format_quote Originally Posted by
AvarAllahNoor
Ok, this i understand, but then why does Jesus speak of God? Does the Bible not believe in a formless God? (it does as i've had bible study classes)
I'm not trying to ridicule your faith just trying to understand!
'That Jesus Christ was truly God, and yet was a Person distinct from the Father and the Holy Spirit' This contradicts the Bible!
I have to admit that the best I can do is offer conjecture and a few scriptures to back it up. If you meet anyone who claims to understand God, I'd beware.
Dt 4:15 "Take careful heed to yourselves, for you saw no form when the LORD spoke to you at Horeb out of the midst of the fire, 16 "lest you act corruptly and make for yourselves a carved image in the form of any figure"
I know the earth was formless, I don't know if I would say God is formless, but I believe that the Bible teaches that humans would die instantly if they saw the glory of God the Father, so no one has seen it.
Jn 1:18 No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him.
So if God wants to deliver a message in person, He must appear in a form that man can endure. Check out this passage from Judges.
Jdg 13:15 Then Manoah said to the Angel of the LORD, "Please let us detain You, and we will prepare a young goat for You." 16 And the Angel of the LORD said to Manoah, "Though you detain Me, I will not eat your food. But if you offer a burnt offering, you must offer it to the LORD. ' (For Manoah did not know He was the Angel of the LORD.) 17 Then Manoah said to the Angel of the LORD, "What is Your name, that when Your words come to pass we may honor You?" 18 And the Angel of the LORD said to him, "Why do you ask My name, seeing it is
wonderful?" 19 So Manoah took the young goat with the grain offering, and offered it upon the rock to the LORD. And He did a wondrous thing while Manoah and his wife looked on-- 20 it happened as the flame went up toward heaven from the altar-- the Angel of the LORD ascended in the flame of the altar! When Manoah and his wife saw this, they fell on their faces to the ground. 21 When the Angel of the LORD appeared no more to Manoah and his wife, then Manoah knew that He was the Angel of the LORD. 22 And Manoah said to his wife, "We shall surely die, because we have seen God!" 23 But his wife said to him, "If the LORD had desired to kill us, He would not have accepted a burnt offering and a grain offering from our hands, nor would He have shown us all these things, nor would He have told us such things as these at this time."
I think the "Angel of the LORD" was non other than the eternal Christ.
Isa 9:6 For unto us a Child is born,
Unto us a
Son is given;
And the government will be upon His shoulder.
And His name will be called
Wonderful, Counselor,
Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
So why does the Angel of the LORD say the sacrifice must be offered to the LORD if this was Christ? Just conjecture you understand, but man has a tendency to make images of God which become idols. I think this was Christ telling Manoah not to elevate His appearance in this encounter into an image.
Concerning Christ's references to God. I can't explain how deity and humanity were combined in Christ when He walked as a man. I can tell you that in order for Christ to become a sacrifice for sin, He had to be fully human. That is, in the Old Testament, a sacrifical lamb had to meet certain criteria, but especially it had to be 100% lamb, not a hybrid or cross.