The Holy Spirit/Ghost

There are many in the congregations of churches who just can’t figure out, just  who this allusive character is, that is mentioned many times in the writings of the bible.
Some say he is the third person within the Godhead with equal powers, of the other two.
Some say his job is to indwell Christians, (at baptism,) and guide them unto the truth.

Mt: 1:18: Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost.

Jn: 4:24: God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.

Jn: 16:28: I came forth from the Father, and am come into the world: again, I leave the world, and go to the Father.

And then there are some like Jesus and myself, who say it is just another way of referring to God the Father. I believe Jesus said the Holy Spirit of his birth is the same Father to which he returned. Jehovah God, the Father, and the Holy Spirit.

Half shekel salvation

Half shekel salvation and the Age of accountability

(copper half shekel), one and one half cents.

Explanation,  

Exd 30:11 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
12  When thou takest the sum of the children of Israel after their number, then shall they give every man a ransom for his soul unto the LORD, when thou numberest them; that there be no plague among them, when [thou] numberest them.
13 This they shall give, every one that passeth among them that are numbered, half a shekel after the shekel of the sanctuary: (a shekel [is] twenty gerahs:) an half shekel [shall be] the offering of the LORD
14 Every one that passeth among them that are numbered, from twenty years old and above, shall give an offering unto the LORD.
15 The rich shall not give more, and the poor shall not give less than half a shekel, when [they] give an offering unto the LORD, to make an atonement for your souls.
16 And thou shalt take the atonement money of the children of Israel, and shalt appoint it for the service of the tabernacle of the congregation; that it may be a memorial unto the children of Israel before the LORD, to make an atonement for your souls.

Paving the way, for the gospel

Would Jesus have been accepted as the lamb, by God’s people if it were not for John the Baptist ?
I don’t know but,  if so what was John’s purpose?

Look at what we truly know about John. We learn that he was conceived and born six months prior to Jesus.
We know his parents were in favor with God, and we know who they were.
Luke 1:5: There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judaea, a certain priest named Zacharias, of the course of Abia: and his wife was of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elisabeth.
6: And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless.
Like Jesus himself there is a time when we don’t learn much about his life, but we can piece together a lot of it from what others say. What did Jesus say about John?
Mt: 3:1: In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judaea,
( we don’t know exactly the time of the days of which Jesus speaks, but we can deduce it was long before Jesus’ began preaching.)
Mt :11:12: And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force.
(John could have preached as long as a decade , before baptizing Jesus and recognizing him as the Lamb of God, maybe even longer, I don‘t know)

Who was this forerunner of Jesus, this baptizer of men preparing  them to accept the lamb/ the Son of God, was he Elias.
Jn: 1:21: And they asked him, What then? Art thou Elias? And he saith, I am not. Art thou that prophet? And he answered, No.
Then who?
23: He said, I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord, as said the prophet Esaias.
Isa 40:3 The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.

I am sure God could have accomplished,  fulfilled his will in many ways, any way he wanted, but he chose these two men to do that, one to pave the way, and the other to  bring, the Gospel and fulfill the prophets.

Two men sent from God

Jn: 1:6: There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.
7: The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe.   (that all men through John, might believe in God)
8: He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light.
9: That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.
(The true light – God)
10: He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not.
(God was in the world, and the world was made by God)
11: He came unto his own, and his own received him not.
12: But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:
13: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
I do believe John distinguishes between God almighty, and his son Jesus Christ. If we only take the time to look and with an unbiased mind. John 1:7 — 1:13
John speaks of the “light” which is God. John has been describing, the other John, John the baptizer.  and how he described his mission to those gathered.  Now he begins to describe another who was sent by God.
And part of John’s (TB) mission was to recognize this other man from God  (the son of God).
14: And the Word 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.
15: John bare witness of him, and cried, saying, This was he of whom I spake, He that cometh after me is preferred before me: for he was before me.
(OK stop right there! Does this not say Jesus existed before John? Not really, it means Jesus is closer to God than John, he is God’s begotten Son.)
16: And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace.
17: For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.
18: No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him. (hey ! Don’t this say Jesus has seen God and been with him before) (not really, it says Jesus declared God by God‘s word, and he now rests in the bosom of that God)
19: And this is the record of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, Who art thou?

Jn: 1:32: And John bare record, saying, I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it abode upon him.
33: And I knew him not: but he that sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me, Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending, and remaining on him, the same is he which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost.
34: And I saw, and bare record that this is the Son of God.

A perfect man

In my opinion the greatest tragedy in Christianity  is the trinity doctrine, and the reason that the Lord Jesus Christ has not received the respect and exaltation due to him on account of his victory over sin, through the development of a perfect character. The  doctrine of the ‘trinity’ makes Jesus God Himself. Seeing that God cannot be tempted (James 1:13) and has no possibility of sinning, this means that Christ did not really have to battle against sin. His life on earth was therefore a sham, living out the human experience,  but with no real feeling for the spiritual and physical dilemma of the human race, seeing that he was not personally affected by it. This doctrine also makes the death and resurrection, a falsehood, since it is stated God cannot die.
Jms: 1:13: Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man:
Ps 106:48 Blessed [be] the LORD God of Israel from everlasting to everlasting: and let all the people say, Amen. Praise ye the LORD.

At the other extreme, groups like the Mormons and Jehovah’s Witnesses fail to properly appreciate the wonder of Christ being the only begotten Son of God.  fail to appreciate that Adam was created by God from dust, while Jesus was ‘created’ by being begotten of God in the womb of Mary, although Jesus did not have a human father, he was conceived and born like us in all other ways. Many people cannot accept that a man of our sinful nature could have a perfect character. It is this fact which is an obstacle to a real faith in Christ.
Mt: 10:33: But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven.
Those who say Jesus was really God do not show faith in the character of Jesus, they show only faith in a perfect God.

The Spirit/Holy Ghost

Jn: 4:10: Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water.
Jn: 4:11: The woman saith unto him, Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep: from whence then hast thou that living water?
Jn: 4:15: The woman saith unto him, Sir, give me this water, that I thirst not, neither come hither to draw.

Jn: 7:37: In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink.
38: He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.
39: (But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.)

Jn: 17:1: These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee:
2: As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him.

Who is this Spirit/Holy Ghost of which Jesus speaks? The one who you shall not blaspheme, the one who gives living waters. Well it is the flowing fountain of life, God Himself.

Jer 2:13  For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, [and] hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water.
(they have forsaken the true God, the giver of eternal life, and hewn out broken cisterns, false gods, that can give no life)
Jer 17:13 O LORD, the hope of Israel, all that forsake thee shall be ashamed, [and] they that depart from me shall be written in the earth, because they have forsaken the LORD, the fountain of living waters.

Rev 7:17 For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.
(Jesus shall feed them, and lead them to God)
Rv: 22:1: And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb.

emphasis mine

the image of the invisible God

Mt: 22:20: And he saith unto them, Whose is this image and superscription?

What was Jesus asking here ? Whose likeness is on this coin? An image is a likeness.

Rom :8:29: For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.
As we see, images can be like one in ways other than looks, I am pretty sure all the  apostles did not have the same appearance of Jesus.

Rom: 11:4: But what saith the answer of God unto him? I have reserved to myself seven thousand men, who have not bowed the knee to the image of Baal.

Images can be representative of something unseen. I can’t recollect where anyone actually saw the god Baal, but they made an image to represent it.

1 Cor :15:49: And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.
2 Cor: 3:18: But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.
As we see images can change. Our looks may change with age, but what we represent can change instantly .

2 Cor: 4:4: In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.
We see here that Christ is the image of God, not in appearance, but in the gospel.

Col: 1:15: Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:
We are told Jesus Christ, the amazing Son of God is the very image of his Father.

Heb: 1:3: 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;
We are told that even Jesus can change in image, no he didn’t change from the way he was the image of God, but he did change from his appearance of the image of man.

Now that I have given my explanation of what the word image means, Question ; can an image in actuality be the original,? Or does there have to be an original, before there can be an image ? Can Jesus really be God, and the image of  God?

Thee, the only true God

Jn:17:1: These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee:
2: As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him.
3: And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.

one God
Exd 20:3 Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
Exd 34:14  For thou shalt worship no other god: for the LORD, whose name [is] Jealous, [is] a jealous God.

1Cor:8:6: But to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him.

1Tm:2:5: For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;

none other

Mk:12:32: And the scribe said unto him, Well, Master, thou hast said the truth: for there is one God; and there is none other but he:

none else
Deu 4:35 Unto thee it was shewed, that thou mightest know that the LORD he [is] God; [there is] none else beside him.
Deu 4:39 Know therefore this day, and consider [it] in thine heart, that the LORD he [is] God in heaven above, and upon the earth beneath: [there is] none else.
1Ki 8:60 That all the people of the earth may know that the LORD [is] God, [and that there is] none else.
Isa 45:5 I [am] the LORD, and [there is] none else, [there is] no God beside me: I girded thee, though thou hast not known me:
Isa 45:6 That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that [there is] none beside me. I [am] the LORD, and [there is] none else.
Isa 45:18 For thus saith the LORD that created the heavens; God himself that formed the earth and made it; he hath established it, he created it not in vain, he formed it to be inhabited: I [am] the LORD; and [there is] none else.
Isa 45:21 Tell ye, and bring [them] near; yea, let them take counsel together: who hath declared this from ancient time? [who] hath told it from that time? [have] not I the LORD? and [there is] no God else beside me; a just God and a Saviour; [there is] none beside me.
Isa 45:22 Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I [am] God, and [there is] none else.
Isa 46:9 Remember the former things of old: for I [am] God, and [there is] none else; [I am] God, and [there is] none like me,
Joe 2:27 And ye shall know that I [am] in the midst of Israel, and [that] I [am] the LORD your God, and none else: and my people shall never be ashamed.