What Does In The Beginning Mean?
Hi Mike,
I have been reading from your site off and on for a while now, and really enjoy your views and understandings of the Word. The institutional “church”, in my opinion, seems to be lacking in understanding of what “Christianity” is. If the whole world lies in deceit, it would behoove each of us then to implore the Spirit to show us where we are deceived. It is troubling, in a sense, not to believe the things that most of “Christendom” believes and to believe things which makes me, in their words, a “non- Christian”. ‘If you don’t believe this and that way, Brother, you are not His.’ Well, I don’t think so.
It seems that the apostle Paul, the only apostle taught by the resurrected Christ, didn’t have an understanding of the ‘Blessed Holy Trinity’, as virtually all of his greetings in his epistles and letters refer only to “God” and to the Lord Jesus. Also, if the Holy Spirit as a separate individual descended onto Mary, wouldn’t the child be the Son of ‘The Third Person of The Most Holy Blessed Trinity’ instead of God? There is only One God and His Son, The Lord.
For the last couple of years I’ve been doing study and research on what “In Christ” means. I have a thought that I would like your opinion on. Act 17:28 tells us ‘In Him we live and move and have our being’. In Revelation we find that Christ is the Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End. In the book of Genesis we find that in the Beginning “God” created the heaven and earth. In Ephesians we find that we were placed in Christ before the foundation of the world. My thought is: The Beginning is not only a reference to time, but also a place, i. e. Christ in which everything was created! The Alpha then is Christ, and everything then indeed exists in Him, and He is the Beginning of the creation of “God” . Everything is about Christ, Christ is all and in all! Amazing, wonderful Christ! Awaiting your thoughts.Thanks Mike,
E____
Hi E____,
Thank you for your question and I am pleased to know you enjoy reading iswasandwillbe. com.
You certainly are right about the “institutional church”. The fact is that just as the church of Christ’s day delivered him up to the secular powers for treason, saying “We have no king but Caesar” so too, today it would be the orthodox Christian church who would lead the mob to deliver “our Lord and His Christ” up to be crucified for simply speaking and following the words of our Lord.
You are very observant to note that no New Testament writer ever speaks of the holy spirit as a person, but rather as “the holy spirit of God… the Father, of whom are all things”.
1Co 8:6 But to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him.
Eph 4:30 And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.
Your last question concerns the doctrine of “the Christ”, which is who we are in Christ.
It is nothing less than the holy spirit which has caused you to note that God created the heavens and the earth “in the beginning”. This word here in Gen 1:1 happens to be the same word which is translated ‘firstfruits’ in all these verses:
Lev_2:12, Lev_23:10, Num_18:12, Deu_26:10, 2Ch_31:5, Neh_10:37, Neh_12:44, Pro_3:9, Jer_2:3, Eze_20:40, Eze_48:14
Since Christ is “the firstfruits”, then it follows that it was ‘in Him’ that God did all of His creating, and lo and behold, that is exactly what we are told:
1Co 15:22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.
1Co 15:23 But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming.
Col 1:15 Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:
Col 1:16 For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:
Col 1:17 And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.
Col 1:18 And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.
Col 1:19 For it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell;
There are many writings on iswasandwillbe. com on this doctrine. Here are a couple of them. Please read these, and then if you still have a question, feel free to get back to me.
http:// www. iswasandwillbe. com/ Lacking_ of_ His_ Afflictions. php
http:// www. iswasandwillbe. com/ Just_ How_ Christ_ Centric_ Is_ Scripture. php
Your brother in Christ,
Mike
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