In Our Image
The debate about the nature of God is one that extends back to sometime prior to 325 A.D. This is when the Roman Emperor Constantine supported the establishment of the Nicaea Council and set out to unify church doctrine. The council itself was split into two major factions concerning the nature of God. The first believed the Son was not as eternal as God. The opposing faction of the council held to the idea that the Son was God. Constantine was angry with the councils division in this matter and so rendered the o[pinon that official church doctrine should refer to Jesus as the Only Begotten or the Son of God. If you stand back and look at the overall Body of Christ, the churches of today, you will see that this is still a viciously debated subject. Today the fractured Nicaea opinions are generally framed in one of two ways. The followers of the idea of the Trinity and those who espouse the oneness of God ideology.
As a modern Christian it is hard to recognize the validity of the Nicaea Council or their leader Constantine in ideological matters. The emperor’s resolution is not a zealous attempt at religious purity but rather a shroud, calculated Machiavellian maneuver to strengthen his grip on the vast empire he ruled. Its because of these reasons, as contemporary Christians, we should revisit these old debates to determine in our own minds what is the truth of this matter.
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Cultural anthropology and sociology teach that when we encounter someone new, the first way we identify them is by sex. Are they male or female? Then by race. Are they from the same people as me? This is not a racist statement but is simply a commonality among all races of people. So then as flesh creatures, terrestrial body, if an individual lacks any apparent female characteristics our default becomes male. It is for this reason that all Old and New Testaments description of angles are male, not considering that biblically the celestial body is androgynous in nature.
The Androgynous Nature of Celestial BodiesLuk 20:34 And Jesus answering said unto them, The children of this world marry, and are given in marriage:
Luk 20:35 But they which shall be accounted worthy to obtain that world, and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry, nor are given in marriage: Luk 20:36 Neither can they die any more: for they are equal unto the angels; and are the children of God, being the children of the resurrection. Gal 3:27 For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.
Gal 3:28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. Gal 3:29 And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise. TerrestrialG1919
ἐπίγειος epigeios ep-ig'-i-os From G1909 and G1093; worldly (physically or morally): - earthly, in earth, terrestrial. Total KJV occurrences: 7 G1909
ἐπί epi ep-ee' A primary preposition properly meaning superimposition (of time, place, order, etc.), as a relation of distribution [with the genitive case], that is, over, upon, etc.; of rest ... Total KJV occurrences: 885 G1093
γῆ gē ghay Contracted from a primary word; soil; by extension a region, or the solid part or the whole of the terrene globe (including the occupants in each application): - country, earth (-ly), ground, land, world. Total KJV occurrences: 252 |
The Two Pill Choice
Charles Lutwidge Dodgson,
Better known by his pen name Lewis Carroll 1865 You take the red pill... you stay in Wonderland, and I show you how deep the rabbit hole goes." The red pill represents an uncertain future, unknown to Neo at the time, he takes the red pill —it would free him from the enslaving control of the machine-generated dream world and allow him to escape into the real world,
Celestial1Co 15:39 We have Two Bodies1Co 15:39 All flesh is not the same flesh: but there is one kind of flesh of men, another flesh of beasts, another of fishes, and another of birds.
1Co 15:40 There are also celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial: but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another. G2032
ἐπουράνιος epouranios ep-oo-ran'-ee-os From G1909 and G3772; above the sky: - celestial, (in) heaven (-ly), high. Total KJV occurrences: 20 G1909
ἐπί epi ep-ee' A primary preposition properly meaning superimposition (of time, place, order, etc.), as a relation of distribution [with the genitive case], that is, over, upon, etc.; of rest ... Total KJV occurrences: 885 G3772
οὐρανός ouranos oo-ran-os' Perhaps from the same as G3735 (through the idea of elevation); the sky; by extension heaven (as the abode of God); by implication happiness, power, eternity; specifically the Gospel (Christianity): - air, heaven ([-ly]), sky. Total KJV occurrences: 284 |
Gen 1:26Gen 1:26 And God said, Let us make man in our image H6754, after our likeness H1823: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
Gen 1:27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. |
צֶלֶם tselem tseh'-lem From an unused root meaning to shade; a phantom, that is, (figuratively) illusion, resemblance; hence a representative figure, especially an idol: - image, vain shew. Total KJV occurrences: 17 |
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H1823
דְּמוּת demûth dem-ooth' From H1819; resemblance; concretely model, shape; adverbially like: - fashion, like (-ness, as), manner, similitude. Total KJV occurrences: 25 |
H1819
דָּמָה dâmâh daw-maw' A primitive root; to compare; by implication to resemble, liken, consider: - compare, devise, (be) like (-n), mean, think, use similitudes. Total KJV occurrences: 30 |
Joh 3:1 Joh 3:1 There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews:
Joh 3:2 The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him. Joh 3:3 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again G509, he cannot see the kingdom of God. G509
ἄνωθεν anōthen an'-o-then From G507; from above; by analogy from the first; by implication anew: - from above, again, from the beginning (very first), the top. Total KJV occurrences: 13 Joh 3:4 Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born?
Joh 3:5 Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. Joh 3:6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Joh 3:7 Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. Joh 3:8 The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit. 3:9 Nicodemus answered and said unto him, How can these things be? Joh 3:10 Jesus answered and said unto him, Art thou a master of Israel, and knowest not these things? Joh 3:11 Verily, verily, I say unto thee, We speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen; and ye receive not our witness. Joh 3:12 If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you of heavenly things? Joh 3:13 And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven. |
Nicodemus is a member of the Pharisees and seams to represents a smaller faction within the group. This is evidenced by the fact that Nicodemus is coming to Christ under the cover of darkness. If he would have had the backing of Pharisaical Council, as a whole, he would have appeared during daylight hours and in the open. However, the impact of the teaching solidifies something inside Nicodemus. He is the same Nicodemus that accompanies Joseph of Arimathea, in the light for all to see, to claim the body of Jesus after the crucifixion .
Joh. Chapter 3 Stresses the importance of the relationship between the celestial and the terrestrial body’s, but its importance is often overlooked because of a poor translation chose in verse three. (out lined below) Joh 14:8 The Father and the Son look the same Because?Jer 1:4 Then the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
Jer 1:5 Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations. Joh 14:8 Philip saith unto him, Lord, shew us the Father, and it sufficeth us.
Joh 14:9 Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father? Joh 14:10 Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works. Joh 14:11 Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me: or else believe me for the very works' sake. Jer 1:4 |
Heb 1:3 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;