THE
INCARNATION:
ACID
TEST OF TRUE FAITH
By Pastor
Max Solbrekken, D.D.
"In
the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was
God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by
Him and without Him was not anything made that was made. In Him was
life and the life was the light of men.
“Which
were born, not of blood, nor the will of the flesh, nor the will of
man, but of God. And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us, and
we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,
full of grace and truth." (John 1: 1- 4,
13, 14)
There
is a serious MISUNDERSTANDING among many Bible scholars and preachers
due to an incorrect translation of John 3: 13, which says, “Which
were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, but of God.”
Most Bibles have us believing that this Scripture text is referring
to those who receive Christ, because of the plural “which”
when in fact, the original Greek uses the
singular “He”
which refers to Christ!
This
passage must be taken in context with the rest of the Scripture text
about Jesus the Word of God; not about
believers. It is about JESUS OF NAZARETH –
Not about us! The Bible states: “He
(Christ)
was in the world and the world was made by Him, and the world knew
Him not. He came unto His own and His own received Him not.
This
is the PROPER TRANSLATION: “But as many as received Him, to them
gave He power to become the sons of God, even unto them that believe
on His name. He (Jesus) was born not of blood,
nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. And the WORD was made flesh and dwelt among us. And we beheld His
glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace
and truth.” (John 3: 14)
TERTULLIAN
SETS
THE
RECORD STRAIGHT!
Quintus
Septimius Florens Tertullianus
(160-220 A.D.) of Carthage
Africa known as
Tertullian, was
an early Christian author who was martyred
for his faith. He stated: “The blood of
the martyrs has become the seed of the church.”
In his
book, ‘The Incomparable Christ’
(1902) - which I have enjoyed for decades - J.
Oswald Sanders brings out a truth that has
eluded far too many theologians and preachers for hundreds of years!
He
states: “Samuel
Zwemer commenting on John 3:14, writes: ‘Here
those who believe the Word are those ‘who were begotten, not of
bloods, nor of the will of the flesh, nor the will of man, but of
God’.
‘But
according to the express testimony of TERTULLIAN
there was an early
second-century reading of this text
which had the singular
instead of plural.
It would then read, ‘He (Christ)
was begotten not of bloods, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the
will of man, but of God.’
“In his
de Carne Christi Tertullian
wrote; ‘I shall make more use of this
passage after I have confronted those who have tampered with it. They
maintain it was written in the plural, as if designating those who
before mentioned as believing on His name.
‘But
how can this be when all who believe… are by virtue of the will of
the flesh and of the will of man? - as indeed as Valentinus himself.
The expression is in the singular, as referring to the Lord. He was
born of God … As flesh, however, He is not of bloods, nor of the
will of man, because it was by the will of God that the Word was made
flesh.’
“In
his Confessions, ST.
AUGUSTINE quotes John 3:14 in the singular in
reference to Christ’s Virgin Birth, as follows: ‘Also
I found there that God the Word was born not of blood, nor of the
will of a husband, nor of the will of the flesh, but of God.”
St.
Paul wrote under the inspiration of the Blessed Holy Spirit thusly:
“But when the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth His
Son, made of a woman,
made under the law.”
(Gal.4:4)
Commenting
on this verse, J. Oswald Sanders
writes: “In this chapter he uses the word “born”
three times, but in speaking of Christ’s
birth he uses a different word (made)
from the implied when speaking of Ishmael
and Isaac.” (Gal.4:
23, 29)
CULTS
PREACH A DIMINISHED JESUS!
It is
not surprising that Satan tried to diminish the stature of Jesus
Christ early on by involving an Old-JW-New-Modernist
tampering with the Holy Scriptures. What does surprise me is that for
hundreds of years theologians have missed what is OBVIOUS, that Jesus
of Nazareth was not born of human blood or the will of either Joseph
or Mary but of GOD and by HIS will alone!
Every
one of us were born by the will of our fathers and mothers and carry
our father’s blood in our veins. To force a
Scripture text to mean something different than it was meant is
totally wrong! Let me repeat, by using this
Scripture text to prove that sinners are born again by the will of
God and not of man may sound good to naïve Christians, but that is
not what this Scripture says! This is a
foundational doctrine which refers to Jesus of Nazareth alone!
THE
ONLY BEGOTTEN SON OF GOD!
The Bible states: “For
God so loved the world that He gave His ONLY
BEGOTTEN SON that whosoever believeth in
Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” (John
3:16)
Right
from the very beginning, SATAN has had his loyal humanistic minions
on board, to pervert the sacred Scriptures. They come in a variety of
knowing and unknowing fellow travellers, but his main goal is to
weaken the faith of believers and giving false cults the ammunition
they desire in gaining converts, through tampering with the
Scriptures!
Hundreds
of false cults have arisen through that method of deception, among
them the Jehovah’s Witnesses, Mormons and
Christian Scientists. Their main
deception is that Jesus of Nazareth was not truly God in the flesh,
that He is a lesser god, an arch angel or something else.
According
to Holy Scripture, those who REJECT
the Deity of Jesus Christ cannot and will not be saved, unless they
repent of that grievous SIN of unbelief and blasphemy:
“Hereby
ye know the Spirit of God: Every Spirit that confesses that Jesus
Christ is come in the flesh is of God: and every spirit that
confesses not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is NOT
of God: and this is that SPIRIT of
ANTICHRIST, whereof ye have heard that it
should come; and even now already is it in the world.”
(1 John 4: 2, 3)
Presently,
there are more than seven billion people alive and we have all come
in the flesh, born naturally of a mother and father. Although
childbirth is a miraculous phenomenon that happens every second
around the world, Jesus of Nazareth was conceived by the Holy Spirit
and born of the Virgin Mary. He was
incarnated, God in human flesh!
IN THE BOSOM OF THE
FATHER!
All
those who reject Jesus
Christ as God the Son Who came to this earth to save lost humanity by
the Sacrifice of Himself and to meet the demands of Divine Justice,
will not be saved. And
all those who receive Him as the Christ the King, their Saviour and
Lord will be saved!
When
the Eternal Son of God was born of a human mother without the aid of
a human father that is the miracle of INCARNATION,
meaning ‘God in human flesh’.
Jesus
Christ was True God and True Man while He walked this earthly sod!
The Word of God states: “No man hath seen
God at any time; the ONLY BEGOTTEN SON,
which is in the BOSOM of the Father, He hath declared Him.” (John
1: 18) The Apostle John was a young man who had absolute faith in
Jesus of Nazareth. He was the closest to our Lord and is called the
“disciple whom Jesus loved.” (John
20: 2; 21:20)
"Now
there was leaning on Jesus' BOSOM one of His disciples, whom Jesus
loved." (John 13: 23). John understood the fact that Jesus had
come from God and is always in the "Bosom
of the Father."
What
that term means is, that the relationship between Jesus of Nazareth
and His Heavenly Father had NOT been broken when He was incarnated to
die as God's Pascal Lamb for the sins of the world! He
was still in His Father and the Father was still in Him through the
Blessed Holy Spirit!
Dr.
Henry Morris writes: “In that wonderful O.T. prophecy about His
coming human birth in Bethlehem (Micah 5: 2) we are told that His
‘goings
forth from the bosom of the Father.’
“As noted in John 1: 18, He
was still in the bosom of the Father”
even while He was on earth manifesting the Father. These truths are
beyond our full comprehension, of course, for they are all part of
the great mystery of the Triune God.”
Concerning Micah 5: 2, the Pulpit Commentator states: “Whose
goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting…The
Fathers see in it a declaration of the eternal generation of the Son:
He who was born in time at Bethlehem hath an eternal existence…
“To Christians, who believe in the mystery of the Holy
Trinity, the plural would express the continual generation of the Son
from the Father from everlasting and to everlasting, never beginning
and never ending; as the Council of Lateran says, "Without
beginning ever and without end, the Father begetting, the Son being
born (nascens),
and the Holy Ghost proceeding."
The
bosom is where the heart is and from which Love is generated. The
BOSOM is a place of rest and peace. The name of God, El
Shaddai has the meaning, "the
Breasted One". He is our sustenance
and nourishment. He feeds, heals and keeps His mighty hand of
protection and love upon us!
The
union between God the Father and His Only Begotten Son during His
earthly ministry is a Mystery. Some misguided theologians believe
that Jesus emptied Himself completely during His incarnation, but
that would have destroyed the UNITY
of the Godhead.
That
teaching is not biblical. It is spurious and utter nonsense! How could Jesus, Who was
TRUE God from eternity and TRUE man by His Virgin Birth, suddenly no
longer be God?
The
Bible says that He created the worlds and keeps the solar system
functioning perfectly by His WORD. If He abdicated the throne for
three years, there would no longer be a cosmos or a liveable earth!
“God
… hath in these last days spoken unto us by His Son, Whom He had
appointed heir of all things, by also HE MADE
THE WORLDS; Who being the brightness of His
glory, and the express image of His Person, and UPHOLDING
ALL THINGS by the Word of His power, when He
had by Himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the
Majesty on High.” (Heb: 1-3)
JESUS
WAS FULLY GOD & FULLY MAN!
Jesus
Christ never stopped being God the Son! He was in the BOSOM of His
Father from Eternity, during His INCARNATION (God in human flesh) and
is now and forevermore! During His time on earth, He
was Fully God and Fully Man!
St. Paul stated: “Jesus (Who) being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made Himself of no reputation, and took upon Him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: and being found in fashion of a man, He humbled Himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.” (Phil.2: 6-8)
Jesus CONCEALED His divinity even to His disciples for a time, so that He could finish His work before His sacrificial death for us all. His true identity was revealed to Peter, James and John on the Mount of transfiguration, when Almighty God stated: “This is My Beloved Son, in Whom I am well pleased. Hear ye Him.” (Matt.17:5)
The Bible records: “And (He) was transfigured before them: and His face did shine as the sun, and His raiment was white as the light... and when the disciples heard it, they fell on their face, and were sore afraid.
"And Jesus came and touched them, and said arise, Be not afraid....Jesus charged them, Tell the vision to no man, until the Son of man is risen again from the dead” (John 17: 2-9)
"And Jesus came and touched them, and said arise, Be not afraid....Jesus charged them, Tell the vision to no man, until the Son of man is risen again from the dead” (John 17: 2-9)
JOHN CALVIN stated: “He continued to retain His divinity entire though it was concealed under the veil of flesh. There are good reasons why He enjoined His disciples to keep silence, til He be risen from the dead...And indeed, the disciples would not have believed it, if Christ had not given a more striking PROOF of His glory in the resurrection.
“But after that His divine power had been openly displayed that temporary exhibition of His glory began to be admitted so as to make it fully evident, that even during that time, that He emptied Himself.”
Jesus Christ never stopped being God the Son! He was in the BOSOM of His Father from Eternity, during His INCARNATION (God in human flesh) and is NOW and forevermore! During His time on earth, He was Fully God and Fully Man!
This
same union exists between Jesus and “the
sons of God” through the New Birth. He
is in us and we are in Him. (1 Jn.3:1, 2;
Rom.8:15-17). And in the Marriage Supper of the Lamb, between the
Bride and the Bridegroom.
The
Church is the Bride and Jesus is the Bridegroom. John the Baptist
stated: “He that hath the bride is the
bridegroom: but the friend of the bridegroom, which stands and
heareth Him, rejoices greatly because of the Bridegroom’s voice:
This my joy therefore is fulfilled.”
(John 3:29)
JESUS
is also pictured as the Good Shepherd.
He said: “I am the Good Shepherd and know My sheep, and am known of
Mine. As the Father knows Me, even so know I the Father: and I lay
down My life for the sheep.” (John 10: 14, 15)
He told
the parable of the sheep lost in the wilderness, which the shepherd
searched for and found: “And when he had
found it, he laid it upon his shoulders, rejoicing.” (Luke
15: 4-6)
The
Bible states: “He shall feed His flock like
a Shepherd: He shall gather the lambs with His arm, and carry them in
His BOSOM, and shall
gently lead those that are with young.”
(Is.40:11)
Here
is another Scripture that modernist theologians have used to diminish
the truth of Jesus of Nazareth being fully God and fully man. And,
unfortunately, many unknowing preachers have fallen for it!
"In
this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent
His ONLY BEGOTTEN SON into the world, that we might live through
Him." (I John 4:9). We
have life though our Lord Jesus Christ, Whom God sent "to
be the propitiation for our sins." (1
John 4: 10)
The word propitiation means satisfaction,
covering and expiation. This
means that the sacrificial all-atoning death of Jesus Christ,
satisfied the Demands
of Divine Justice to
appease the wrath of God against the sins of a rebellious human race
from the time of Adam.
THE
ONLY BEGOTTEN SON OF GOD!
We find the unique phrase, "the
only begotten Son",
also in John 1: 14, 18; John 3:16 in the Authorized King James
Version, New King James Version, Amplified and the New American
Standard Bible. Unfortunately, most of the other versions have
exchanged the original words to unique
Son of God, only Son of God, One and only Son of God.
The Bible states: “"In
the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word
was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made
by Him; and without Him was not anything made that was made.”
(John 1:1-3)
These verses inform us that Jesus Christ is the Creator
of the worlds and all things therein! St. John states: “And
the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory,
the glory as of the ONLY
BEGOTTEN OF THE FATHER,
full of grace and truth.” (John
1:14)
Again St. John writes: “No
man hath seen God at any time; the ONLY
BEGOTTEN SON,
which is in the bosom of the Father, He hath declared Him"
(John 1:18)
DR. HENRY MORRIS states: “The Greek word for "only
begotten" is monogenes,
the very form of which clearly denotes "only
generated."
As monotheism connotes only one God and monosyllable means a word of
only one syllable, so monogenes
means only one genesis or only one generated--or, more simply, only
begotten.
It does not mean "one," or even "one and only."
It is worth noting that, although Christ is called the Son, or Son of
God, frequently in the New Testament, He
is never (in the Greek original) called the "only" son of
God.
The
fact is, that to call Him the only Son of God would make the Bible
contradict itself, for He is not the only Son of God, and certainly
not the "one and only" Son of God. Angels
are several times called the sons of God
(e.g., Job 38:7) since they had no fathers, being directly created by
God.
Likewise,
Adam was called the son of God
(Luke 3:38), because he was directly created. The same applies even
to fallen angels
(Genesis 6:2), and even to Satan
(Job 1:6), because they also were created beings. The term is also
used in a spiritual sense, of course, for those who have become "new
creations" in Christ Jesus by faith (II
Corinthians 5:17; Ephesians 2:10; etc.).
In this
sense, we also are "sons of God"
(e.g., I John 3:2) by special creation? not physically but
spiritually. But it is never applied in this sense to Christ, for He
is not a created son
of God (as the Jehovah's Witnesses and other cultists teach), but
a begotten Son
of God -- in fact, the
only
begotten Son
of God.
He
never had a beginning, for He was there in the beginning (John 1:1).
In His prayer to the Father in the upper room, He spoke of "the
glory which I had with thee before the world was"
(John 17:5).
BEHOLD,
A VIRGIN SHALL CONCEIVE!
Nothing
could be clearer than Dr. Henry Morris’ Commentary on the unique
phrase “only begotten” which
can used for Christ Jesus alone!
Seven
hundred years before the incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ, Isaiah
prophesied his VIRGIN BIRTH: “Therefore the
Lord Himself shall give you a sign; Behold a virgin shall conceive,
and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel.” (Is.
7: 14)
St.
Luke chronicles the glorious Christmas Story of Archangel Gabriel’s
visit to a Jewish Virgin called Miriam (Mary) to inform her of God’s
great plan of Redemption that would involve her.
He
said: “Fear not, Mary: For thou hast found
favour with God. And, behold thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and
bring forth a Son, and shalt call His name JESUS.
He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: And
the Lord God shall give unto Him the throne of His Father David:
“And
He shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of His Kingdom
there shall be no end. Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this
be seeing I know not a man? And the angel answered and said unto her,
The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest
shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be
born of thee shall be called the Son of God.”
(Luke 1:28-35)
To
confirm His Words to Mary, God sent His Angel to Joseph, her fiancé.
Naturally. he was upset and confused at the news of Mary’s
pregnancy.
JESUS
CHRIST SAVIOUR SON OF GOD!
The
Angel of God reassured him: “Joseph, thou
son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that
which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost. And she shall bring
forth a Son, and thou shall call Him JESUS,
for He shall save His people from their sins.
“Now
all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the
prophet, saying, Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall
bring forth a Son, and they shall call His name Emmanuel, which being
interpreted is, God with us.”
(Matt.1:20-23)
John’s
Gospel is about God the Son becoming a man through the INCARNATION
(God in human flesh) which is the greatest miracle this world has
ever witnessed. More than 700 years before His Virgin birth in
Bethlehem, the prophet Isaiah made this prophetic utterance:
“Therefore
the Lord Himself shall give you a sign, Behold a virgin shall
conceive, and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel.”
(Isaiah 7:14)
Leading
Hebrew scholars state that “a virgin” is better read “the
virgin”. The Hebrew definite article ha
indicates that a specific woman is in
view. The word virgin used here is the unique Hebrew term ‘almah.’
A comparison of the six other instances where it occurs (Gen.24:43;
Ex. 2:8; Ps.68: 25; Prov. 30: 19. Song 1: 5, 8) shows
that it is the most precise term the prophet could have chosen to
indicate that the young woman in view was indeed a virgin. The more
common word betulah is
used twice to refer to a married woman
(Deut.22: 19 and Joel 1: 8)
Thus the
Septuagint Translation
of ‘almah’
as Parthenos
(virgin) is correct, as is Matthew 1:23. Shall conceive is a feminine
adjective connected with an active participle (“bearing”) and
should be translated “is pregnant”.
Thus the
scene is present to the prophet’s view and he sees the pregnant
virgin about to bear a Son. That this prophecy must refer to the
virgin birth of Christ is obvious since the virgin is pregnant and is
still a virgin. Immanuel is a symbolic name meaning God is with us.
He is the incarnate Son of God Who is further pictured as the
Christ-Prince in Isaiah 9:6. –Taken from Nelson
Study Bible
NO-ONE
ACCEPTED LUTHER’S CHALLENGE!
MARTIN LUTHER threw out this challenge: “If
a Jew or a Christian or a Mohammedan can prove to me that in any
other passage of Scripture ‘almah’ means a married woman, I will
give him a hundred florins, although God only knows where I may find
them.”
No-one
took him up on his challenge!
Never
in the history of mankind has a virgin given birth to a baby without
a man’s seed through sexual intercourse or artificial insemination!
Of such importance was the sign that God gave concerning the birth of
His Son that the prophet emphasized: “The
Lord Himself shall give you a sign.”
The
Holy Scripture says: “Behold while he (Joseph) thought on these
things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream
saying, Joseph thou son of David, fear not to
take unto thee Mary thy wife; for that which is conceived in her is
of the Holy Ghost.
“And
she shall bring forth a Son, and thou shalt call His name JESUS:
for He shall save His people from their sins. Now, all this was done,
that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the LORD
by the prophet, saying, Behold a VIRGIN shall
be with child, and shall bring forth a SON,
and they shall call His name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is,
GOD WITH US.”
(Matt.1: 20-25)
Jesus of
Nazareth was born to die. He was born crucified! Facing
the humiliation of the cross, He said: “Now
is My soul troubled’ and what shall I say, save Me from this hour:
but for this cause came I unto this hour.” (John
12: 27)
THE
MAN WHO STILL LIVES!
After his
much-publicized conversion to our Lord Jesus Christ,
Malcolm
Muggeridge
- former Marxist, celebrated writer,
broadcaster and actor - poured
his time and talents into writing
Christian apologetics which portray
a Living Saviour! In his book
‘The
Man Who Lives’
Muggeridge wrote:
“That
the resurrection happened, and that in the consequence of it
Jesus’
followers who had scattered drew together again, and
resolved to go
about their Master’s business, seems to me
indubitably true.
“Likewise
Jesus claims to be the Light of the World and His
related promise
that through Him we may be reborn into new men,
liberated from
servitude to the ego and our appetites into the
glorious liberty of
the children of God…
“If
the story of Jesus ended on Golgotha, it would indeed be of a
Man Who
Died, but as two thousand years later the Man’s
promise that ‘where two or three are gathered in My Name, there
I am in midst of them’ manifestly still holds, it is actually the
story of a Man Who Lives.”
promise that ‘where two or three are gathered in My Name, there
I am in midst of them’ manifestly still holds, it is actually the
story of a Man Who Lives.”
Muggeridge’s
counsel to a troubled world is worth listening to. He
writes: “Christ is the only answer to an insane world…they will not
understand that the trouble with the western civilization is not
economics, but more – good and evil! They are thinking they can
make things work by policies, inventions, but man will never live
on this planet without God.”
writes: “Christ is the only answer to an insane world…they will not
understand that the trouble with the western civilization is not
economics, but more – good and evil! They are thinking they can
make things work by policies, inventions, but man will never live
on this planet without God.”
JESUS CHRIST IS DOOR TO GOD!
Jesus
Christ stated: “Ye
shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free. If the Son
therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.” (John
8:32, 36); “Peace
I leave with you, My peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth
give I unto thee. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be
afraid.” (John
14:27)
Jesus said: "I am the Way, the Truth and the Life; no man cometh unto the Father but by Me." (John 14: 6): "I am the door: by Me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out and find pasture. The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and kill and destroy: I am come that they might have life, and have it more abundantly." (John 10: 9,10)
Jesus said: "I am the Way, the Truth and the Life; no man cometh unto the Father but by Me." (John 14: 6): "I am the door: by Me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out and find pasture. The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and kill and destroy: I am come that they might have life, and have it more abundantly." (John 10: 9,10)
He wants to be your Lord and Saviour! Open your heart to Him
and He will come into your heart and life. He will forgive all your
sins and take away the condemnation in your conscience. He will
heal the hurts in your spirit, soul and body because He is the Great
Physician!
He invites: “Behold
I stand at the door and knock. If any man hear
My voice, and open the door (of his heart) I will come in to him
and will sup (fellowship) with him and he with Me.” (Rev.3: 20)
My voice, and open the door (of his heart) I will come in to him
and will sup (fellowship) with him and he with Me.” (Rev.3: 20)
He is the Sin Bearer. He is the Heart Healer. He is the Mind
Restorer. He is the Great Physician. He is the Demon Expeller. He
is the Holy Ghost Baptizer. He is the Joy Bringer. He is the Fear
Remover. He is the Prince of Peace. He is the Liberator of
mankind and the Saviour of the World! Amen.
