The Godhead - Let Us Start With the Man

8/8/2019 The Godhead - Let Us Start With the Man

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/the-godhead-let-us-start-with-the-man 1/23

www.heishere.net

1The Godhead and His expression in Godhood

The Godhead and His expression in Godhood

God has revealed Himself to us, making Himself outwardly visible through the Word, yet

internally perceptible through the Spirit. Though He remains a great mystery in either

case, He is yet such that humanity may see God Himself and possess Him.

[Michael Servetus]



www.heishere.net

2Part One – The Humanity of God

Part One – The Humanity of God

Let us begin with the man Jesus Christ because it is the given starting point in the Holy Scriptures. No

one can come to the Father (and therefore a knowledge of Him: Godhead) unless they first approach

through the way provided: the Son of God (His expression in Godhood)

Let us start with three propositions concerning the man: firstly that His name is Jesus Christ; secondly

that He is the Son of God and thirdly that Christ is God. Now you may think some of these points a little

obvious but please bear with me for I will endeavor to show you the importance of them in the

following chapters. There are in fact some very important implications involved which will be extremely

helpful to us in arriving at an understanding of the Godhead.

1 - His name is Jesus Christ

Jesus: His given name as a human being a man like any one of us; Christ: shows us His Family line.

The name Jesus (Yeshua in Hebrew or Joshua in English) was a common enough first name for any male

child and the bible confirms that this was the name given to Him by His earthly guardians according to

the instruction of an angel.

This being said the given name Jesus was not without significance meaning: Jehovah Savior which is

certainly what His life manifested Him to be.

Christ on the other hand is a title not a name. And the Jewish leaders of the day did not deny that His

given name was Jesus but they denied that He was the Christ. The issue they had was with the claim that

this man was the Messiah – that He was the LORD’s Anointed.

This is clearly attested to in the scriptures and was the basis of the preaching of the early church:

Acts 4:27, Acts 9:22, Acts 18:5, Acts 10:36-42 and Acts 2:36

The early church fathers (of the Smyrna Church age) also saw and taught this in simplicity:

―For the name of God, as being the natural designation of Deity, may be ascribed to all

those beings for whom a divine nature is claimed, — as, for instance, even to idols. Theapostle says: ―For there be that are called gods, whether in heaven or in earth.‖ The nameof Christ, however, does not arise from nature, but from dispensation; and so becomes the

proper name of Him to whom it accrues in consequence of the dispensation.‖ [Irenaeus]



www.heishere.net


“But to the Father of all, who is unbegotten there is no name given. For by whatever

name He be called, He has as His elder the person who gives Him the name. But thesewords Father, and God, and Creator, and Lord, and Master, are not names, but

appellations derived from His good deeds and functions. And His Son, who alone is properly called Son, the Word who also was with Him and was begotten before the

works, when at first He created and arranged all things by Him, is called Christ, inreference to His being anointed and God‘s ordering all things through Him; this name

itself also containing an unknown significance; as also the appellation ―God‖ is not a

name, but an opinion implanted in the nature of men of a thing that can hardly beexplained. But ―Jesus,‖ His name as man and Saviour, has also significance. For He was

made man also, as we before said, having been conceived according to the will of God

the Father, for the sake of believing men, and for the destruction of the demons.‖

[Justin Martyr]

So clearly both the Bible and the Fathers of the early Church (Smyrna) understood that He was ahuman being that was anointed. Indeed to deny this is a sure sign of the antichrist as we read in 1John 2:22-23 and 1 John 5:1.

We can also look to the Old Testament to support this idea that even as a human being can be

called King, so can these Kings when set up by God be called Christ: 1 Samuel 12:3, 1 Samuel

12:5, 1 Samuel 24:6 and Isaiah 45:1.We need only look to the words of John the Baptist in John 1:20 where he declares ―I am not the

Christ‖. If it was not possible for a man to be Christ then these words would have been

redundant. This fact is clearly understood by all who have received Christ Jesus into their heartsfor this is the confession of faith as Peter vocalized it under inspiration from God: That Jesus is

the Christ; the Son of the Living God. It is by this means indeed that we in our own order are

made christs through the sacrifice of this same Son of God to pay for the penalty of our sin.

John 8:14 gives Jesus‘ own words of testimony that He was a man mortal like us. As 1 Timothy

2:5 affirms for there is only one mediator between men and God: the MAN Christ Jesus.

Peter also in Acts 2:22 tells us that Jesus of Nazareth was a man approved of God amongst us.

Isaiah 53:3 speaks to us of a man of sorrow and acquainted with grief and Zechariah 6:12 of aman called ―the Branch‖. The Apostle Paul declaring also that God is going to judge the world

by a man who He has appointed, this clearly speaking of Christ (Acts17:31, Romans 2:16)

Now the issue the apostles and disciples of the Lord were presenting was that Jesus a man was

the Messiah and that He was the Son of God. This was a thing detestable to the Jewish religious

leaders of that time that the Mighty God had chosen to use this man as His vessel for redemption.

They tried on numerous occasion to have him stoned for blasphemy because He called Himself the Son of God, they could not see how that would not be two gods – He making himself equal

with God.

Yet the simple people who had revelation could understand this: Peter an uneducated fisherman,the woman at the well who said ‗come and see a man who told me all things that I ever did isn‘t

this the very Messiah?‘ Romans 5:12-19 tells us that even as death came by one man so also by

one man the resurrection from the dead.



www.heishere.net


The fact that this man was Christ the Lord is attested to by Angels at His birth so that we may

understand that Jesus (a man) was born the Son of God. Clearly then He must have been born the

Christ also for the word Christ means anointed or anointing or anointer. He was anointed withGod‘s Spirit from His first breath thus making Him the Lamb of God an earthly creature of such

a suitable nature that God in due time could indwell Him at the river Jordan.

So in summary He is Jesus (a man) Christ (anointed); He truly was God‘s anointed one the veryMessiah they should have been looking for.



www.heishere.net


2 – Jesus is the Son of God

John 20:31 sums it up well by saying that the gospel was written so that we might know that

Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. In fact all of Christendom would agree in word at least thatHe is the Son of God.

So now we come to the great mystery that seems to be a contradiction: that this human had aHeavenly Father and not an earthly one. Now just as surely as the Bible declares that Jesus is the

Son of God it also declares with equal vigor and signs of proof that God is the Father of Him.Therefore it is only sensible to conclude that the very substance that was formed in the virgin

womb of Mary originated from God. Luke 1:35 tells us that the Holy child that was to be born in

Mary when the Holy Spirit of God overshadowed her was to be called the Son of God.When Jesus was Born He was little Jehovah (in human form): the Son of the Great Jehovah God.

The scriptures tell us in Matthew 1:20 that which was born in Mary was of the Holy Ghost, in

other words Jesus was begotten of the Holy Spirit so the Holy Spirit can be none other than God

the Father or you end up with Jesus having two Fathers. This is not what the Bible teaches and itshows us that the Holy Spirit and God the Father is the same person, not two individual persons

of a mystery Trinity.We will deal in more detail in later sections with some of the implications of this fact: that Jesusthe man was the Son of God (who is Spirit and not man).

The fathers of the second age of the Church are in agreement to the fact that a man was born of

God and also was able to be anointed with God:

―So also, in [the times of] the end, the Word of the Father and the Spirit of God, having

become united with the ancient substance of Adam‘s formation, rendered man living and perfect, receptive of the perfect Father, in order that as in the natural [Adam] we all were

dead, so in the spiritual we may all be made alive.‖

[Irenaeus]

―Vain indeed are those who allege that He appeared in mere seeming. For these things

were not done in appearance only, but in actual reality. But if He did appear as a man,

when He was not a man, neither could the Holy Spirit have rested upon Him, — anoccurrence which did actually take place — as the Spirit is invisible; nor, [in that case],

was there any degree of truth in Him, for He was not that which He seemed to be.‖

[Irenaeus]

Logic itself clearly shows that if He was a man and was born as is fitting to men, and was later

anointed as is also fitting to men: that He had to be the Son of some person and to have a Father,

also that He had to be anointed by some Spirit for no one is anointed with themselves and no one

can be their own Father.Indeed if Jesus was not truly a man and the Son of God then He is a great liar for this is His own

constant testimony in the New Testament (John 9:37). John the Baptist also who was sent toforerun Him would also be found to be a liar (John 1:33-34) also the Roman soldier witnessing

His death on the cross would have been deceived to have said ‗truly this man was the Son of

God‘ (Matthew 27:54, Mark 15:39).



www.heishere.net


Ultimately the entire testimony of the Scriptures would be found wanting and in particular the

words attributed to God which said on two separate occasions ‗this is My beloved Son‘

(Matthew 1:17, Matthew 17:5)

One might argue that it is of little importance that He was called the Son of God as we also are

called sons of God. But we cannot compare our claim to son ship with that He has. He was theonly begotten Son of God; we are made sons by virtue of His being begotten again from the

dead. Jesus was the Son of God from His natural birth; we become sons of God through asupernatural rebirth.

Also we must consider that God was the Father of Jesus Christ not just in title or pretence, but in

every way that an earthly father is said to be so. He was the originator and source of His Son,giving Him of His own substance so that Jesus was no ordinary man but a unique and new kind

of generation of men, likened only to the original man Adam. God showed more than any human

father could His care and identification to and with the Son by preparing the way for Him as no

other father ever has or could and declaring beforehand His life and purpose. Men may plan andhave expectations for their offspring, they may also play a part in influencing their life‘s outcome

but only God has the power and ability to both predict and affect all possible outcomes.

As the Son of God Jesus is the firstborn in two respects: He is the first and one of a kind human

to be born a Son of God, He is also the first human to be begotten from the dead as the scriptures

declare.

To summarize our initial treatment of this proposition: Jesus a man is the Son of God who is

Spirit.



www.heishere.net


3 – Christ is God

I wish to show two ways in which this statement is true:1 - He is God and can be called God in the sense that as the Son of God He shares God‘s actual

substance which He had from His human conception.2 – He is God and can be so called in the sense that He is anointed of God.

One proof of the first point is the fact that He is called the Son of God from His conception. He

is God‘s Holy One whom He would not suffer to see corruption, this obviously referring to His

human body in the grave. In this sense His entire human existence is made distinct by virtue of this fact for many Holy men have both died and corrupted in the grave before and since.

Then there is the previously stated fact that He is declared the Son of God in a unique way by the

Angel to Mary and by dream to Joseph. I am here referring to the fact that He is said to be

begotten by the Holy Spirit.

In support of the second point we have Jesus‘ own words when He first begins to minister: ―theSpirit of the LORD is upon Me because He has anointed Me to preach…‖ It is clear that this isspeaking of the anointing He received when the Holy Spirit descended upon Him at baptism.

This anointing was given to Him to enable Him to begin His ministry of declaring His Father‘s

name.

He defended His right to call Himself the Son of God on this very basis in John 10:34-38 pointing out to them that the Scrolls of Moses and the Prophets called them gods to whom the

word of God came (those anointed by God). He then set forth the superiority of His own claim by reminding them that He was the one whom the Father had both sent and sanctified, a fact

supported by the unrivalled power of God that backed up His ministry.

The scene of Jesus‘ baptism by the prophet John is indicative of the acceptance of the sacrifice.For according to the Law of Righteousness the sacrifice must be first washed (sanctified) before

presentation. The Holy Spirit descending in the form of a dove upon the lamb of sacrifice was

synonymous with the fire of God falling upon the sacrifice presented by Elijah (John was a prophet in the power and spirit of Elijah) on Mount Carmel, the fire consumed the sacrifice

showing God‘s complete acceptance of it. In like manner the Spirit of God was said to abide

upon Jesus from that time, and it was the initiation of His ministry. Proof of this abiding power being upon Him is shown by the mighty signs and works that were wrought by God through

Him.

In Isaiah 42:1 and Matthew 12:18 we find further proof of the fact that Jesus was God‘s chosen

and anointed servant. A servant of special significance both in terms of origin and degree of anointing; indeed if God called others who were anointed in part gods how much more might He

rightly call Jesus God? This idea is foreshadowed in Psalms 45:6-7 as taught by Paul in Hebrews2:8-9. Here we see the statement ‗but to the Son He (GOD) says thy throne O God is forever…‖

and also ―therefore God even Your God has anointed You…‖ Also in Psalms 110:1 we find the

LORD saying to David‘s Lord; Jehovah saying to Adonai… which is not showing us that there

are two gods rather declaring aforetime the Father and the Son in a shadow which later wasdeclared in its fullness.



www.heishere.net


Indeed because of His obedience to God the Father, the Son is given a position and share of

authority and power with God above all others such that at His name every knee shall bow and

every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. We see thisforeshadowed in the story of Joseph who was made the right hand of Pharaoh and had a similar

position and honor bestowed upon him.

Consider then these two points which put before us a dual nature of Christ: both of a mortal manand also of God. For in His flesh existed such a duality of nature and i t was this that made Him

the suitable tabernacle for God, by which God was brought down to man and man was lifted up

through Him to God. If Moses was made the God of Pharaoh (Exodus 7:1) it is all the morefitting that Jesus be made both Lord and Christ. It is no injustice therefore that Thomas declared

Him to be his Lord and God. Joseph and Moses received this title by way of a gifting from God

but Jesus as a true heir by natural birth, having been naturally conceived from the substance of

God. He (Jesus) is anointed beyond His peers being the man who is God‘s associate. (Zechariah13:7)

So to summarize this first section we find that He is Jesus a man who is also Christ – theanointed one. Also that He is the Son of God: a man who has a Divine Father. Finally that Christ

is God: due both to His dual nature and to His being anointed with God above any other.



www.heishere.net

9Part Two – Delineating Father and Son

Part Two – Delineating Father and Son

In this section I will attempt to introduce some factors that show a clear delineation exists between the Father and the Son of God. To do this we will be considering eight points mentioned

by the prophet of God of this hour and their implications.

1 – Our unique stand and position concerning Godhead

… No, sir. I'm not a oneness, neither a trinitarian… [William Branham: Image of the Beast 1954]

Although I have titled this our unique stand and position, it should be noted that it is the teaching

of the Orthodox Church which began on the day of Pentecost in the book of Acts. It is uniquetherefore only in the sense that it comes from God and not in a secondary fashion through the

processes of any man-made theology.

The Oneness brother Branham refers to here is the Pentecostal theology that teaches Jesus isGod. We maintain as did the early Church that there is One God and one Son of God: Jesus

Christ the Lord. We do not believe that God is comprised of three persons in one God, for a

person is a unique individual so this would make three gods. We believe rather that there is OneGod who is manifest in three offices or dispensations of Father Son and Holy Spirit.

2 – God is not ONE like your finger.

…And how you Oneness people got it mixed up too of Him being one like your finger. Uh-huh.See? They're--they both of them got it mixed up. See? That's right. He's the one God like your

finger, and one, how could He be His Own Father?

[William Branham: Calling Jesus on the Scene 1963]

Now what does this statement mean? Clearly that God is understood to be one in a unity relationship.

Obviously GOD IS ONE but what we are looking at here is not GOD and Godhead per se rather we are

looking at Godhood or the manner in which God is made known. We are going from the invisible to the

visible; from the eternal to creation and time; from the unknown to the same one becoming made known

in the way He chooses to disclose Himself. There is only one God who is the Father of all living and is

the creator of all that lies before Him. But He cannot be known or seen or manifest as Father; as Creator;

as God (which means an object of worship) except to Sons and His creatures in His creation.

We can sum up the essence of this idea that: God is not one like your finger – in the statement of Jesus: ―I

and My Father are one‖. The unity is that of Spirit or Life or Power and not of being. Clearly Jesus was

one and His Father another or He would have said ―I am My Father‖. But we understand this is not the

case. Unity of any kind can only occur when there is more than one involved, otherwise it would not be



www.heishere.net


unity. This does not mean there is more than one God, only the one God is made known and manifest in

many forms and vessels to perform His will.

3 – Jesus was not His own Father.

… Now, the oneness teaching of the oneness church, I certainly disagree with them, thinking that

Jesus is one like your finger's one. He had to have a Father. If He didn't, how could He be His

own father? And if His Father was a man like the Trinitarian says, then He was borned a

illegitimate birth with two fathers. So you see, you're both wrong by arguing. See?

[William Branham: Questions and Answers on Hebrews 1957]

This statement may seem redundant – it is important nevertheless as it lets us know that by virtue of being

a son Jesus had a progenitor or paternal source. In other words as a son He came from a Father, He did

not come forth from Himself. The relationship of Father and Son expressed by God and Jesus was not oneof pretence or symbolism but was as real as (in fact more real than) any natural expression of the same.

This fact leads on to the next in logical progression: namely that sons have beginnings whereas God being

eternal has neither beginning nor ending.

Therefore, they argue, it was not difficult for God to make Himself both a Father and a

Son, contrary to the condition of things among men. For a barren woman to have a childagainst nature was no difficulty with God; nor was it for a virgin to conceive. Of course

nothing is ―too hard for the Lord.‖ But if we choose to apply this principle so

extravagantly and harshly in our capricious imaginations, we may then make out God tohave done anything we please, on the ground that it was not impossible for Him to do it.

We must not, however, because He is able to do all things suppose that He has actuallydone what He has not done.

[Tertullian]

4 – Sons have beginnings; God is eternal.

…People talk about Jesus being the Eternal Son of God. Now isn't that a contradiction? Whoever

heard of a 'Son' being eternal? Sons have beginnings, but that which is eternal never had a

beginning. He is the Eternal God (Jehovah) manifested in the flesh…

[William Branham: Chapter 1 Church Ages Book]

The very use of the word son lets you know that Jesus came from God even as a natural son comes from

the substance of his Father. We understand through biology that human offspring come forth from the

substance of their male parent, also that the genetic material that uniquely identifies us as an individual

originates three generations prior to our physical manifestation in flesh. Even as the scriptures teach that

Levi paid tithes in the loins of Abraham who was his great grandfather. This then serves as another fact



www.heishere.net


that differentiates Father from Son. So a logical consequence of being a son is the fact of having a

beginning of expression.

5 – God entered Jesus at Jordan and left him at Gethsemane.

…Now, remember, He was the Son of God when He was borned. He was God's virgin-born Son.

But when He become Messiah, that's when the Holy Spirit come on Him, 'cause the "Messiah"

means the "anointed one." See? And He was the Anointed One when the Holy Spirit came on

Him. You heard me preach on the Lamb and Dove…

[William Branham: Possessing the Gates of the Enemy 1959]

…When God looked down upon the body... (The Spirit left Him in the Garden of Gethsemane;

He had to die a man.) Remember friends, He didn't have to do that. That was God. God anointed

that flesh, which was human flesh, and He didn't have... If He'd went up there as God, He'd have

never died that kind of death; can't kill God…

[William Branham: It is the Rising of the Sun 1965]

This statement shows us that Jesus clearly was the anointed one, the Messiah. That the fullness of God

(Godhead) entered Him at Jordan to initiate His earthly ministry and departed from Him at Gethsemane in

order that the sacrifice might taste death for all of us. Now although God only entered Him in this fashion

from His baptism, we mustn‘t forget as we stated in the previous chapter, that He was still the Son of God

from His natural birth. He did not become the Son of God when the Holy Spirit (God) came down upon

Him to indwell Him at the river Jordan. He became the Christ – the one anointed with God at this point to

show forth His Father in the ministry of the Son of Man.

6 – The body was a man but God dwelt in the body.

"…He was more than... God was in Him. He was a man, but He was a--a dual Person. One, He

was a man; the Spirit in Him was God." I said, "God was in Christ…"

[William Branham: Let us see God 1959]

This is why He would always say it is not Me that is doing the works but My Father who dwells in Me, it

is not My words I am saying but the words He gave Me to speak, and if you don‘t believe this then why is

He backing it up with infallible proofs to show you that the words I say are the truth? (or words to that

effect). Now this shows to us the great mystery of the Son: a man who‘s natural Father was God, in other

words a Son of God whose natural body originated from the substance of God.



www.heishere.net


7 – Jesus was a dual person; he had a dual nature.

He was a dual Person. He was one Man, the Son. God was in him, which was tabernacling inHim. But what did He do? Did He go around saying, "I'm the Healer." Very contrary, He said, "I'm

not the Healer." He said, "It isn't Me that doth the works; it's My Father that dwelleth in Me."

[William Branham: Jehovah Jireh 1956]

Now here is an important thing to bear in mind Jesus was born Christ the Lord just as He was

born the Son of God (Luke 2:11). This then made Him the Son and the Anointed One (Holy

Spirit) from birth. (To illustrate this we look to the scene in the garden of Gethsemane wherePeter drew his sword and cut off the soldier‘s ear. Remember this is after the Spirit of GOD has

now departed from Him yet He is still able to heal the man‘s ear and to send the guards reeling

backwards upon His words: ―I AM HE‖. Clearly then he is still that one born with an unctionlike no other with the life of the Spirit of God). Then at His baptism God the Father came downand indwelt Him making Him now the fullness of Godhead in a body and the complete

expression of Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Therefore, Father, Son, Holy Spirit is one true God. He has one Name; His Name is JesusChrist. He was born Christ the Lord when He was born. It... "Christ" means "the anointed

One." The "Lord" means "ownership." He was "ownership" and "Lord." And then God

came down and dwelt in Him, which made Him both Father, Son, and Holy Ghost:[William Branham: Palmerworm, Locust and Caterpillar 1959]

So this dual nature of Jesus was that of Father and Son. His natural life was quickened by theHoly Spirit as the original man Adam had been. This being the case He had no need to be reborn

for He already was anointed with God‘s Holy Spirit from birth making Him a Son of God and

also Christ (Anointed). For we have not the right to be called Sons of God until we have received

the Holy Spirit by baptism in a supernatural rebirth. Jesus on the other hand had no need of arebirth being already a true Son and already possessing the Holy Spirit from His first breath.

Realizing this helps us to come to terms with what actually transpired on the river Jordan and

why He is therefore said to have a dual nature or to be a dual person. The Holy Spirit which

descended upon Him on the river was not a baptism but the Baptizer Himself: God the Father coming down to dwell in His Son.

8 – “…Let us who Father and Son…” … “…Now you have two…”

…And then He asked this question now. "Let us (Who? Father and Son) make man in Our own

image."…

[William Branham: Questions and Answers on Genesis 1953]



www.heishere.net


...I can see this little Light go out. Now, we got two now. The Father, and out of the Father came

the Light, the Son…

[William Branham: Attitude and Who is God 1950]

There is no way to avoid this fact that Jesus who was made flesh had a pre-existence before the world

began. He refers to this in John 17:5 and we understand that Jesus could have had no former glory with

His Father unless He was in a state of awareness, unless He had a being or existence in some form in

order to be aware of this. His statement makes no sense unless He had a previous existence and awareness

it would not be a glory that He could have ‗had‘ if He were only a thought in the mind of God at the time.

We also find that the New Testament reveals that God made the worlds by Jesus Christ so although this is

mysterious we nevertheless cannot overlook this fact.

―For in no other way could we have learned the things of God, unless our Master,existing as the Word, had become man. For no other being had the power of revealing to

us the things of the Father, except His own proper Word. For what other person ―knewthe mind of the Lord,‖ or who else ―has become His counsellor?‖

[Irenaeus]



www.heishere.net

14Part Three – The Condescension of God

Part Three – The Condescension of God

In this section we will be looking at the Great Eternal Invisible God and the condescension

incumbent upon Him in order to manifest what lay within Him to be expressed. So we are

looking at the inscrutable One; at the One who transcends; this One is beyond us and is notattainable to us unless He provides some way for us to approach unto Him. What we need toconsider in doing this is that this great being was alone, there was nothing there but Him and we

can only visualize such a being with the benefit of a prophets insightful words. We start therefore

with a great rainbow fountain of God, now considering this rainbow fountain we understandfrom brother Branham that it was seven circles that enfold one another and altogether therefore

would comprise the invisible white light of God. Furthermore when this invisible light is shown

in the symbolic visions to John the revelator it is represented as a green color which is the color

of life. Now this rainbow represents God‘s own covenant with Himself thus making HimELOHIM: The Strong One bound by an oath. That oath was His own Word which represented

the expression of Himself in substance.

…See, the covenant was life for Noah, that He spared him, but the covenant that Godmade with Himself was a rainbow, that He would not... Now, I'll show you what Noah's

covenant was with God, in a minute. But this here was God's own covenant with Himself

(Amen.), a rainbow...[William Branham: Revelation Chapter 4 part 2 – 24 Elders 1961]

What we see is the Sovereign and Unchanging God who cannot fail we see Him as a rainbow of

seven colors which as yet have not come forth, these represent the sevenfold redemptiveattributes of God. We learn that the first to come into view is red which represents His Love and

is expressed in a Lamb slain before the foundation of the world in His mind. Now in order for all

of this that lays in God to come forth He Has to condescend; to stoop down and representHimself as an equal with something He brings forth that is lower than Him.The word condescend means to lay aside one‘s dignity or superiority voluntarily and assume

equality with one regarded as inferior. So we find that this rainbow condescended into a

Theophany which we know as the Logos or the Word. This is also expressed as the rainbowreflecting through a master diamond: Christ. Brother Branham called this Logos the Son of God

and said it was a part of God that went out from God.

…And it was the Theophany of God that went out, the human form that didn't have eyes

like you see: a better eye. It didn't have ears like you hear, but a far more hearing. See? It

was a Theophany, that all this rainbow condescended into a--a Theophany...

[William Branham: Questions and Answers on Hebrews part 2 1957]

What we must not forget at this point is that this Word that comes forth formed from a like

invisible eternal pattern: the Great Eternal WORD; that this Son that comes into view came froman invisible Father who was like Him. Now as difficult as this may be to conceptualize we must

be able to do so for this same Word became flesh and dwelt among us and we find that an

invisible God who is Spirit had a human son. How was this accomplished, it remains a great



www.heishere.net


mystery to us, but we understand that it was the Word that became flesh and God indwelt that

body.

So to reiterate my point the Word that came forth visibly from God came forth from the Invisible

WORD that IS GOD. We understand that a word is a thought expressed and that a thought is anattribute. However when we are considering God and His thoughts and His attributes we cannot

liken His thoughts to ours or His attributes to ours. God‘s thoughts are eternal, they are infallible,they are self sustaining and self fulfilling and they are reality. Also God is not merely the

collection of His attributes: He is the possessor of them, He is the thinker of His thoughts not thesum of them.

…On top of Mount Zion will set the Lamb. And the city will need no light, for the Lambis the Light thereof. And above the Lamb will be the Father, which is the Logos, God, the

great Light, the eternal Light that'll shine just above the throne. And Jesus will not be on

His Father's throne, He'll be on His throne. And the Father will hover over the Son, which

the Father and Son will be One… [William Branham: Questions and Answers 1964]

So we see that God does not change, therefore His ways do not change, what changes is themasks and forms He uses to display Himself and His attributes. In the above statement of brother

Branham we see the scene in the New Jerusalem and what is notable is that nothing has changed

from the previous scene we outlined before creation: the rainbow fountain and the master

diamond are now expressed in the forms of the Eternal Light and the Lamb upon the Throne. Now this is not two gods this is the One God (Godhead) and His expression in Godhood.

1 - Taking a Step Backwards

Now before continuing I wish to just step back to this Great Invisible One once again for some

further considerations. We find He is omnipotent and omniscient – meaning simply that He is all

powerful and all knowing. He knows the beginning from the end before there is even a beginning

or an end, and also He is able to project this knowledge into reality. So His omnipotence is not

due to His omniscience or vice versa but both are an intrinsic part of what He is. Also we find

that He is Love and that this Love constrained Him to condescend and project Himself. At this

point you might ask what about omnipresent? Well there was nothing as yet for Him to be all

present in and towards. Therefore His Love constrained Him to confine Himself from eternality

into finite dimensions; from invisibility into visibility; from inscrutability into revelation. It is

therefore absolutely fitting that we see His first appellation to be the Strong One (omnipotent)

bound by an oath (His Word: omniscience) and the expression of this showed forth His Love to

the creation making Him omnipresent.

Now all of these attributes I have just stated: omnipotence, omniscience and love are not things

that He wished to become or to express; they were intrinsically and essentially what He IS! We



www.heishere.net


understand that He also had attributes in Him that needed to come forth in order to be expressed

and for Him to become known: In Him was to be Father, God (Creator), Savior…

So there is a differentiation therefore between the attributes of what He intrinsically IS and what

He is manifestly declared to be. It might be helpful for us to remind ourselves that all of these ‗to

be‘ attributions of God are made manifest how? His Word which came forth from Him! In order to be known as the Great Eternal Father which He IS it was necessary for the Son to come forth.

In order to be known as God which is an object of worship He had to create and to have that

creation worship Him. In order for Him to be known as Savior He had to have something to fall

which He would save. And He accomplishes all of this and indeed all that He has purposed to do

by His WORD.

2 - From Elohim to Jehovah

In the process of this great condescension of God we see an unfolding of God; we see the becoming God who changes not but is further unveiled according to His own good will and

pleasure. Now when we come to the designation of Himself as not just Elohim (GOD) but the

LORD GOD (Jehovah Elohim) we find He is now dealing with His children in the creation and it

is here that the redemptive purpose and titles of God begins to be introduced.Jehovah means the ‗self existent one who reveals Himself‘ and this is the name He presents to

Moses when declaring His purpose of redemption to His people Israel (Exodus 3:13-17).

Indeed the prophet told us there were seven compound redemptive titles of Jehovah which weunderstand to be:

Jehovah Jireh – the LORD will provide a sacrificeJehovah Rapha – the LORD that heals

Jehovah Nissi – the LORD our banner

Jehovah Shalom – the LORD is my peace

Jehovah Raah – the LORD my shepherdJehovah Tsikednu – the LORD our righteousness

Jehovah Shammah – the LORD is present

We understand that all of these redemptive titles are met and fulfilled in the man Jesus Christ and

God‘s ministry of reconciliation through Him. This ministry of reconciliation is continued in His

body upon the earth: the Church of the Firstborn; unto its consummation.

So now the name of Jehovah Elohim is fully expressed and made known in the name of JesusChrist – Jehovah of the old is the Jesus of the new.



www.heishere.net

17Part Four – From the Eternal to Creation

Part Four – From the Eternal to Creation

Let us look at four factors regarding the Eternal God that show the absolute necessity of Hiscondescension.

God cannot begin being Eternal (He is not confined in the finite – in time)God cannot die being Eternal (He is not confined to the finite – in mortality)God cannot be seen being Invisible (He is not confined to the finite - in visibility)

God cannot be fully known (He is not confined to the finite – in our understanding)

Hence He is set forth by Paul as the King: Eternal, Immortal, Invisible and All Wise (1Timothy

1:17).

1 - God is Eternal He has neither beginning or ending

The very act of creation demands of God condescension as He was never an impersonal God, He

was never detached or aloof in this whole process. He is the Great Father who created all things

through and by His Son and who is the Father of all living. The title of Father encompasses many

possibilities; one can be called a father by being the founder of an idea or an organization as we

call Plato, Aristotle and others the fathers of modern philosophy, we call the originator of a

corporation its founding father. So God is the father of all He created in this sense, the father of

all organisms, even of the universe. In Acts 17 Paul addressed the people at Mars hill to declare

to them the ‗unknown god‘ the God who is inscrutable, he quoted the Greek poets saying ‗in

Him we live and move and have our being … for we are also His offspring.‘ Now clearly all men

are not Sons of God, all did not have their names on the Lamb‘s book of Life from thefoundation of the world. We understand that He is a father to them in a different way than the

elected children of God the brethren of the firstborn son Jesus. Also in Genesis 4:1 when Eve

said ‗I have gotten a man from the Lord‘ we understand that all life is from God, all life belongs

to Him even as all creation belongs to Him, was made by Him and is for Him.

Then God is also called Father in a far greater and truer sense in that He has offspring that are of

His same nature and life; having the same original attributes within them that came forth from

Him. So getting back to the point God is active and involved in His creation at every level, He is

not an impersonal God. Therefore in order to participate in such a great act of creation it was

necessary that He condescend to do so, for God was not content to merely generate all things andstand afar off as a dispassionate observer, but from the outset it was His intention to become

fully involved in it, even getting Himself into it in order to express Himself to it and to have

fellowship with His attributes in it.



www.heishere.net


2 - God is Eternal and could not die as a Spirit

And in that, then, He became man, Himself, in order to redeem back man that fell. That's

the reason that Jesus was Emmanuel. If God sent another person besides Himself, thenthat wouldn't be just. God had to come Himself and take place. And God could not be

come down in Spirit and take place, He had to be made flesh, in the flesh of HisOwn creative Son.

[William Branham: Does God Change His Mind About His Word 1965]

There is no way that God could die He is an eternal, invisible Spirit. Therefore it was necessary

that he condescend, to stoop down and lower Himself so that He assumes equality with one whois lesser than Himself. This is what makes God so great: the fact that He can lower Himself in

this way. Indeed if God had not done so there would be no creation to worship Him and He

would not be known as anything let alone the Great One that He truly is.

The Father is separate from the Son, though not from Him as God. For even if a river be

soiled with mire and mud, although it flows from the fountain identical in nature with it,and is not separated from the fountain, yet the injury which affects the stream reaches notto the fountain; and although it is the water of the fountain which suffers down the

stream, still, since it is not affected at the fountain, but only in the river, the fountain

suffers nothing, but only the river which issues from the fountain.

So likewise the Spirit of God, whatever suffering it might be capable of in the Son, yet,inasmuch as it could not suffer in the Father, the fountain of the Godhead , but only in the

Son, it evidently could not have suffered, as the Father. But it is enough for me that theSpirit of God suffered nothing as the Spirit of God, since all that It suffered It suffered in

the Son. It was quite another matter for the Father to suffer with the Son in the flesh.

[Tertullian]

So as Tertullian says here, God the Great Fountain could not suffer or die, but the Son (His

stream of life – living from the same life) could. In this way then God could by identification

with and in His Son also partake of His suffering.

3 - God is Invisible He cannot be seen

The closest we come to any form of God‘s visibility is Light, which is synonymous with

revelation: the manifestation of God in His Word. So God is made outwardly visible by His

Word, and whatsoever makes manifest is Light. The Life of God which is Spirit is made Light to

us when He condescends to reveal Himself to us by His Word. As we mentioned earlier Jesus isthe little Logos that came forth from God (the Great Logos); the Son of God that came forth from

the Father; the little Light that was formed from the Great Light: the Eternal Light – the InvisibleLight. Light is essentially invisible to us unless it directly strikes our eyes, even as the Light of

God‘s Spirit is invisible to us unless it strikes the eyes of our understanding giving us

enlightenment. The other way we see light is when it reflects off some substance and strikes our

eyes, such as when it is separated through a prism (Master Diamond). So God is made outwardlyvisible by His Word and is perceived inwardly (with the eyes of our understanding) by His



www.heishere.net


Spirit. Also science today tells us that visible light is surrounded on both sides by invisible light:

infra red and ultra violet which we can detect with special instruments. Imagine what we could

see then if our eyes were not so impaired with sin.

4 - God cannot be fully known

We learn from the book of Isaiah that our thoughts are not as His, our ways differ from His. Wehave finite minds and a finite capacity to absorb and understand Him. So there is no man who

can say He knows and understands all there is to know about God. We can only know God as

much as He discloses Himself to us and that depends upon the relationship He places us inrelative to Himself. As His Bride we can know Him in ways that no other can. As Son‘s of the

Almighty we hold a relationship to Him unique from other creatures. Yet I believe we will

continue to learn of Him and know Him in greater ways throughout the Millennium and into the

endless ages to come.



www.heishere.net

20Part 5 - Father and Son in the Old Testament

Part 5 - Father and Son in the Old Testament

In this section we will examine some of the scriptures that show the idea of the Father Son relationship

that God intended to declare fully in the life of Jesus Christ as it is found in the Old Testament.

1 - The God in Christ Principle

Hebrews 1 tells us that God in different ways spoke in the Old Testament to the people in His prophets.

This was a fore-shadow of how He intended to fully and perfectly do the same thing in His Son Jesus

Christ. This sets forth to us the God in Christ principle: that God speaks to the people through an

anointed and specially chosen vessel. This was even at the request of the people:

And all the people saw the thunderings, and the lightnings, and the noise of the trumpet, andthe mountain smoking: and when the people saw it, they removed, and stood afar off.

And they said unto Moses, Speak thou with us, and we will hear: but let not God speak with us,

lest we die.

Exodus 20:18-19

So as Amos 3:7 says: the Lord GOD says nothing to the people but by way of prophets. Indeed the Word

of God was written by these same Holy men as they were moved by the Holy Spirit or by scribes who

wrote on their behalf. This was a principle that was undoubtedly understood by both the people and the

religious leaders in Jesus’ day. Yet they failed to recognize that He was that prophet like unto Moseswho they should hear, even though Moses had told them of it. Search the scriptures He told them for in

them you think you have life and they speak of me. It is evident from the Gospels that the people knew

to look for a prophet and that they understood Messiah would be a prophet. What they failed to see

was that the God in prophet principle was a shadow of the real which was God in His Son.



www.heishere.net


2 - Foreshadows of the Son

Yet the Old Testament has numerous references to God’s Messiah being His Son as well as being a man:

Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever: the sceptre of thy kingdom is a right sceptre.

Thou lovest righteousness, and hatest wickedness: therefore God, thy God, hath anointed thee

with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.

Psalms 45:6-7

They also should have understood that Messiah would be Lord to them, while God was His Lord. That

Jehovah would rule and manifest through the Adonai of His choice and sending.

The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool.

Psalms 110:1

In Psalms 2 David speaks of the LORD and His anointed, of this anointed one GOD says: you are My Son

today I have begotten you. We are also warned to kiss the Son unless He be angry with us and we perish

in the way, also that those who put their trust in this Son are blessed. Solomon, King David’s son asks a

question in Proverbs 30:12 – who has ascended up into Heaven, or descended? …who has established all

the ends of the earth? The answer clearly is GOD. Solomon continues with the questions: what is His

name, and what is His Son’s name, if you can tell? So clearly the concept of God having a Son is not

completely foreign to the Old Testament, even though it remained mysterious to them.

The idea of God having a son was certainly not novel to the Jews of Jesus’ day, Israel itself was said to be

His Son: His firstborn – His children (Exodus 4:22). Israel as God’s son is also said to be His servant (Isaiah

41:8) hence the idea of Messiah to come: who was the quintessential representative of Israel was seen

to be as a servant son.



www.heishere.net


3 - The Father and Son foreshadowed in Old Testament Characters

I now wish to look at three examples of the lives of Old Testament characters that show us in type the

Father and Son relationship that was to be manifest in the life of Jesus Christ.

1: Abraham and Isaac

Abraham is said to be the father of the faith of all of us even as God is the father of all the Sons of God.

Isaac in turn is a type of Abraham’s promised seed Christ. The story of Abraham’s test to sacrifice his

promised son Isaac gives us a wonderful preview of the relationship of Father and Son to come.

Abraham offers up his one son from Sarah’s womb, the promised son and at the vital moment God stays

his hand and provides a sacrifice in his place for this is only a type. In the reality of this type God sends

His only begotten Son to be the propitiation for our sin and in this way we are saved by the blood of

God, for God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself.

2: Joseph and Pharaoh

In the life of Joseph we see numerous likenesses to the coming Christ, he is given a dream in which he

sees himself being worshipped by all of his brethren, as a result he is despised by them and sold into

slavery as one dead. He ends up in Egypt and finds himself wrongfully imprisoned and with two inmates

who each have a dream. The outcome of these dreams is that one man lives the other dies. He is then

taken from the prison house at Pharaohs command and brought before him to interpret a dream that he

(Pharaoh) has had. He becomes the right hand governor of Pharaoh and at the approach of Joseph every

knee has to bow.

In the antitype Jesus was also despised by his brethren and sold to death for forty pieces of silver (the

same price paid to Joseph’s brothers by the slavers) He also found himself wrongfully tried and in the

company of two malefactors, one of whom went with Him to paradise the other who went to hell. Then

God raised Him from the dead and set Him at His own right hand and in the days to come e very knee

will bow and every tongue shall confess that Jesus is Lord to the glory of God the Father.

3: David and Solomon

King David and his son Solomon give us another glimpse of God’s future plans involving the Father and

Son relationship that was to be manifest in Jesus Christ. At the end of his life David arranged to have

Solomon crowned King while he yet lived, to ensure that no politics would mar his sons future reign, he

also set about to ensure that all potential enemies of the Kingdom of Solomon were put under his feet.From this we get the verse in Psalms 110:1 ‘The LORD said unto my Lord sit here at My right hand until I

have made your enemies your footstool.’ Which we see in fulfillment in that God is putting all things

under the feet of Jesus preparing everything for the coming millennial reign.

These three examples by no means exhaust this topic, but will suffice to illustrate the point that there is

a clear foreshadowing of the concept of Father and Son seen in the Old Testament.



www heishere net

23Part Five: The Unchanging God – Alpha and Omega

Part Five: The Unchanging God – Alpha and Omega

In this section we will examine the idea that God changes not and see the impact and implications of this

on the understanding of Godhead and Godhood. This concept is well stated in Hebrews 13:8 which says:

‘Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever’. In the book of Revelation He calls Himself the

Alpha and the Omega: the beginning and the end. In introducing this thought I want to focus on three

parts of the working of God: His work of creation; His work of redemption and His work of ruling and

reigning. What I want to attempt to show is that in each of these God is unchanging in the manner in

which He achieves each.

1 - The Work of Creation

Col 1:15-19 tells us that God made all things by Jesus Christ. He was the Word by which God made all

that is seen and unseen. So it was God in Christ creating all things; the Father creating in and through

the Son. In so doing He set the pattern that was to follow: the God in Christ principle. John 1 tells us that

God by His Word made all things and that the Word was the Light and Life of mankind which became

flesh in the only begotten Son of God. We see an allusion to this fact of God creating all things by His

Word in Proverbs 8:22-31. So Christ is God’s chosen agent for creation all things being made by Him and

not one thing being made except by Him. Even the new creation is via Him for as the Father has life in

Himself so has He given for the Son to have life in Himself.

2 - The Work of Redemption

We see this pattern the Alpha principle of God working in and through Christ extended into the realm of

men when the Word became flesh. Now we have God in Christ reconciling all things to Himself through

the life of obedience and the sacrifice of His only begotten Son.

3 - The Work of Reigning

This unchanging pattern of God doing all things in and through Christ continues in the ages to come

when the one who is in our midst is made incarnate to us in the flesh of His risen Son. For just as surely

as God was well pleased to dwell in His only begotten son for the work of redemption, He is equally

pleased to rule and reign in and through and by Him. Jesus is declared by God to be His approved

tabernacle, the permanent place of rest for His Spirit.

Date post:	10-Apr-2018
Category:	Documents
Upload:	mferris
View:	219 times
Download:	0 times

The Godhead - Let Us Start With the Man

Documents