I was reading about Philip the evangelist, a man who brought the good news of Jesus Christ to others. Notice what he did NOT say.
Acts 8:35-37:
Then Philip opened his mouth, and began at the same scripture, and preached unto him Jesus.
And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water: and the eunuch said, See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized?
And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.
When Philip taught this eunuch from Ethiopia about Jesus, he did NOT teach him that Jesus is God. Then how did the Christian church get so mixed up on who Jesus is? There is a Devil, and he wants to confuse God’s truth in John 3:16—that God gave His Son for us. Jesus said that God is Spirit. But during the first 300 years of the church, this simple truth became mired in religious doctrine. By the time of the Roman emperor Constantine, the Bible had been replaced with man-made doctrines like the trinity.
John 3:16:
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
This verse is simple. God did NOT give Himself. God did not die on a cross. But His Son, a man who was willing to sacrifice his life for us, did. God, Who is Spirit, gave His Son—a man filled with God’s spirit. Look at another “John 3:16.”
I John 3:16:
Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.
Notice that the words “of God” are in italic font in the King James Version of the Bible. That means they were added by translators. Why did they need to add something to God’s Word that was not originally there? To fit with their doctrine that “God” laid down His life for us. They want to teach that Jesus is God. This verse IS talking about Jesus Christ, who was full of God’s love. He laid down his life for us, so that we might have eternal life.
II Corinthians 5:19:
To wit [understand], that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation.
We are to understand that God was IN Christ. It doesn’t say that God WAS Christ! God was Jesus’ literal Father: God caused Mary to conceive a child. And God filled Jesus with His spirit when he was baptized by John in the Jordan River. And Jesus went to the Scriptures to believe and live all that he was to be as God’s promised Messiah. God was IN Christ. He sent His Son to reconcile us—to bring us back to God and to know Him as a Father. That is the truth of John 3:16.
Colossians 2:9,10:
For in him [Christ] dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.
And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power.
God raised His Son from the dead to sit at His right hand. Jesus Christ is now Lord of all. All that God can be dwells in Christ. We are complete in him and someday when he returns for us, we will have a glorious body like his. Jesus is now the head over every principality or spiritual power. Yet, Jesus Christ is still NOT God. When all things are under Jesus’ feet in the future, then Jesus Christ will surrender the authority that God gave him back to his Father (I Corinthians 15:24-28).
I Corinthians 8:6:
But to us there is but one God, the Father, [from, out] of whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by [through] him.
There is only one God, Who is Spirit, and Who is now our Father through what Christ has done for us. All good things are FROM God–even our savior, Jesus Christ, comes from God. And there is only one Lord, Jesus Christ. All good things from God are THROUGH, by the work and intercession, of our Lord Jesus Christ. The church has gotten so confused and still preaches just the opposite of what the Apostle Paul taught here. There is only one God, and He sent His Son who is now our only Lord.
