Hi lain,
I wanted to start by saying thank-you for the time that you put
into your website, and answering questions. You are a tremendous help!
Up
until 2 years ago, I was quite liberal in my interpretation of religion and
especially scripture. I reasoned that The Bible was written by fallen men with an
agenda to serve. My wife grew up in church, but for me the woods were my
“church”. I told her I didn’t need to go to a building full of
hypocrites to be close to God. I believed that all people worshipped the same
God; we were all his children, and everyone went to heaven (except really bad
people).
I had many questions over the years, either because of
“scientific proof”, or what I had been programmed to believe were
contradictions in The Bible. What made it harder was when I was 17 I had a very
profound experience where God revealed Himself to me, but it took 23 years for me
to fully embrace it.
I had never asked or confronted my questions about
God and The Bible, out of fear of what the answers may be (that the God I had
experienced and believed in wasn’t real). So I interpreted and explained
everything for what I needed (2 Timothy 4:3, right?!).
Two years ago, I
was researching Fluoride so that I could go to my City Council and argue for its
removal. And while researching I kept stumbling upon tidbits of scientific
information that answered my unasked questions (thanks John Lennox, Stephen
Meyer, William Lane Craig), and argued against the main-stream programming in
society today. And from there I stumbled, quite on accident, upon Jesus Plus
Nothing!. I could feel the truth of your words, and felt I’d found a gold
mine of information. Needless to say, I finally found that rock-solid foundation
for my faith! And not a moment to soon, as my children (11 and 9) were starting
to ask questions, and I was responding with the gibberish that I had come to
believe. I now believe that Jesus Christ was God in the flesh, The Bible is the
literal word of God, and acceptance of the sacrifice of Jesus, is the only way to
eternity with God. And my children now know it too!
Now for my question
(I know, finally!). I read an article by Jack Kelley
(https://gracethrufaith.com/childrens-stories-for-adults/noah-and-the-flood-part-1-the-x-men/)
on Genesis. In his second paragraph he says two males were referred to as
“sons of God”; Adam and Jesus. But he only cites the scripture to
support Adam being referenced this way. That would be Bene ha Elohim, right? But
I know Jesus wasn’t a created being. Does he mean created as in the flesh,
or physical body created for God to dwell upon the Earth? Does The Bible really
refer to Jesus in such a way? Is there a good place I can research when people
make claims about original Greek or Hebrew text used in The Bible?
Thanks Eric,
I love reading testimonies like yours so I appreciate you
taking the time to write in and share it along with your question. It is really
good to read that you are a lot more clear in your faith and now have something
definite to share in this regard with your kids. Awesome. A friend and work
colleague of mine enjoys the apologetic side of our faith and got me reading and
watching some of John Lennox and William Lane Craig a little while back so you
are on pretty solid ground there.
As to your question, I see someone
wrote in to Jack Kelley and asked a similar question to yours in trying to get
clarification in what ways both are the son of God. Have a look here:
https://gracethrufaith.com/ask-a-bible-teacher/how-many-sons-of-god-are-there/
I agree with what is written here. Jesus is the only begotten son of God (John
3:16). He is not created and is, and has always been, God. There is the sense
that Jesus has always been the Son for the scripture tells us that 'a child
will be born, and a son given' (great prophecy of Isaiah 9:6 concerning the
Messiah - the child born speaks of His humanity, the son
given speaks of divinity). But Jesus is also the Son of God due to His
physical birth as a human with God as His Father. This is what Luke speaks about
and says that is the reason He was called the son of God:
Luk
1:30-35 The angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary; for you have found
favor with God. (31) "And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a
son, and you shall name Him Jesus. (32) "He will be great and will be called
the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father
David; (33) and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom
will have no end." (34) Mary said to the angel, "How can this be, since
I am a virgin?" (35) The angel answered and said to her, "The Holy
Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you;
and for that reason the holy Child shall be called the Son of God.
It
is interesting that the place where Adam is called the son of God (Luke 3:38)
'the son of' is not specifically in the Greek. It isn't for any of
the genealogy apart from in Luke 3:23. Have a look at the following and
you'll see that 'the son' is in gray italics the whole way down
meaning it is added and not specifically in the Greek.
Luke 3:37 Which was the son of Mathusala, which was the son of
Enoch, which was the son of Jared, which was the son of
Maleleel, which was the son of Cainan,
Luke 3:38 Which was the
son of Enos, which was the son of Seth, which was the son
of Adam, which was the son of God.
There will be reasons for adding it and they probably trace back to where it is
used in verse 23 but I'm not Hebrew or Greek expert so can't say
anymore there. But without it, it traces the genealogy saying '... which was
of Enos, which was of Seth, which was of Adam, which was of God.' Thus it is
showing the origin of each person and Adam had his origin in the creation of God.
All quite understandable and not in any way placing Adam on some kind of level
with Jesus.
In terms of how I study the Greek and Hebrew, I use e-Sword
and have added books and language resources. Mostly free apart from some add-ons
that I have bought. Really helps with the commentaries as well once you have good
people that you can trust.
Hope this helps and thanks again for sharing
your story! : )
Iain.
Iain,
Thanks for the quick reply and clarification. I totally get it now.
Sometimes it feels like I won’t ever be able to understand or learn it all. If you keep delving, it seems like you’ll find some new lesson or hidden meaning to a verse on a daily basis (like your study on Feasts of the Lord, which I brought up to some other members of a Bible study at my church recently). It’s awesome how intertwined the past, present, and future are.
With all the information to learn, I sometimes find myself regretting not understanding/embracing God when He revealed Himself to me as a young, despairing teenager. But then I remember that in God’s perfect plan, He must have opened my eyes at the perfect time. God is good!
Many blessings to you and your website for what you do. One day after we’re all called home, I look forward to greeting you face to face and shaking your hand!
Peace in Christ!
Eric