<![CDATA[JESUS IS LORD - Blog Was There a Separation in the Godhead?]]>

Mathew 27:46, tells us that when Jesus was on the cross he cried out saying “My God, my God why hast thou forsaken me”. From this verse we ask:
  Was there a separation in the Godhead?
A. Did God the Father separate himself from God the son?
B. Was Jesus left to die on the cross alone?
C. Did God turn His back on the son because He was too pure to look at
sin?

·      There are those in the family of God that believe that God did indeed turn his back on His son, separating Himself from His son for a moment in time, and thus leaving His son to die on the cross alone.
·      Too often as Christians, we listen, we believe, and we pass on the teaching that we hear without doing a critical test against scripture. We must be a Berean and determine whether the teaching is connected to sound doctrine. We are all subject to this lack of care for God’s precious word but we must do our very best to mine God’s word.
·     To answer any question about any one of the three distinct persons of the Godhead, knowledge of the nature of God, of the person of Christ, of the Holy Spirit and of the relationship that each one has to the other is imperative. Any interpretation of scripture that violates the nature and character of God, we must reject. By applying this, even if we don't know what a scripture means we know what it does not mean if it violates the nature and character of God.
·     Usually the problem in our understanding of scripture lies in having a misunderstanding or a lack of knowledge of the nature of God the Father, of the nature of God the Son, and of the nature of God the Holy Spirit.
·     Does the the teaching that God literally separated from the Son violate the character and nature of God? A study of the attributes of God will prove that it is impossible for any separation within the Godhead to ever take even for a moment in time.

Note: Having an understanding of the essentials of the Christian faith is crucial. Having an understanding about the nature and character of God is the quintessential essential. Without knowing and embracing the essentials of the Christian faith, we can start to enter a slippery slope towards heresy.

Let us take a quick look at some heretical religious groups that have a misunderstanding of the nature and character of God:

Jehovah witnesses believe that:
1.   Jesus is the first and only being directly created by God.
2.   Jesus is not God Almighty, not all-powerful, not all knowing, and not all
present. Also they deny these same attributes about their own god,
Jehovah.
3.   Jesus is not to be worshipped.
4.   Jesus didn’t rise bodily from the grave.

Mormon’s believe that:
1.   Jesus is the spirit-brother of Lucifer
2.   Jesus was conceived in heaven by a celestial mother
3.   Jesus came in flesh as a result of God the Father having sex with the
Virgin Mary.

Muslim’s believe that:
1.   Jesus is no more than a prophet
2.   Jesus is not the Son of God and to affirm Jesus as God is considered
blasphemous. In the Muslim’s holy book, Sura 5:75 reads: “Christ the
son of Mary was no more than an Apostle.” Further, “it is not fitting to
(the Majesty of) God that He should beget a son” (Sura 19:35)
Ebionites
The Ebionites denied Christ’s divine nature.

Arians
  Arianism may be said to be a doctrine which holds that Jesus Christ,
though the greatest of all, was a created being.

Nestororianism
  This heresy divides Christ into two persons

Eutychains
1. This heresy declared that there was only one nature in Christ.
2. That Christ’s divine nature was so modified and accommodated to the
human nature that Christ was not really divine.
3.  At the same time the human nature of Christ was so modified and
changed by assimilation to the divine nature that He was no longer
genuinely human.

The Nature and Attributes of God the Father

God Is a Spirit
  1. Per John 4:24 – God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in
  spirit and truth.”
  2. Negative implications per John 4:24
a.  God is a non-corporeal (non physical body) not located in any one finite
space.
b.   Jesus used the word Spirit to indicate non-corporeal existence. Per
Luke 24:36-40, “Now as they said these things, Jesus Himself stood in
the midst of them, and said to them, “Peace to you.” But they were
terrified and frightened, and supposed they had seen a spirit. And He
said to them, “Why are you troubled? And why do doubts arise in your
hearts? Behold My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself. Handle Me
and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see I have.”
When He had said this, He showed them His hands and His feet.
c.  In the Pentateuch the non-corporeal nature of God is the basis of the
2nd commandment (You shall not make for yourself an idol, whether
in the form of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth
beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.) which forbids the
worship of “any likeness of anything of a corporeal nature.”

God is infinite In His Being
  1.  “God is infinite in His being” affirms that God is omnipresent
2.   The omnipresent of God expresses that everything in the entire
  universe is immediately in His presence.
3.   Per I King 8:27 – But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven
  and the heaven of heavens cannot contain You. How much less this
temple which I have built!
4.   Per Jer. 23:24 – Can anyone hide himself in secret places, So I shall not
see him?” says the Lord; “Do I not fill heaven and earth?” says the Lord.

God is eternal in His Being
1.   The being of God is eternal in the past and as to the future, God has
always existed and always will exist, He never began to be, and He will
  never cease to be
2.   Per Psalm. 90:1, 2 – A Prayer of Moses the man of God. Lord, You have
  been our dwelling place in all generations. Before the mountains were
  brought forth, Or ever You had formed the earth and the world, Even
  from everlasting to everlasting, You are God.
3.   Per Heb. 1: 8-12 – But to the Son He says: “Your throne, O God, is forever
  and ever; A scepter of righteousness is the scepter of Your Kingdom.
  You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness; Therefore God,
  Your God, has anointed You With the oil of gladness more than Your
  companions.” And: “You, Lord, in the beginning laid the foundation of
  the earth, And the heavens are the work of Your hands. They will perish,
  but You remain; And they will all grow old like a garment; Like a cloak
  You will fold them up, And they will be changed. But You are the same,
  And Your years will not fail.”
4.   Per Psalms 45:6 - Your throne, O God, is forever and ever; A scepter
  of righteousness is the scepter of Your kingdom.
5.  Per Isa. 44:6 – 6 “Thus says the Lord, 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.

God is Unchangeable in His being
1.   The immutability of God is clearly taught in the Scripture.
2.   Mal. 3:6 – “For I am the Lord, I do not change; Therefore you are not
consumed, O sons of Jacob.
3.   Heb. 6:17,18 – 17 Thus God, determining to show more abundantly to
the heirs of promise the immutability of His counsel, confirmed it by an
oath, that by two immutable things, in which it is impossible for God to
lie, we might have strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay
hold of the hope set before us.
4.   Heb. 13:7, 8 – Remember those who rule over you, who have spoken the
  word of God to you, whose faith follow, considering the outcome of
  their conduct. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.
5.   Note: When the scriptures mention that God repented or changed His
  mind it appears that a contradiction against His immutability exists.
  However, these are instances of a figure of speech referring to God in
human terms called anthropomorphisms. For example, in the prophecy
  of Amos the exhortations are interspersed with visions, some of which
  portend (indicate or signify) dire calamity. Verse 3 says The Lord
  repented for this. From looking at all the verses in chapter 7 clearly it is
  not teaching that God changes His mind, but that such disasters
  predicted would be just punishment though at the same time God is
  merciful.

God is Infinite, Eternal, and Unchangeable in His Wisdom
1.  God is infinite in His wisdom is designates His omniscience.
2.  God is eternal in His wisdom teaches that God’s omniscience has always
been His and will always be His.
3.  God is unchangeable in His wisdom indicate that God’s wisdom can have
no wisdom added to it or subtracted from it, and that He knows
everything without exception, he knows truly immutably from eternity
to eternity.

God is Infinite, Eternal, and Unchangeable in His Power
1.  God is infinite in His power designates His omnipotence.
2.  Per Rev. 19:6 – And I heard, as it were, the voice of a great multitude, as
the sound of many waters and as the sound of mighty thunderings,
saying, “Alleluia! For the Lord God Omnipotent reigns!
3.  Per II Corin. 6:18 – “I will be a Father to you, And you shall be My sons
and daughters, Says the Lord Almighty.”

God is Infinite, Eternal, and Unchangeable in His Holiness, Justice, and Goodness
1.  The holiness, justice, and goodness of God are His moral attributes.
2.  Holiness is the center and essence of His moral character.
3. Justice is the expression of His moral character and His administration
of rewards and punishments among personal (human) beings.
4.  The goodness of God signifies His grace and love toward His creatures in
their sin and in their needs, and it is the outgoing of His goodness in
mercy.

God is Infinite, Eternal, and Unchangeable in His Truth
1.   Per Heb. 6:18 – so that by two immutable (unchanageable) things, in
  which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might
  have strong encouragement to seize the hope set before us.
2. Per Titus 1:2 – in hope of eternal life which God, who cannot lie,
  promised before time began,
3. Per II Tim. 2:13 – If we are faithless, He remains faithful; He cannot
  deny Himself.

Person of Christ
1.  The only Redeemer of God’s elect is the Lord Jesus Christ, who being the
  Eternal Son of God, became man and so was, and continueth to be, God
  and man in two distinct natures, and one person forever.” –
  Westminster
  Shorter Catechism, answer to Q. 21.
2.  –Per Philip. 2:6-11 – who, being in the form of God, did not consider it
robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation,
  taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men.
  And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and
  became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.
  Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name
which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should
  bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the
  earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to
  the glory of God the Father.
a.  Verse 6 shows Christ’s pre-existent Deity. Jesus did not resign, or in any
way give up His deity in the incarnation. Throughout the entire course
of His life in the flesh here upon earth He retained fully and completely
the divine nature, the complex of attributes essential to his being the
second Person of the eternal trinity.
b.  Pre existence – John 1:1-3 – In the beginning was the Word, and the
Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning
  with God. 3 All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing
  was made that was made.
c.  Pre existence – Colos. 1:15-17 – 15 He is the image of the invisible God,
  the firstborn (preeminent) over all creation. 16 For by Him all things
  were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and
  invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All
  things were created through Him and for Him. 17 And He is before all
  things, and in Him all things consist.

The Doctrine Of The Trinity
God is one
  1. Per Deut. 6:4, 5 – 4 “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one! 5
You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul,
and with all your strength.
  2. Per Deut. 5:7 – ‘You shall have no other gods before Me.
  3.  Per Isa. 46:9 – 9 Remember the former things of old, For I am God, and
there is no other; I am God, and there is none like Me,
4.  The unity of the Godhead is just as emphatically taught in the New
Testament as in the Old, and that, in direct conjunction with the Deity
of Christ.
a.  See I Cor. 8:4-6 – 4 Therefore concerning the eating of things
  offered to idols, we know that an idol is nothing in the world, and
  that there is no other God but one. For even if there are so-called
  gods, whether in heaven or on earth (as there are many gods and
  many lords), yet for us there is one God, the Father, of whom are
  all things, and we for Him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom
  are all things, and through whom we live.
b.  See Eph. 4:3-6 – endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the
bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were
called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through
all, and in you all.

Jesus is God
1.  There is no doubt that the early disciples regarded Jesus as God in the
most absolute sense of the word without limitation or subordination.
a. Per Titus 2:13 – looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing
  of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ,
b. Per John 20:28 – And Thomas answered and said to Him, “My Lord
  and my God!”
c.  Per II Pet. 1:1-2 – Simon Peter, a bondservant and apostle of Jesus
Christ, To those who have obtained like precious faith with us by
  the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ: Grace and
  peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our
  Lord,
d. Per Rom 9:5 – of whom are the fathers and from whom, according
to the flesh, Christ came, who is over all, the eternally blessed God.
Amen.
2.   Jesus is also called Lord (Jahweh) in the Old Testament
a.  Per Mal 3:1 – “Behold, I send My messenger, And he will prepare
the way before Me. And the Lord, whom you seek, Will suddenly
come to His temple, Even the Messenger of the covenant, In whom
you delight. Behold, He is coming,” Says the Lord of hosts.
  b.  Per Romans 14:10 (But why do you judge your brother? Or why do
  you show contempt for your brother? For we shall all stand before
  the judgment seat of Christ.) Paul adds a quotation from Isa. 45:23
  (I have sworn by Myself; The word has gone out of My mouth in
  righteousness, And shall not return, That to Me every knee shall
  bow, Every tongue shall take an oath.). That Jahweh is the speaker
  in Isa’s. words is evident in verses 24 & 25 (24 He shall say, ‘Surely
  in the Lord I have righteousness and strength. To Him men shall
  come, And all shall be ashamed Who are incensed against Him. 25
  In the Lord all the descendants of Israel Shall be justified, and
  shall glory.’ “). These passages indicate that Christ and God and
  Jahweh are one.
  3.   Jesus and the Father as God