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The Essence of God: my studies What I am about to embark on will no doubt ruffle the feathers of many evangelical Christians. I ask the readers to be open-minded, filled with the Spirit of Truth as you read. Don’t take for granted everything that you think is so because someone said so. Rather let us look at the Word, and especially Marriage from God’s eyes. What this is NOT, is a testimonial how-to based on my personal experience. I am a newlywed and still learning the ins and out of sharing a life together. What this study represents is everything that God has said concerning marriage. Gradually as I learn helpful things about marriage through my experience I will share it and it will become a much more amusing and informative read. Enjoy |
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When God created Adam, He gave Adam a wife and told them to "Be fruitful and multiply". Genesis 5:2 says that God called them Adam. In God's omniscience, he knew when He created Adam He would create for him a help-meet and in God’s eyes they were literally one- one flesh, one body and I dare say almost one person. 1Co 11:11 says Nevertheless neither is the man without the woman, neither the woman without the man, in the Lord. For as the woman is of the man, even so is the man also by the woman; but all things of God. It was Adam who gave Eve her name as well as all the animals. And Adam loved his wife unconditionally- he loved his wife as Christ loves the church... When God looks down on us, as well, he sees our soul-mates as a part of us. Just as He created an Eve for Adam, So does He create one for all men, and so are all women created for their "Adam". |
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The Essence of God: know God, know man Because we are created in His image and likeness. Because God is a being that far surpasses man's understanding, we have to apply "human terms" to describe and understand Him. We will see that Knowing and loving / God and man are all mixed in together. And this is the number two reason that so many people have told me "I just don't know if I hear God when he talks to me." An analogy: If you are walking down the street and I called to you, you wouldn't know if I was talking to you or someone else. But if a loved one called to you, you would know he was talking directly to you because you know him and love him. in John 10:27 Jesus says this plainly: “My sheep hear My voice.' Another analogy: My wife and I have known each other only a few months. But in those few months, we have spent almost every waking moment together. And because of that we know each other better than people we have known for years. It is just the innate laws of relationships, and it's the same way with God. The reason that I know much more about God than some who have spent their whole lives in "church" is because for 2 years I spent every waking moment with Him- constantly filled with His Spirit in prayer and meditating on His Word. The best way to explain Who and What God is, is by comparing God with man. It is in this way that we can get a better understanding of what it means to be created in the image of God. We will learn Who God is and who we are. Both are fundamental to having a relationship, which is what this whole "Christianity thing" is all about- having a relationship with God. The first thing we learn about God in the Bible is that he is the Creator. The next thing we learn is that out of all His creation, only man was made in His image. Does that mean that we look like God? Of course not. God is invisible. Here is what it means.> Man is in a sense, three parts... Soul, body and spirit.
God, too, is "three parts". That is why we say "Trinity".
Saying that The Trinity means three Gods is like saying your body and soul are two different people. It just isn't true. It is almost as if God has a soul, body and Spirit just like we do. But of course there is no real comparison. God is too great, so we use human terms to explain God. God's Essence Man's Essence
Your Body does the will of your soul the same way the Son does the will of the Father (See Jn 5:30). Each part of you is responsible for different things about you. But that does not mean that they are not part of the same thing. Here is a Paint© drawing to help you visualize it. God's Essence
Man's Essence
You can see from the drawing how three parts, can be part of the same thing (or person). And this is how we are created in God's image. This is how we are like God. But there are many ways that we are NOT like God. They are His attributes. God's Attributes Although God and man share a similar Essence, God's attributes are not shared by man. In many cases we are just the opposite (there are some shared but different attributes, and many are imputed, which means Gods shares them with us in order for us to communicate with Him and receive other things like the Holy Spirit and salvation, but for now, simple is good). God is... Perfect Eternal Immutable Self-existence One Spirit Omnipresent Omniscient Omnipotent Love Holy Truth Righteousness Good Sovereign Freedom Infinite Transcendent Life Incomprehensible Incomparable Wisdom Wrath
Knowing God part2
The Essence and Attributes of God ----Know God, Know Man---- Because we are created in His image and likeness. In Part 1, we saw that God and man are similar IN ESSENCE.
And we saw that the God of the Bible, is ONE GOD with three distinct parts as we are. Now Let's look at scripture that supports this fact: 1 Peter 1:11 says that the Spirit of Christ was in the Prophets of the Old Testament. Let's see what the old testament says...These are just a few of the MANY scriptures to support this.
Point5. If Ezekiel was a prophet, and the New Testament is true, then Christ's Spirit was in Ezekiel and every other prophet too. and Christ's Spirit and the Holy Spirit are one and the same. So if we compare the New and Old Testaments description of the Spirit, we must conclude that Jesus' Spirit is God's Spirit. They are one and the same. Now look once more at the drawing and Let's Go back to the New Testament...
The Father and Son share the same Spirit. The Father and Spirit share the same Son. The Son and Spirit share the same Father. Look at Mt 1:18-20. It says that Jesus is the Son of the Holy spirit. And we have already seen that Jesus IS the Holy Spirit (in part). Now look at Jn 14:6-11. 6 Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me. Point1. You get to the Father by Jesus 7 "If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; from now on you know Him, and have seen Him."Point2. If you see Jesus, you have seen the Father because Jesus is the Father 8 Philip said to Him, "Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us."9 Jesus said to him, "Have I been so long with you, and yet you have not come to know Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; how can you say, `Show us the Father'?Point3. Jesus says again He is the Father..."How can you say show me the Father when you are looking at Him?" (paraphrased of course) 10 "Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on My own initiative, but the Father abiding in Me does His works.11 "Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me; otherwise believe because of the works themselves.Point4. Although we cannot fully grasp this concept, Jesus is basically describing what you see in the drawing..
John 5:7- For there are three that bare witness in heaven; the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost- and These three are One. We see here and EVERY PLACE in the Bible that God the Father, God the Son and God the Spirit are One God... This is the Doctrine of the Trinity. It is Who God is. Now let's return for a moment to who man is...soul, body and spirit. Who Man Is Genesis 1:27(NAS) God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. Rough Translation: Both Man and Woman are equally created in the invisible image of God. Man (Ish) 
Woman (Isha)
There are obvious mental and physical differences between man and woman (Thank you God!). But in Essence we are both created equal just as ALL members of the human race are created equal even if we are physically different. Now let us look at the individual pieces of the puzzle...
The Human Soul and Body
It is not my interest here to get extremely in-depth here on the anatomy of the soul and body. There is a vast internet full of information on the human body and soul. But I would like to provide only enough information so that those who are not very interested do not have to venture outside of my walls. To see everything I have written on the soul CLICK HERE. We have seen my diagram on how the three can be one Essence and one entity and compared it to the Essence of God. Now let's look at a different kind of diagram that shows where they are in relationship to each other...
...The soul exists somewhere inside the body, and the human spirit exists somewhere inside the soul. everything in the world that we see can be thought of as having some sort of body or another. Our body sets us apart from other things in the world, but not as much as our souls. If the body is separated from the soul, it is no big deal because it is our soul that is the "real" us. the part that "knows" we exist. Your hand does not know it is a hand. but your soul knows that it's a hand. This is self awareness which only exists in our souls. Free-will, consciousness and emotions are also examples of things that we find in our soul. They are parts of our soul just like our lungs or eyes are part of our body. But the part of us that is so often misunderstood is the human spirit. The Human Spirit It's obvious what the human body is for, and we've seen the soul has its purposes as well. But what is our spirit for? As always let's search the Scripture and see what it says about our spirit. God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in Spirit and truth." |
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