the glory of the other, while respecting the roles and functions of each other, but never disrespecting the leadership of the "Head", God, the Father of all.

CAN YOU, THE READER SEE MORE PARALLELS BETWEEN THE GODHEAD AND THE HUMAN FAMILY THAT I MAY HAVE MISSED? FEEL FREE TO SHARE THEM WITH ME!!

Write to: DERRICK GILLESPIE (Mr.) MUNRO COLLEGE P.O. ST ELIZABETH JAMAICA, WEST INDIES

Call: (876) 385-5982 E-mail: ddgillespie@live.com

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