An “embodiment of attributes” would satisfy the “God in you” concept (Jn.10:37-38; Phil.2:5). Jesus suggested that when you
saw him, you saw the Father (Jn.14:7-11). This cannot be true in the literal sense, because Jesus himself testified that the
Father was the “only true God” (Jn.17:3) and the “only” God (Jn.5:44). “Only” excludes the possibility of another God-anywhere
in the universe. The Son cannot be the Father. Since the Father is the only true God, the Son cannot be God, either. Besides, as has been shown, God is spirit and God is invisible; two traits that Jesus lacked. So then the incarnation (of the
Messiah or the word) concept must be true only in the metaphorical sense, as a figure of speech. No one from heaven actually
put on flesh. (I understand that angels have appeared as men in OT times.)
Jesus was symbolic of the Father as an ambassador
is symbolic of the King or leader he represents. A mirror image is only a symbol or a representation. The image is symbolic
of the original. If you “see” or meet with the ambassador or the agent, you have effectively seen and met with the sponsor,
the principal, or the chief. The principal (God) and the agent (Jesus) are “one” in mind, spirit, and in purpose, not in being
or person. But wait—some meddling has been going on in John’s work by later Bible revisers.
Some modern Bible versions
have tampered with and changed the reading of the target passage. They suggest that it should be something like: “No one has
ever seen God. The only Son, God, who is at the Father’s side, has revealed him” (Jn.1:18, NCV; cf.
It should
be obvious, even to the casual reader, that something is wrong in these last two examples. How can “God, the One and Only” make
known another God and there still only be one God? Would the second God also be a “God, the one and only”? It defies explanation
and rational thought unless you redefine “God.” And you have to redefine God in order to make Jesus into a God! And that
is exactly what happened—a redefining deception foisted off onto the religious world! What we have in these two citations is
what appears to be a nasty deception: a deliberate trinitarian corruption of the Scriptures such that the revisers are attempting
to insert a trinity into a passage where there was none before (cf. 1Jn.5:7). And scholarly testimony supports this charge.
So,
in conclusion, what we have in the Scriptures is an invisible heavenly God (called Yahweh) who had (and still has) the power to manifest
himself in human form to human beings without ceasing to be God. This Eternal God then devised a way to be represented on earth
for about 33 years through the human agency of “the Lamb of God,” which Lamb, when sacrificed, resurrected, highly exalted, and given
immortality, now sits at the right hand of God in heaven (1Pet.3:22).
Yahweh’s acceptance (and only his acceptance) of the sacrifice
of the physical Lamb who represented him, who was the express image and embodiment of God, as a final blood sacrifice, has made it
possible for us to follow the Lamb (Messiah) into an immortal state without further sacrificial bloodshed. This also means that
Yahweh God will approve of no more bloody sacrifices under any system of law, now or in the age to come.
Some people among us insist
that bloody sacrifices will be restarted and God-approved under some future scenario; under some revision of the final sacrifice. They are dead wrong. That tired old dogma won’t hunt.
Because the Lord Messiah, Yahshua, lives and reigns today and continues
to represent Yahweh his father as his anointed agent, we can face tomorrow without fear. Now rejoice! F. Paul Haney
