God In The Flesh
from Dr. Warren Vanhetloo
Dale Byers
Issue date: 12/15/09 Section: Devotional Thought
Consider this Bible prophecy which was written in the 8th century B.C., "But thou, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall He come forth unto Me that is to be ruler in Israel, whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting" (Micah 5:2 ).
The New Testament provides even more clear information about His pre-existence and His deity. The Apostle John wrote, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by Him; and without Him was not anything made that was made" (John 1:1-3).
We know that the "Word" was in reality Jesus Christ because in John 1:14 we read "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." Genesis 1:1 declares, "In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth." God created the worlds through His Word. God spoke and the world came into existence from nothing.
Notice in John 1:1-2 that "The Word was with God, and the Word was God." The word with speaks of a face to face relationship. The Father, The Son and The Holy Spirit all three existed in a face to face relationship together in eternity past.
In Genesis chapter one, we have the account of creation. The words of Gen. 1:26, "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness" employ the plural pronoun "our." Why is it recorded that creation was accomplished by God and yet a plural pronoun is used?
Some say God was talking to the angels, but, never are angels credited with any act of creation. However, The Father, The Son and The Holy Spirit are all three credited with creation. Does that mean that we have three Gods?
No, absolutely not, but there eternally were three persons. We only have one Godhead, of which both the Old and the New Testaments confirm the truth of the Trinity.
The New Testament provides even more clear information about His pre-existence and His deity. The Apostle John wrote, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by Him; and without Him was not anything made that was made" (John 1:1-3).
We know that the "Word" was in reality Jesus Christ because in John 1:14 we read "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." Genesis 1:1 declares, "In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth." God created the worlds through His Word. God spoke and the world came into existence from nothing.
Notice in John 1:1-2 that "The Word was with God, and the Word was God." The word with speaks of a face to face relationship. The Father, The Son and The Holy Spirit all three existed in a face to face relationship together in eternity past.
In Genesis chapter one, we have the account of creation. The words of Gen. 1:26, "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness" employ the plural pronoun "our." Why is it recorded that creation was accomplished by God and yet a plural pronoun is used?
Some say God was talking to the angels, but, never are angels credited with any act of creation. However, The Father, The Son and The Holy Spirit are all three credited with creation. Does that mean that we have three Gods?
No, absolutely not, but there eternally were three persons. We only have one Godhead, of which both the Old and the New Testaments confirm the truth of the Trinity.