2] Who was Jesus Christ?

“Most see Jesus as a teacher, a wise man, a Jewish sage who died an unjust and horrible death and founded a great religion. Is there more to it than that? One of the most controversial topics is the true identity of Jesus Christ—and at the same time it is perhaps the most crucial. It lies at the heart of the Christian faith.

“What this entails is the understanding that Jesus was not simply an extraordinary human being, but that Jesus was actually God in human flesh…Jesus certainly regarded Himself as much more than only a man, prophet or teacher...

“Perhaps the boldest claim Jesus made about His identity was the statement, 'Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM' (John 8:58). Translated into English, His statement may appear or sound confusing. But in the Aramaic or Hebrew language in which He spoke, He was making a claim that immediately led the people to try to stone Him for blasphemy” (Jesus Christ – The Real Story, p.6-7).

“The Pharisees…asked Jesus, 'Who do You make Yourself out to be?' (John 8:53). They simply had no idea of the real identity of the One with whom they were speaking. It is the same today. Few people really understand the true origins of Jesus Christ. Christ patiently explained, 'Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad' (verse 56). But how was this possible? The patriarch Abraham lived some 2 000 years before the birth of Jesus. Continuing Christ's discourse: 'Then the Jews said to Him, 'You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham? 'Jesus said to them, 'Most assuredly I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM' (verses 57-58)…

“We can know that the Word (John 1:1) personally interacted with Abraham during his day because Christ is identified as the 'I AM' of the Bible. Jesus said that 'Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad' (John 8:56). Remember Christ existed with the Father before everything else—visible and invisible—was created” (Who is God, p.25).

In Hebrews 7:1-3 Paul writes: “For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the Most High God, who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him, to whom also Abraham gave a tenth part of all, first being translated 'king of righteousness,' and then also king of Salem, meaning 'king of peace,' without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like the Son of God, remains a priest continually.” Jesus Christ was this Melchizedek who interacted with the patriarch Abraham.

“Anciently when the great God first revealed Himself to Moses in Exodus 3:13-14, Moses asked Him what His name was. 'I AM WHO I AM,' was the awesome reply. 'Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, 'I AM has sent me to you.'' Jesus clearly claimed to be this same Being—the 'I AM' of Exodus 3:14, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (verse 15).

"'I AM' is related to the personal name for God in the Old Testament, the Hebrew name YHWH. When this name appears in our English Bibles, it is commonly rendered using small capital letters as LORD. It is transliterated as 'Jehovah' in some Bible versions.

“When Jesus made this startling statement, the Jews knew exactly what He meant. They picked up stones to kill Him because they thought He was guilty of blasphemy.

"'I AM' and the related YHWH are the names of God that infer absolute timeless self-existence. Although impossible to translate accurately and directly into English, YHWH conveys meanings of 'The Eternal One,' 'The One Who Always Exists' or 'The One Who Was, Is and Always Will Be.' These distinctions can apply only to God, whose existence is eternal and everlasting.

“In Isaiah 42:8 this same Being says, 'I am the LORD [YHWH], that is My name; and My glory I will not give to another, nor My praise to carved images.' A few chapters later He says: 'Thus says the LORD [YHWH], the King of Israel, and his Redeemer, the LORD of hosts: 'I am the First and I am the Last; besides Me there is no God' (Isaiah 44:6).

“To the Jews, there was no mistaking who Jesus claimed to be. He said He was the One the nation of Israel understood to be the one true God. By Jesus making claim to the name 'I AM,' He was saying that He was the God whom the Hebrews knew as YHWH. This name was considered so holy that a devout Jew would not pronounce it. This was a special name for God that can only refer to the one true God.

“Dr. Norman Geisler, in his book Christian Apologetics, concludes: 'In view of the fact that the Jehovah of the Jewish Old Testament would not give his name, honor, or glory to another, it is little wonder that the words and deeds of Jesus of Nazareth drew stones and cries of 'blasphemy' from first-century Jews. The very things that the Jehovah of the Old Testament claimed for himself Jesus of Nazareth also claimed...' (2002, p. 331).

“Dr. Geisler goes on to list some of the ways Jesus equated Himself with YHWH of the Old Testament. Let's notice some of these.

“Jesus said of Himself, 'I am the good shepherd' (John 10:11). David, in the first verse of the famous 23rd Psalm, declared that 'The LORD [YHWH] is my shepherd...' Jesus claimed to be judge of all men and nations (John 5:22, 27). Yet Joel 3:12 says the LORD [YHWH] 'will sit to judge all...nations.'

“Jesus said, 'I am the light of the world' (John 8:12). Isaiah 60:19 says, '...the LORD will be to you an everlasting light, and your God your glory.' Also, David says in Psalm 27:1, 'The LORD (YHWH) is my light...'

“Jesus asked in prayer that the Father would share His eternal glory: 'O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was' (John 17:5). Yet Isaiah 42:8 says, 'I am the LORD, that is My name; and My glory I will not give to another...'

“Jesus spoke of Himself as the coming bridegroom (Matthew 25:1), which is exactly how YHWH is characterized in Isaiah 62:5 and Hosea 2:16.

“In Revelation 1:17 Jesus says He is the first and the last, which is identical to what YHWH says of Himself in Isaiah 44:6: 'I am the First and I am the Last.' There is no question that Jesus understood Himself as the LORD (YHWH) of the Old Testament.

“When Jesus was arrested, His use of the same term had an electrifying effect on those in the arresting party. 'Now when He said to them, 'I am He,' they drew back and fell to the ground' (John 18:6). Notice here that 'He' is in italics, meaning the word was added by the translators and isn't in the original wording. However, their attempt to make Jesus' answer more grammatically correct obscures the fact that He was likely again claiming to be the 'I AM' of the Old Testament Scriptures” …

“The apostle Paul affirms that the God the Israelites of the Old Testament knew—the One they looked to as their 'Rock' of strength (see Deuteronomy 32:4; Psalm 18:2)—was the One we know as Jesus Christ. Notice what Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 10:1-4: '...All our fathers were under the cloud, all passed through the sea, all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ.'

“Jesus was the One who spoke to Moses and told Him to return to Egypt to bring the Israelites to freedom. Jesus was the LORD (YHWH) who caused the plagues to come on Egypt. He was the God who led the Israelites out of Egypt and through the wanderings for 40 years. He was the Lawgiver who gave the laws to Moses and spoke to Moses on a regular basis. He was the LORD who dealt with Israel throughout their national history. Yes, astounding as it seems, Jesus Christ is the LORD (YHWH) spoken of so often in the Old Testament…

“Jesus received worship on many occasions without forbidding such acts. A leper worshipped Him (Matthew 8:2). A ruler worshipped Him with his plea to raise his daughter from the dead (Matthew 9:18). When Jesus had stilled the storm, those in the boat worshipped Him as the Son of God (Matthew 14:33)…

“The First and Second of the Ten Commandments forbid worship of anyone or anything other than God (Exodus 20:2-5). Barnabas and Paul were very disturbed when the people of Lystra tried to worship them after their healing of a crippled man (Acts 14:13-15)…

“On several occasions Jesus asserted that He was the One through whom men and women could attain eternal life. 'This is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day' (John 6:40; compare verses 47 and 54). He not only says that people must believe in Him, but also that He will be the One to resurrect them at the end. No mere man can take this role…

“The renowned Christian writer C.S. Lewis observes: 'I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: 'I'm ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don't accept His claim to be God.' That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher...

“'You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God: or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronising nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to' (Mere Christianity, 1996, p. 56)” (Jesus Christ – The Real Story, p.7-10, 8, 13-16).

Over 700 years before Jesus Christ was born God gave this prophecy through Isaiah: “Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned, every one, to his own way; and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and He was afflicted, yet He opened not His mouth; He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so He opened not His mouth” (Isaiah 53:4-7).

How accurate a prophecy that was describing the death of Jesus and the way that He paid for our sins on the cross! Not only that there are some 300 prophecies about the Messiah, 60 of which are considered major, that Jesus Christ fulfilled. What are the chances of these prophecies being fulfilled in one person?

We are told right through the New Testament and in prophecies like the one just quoted from Isaiah that Jesus Christ paid the penalty of sin FOR ALL MANKIND. This raises an important question.

How is it that Christ's life was worth the life of mankind? How is it that Christ's life is worth more than humanity's all put together?

Paul states quite clearly that “God...created all things through Jesus Christ” (Ephesians 3:9). When the early followers of Christ say Jesus is the One through whom all things were created, they are clearly saying that Jesus is God.

Jesus Christ was the one who created mankind following the command of His Father. Jesus Christ was OUR CREATOR AND HIS LIFE THEREFORE WAS WORTH MORE THAN ALL OF MANKIND'S PUT TOGETHER! This is how he could pay the price for all mankind's sins.

“When Jesus became flesh He was still God in terms of His identity, but He was nevertheless a human being in every sense of the word. Jesus had a physical body. His closest disciple attests that He was a physical person: 'That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, concerning the Word of life—the life was manifested, and we have seen, and bear witness...' (1 John 1:1)” (Jesus Christ – The Real Story, p.65).

Jesus was both man and God. He was the “Son of God” (Mark 1:1) In the Old Testament He is referred to as one “like the Son of God” in Daniel 3:25. The word like is added since this was before He was supernaturally begotten as a son in Mary's womb.

He is called one “like the Son of Man” in Daniel 7:13. When He was on earth He didn't call Himself the Son of God but most often referred to Himself as “the Son of Man” (Matthew 8:20, 9:6, 10:23, 11:19). In the Gospels it is used over 80 times to describe Himself.

The reasons He chose this term to describe Himself were two. Firstly, He used it as a direct reference to His status as the one chosen by the Father to sit at His right hand. When Jesus was asked if He was the Son of God He said He was and described Himself as the one whom Daniel referred to in his prophecy about the Son of Man who would sit at the Father's right hand.

In John 26:63-64 we read: “And the high priest answered and said to Him, 'I put You under oath by the living God: Tell us if You are the Christ, the Son of God!' Jesus said to him, 'It is as you said. Nevertheless, I say to you, hereafter you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Power, and coming on the clouds of heaven.'

The second reason He chose that phrase to most often refer to Himself was to focus on His humanity and that He was a flesh and blood person who felt pain and who had feelings just like all of us. Even though the expression “Son of Man” became a semi-devine expression in Jewish literature of the time it was also used commonly to refer to prophets such as Ezekiel (Ezekiel 2:1, 3, 6, 8) when God spoke to them in their prophecies to focus on their humanity and mortality.

“John is establishing the humanity of Jesus Christ when he says they heard, saw and touched Jesus. He had a fully human body. He was born. He grew and developed just like any other child. Jesus was subject to the same physical limitations as other human beings, because He had the same kind of body. He experienced hunger when He fasted (Matthew 4:2) and thirst (John 19:28). He experienced fatigue from a long walk (John 4:6)” (Jesus Christ – The Real Story, p.65).

As an embryo in the womb of Mary He genetically had the same God personality that He had as the Word along with a full measure of the Holy Spirit (Luke 4:1). It truly would have been amazing to hold Jesus as a baby knowing that this was the One who created all mankind and the world around us.

“Jesus suffered physically and died. Hebrews 2:10 tells us that He was made 'perfect through sufferings.' Physiologically, He was a human being just as we are human, subject to death. 'Since, therefore, the children share flesh and blood, he himself likewise shared the same things, so that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil' (verse 14, NRSV).

“He was made flesh 'that He...might taste death for everyone' (verse 9). Jesus suffered terribly when He died, as is evident in the crucifixion accounts. When the spear was thrust in His side, water and blood poured out. His body was the same as ours. There can be no doubt that He felt physical suffering as genuinely as we do when He was beaten and scourged, when the crown of thorns was shoved onto His head and when the nails were driven into His wrists and feet.

Jesus also experienced many of the same emotional and intellectual qualities we do. He thought, reasoned and felt the full range of human emotions. He had strong affection for people (John 11:5; 13:23; 19:26). He felt compassion and pity for those who were hungry or physically or spiritually afflicted (Matthew 9:36; 14:14; 15:32; 20:34)” (Jesus Christ – The Real Story, p.65).

Jesus said that He was the God being who called Himself “I AM” when He appeared to Moses. In the book of John, Christ used the phrase “I am” to describe Himself in seven different ways. He said:

1. ·“I am the bread of life” (John 6:35)
   
2. ·“I am the light of the world” (John 8:12)
   
3. ·“I am the door” (John 10:7)
   
4. ·“I am the good shepherd” (John 10:11)
   
5. ·“I am the resurrection and the life” (John 11:25)
   
6. ·“I am the way and the truth and the life” (John 14:6)
   
7. ·“I am the vine” (John 15:1).
   

Jesus said in John 14:28: “If you loved Me, you would rejoice because I said, 'I am going to the Father,' for My Father is greater than I And now I have told you before it comes, that when it does come to pass, you may believe. I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming, and he has nothing in Me. But that the world may know that I love the Father, and as the Father gave Me commandment, so I do.”

Jesus Christ's own words were that the Father is greater in authority. Christ always defers to Father and is delighted to do so because He has complete love for and trust in the Father. As humans we have a tendency to not like being under the authority of other people and being told what to do. Jesus has no problem with the Father calling the shots even though He is also a God being like the Father.

His love and submission to the will of the Father is best exemplified by His willingness to lay His life down for all humanity. It was a voluntary thing on Jesus' part to lay down His life. The Father did not force Him to do it. In John 10:18 Christ said: “No man takes it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father.”

In the Garden of Gethsemane before He was led away to be crucified He prayed: “'O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will'…Again, a second time, He went away and prayed, saying, 'O My Father, if this cup cannot pass away from Me unless I drink it, Your will be done.'” (Matthew 26:39-41).

Jesus could have at any time backed out of it at any time. He could have made the call at any time to His Father to provide Him with twelve legions of angels and not gone through with it (Matthew 26:53).

Notice the first time that He prayed in the Garden there was that dramatic moment of vulnerability when He came close to wavering but in the end He completely trusted that God's way was right and submitted fully to God's way. The first time He asked “If it is possible let this cup pass from me.” The second time after He knew there was no other way He changed His prayer and said “If this cup cannot pass away from Me unless I drink it, Your will be done.”

In Philippians 2:5-8 we read the following about Christ's attitude: “Your attitude should be the same that Christ Jesus had. Though he was God, he did not demand and cling to his rights as God. He made himself nothing; he took the humble position of a slave and appeared in human form. And in human form he obediently humbled himself even further by dying a criminal's death on a cross” (The New Living Translation).

In Hebrews 4:14-16 we read: “Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”

Jesus Christ, though He never sinned, was tempted in all points like we are (Hebrews 4:15). He knows the pulls of the flesh that push us in the direction of sin and can empathize with the struggles that we have with sin. He has had personal experience with hunger and thirst, sexual desires, great physical pain, loneliness and many other temptations that Satan threw at Him. He can empathize better with us as one who has gone through those personal experiences.

He is the Son of God (Mark 1:1), our Creator (Ephesians 3:9), our High Priest (Hebrews 4:14-16), our Saviour (John 4:42), our friend (John 15:14) and our elder brother (Hebrews 2:11).

3] What does God look like?

Does God have a specific shape or is He just spirit essence that fills every part of the universe?

Jesus said in John 4:24, “God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth”. God is not made of matter but is a spirit being. Spirit cannot be detected by our human senses. It is completely different from matter and physical energy (which matter is made of) even though God's spirit has incredible power. Spirit is not subject to the physical laws of nature such as gravity, inertia or magnetism.

Paul in Colossians 1:15 says about Jesus that “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.” God is invisible to human eyes and cannot be detected by our human senses.

In Genesis 1:26 God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.” We know the form and shape of man. That is the image, likeness and shape of God!

The Apostle John in the Book of Revelation gives us this description of what Christ looks like now. “In the midst of the seven lampstands one like the Son of Man, clothed with a garment down to the feet and girded about the chest with a golden band. His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and His eyes like a flame of fire; His feet were like fine brass, as if refined in a furnace, and His voice as the sound of many waters” (Revelation 1:13-15).

This description of Jesus Christ is very similar to the description of God the Father in Daniel 7:9 where we read: "I watched till thrones were put in place, and the Ancient of Days was seated; His garment was white as snow, and the hair of His head was like pure wool. His throne was a fiery flame, its wheels a burning fire."

Curiously we find a slightly different description of God the Father's appearance in Revelation 4:2-3 where we read: "Immediately I was in the Spirit; and behold, a throne set in heaven, and One sat on the throne. And He who sat there was like a jasper and a sardius stone in appearance; and there was a rainbow around the throne, in appearance like an emerald."

Jasper was originally applied to every green translucent stone though today it's mostly used to denote red chalcedony. Sardius ranges from brown to orange or red in colour.

Jesus Christ was the member of the God family who dealt personally with Israel in the Old Testament and was the one who appeared to Moses and gave him the Ten Commandments (1 Corinthians 10:4). Jesus changed or manifested Himself to look like a man that could be seen with human eyes when He conveyed a lot of God's instructions to Moses. At one time Moses asked to see Jesus, not in a manifested human-looking form, but as He really looks like in full blazing glory. This is what Jesus said to Moses when Moses asked to see Him in full glory:

“'You cannot see My face; for no man shall see Me, and live.' And the Lord said, 'Here is a place by Me, and you shall stand on the rock. So it shall be, while My glory passes by, that I will put you in the cleft of the rock, and will cover you with My hand while I pass by. Then I will take away My hand, and you shall see My back; but My face shall not be seen'” (Exodus 33:20-23).

Some have argued that we are limiting God by saying that He has a specific shape. This is not true. God has a preferential shape, which man was made in the image of, but He is not necessarily limited to it. He can change His shape and size at will, just as a good vocal impersonator has his own normal voice but can impersonate different people by putting on different voices.

In Psalm 139:7-8 we read: "Where can I go from YOUR SPIRIT? Or where can I go from YOUR PRESENCE. If I ascend into heaven you are there. If I make my bed down in hell, behold you are there."

God's spirit here is equated with God's presence. The Father and the Son are not present everywhere in person but they are through their power - the Holy Spirit. In one sense, the Holy Spirit is like God's extended arm by which He can act on anything anywhere.

The Bible's very own definition for the Holy Spirit is found in Luke 1:35 where it is called "the POWER of the Most High". It is also called the power of God in Romans 15:19, Jeremiah 32:17 and Judges 14:6.

The Father and the Son's spiritual bodies are not omnipresent, but the Father and the Son are omnipresent by and through the Holy Spirit in the sense that they can see, know and do anything through their all-pervading spirit that issues from them and can act on anything anywhere.

Jeremiah 32:17 says: “Ah, Lord God! Behold, You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and outstretched arm. There is nothing too hard for You”.

Regarding the omnipresent nature of God, there is a very interesting passage in Genesis 18 where it says: “The LORD said, The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is so great and their sin so grievous that I will go down and see if what they have done is as bad as the outcry that has reached me. If not, I will know" (Genesis 18:20-21, NIV).

Now sometimes we tend to think of God as sitting up in heaven in front of a bank of TV sets seeing and knowing everything that we do. This scripture tells us that God went down to see if Sodom and Gomorrah was as bad as He had heard, presumably from the angels who observe what's going on around the world and report back to God (Zechariah 4:10). He didn't know automatically. Even though he could know automatically if He wanted to, He chose to have it reported to Him. Then, rather than viewing how bad the cities were on a screen in heaven He chose to make a personal visit and see what it was like for Himself.

4] Is the Holy Spirit a person?

Let's look at a few scriptures that show that the Holy Spirit is NOT a third person of some kind of trinity:

·   Someone can receive a DOUBLE PORTION of the Holy Spirit.

“Elijah said to Elisha, 'Ask! What may I do for you, before I am taken away from you?' Elisha said, 'Please let a double portion of your spirit be upon me.' So he said, 'You have asked a hard thing. Nevertheless, if you see me when I am taken from you, it shall be so for you; but if not, it shall not be so'” (2 Kings 2:9-10).

·   The Holy Spirit can be QUENCHED and it is given in SUPPLY.

“Do not quench the Spirit” (1 Thessalonians 5:19).

“For I know that this will turn out for my deliverance through your prayer and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ” (Philippians 1:19).

·   The Holy Spirit can be POURED and FLOWS.

“And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, that I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh” (Acts 2:17)

“He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water. But this He spoke concerning the Spirit” (John 7:38-39).

·   Jesus was begotten by the Holy Spirit and therefore it would have been the Father of Christ if it were a person.

“An angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, 'Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit'” (Matthew 1:20).

·   The Holy Spirit dwells in ALL christians so how can it be a person?

“You are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you” (Romans 8:9).

“The Spirit [itself] bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ” (Romans 8:16-17).

Like a father's sperm and a mother's egg joining together to start a new life, so too does God's spirit unite with the spirit in man in each of us when we are baptized and receive God's spirit. It starts a new spiritual life in us and we become more and more like our spiritual Father in heaven.

“This Spirit is not only the Spirit of God the Father, for the Bible also calls it the 'Spirit of Christ' (Romans 8:9; Philippians 1:19). By either name, it is the same Spirit, as there is only one Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:13; Ephesians 4:4). The Father imparts the same Spirit to true Christians through Christ (John 14:26; 15: 26; Titus 3:5-6), leading and enabling them to be His children and 'partakers of the divine nature' (Romans 8:14; 2 Peter 1:4).

“In contrast to God the Father and Jesus Christ, who are consistently compared to human beings in their form and shape, the Holy Spirit is consistently represented, by various symbols and manifestations, in a completely different manner—such as wind (Acts 2:2), fire (verse 3), water (John 4:14; 7:37-39), oil (Psalm 45:7; compare Acts 10:38; Matthew 25:1-10), a dove (Matthew 3:16) and an 'earnest,' or down payment, on eternal life (2 Corinthians 1:22; 5:5; Ephesians 1:13-14, KJV). These depictions are difficult to understand, to say the least, if the Holy Spirit is a person” (Who is God, p.55).

Many verses in the New Testament use the pronouns he or himself when describing the Holy Spirit. The New Testament was written in Greek. A certain strange characteristic of some European languages like Greek is that every noun has either a masculine, feminine or neuter gender and the pronouns that are used for them have to match. For example, in Spanish the word glass has a masculine gender and table is feminine even though they are inanimate objects. This is why pronouns such as he and himself should be properly translated as it or itself when referring to the Holy Spirit.

Certain other verses give the Holy Spirit personal attributes such as verses like Acts 13:2 and 21:11 which say that the Holy Spirit spoke. How do we explain these verses? We can explain it through the use of personification in the scriptures. In Proverbs 1:20 "wisdom" is given the attributes of a person, though wisdom is not a person. “Wisdom calls aloud outside. She raises her voice in the open squares".

"After Peter preached a powerful sermon that explained why Jesus had been put to death and what the miracle of the coming of the Holy Spirit on His disciples meant, many in Peter's audience were 'cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, 'Men and brethren, what shall we do?' Then Peter said to them, 'Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call' (Acts 2:37-39).

"For the first time in history God was making His Spirit available to all who were willing to repent of their sins by beginning to obey Him (Acts 5:32). 'Then those people who accepted what Peter said were baptized. About three thousand people were added to the number of believers that day. They spent their time learning the apostles' teaching...' (Acts 2:41-42, NCV). Nothing like this had ever happened! God's transforming power was working mightily in the lives of the apostles and the others He was calling.

"On an earlier occasion 'Jesus stood and cried out, saying, 'If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.' But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, [which] those believing in Him would receive...' (John 7:37-39). Here Jesus refers not only to our receiving the Holy Spirit but to its flowing out from us-to produce 'the fruit of the Spirit...in all goodness, righteousness, and truth' (Ephesians 5:9).

"In a limited way the Holy Spirit, as the manifestation of God's power, can be compared to the flow of electric power. Electricity flows through conductive wires from its source to the devices using it. As long as the flow of the electric current from its source is unbroken, those devices have use of its power. But any interruption of the electric current is accompanied by a loss of power to the devices using it. Constant contact with the source of the electric power is essential.

"The same is true of God's Spirit. We have no capacity to permanently store the power of the Holy Spirit for use when we don't feel like serving God. If we discontinue our relationship with God, we cut ourselves off from His power working in us. Therefore our 'inward man' needs to be 'renewed day by day' (2 Corinthians 4:16; compare Titus 3:5).

"Someone might ask: How can the Holy Spirit be a gift if its effect on us depends on our maintaining a constant relationship with God?

"Again, an analogy is helpful. Suppose a large electric-power company would offer free electric service to all mobile homes within a 10-mile radius of its power plant. Electric power to these homes would be a gift from the power company.

"But suppose several of these homes were transported to locations beyond the limit set by the power company. Would they still be eligible for the free electric service? No. The gift of free electric power would apply only to those living within the boundaries specified by the power company.

"In like manner, our maintaining a close relationship with God is the key to our receiving spiritual power from Him. God is the Source of that power.

"David, one of the few people mentioned in the Old Testament to receive the Holy Spirit, compared it to God's personal 'presence' in his life (Psalm 51:11; 139:7). Paul expressed much the same thought when he wrote: 'For it is God who [actively] works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure' (Philippians 2:13).

"The Holy Spirit is the power of God actively working within His called and chosen saints, transforming them into His sons and daughters, enabling them to 'grow up in all things into Him who is the head-Christ' (Ephesians 4:15).

"Jesus describes God's Spirit as 'the Spirit of truth' and 'the Helper' that 'proceeds from the Father' (John 15:26). In other words, God actively and directly empowers us through His Spirit. It is His mighty power acting within in us, assisting us in living righteously.

"The Greek word translated 'Helper' is parakletos. When translated 'Helper' or 'Comforter,' it refers to the Holy Spirit. However, in the one passage where it is translated 'Advocate,' it refers to Jesus as our Advocate with the Father…In the Greek usage of the time it was often used to refer to a legal counsel who pleaded one's case before a court. [The] Greek root words [mean] 'to call to one's side' - implying a call for help" (UCG Bible Study Course - Lesson 9, p.3-4).

Jesus said to His disciples in John 14:26: “But the Helper (or Comforter), the Holy Spirit, [which] the Father will send in My name, [it] will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.” As we are taught the things of God and fill our minds with God's thoughts through diligent Bible study God's Spirit helps bring those things to remembrance when we need to. God also comforts us through the promptings of His Spirit.

Some of you may have heard the idea of the Holy Spirit working with you even though it is not in you. Where does this idea come from? We find that in John 14:17 where we read: "The Spirit of truth, [which] the world cannot receive, because it neither sees [it] nor knows [it]; but you know [it], for [it] dwells with you and will be in you."

The apostles had the Holy Spirit working with them but it wasn't in them until after Christ was resurrected. Those of you who haven't been baptized but have an enthusiasm for God's way and learning the amazing truths in the Bible may not have God's spirit in you but it is with you and helping you to understand and desire more.

When we are baptized we become “partakers of the divine nature” (2 Peter 1:4) through God's spirit. “Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit [which] was given to us” (Romans 5:5).

“What is God's Holy Spirit? It is many things - including the power of God [Luke 1:35] and the mind of God [Romans 8:27] and the life of God [Romans 8:11], by which the Creator imparts temporary life to all of His physical creatures, and by which He will grant eternal life to all who repent of their sins, are baptized and are willing to walk in His way - His law and His love!” (The God You Can Know, p.22).

5] What is God's character and personality like?

Mr Herbert W. Armstrong in his book “Mystery of the Ages” describes God this way:

“God is Creator of all - of everything in the vast Universe - the stars, the galaxies in endless space, this earth, man, and everything in the earth. That is what God is - what He does. He creates! He designs, forms, and shapes. He gives life! He is the great giver. And His law - His way of life - is the way of giving, not getting which is the way of this world…

“God the Father is Creator. But he 'created all things by Jesus Christ.' Jesus is the Word. It is written, 'He spake, and it was done' (Psalm 33:9). God tells Christ what to do (John 8:28-29). Jesus then speaks, as the workman, and the Holy Spirit is the POWER that responds and does what Jesus commands…

“Two can't walk together except they be agreed. They were in total agreement and cooperation. Also two can't walk together in continuous peace except one be the head, or leader in control. God [the Father] was leader. Their way of life produced perfect peace, cooperation, happiness, accomplishment. This way of life became a law.

“Law is a code of conduct, or relationship, between two or more. One might call the rules of a sports contest the 'law' of the game. The presence of law requires a penalty for infraction. There can be no law without a penalty for its violation. The very fact of law presupposes government. Government is the administration and enforcement of law by one in authority. This necessitates authoritative leadership - one in command [God the Father](p.33, 36, 40)”.

Ronald Wlogyga adds to that and gives this wonderful description of what God's character and personality is really like:

“God is Holy (Psalm 99:9). The word 'Holy' means pure of heart or free from sin. God is Spirit (John 4:24). Since God is composed of spirit and has this 'holy" attitude, it is correct to call God a 'Holy Spirit.' God is the very PERSONIFICATION of the Holy Spirit!…

“God is Love (1 John 4:8). Love is a giving attitude, rather than a getting attitude. God cannot lie (Titus 1:2, Hebrews 6:18). God is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy (Psalm 103:8). God looks not on the outward appearance, but on the heart or attitude of a person (1 Samuel 16:7). God forgives all our iniquities, and heals our diseases (Psalm 103:3).

“God's power and understanding is infinite (Psalm 147:4-5)…God calls the stars by their names (Psalm 147:43). God knows the number of hairs on your head (Matthew 10:30). God knows the number of steps you take (Job 14:16, 31:4). With God all things are possible (Matthew 19:26).

“God laughs (Psalm 2:4, 37:13, 59:8). God likes wine (Judges 9:13, Matthew 26:29, Ecclesiastes 9:7). Enjoys eating and drinking (Genesis18, Luke 15:23). God likes dancing (Jeremiah 31:4, Luke 15:25). God faints not, neither gets weary (tired) (Isaiah 40:28).

“God gets angry (Psalm 7:11). Seven things the Lord hates: A proud look, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a wicked heart, mischievous feet, a false witness that lies, he that sows discord among brethren (Proverbs 6:16-19).

“God says the whole earth is His (Exodus 19:5, Job 41:10). God owns all the gold and silver (Haggai 2:8). God sets up the bounds of nations (Acts 17:26, Deuteronomy 32:7-8). God gives His Kingdom to whomsoever He will (Daniel 2:20-21, 4:17, 25)…God makes judges fools, sets up kings and removes, overthrows the mighty, takes away understanding from the aged, weakens the mighty, increases and destroys nations (Job 12:9-25)...God is responsible for the deaf, dumb, and blind (Exodus 4:11). God determines the outcome of wars (Psalm 33)…

“God is not the author of confusion (1 Corinthians 14:33). God can change His mind. Abraham talked God out of destroying all the righteous people in Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 18:20-33). Moses talked God out of destroying all of Israel (Exodus 32). God changed His mind about King Hezekiah because he prayed and granted 15 years to his life (2 Kings 20:1-6).

“God works in mysterious ways. God sent Joseph into slavery to preserve Israel during a famine (Genesis 45:5). The secret things belong to God, but those things which are revealed belong unto us (Deuteronomy 29:29). Every good and perfect gift is from God above (James 1:17). God will finish His creation that He started (Philippians 1:3, and Psalm 138:8).

“God cares for us (1 Peter 5:7). God will not fail, nor forsake us (Deuteronomy 31:6). Like as a father pities his children, so the Lord pities them that fear Him (Psalm 103:13). God is our comforter (2 Corinthians 7:6). God loves us (1 John 4:19). He wants to save the whole world (John 3:16-17). God is not willing that any should perish (1 Timothy 2:1-4)” (The Ultimate Source of All Supernatural Phenomena, p.191-192).

God wants us to “cast ALL of our cares upon Him” (1 Peter 5:7). Not some but ALL of them – big and small! God takes a very personal interest in each and every one of us. God is concerned with anything and everything – no matter how seemingly small and insignificant – that could in any way affect the quality of the final work of art – the character that He is creating within us (Philippians 1:6).

Isaiah writes the following about just how great God really is: “All nations are a drop in the bucket. Behold, the nations are as a drop in a bucket, and are counted as the small dust on the scales; Look, He lifts up the isles as a very little thing…All nations before Him are as nothing, and they are counted by Him less than nothing and worthless” (Isaiah 40:15-17). In lesson one we looked at just how powerful and great God is as we looked at His awesome creation – all the stars and planets and galaxies which were created by His awesome power!

Yet for all His incredible power God prefers to be known for His perfect character and the great love He has for His people. In Exodus 34:6-7 when He allowed Moses to see Him in His glorified state we read: “And the Lord passed before him and proclaimed, 'The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, by no means clearing the guilty”.

Isaiah 14:13 says that God's throne is “on the farthest sides of the north”. This tends to indicate that God's throne in heaven is somewhere around the north celestial pole. This is echoed in many pagan religions which have borrowed this concept. Pagan gods such as Ra, Shamash, Kronos and Saturn were also said to dwell there (The Tree at the Navel of the Earth, E.A.S. Butterworth & Paradise Found, William F. Warren). This is also why Santa supposedly comes from the north pole since Christmas originates from the Roman festival, Saturnalia.

God's throne is in heaven (called the third heaven in 2 Corinthians 12:2) and is invisible to human eyes unless God chooses to allow us to see it like he did in vision to the apostle John who wrote the Book of Revelation. John described this beautiful and powerful scene: “Immediately I was in the Spirit; and behold, a throne set in heaven, and One sat on the throne. And He who sat there was like a jasper and a sardius stone in appearance; and there was a rainbow around the throne, in appearance like an emerald. Around the throne were twenty-four thrones, and on the thrones I saw twenty-four elders sitting, clothed in white robes; and they had crowns of gold on their heads. And from the throne proceeded lightnings, thunderings, and voices. Seven lamps of fire were burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God. Before the throne there was a sea of glass, like crystal” (Revelation 4:2-6).

After the millennium and the Great White Throne Judgment period that follows it, God the Father's throne will descend from heaven with the New Jerusalem and God the Father's throne – the headquarters of the whole universe - will be on earth (Revelation 21-22).

Not only is God's power and His love truly awesome, so too is His creativity. We see it in how He continues to shower snowflakes all around the world, of which no two have every been found to be alike. We see it in the wonderful variety He has created in the family of man. We see it all throughout nature with the hundreds of thousands of different species of animals and plants He has created and we also see it in all the wonders of the universe that astronomers are continuing to discover. Our God truly is an awesome God!

2] Who Was Jesus Christ?

·   Jesus said that He was the God being who called Himself “I AM” when He appeared to Moses (John 8:53-58, Exodus 3:13-14) and also was the one who appeared to Abraham as Melchizedek (Hebrews 7:1-3).
·   Jesus Christ was the member of the God family who dealt personally with Israel in the Old Testament and was the one who appeared to Moses and gave him the Ten Commandments (1 Corinthians 10:4).
·   Jesus Christ was the one who created mankind following the command of His Father (Ephesians 3:9). Jesus Christ was our Creator and His life therefore was worth more than all of mankind's put together! This is how he could pay the price for all mankind's sins.
·   To pay for our sins He became flesh (John 1:14) and was supernaturally conceived by the Father through the power of God's spirit in the womb of Mary 2000 years ago (Matthew 1:18-20).
·   Jesus was both man and God. He was the “Son of God” (Mark 1:1) but He chose to focus on His humanity when on earth by more often referring to Himself as “the Son of Man” (Matthew 8:20, 9:6, 10:23, 11:19).
·   Christ always defers to Father and is delighted to do so because He has complete love for and trust in the Father (John 14:28-31). His love and submission to the will of the Father is best exemplified by His willingness to lay His life down for all humanity (Matthew 26:39-41) through the unjust punishment of crucifixion (Matthew 27, Philippians 2:5-8, 1 Peter 2:21-24).
·   Jesus Christ, though He never sinned, was tempted in all points like we are (Hebrews 4:15). He knows the pulls of the flesh that push us in the direction of sin and can empathize with the struggles that we have with sin. He has had personal experience with hunger and thirst, sexual desires, great physical pain, loneliness and many other temptations that Satan threw at Him. He can empathize better with us as one who has gone through those personal experiences.
·   He is the Son of God (Mark 1:1), our Creator (Ephesians 3:9), our High Priest (Hebrews 4:14-16), our Saviour (John 4:42), our friend (John 15:14) and our elder brother (Hebrews 2:11).

3] What does God look like?

·   God is a spirit being and is normally invisible to human eyes (John 4:24).
·   The shape of the Father and Jesus Christ is that of man's physical shape which was made in God's image (Genesis 1:26).
·   This description of Jesus Christ is very similar to the description of God the Father in Daniel 7:9 where we read: "I watched till thrones were put in place, and the Ancient of Days was seated; His garment was white as snow, and the hair of His head was like pure wool."
·   A slightly different description of God the Father's appearance is found in Revelation 4:2-3 where we read: "Immediately I was in the Spirit; and behold, a throne set in heaven, and One sat on the throne. And He who sat there was like a jasper and a sardius stone in appearance; and there was a rainbow around the throne, in appearance like an emerald." Jasper was originally applied to every green translucent stone though today it's mostly used to denote red chalcedony. Sardius ranges from brown to orange or red in colour.

4] Is the Holy Spirit a person?

·   The Holy Spirit emanates from God the Father and Jesus Christ and fills the universe and is like God's extended arm by which He can act on anything anywhere (Psalm 139:7-8).
·   The Holy Spirit is called "the POWER of the Most High" (Luke 1:35) or “the power of God” (Romans 15:19, Jeremiah 32:17, Judges 14:6). The Father and the Son's spiritual bodies are not omnipresent, but the Father and the Son are omnipresent by and through the Holy Spirit in the sense that they can see, know and do anything through their all-pervading spirit that issues from them and can act on anything anywhere.
·   The Holy Spirit is NOT a third person of a trinity. It is given by supply (Philippians 1:19) such as a double portion that Elisha received (2 Kings 2:9-10). It dwells in all christians (Romans 8:9) and it can be quenched (1 Thessalonians 5:19) if we resist its impulses to do good or we don't use that power after we have been baptized.
·   When we are baptized we become “partakers of the divine nature” (2 Peter 1:4) through God's spirit. “Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit [which] was given to us” (Romans 5:5).
·   God's Holy Spirit is many things - including the power of God (Luke 1:35) and the mind of God (Romans 8:27) and the life of God (Romans 8:11), by which the Creator imparts temporary life to all of His physical creatures, and by which He will grant eternal life to all who repent of their sins, are baptized and are willing to walk by His way of life.

5] What is God's character and personality like?

·   God is Creator of all - of everything in the vast Universe - the stars, the galaxies in endless space, this earth, man, and everything in the earth (Genesis 1:1). That is what God is - what He does. He creates! He designs, forms, and shapes. He gives life! He is the great giver. And His law - His way of life - is the way of giving, not getting which is the way of this world (1 John 4:8).
·   God is also the Ruler of all the universe (Daniel 7:13-14, 2 Chronicles 20:6).
·   God is holy and free from sin (Psalm 99:9).
·   God is love and cares for all His creation, including all mankind, through whom God plans to reproduce Himself (1 John 4:8, John 3:16-17, Genesis 1:26).
·   God can change His mind. Abraham talked God out of destroying all the righteous people in Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 18:20-33). Moses talked God out of destroying all of Israel (Exodus 32). God changed His mind about King Hezekiah because of his prayer to God and granted 15 years to his life (2 Kings 20:1-6).
·   God wants us to “cast ALL of our cares upon Him” (1 Peter 5:7). Not some but ALL of them – big and small! God takes a very personal interest in each and every one of us. God is concerned with anything and everything – no matter how seemingly small and insignificant – that could in any way affect the quality of the final work of art – the character - that He is creating within us (Philippians 1:6).
·   God lives in heaven which may well be situated around the north celestial pole (Isaiah 14:13).
·   God's throne will descend to earth in the New Jerusalem after the millennium and the Great White Throne Judgment period (Revelation 4, 21-22).