1. Matt 1:23 gives us the word "Immanuel" as a name
for Jesus. Most significantly, the Apostle Matthew
gives us the meaning of this word, an apostolic
definition, if you will -----------
God with us. This single sentence should end the
controversry, but, of course, people will choose to follow
their bias.
Matthew did not come up with it JD;
he only repeats the words of the prophet Isaiah (Is 9:6,7)
and since the Holy Spirit is also God according to your
trinitarian belief - what are you trying to say
here?
2. Secondly, Col 1:19-20 tells us that Christ
reconciled all thing UNTO HIMSELF. If Christ were only
the representative of God, there would be no value in
having drawn all thing, on the earth and in the heaves unto
Himself. This passage makes sense only as one admits to
the deity of the incarnate Christ -- we should not
forget that the act of reconciliation was performed in the
body of His flesh.
Read it again and focus on Vs.19;
Christ is reconciling all things to the Father - this is not
about HIMSELF.
3. John 17:5 establishes the fact that the Son
shared the glory of the Father before the
foundations of the world, estalishing His evternity as
the Son.
John also writes "in the beginning
was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God -
which
establishes his eternity as the Word
of God.
4. In view of the fact that "Only begotten" is a
term that actually means "only unique" and has nothing to do
with the birth or appointment of Christ, there is no
biblical hint that Christ became the Son of God.
He is, therefore, the eternal Son, never becoming
-- always being.
The word "begotten" means just what
it says JD. It is also used in Gen 5:4; Lev 18:11, Deu
23:8, John 1:14 and Acts 13:33. The meaning in these verses is
plain. It is a mystery to me why you would want to
change it to "unique" unless it is to conform to some doctrine
outside the scope of God's Word and the faith ONCE delivered
to the saints.
5. John - chapter one - teaches us that the Logos
and the Jesus, the Son, are one and the same: "He was in
the world (incarnation !!) and the world was made by Him
and the world did not know Him."
What makes you think John 1 :10
references the "incarnation"? John had just said "he is
the light who gives light to every man" and long before any
incarnation it is written "Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet and
a light unto my path"
Jesus is the Word spoken through the
prophets and rejected by God's covenant people.
6. Matt 16:16 has Peter confessing that Jesus
is the Christ, the Son of the living God," a wonderful
statement that looses its vaule if it means "thou are the
Christ , the Holy Representative of the living
God."
Christ? Means "anointed one"
JD.
Hoping to help.
jd
