We
have been studying Ephesians chapter 4, and the seven unities that it reveals and we have one more of the
seven unities to do.
Ephesians
4:6
"One
God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you
all."
Remember we have been talking about One all the way
through. One Body, one Spirit, one hope of your calling, one Lord,
one faith, one baptism, and now one God and Father of all. Form our perspective after being many years searching for God in the churches that we went to, we did not find genuine love and truth in any one of them. Some had a form of truth, but not real truth and some held to a form of love but not God's Love. Both Love and Truth as Paul, Peter and John reveal is in One person, Christ Jesus. Therefore if we have not the ontological essence of Christ's Spirit we are false in both love and truth. In other words we deceive ourselves because the world lies in error and is therefore a lie. And when we remain as mere men we may have good doctrines of truth, but in fact and actuality we are in Hypocrisy and self-deceit just as Israel was and for that matter is still. The
Jewish folks, bless their hearts, they kind of accuse us Christians
of being polytheists in that we believe in a Trinity. But for the
Jewish person coming out of the Old Testament, that is an
anathema to them. So if you would go back to Deuteronomy chapter 6 for
a moment, we will see what their reasoning is. This of course is the
Jewish view of God being like Paul just said here in Ephesians, "One
God." Absolutely He is One! And as we read, remember this
is part and parcel of Jewish worship.
Deuteronomy
6:4
"Hear,
O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD:"
And
here you have all the letters capitalized. Read it again.
Deuteronomy
6:4-5
"Hear,
O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD: And thou shalt love the LORD
thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy
might."
Remember when Jesus was confronted by a scribe, as Mark records in chapter 12 around verses 28-31? He asked Jesus what is the greatest commandment and Jesus' response was, Hear O' Israel, to this the scribe acknowledged both the love and truth it contains and Jesus said that he was not far from entering the kingdom of God. Then Jesus went on to quote from Psalm 110 where David speaking as an observer of a conversation between God the LORD and Jesus as the Lord, David calls Him, Lord because this is the very term that God spoke of when addressing Jesus in this conversation. Showing the distinction between them, Father and Son though they in Spirit are One. Now this is the bedrock of their Law and the hidden portion of ours,
as it is written in our heart and embossed on our minds. As we
come up through the Scriptures, even staying in the Old Testament,
which was written primarily to the Jewish people, stop at Isaiah
chapter 9 for a moment. Again we will look at a verse that we have
looked at many times, and that would be in verse 6.
Isaiah
9:6
"For
unto us (Israel) a child is born, unto us a son is
given: and the government shall be* upon his shoulders:
and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God,
The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace."
*it is
still further expanded, it is coming, except for those who have become
One Body.
In
this verse we have all the names or more correctly His titles of office, not only of God the Father of
spirit's, but also who? God the Son! He is the Prince of Peace!
Isn’t it amazing? And yet our Jewish friends do not like to admit
that this is a reference to Christ. But as far as Christianity is, it
is. It is a prophecy concerning the coming of the Christ child in
Bethlehem, who would be their Messiah. Come over to Matthew
chapter 3, because this was a question someone raised. The question
was, "Where in Scripture are all 3 persons of the Godhead
mentioned in the same place?" Here in Matthew chapter 3
it is the most obvious, and never lose sight of the fact that we
have One God, One Lord, but our view of Him is in 3 Persons. The
setting here is at Christ’s baptism in the river Jordan.
Matthew
3:16-17
"And
Jesus when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water*:
and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he (John)
saw the Spirit of God (here is number 2, the Holy Spirit)
descending like a dove, and lighting upon him**:
And lo a voice from heaven, saying, 'This is my beloved Son, in whom I
am well pleased'."
*so
there in the Person of Jesus we have One of them in God the Son.
**and here in verse 17 you have the third One in the voice from
heaven, where the Father of spirit's is implied.
There
is also one more reference that is just as tantamount, and that would
be in 2Corinthians chapter 13, let’s look at the last verse.
2Corinthians
13:14
"The
grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, (Son) and the love of
God, (Father of Life) and the communion of the Holy Ghost
(Spirit) be with you all, Amen."
So
you have all three persons of the Godhead mentioned here as One God.
So we are not polytheists, because we believe in the One God, the One
Father of spirit's and Life of all as Paul mentions in Ephesians. So let’s come back to
our text in that book to chapter 4, and read verse 6 again.
Ephesians
4:6
"One
God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you
all."
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