Gentle Reader,
“Now Jesus Himself began His ministry at about thirty years of age, being (as was supposed) the son of Joseph, the son of Heli, the son of Matthat, the son of Levi, the son of Melchi, the son of Janna, the son of Joseph, the son of Mattathiah, the son of Amos, the son of Nahum, the son of Esli, the son of Naggai, the son of Maath, the son of Mattathiah, the son of Semei, the son of Joseph, the son of Judah, the son of Joannas, the son of Rhesa, the son of Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, the son of Neri, the son of Melchi, the son of Addi, the son of Cosam, the son of Elmodam, the son of Er, the son of Jose, the son of Eliezer, the son of Jorim, the son of Matthat, the son of Levi, the son of Simeon, the son of Judah, the son of Joseph, the son of Jonan, the son of Eliakim, the son of Melea, the son of Menan, the son of Mattathah, the son of Nathan, the son of David, the son of Jesse, the son of Obed, the son of Boaz, the son of Salmon, the son of Nahshon, the son of Amminadab, the son of Ram, the son of Hezron, the son of Perez, the son of Judah, the son of Jacob, the son of Isaac, the son of Abraham, the son of Terah, the son of Nahor, the son of Serug, the son of Reu, the son of Peleg, the son of Eber, the son of Shelah, the son of Cainan, the son of Arphaxad, the son of Shem, the son of Noah, the son of Lamech, the son of Methuselah, the son of Enoch, the son of Jared, the son of Mahalalel, the son of Cainan, the son of Enosh, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God.” – Luke 3:23-38 (NKJV)
Call me crazy, but I love this genealogy, and not just because there are some seriously awesome names listed. I tear up every time I see the phrase “the son of God.” It all began with God at creation. Then the God-Man Jesus, the unfathomable Lord poured into a frail body, walked the earth. It will end with God at the culmination of all things.
Full circle.
I love Matthew’s genealogy, too:
“Abraham begot Isaac, Isaac begot Jacob, and Jacob begot Judah and his brothers. Judah begot Perez and Zerah by Tamar, Perez begot Hezron, and Hezron begot Ram. Ram begot Amminadab, Amminadab begot Nahshon, and Nahshon begot Salmon. Salmon begot Boaz by Rahab, Boaz begot Obed by Ruth, Obed begot Jesse, and Jesse begot David the king.
David the king begot Solomon by her who had been the wife of Uriah. Solomon begot Rehoboam, Rehoboam begot Abijah, and Abijah begot Asa. Asa begot Jehoshaphat, Jehoshaphat begot Joram, and Joram begot Uzziah. Uzziah begot Jotham, Jotham begot Ahaz, and Ahaz begot Hezekiah. Hezekiah begot Manasseh, Manasseh begot Amon,[c]and Amon begot Josiah. Josiah begot Jeconiah and his brothers about the time they were carried away to Babylon.
And after they were brought to Babylon, Jeconiah begot Shealtiel, and Shealtiel begot Zerubbabel. Zerubbabel begot Abiud, Abiud begot Eliakim, and Eliakim begot Azor. Azor begot Zadok, Zadok begot Achim, and Achim begot Eliud. Eliud begot Eleazar, Eleazar begot Matthan, and Matthan begot Jacob. And Jacob begot Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus who is called Christ.” – Matthew 1:2-16 (NKJV)
This family table grants a place to the women of the story, almost unheard of in that day in that culture. In both of these genealogies, then, every member of the human race is touched on. Male and female. Every Jew descended from Abraham (Matthew’s list) and every Gentile descended from Adam (Luke’s list).
Jesus truly came for everyone.
* For some explanation on the differences between the two lists, please check out this article. *
For all entries in the Jesus: 31 Days with the Savior series, go here.
Why do you speak of a go-man. Jesus might have been divine but was the son of God not god the son. He was a man of flesh and blood who showed his wounds after his death and resurrection to proof he was not a spirit. His heavenly Father is an eternal Spirit (i.e. with no beginning and no end) who can not die, but also can not be seen by man or they would fall death. (Jesus was seen by many and was also tempted more than once whilst God cannot be tempted)
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Marcus,
Thanks for stopping by.
You are asking me if I believe in the hypostatic union, that Jesus had two full natures, God and Man, correct? If so, then my answer is “yes.”
I see on your site that you follow Christadelphian teaching. I freely confess to being largely ignorant of this system. However, based on the admittedly little I do know, I have a question for you: How do you interpret John 1:1-5, 10-15?
Marie
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Joh 1:1-5 The Scriptures 1998+ (1) In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with Elohim, and the Word was Elohim. (2) He was in the beginning with Elohim. (3) All came to be through Him,1 and without Him not even one came to be that came to be. Footnote: 1Eph. 3:9, Col. 1:16, Heb. 1:2, Heb. 11:3, 2 Peter 3:5, Ps. 33:6. (4) In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. (5) And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
Joh 1:10-15 The Scriptures 1998+ (10) He was in the world, and the world came to be through Him, and the world did not know Him. (11) He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. (12) But as many as received Him, to them He gave the authority to become children of Elohim, to those believing in His Name, (13) who were born, not of blood nor of the desire of flesh nor of the desire of man, but of Elohim. (14) And the Word became flesh and pitched His tent1 among us, and we saw His esteem, esteem as of an only brought-forth of a father, complete in favour and truth. Footnote: 1An indication that His birth was during the Festival of Booths. (15) Yoh?anan bore witness of Him and cried out, saying, “This was He of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me has become before me, because He was before me.’ ”
The apostle John who sees his master teacher as the installer of the New Covenant tries to write about the New World like his Hebrew ancestors and Moses writing Genesis. The apostle presents the Genesis of the New World whereby the prophesy (the Word) was already given first in the Garden of Eden (at the beginning of times, before Abraham a.o. prophets). Jehovah, the Most High Elohim, promised to the sinners a salvation would be given to bring an end to the death coming over man by sin.
In the opening of his gospel the apostle talks about the Word of God ( = not a person) which is the saying or speaking of Jehovah. The promise given in the Garden of Eden was God’s Word given to the world; It was there from the beginning of the world because everything came into existing by the Word of God. God spoke and it came in being. (see the Creation or beginning of the world in Genesis). The Voice of God sounded and it happened. As such also the Voice of God was given to the world about the Saviour Jesus Christ.
1. Christ was not literally the Word. He was the word “made flesh”. (#Jo 1:14). The Greek word “logos” translated “Word” expresses the divine intention, mind, or purpose.1 Young defines “logos” as “a word, speech, matter, reason.”2 In the a.v. “logos” is translated by more than 20 different English words and is used for utterances of men (e.g., #Jo 17:20) as well as those of God (#Jo 5:38).
2. “In the beginning was the Word … all things were made by him.”3 “logos” does not in itself denote personality. It is personified by the masculine gender in the a.v., The Diaglott avoids confusion by translating the pronouns in the neuter-“through it every thing was done.”4 An Old Testament parallel to the personification of logos is the personification of wisdom: “The LORD possessed me in the beginning of his way, before his works of old. I was set up from everlasting, from the beginning, or ever the earth was.” (#Pr 8:22, 23). In this passage, wisdom is personified as a woman. (#Pr 8:1, 2).
3. “All things were made by him”-John is apparently alluding to the creation recorded in Genesis. God spoke, and it was done (e.g. “And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.” (#Ge 1:3). Notice another allusion- #Jo 1:7, 8). But this creation was not accompanied by Christ, but by the “logos” of God. This is indicated by several passages:
a. “By the word of the LORD were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth.” “For he spake, and it was done; he commanded, and it stood fast.” (#Ps 33:6, 9). See also #Ps 107:20; 147:15, 18, 19; Isa. 55:11).
b. ” … by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water … But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.” (#2Pe 3:5, 7).
c. See also (#Heb 11:3) cf. (#Jer 10:12, 13).5
4.Angels, prophets and Christ have been vehicles by which God has expressed his logos. Christ is the complete manifestation of the logos-“in him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily.” (#Col 2:9). It was the “logos” which was in the beginning with God, not Christ. When the “word was made flesh” (#Jo 1:14) then, and then only, Christ became the “Word”. Christ is called the Word (#Re 19:13) cf. (#1Jo 1:1; Lu 1:2) since his doctrine and words came from his Father (#Jo 7:16; 17:14). He was the logos lived out in speech and action, not merely written on scrolls.
+ Notes:
1 This can be supported by evaluating all references to “logos” in the New Testament and the Septuagint.
2 Robert Young, Analytical Concordance to the Holy Bible, (London: Lutterworth Press, 1965). a.v. Authorized King James Version of the Bible e.g. For example
3 It is sometimes argued that the “beginning” referred to in John 1:1 is the beginning of Christ’s ministry. 1 John 1:1 is offered in support of this interpretation. It should be noted, however, that John’s allusions in John 1 are drawn from Genesis 1 as point 3 outlines, thereby implying that the beginning refers to the same narrative and not to the ministry of Christ.
4 Benjamin Wilson, The Emphatic Diaglott, (Brooklyn: International Bible Students Ass., Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, 1942).
5 It is also noteworthy that although the writer to the Hebrews speaks in exalted terms of Christ (e.g. “express image of his {God’s } person”-#Heb 1:3), “logos” is used of God’s message, and not of Christ himself. See (#Heb 2:2; 4:2,12; 7:28; 12:19) and (#Heb 13:7, 22).
Jesus was brought by the Word of God through an angel to the virgin Mary. By the Word of God Jesus came into existence, was placed in the womb and was born. (Remember God is an eternal Spirit and as such can not be born and can not die).
Next to God there is the lord Jesus (= another being) for whom everything was created because God wanted a perfect world, a world without sin. The first world, the one of Adam and Eve did not manage to stay without sin, but Jesus was tempted (remember God can not be tempted) several times but did not sin. As such Jesus was accepted as the New Adam or the 2° Adam and as such was the firstborn of the New Creation. By the works or actions of Christ Jesus we are saved and should be under Christ in Christ, being members of that new creation which came into being by Christ and being adopted a children of God.
“yet to us there is one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we unto him; and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things, and we through him.” (1 Corinthians 8:6 ASV)
“for in him were all things created, in the heavens and upon the earth, things visible and things invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers; all things have been created through him, and unto him;” (Colossians 1:16 ASV)
“hath at the end of these days spoken unto us in {1} [his] Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, through whom also he made the {2} worlds; {1) Gr [a Son] 2) Gr [ages]; Compare 1 Ti 1:17}” (Hebrews 1:2 ASV)
“and not for the nation only, but that he might also gather together into one the children of God that are scattered abroad.” (John 11:52 ASV)
“For ye are all sons of God, through faith, in Christ Jesus.” (Galatians 3:26 ASV)
Jesus who proofed after his death to the disciples he was not a spirit (though God is a Spirit) but a man of flesh and blood who had his wounds of his offering never has claimed to be the God nor has his heavenly Father declared it was Him (the Elohim Hashem Jehovah). But God said about Jesus (in the river Jordan) that he (Jesus) was His (Jehovah) beloved son.
Luk 3:21-23 The Scriptures 1998+ (21) And it came to be, when all the people were immersed, יהושע {Jeshua/Jesus} also being immersed, and praying, the heaven was opened, (22) and the Set-apart Spirit descended in bodily form like a dove upon Him, and a voice came from heaven saying, “You are My Son, the Beloved, in You I did delight.” (23) And when יהושע {Jeshua/Jesus} Himself began, He was about thirty years of age, being, as reckoned by law, son of Yosĕph, of Ělii,
This son of man, born out of the virgin (Luke 1:30-35) was first lower than angels (though God is was and shall ever be the Most High)(Hebrews 2:9,14,17) always said his Father is greater than him and always prayed to Him, whose Will he always wanted to do and to Whom he was going to give the Kingdom back. Now Jesus is also seated next (and not on the throne of) God at Jehovha’s site to be a mediator between God and man. (1 Timothy 2:5)
In the Word of God, the Bible, all things are written clearly with the ‘Words’ of prophets, men of God, who brought like Jesus the ‘Word of God’. Those words were given to us so that we could come to recognise the Saviour or Messiah, who was called son of man and son of God. In his name (Jesus) we should believe.
“These things have I written unto you, that ye may know that ye have eternal life, [even] unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God.” (1 John 5:13 ASV)
Please do also have a look at John 5:19; 14:28; Philipians 2:5-8; 1 Corinthians 11:3; 15:28;
We too have to be born like Jesus, who of his own will brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures of water and the Spirit, to be able to enter into the kingdom of God (John 3:5; James 1:18 ).
The apostle John speaks about the Word by which also we have been begotten again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible (1 Peter 1:23)
John 1:10 can also be translate din English as: “the world was enlightened through him” (Diag), having Jesus his sacrifice efficacious backward into the past, even for earlier believers in Old Testament times (Rom_3:25; Heb_9:15). Cp vv 3/4: “What was made was life in him”.. even for Adam and Abraham. (In this sense, the new or spiritual “creation” did have a sort of beginning – at least prophetically and typically – in the history of God’s covenant peoples in the OT.)
While the KJV has “made BY him”, the NIV has “made THROUGH him”, which is more accurate. Jesus did not physically and literally MAKE the “world”, but the Father MADE – and MAKES – the “world”.. through.. him – or by means of him. “In Christ” God continues to reconcile the world to Himself (2Co_5:19): Christ is the medium and the means, but his Father is the one MAKING!
Please do compare my explanations with the literal translations which give for John 1:1:
“In [the] beginning the Word was, and the Word was with God, and the Word was a god.” (NWT)
“The Word was in the beginning, and the Word was with God, and the Word was a God.” (The New Testament in An Improved Version)
“In the beginning existed the Logos, and the Logos was with God, and the Logos was a god.” (The Monotessaron)
“In a beginning was the Word, and the Word was with the God, and a god was the Word.” (Emphatic Diaglott – interlineary side)
In the Beginning was the Logos, and the Logos was with God, and the Logos was God (Emphatic Diaglott – translation side)
And remember that John is speaking about the Word which is a Speaking.
Giving in translations also not transpositing in doctrine reading Jesus for Word but reading Word for ‘Word’ (action of speaking):
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God; all things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made. (the Bible Reader, Bruce Publishing Company and Geoffrey Chapman Ltd. (1969))
In Kenneth S. Wuest’s “The New Testament -an expanded translation” this vers John 1:1 is being translated very well giving the essence of the divine person Jeshua (Jesus), [when you understand to be divine is not the same as being The Divine Creator]:
“And the Word was to His essence absolute deity.” (Wuest was Teacher Emeritus of New Testament Greek bij The Moody Bible Institute. )
I hope this sheds a light of my and my brothers thinking. And can also give a few reasons why the doctrine of the trinity is not in accordance with the words of the Bible, the Word of God.
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Thank you for sharing, Marcus. I’m sure it’s no surprise that I disagree with you. This entire blog attests to that. 🙂
How did you come to the conclusion that Christadelphian teaching is correct?
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As a child I was brought up in the Old Roman Catholic church and even became an acolyte in it, but having already lots of questions form when I was six, about the three-une God and all the for me pagan actions, like kneeling in front of statues, using incense, etc.. As a teener I went church-shopping, looking for a community where I could find they were worshipping according the Biblical teachings. After a long search I ended up by the non-trinitarian Baptists, which to me tried to follow the Bible correctly. But after some years in the Baptist community came a shift more and more to trinitarian teaching and having more American influences coming across the ocean. I waited several years before changing direction, but saw many of my brothers and sisters leaving the community and going to the Jehovah Witnesses, church of God, Church of the Abrahamic Faith a.o.. After long consideration and a second near death experience I felt it had become impossible to stay associated with the Baptist because most people got a trinitarian view of that community? For years I also was active on the internet on MSN Groups and different Christian Platforms. With all the discussions I found that the Christadelphians were closest to the Biblical Truth, without such hold or indoctrination like the Jehovah Witness, with whom I could not agree on several aspects, like the pre-existence of Christ, the 144000, St.Michael and Satan.
On the matter what I believed I found that I and the Christadelphians, the Restoration Church and the church of Abrahamic Faith (three groups often also considered to belong to the Christadelphians in general) were on the same line. I got invited to become a member of the Christadelphians and agreed to have myself re-baptised. From then onwards I continued my bible study and preaching with more enthusiasm, knowing the necessity of it.
Ho I reach the conclusion that the Christadelphians their teaching is correct, was simply by spending enough time to research the Holy Scriptures and by letting the Words of the Bible speak for themselves. Everything is there clear in the Book of books, for those who want to read and listen to it. I still hope that God keeps guiding me and pray for it. Though I do know that the majority wants to be with the world, following the doctrines of human beings, for me the most important thing is to do the Will of God and to follow His commandments and His instructions He has given with His Word. It did not matter how the group would be called or how the world would look at them, for me keeping to the Words of the Bible was the most important thing. I also think it is better, though living in this world, not to be of the world, but of God. and that is why I prefer to join a group which tries to stay as close as possible to the early church teachings.
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Thank you for sharing your story, Marcus. I hope that you stick around here.
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