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Nov/Dec 2019 Report

Chad WagnerLeave a comment

NOVEMBER AND DECEMBER REPORT 2019

I have been studying through the Godhead with Abdul Suleiman and this month of November and December we are going to take a look at “WHAT DOES THREE PERSONS IN ONE MEAN” we have seen that God is composed of three persons, each of whom have all the characteristics of Deity. The Bible presents three persons and only three, with Divine titles. Notice Haggai 2:5-7. Three Beings are mentioned as Deity: The Lord of Hosts, the spirit and the Desire of All Nations. The Desire of all nations is clearly a reference to Jesus. In a similar manner, these same three Beings are mentioned as God and mentioned together in Matthew 28:19. In this passage, the word “Name” is singular. Thus three beings make up the one name. Furthermore, the Apostle Paul refers to all three together in 2Corinthians 13:14. The idea of the Godhead would not be expected to be seen much in the Old Testament, yet many statements in the Old Testament are certainly consistent with the doctrine of the Godhead. One of the clearest is the use of plurals in respect to God. If God is one, then only singular forms should be used in respect to God. Yet, the Hebrew name for God, Elohim is plural in form that by itself would not necessarily indicate plurality, see Genesis 1:26. The word “said” is singular, but the verb “Let us make” is plural, as are “our image” and our likeness’. Other similar examples can be found Genesis 3:22. Notice one more example this time from Isaiah 6:8. The shift of number from singular to plural is significant.

HOW CAN WE UNDERSTAND THE GODHEAD

We have seen that the Bible plainly declares God to be one, yet at the same time, declares and indicates a plurality in form at other places. How can we understand this mysterious concept? God is one, but he is not one in number, but one in essence or unity. Consider the best known unity passage in the Bible, Deuteronomy 6:4-5 the Hebrew had two words for one. One word indicates one or uniqueness, such as when Abraham is told to offer his only son. Another word, which is used in Deuteronomy 6, indicates a unity or composite of several factors. This same word is used in Genesis 2:24. Several analogies have been proposed to illustrate the Godhead but none are perfect. The Godhead has been compared to water, which can exist as a solid, liquid or vapor. The main problem with that illustration is that water cannot exist in all three forms at the same time. The Godhead has been compared to an egg which is composed of a shell, yoke and white but it is still one egg. The Godhead has also been compared to several physical objects another illustration is that a human being can be a father, son, and husband to the same person. I particularly like an illustration from the Bible. In Genesis 2:24, God commands that man should leave father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. Obviously they remain two separate individuals, but they should be completely united. Similarly, in John 17:11 Jesus prayed that Christians would be one just as He and God were one. Obviously, all Christians cannot literally become one person. Likewise, Paul said that “he that plants and he that waters are one 1Corinthians 3:8 “of course, we must realize that that factors limiting the oneness of human beings do not apply to God, thus the Godhead is united to a much greater extent than humans. Another way of looking at the Godhead is to view the Godhead as a society, a complex of persons. They are bound together by love for God is love 1John. 4:8, 16. Love binds them so closely that they are one. Love requires a subject and an object. Thus, before the creation, God could not have really loved unless He was more than one. This may seem in sufficient, but there are several limiting factors among human beings that is not present in Deity. We are separated by physical bodies. Since God is a spirit, He does not have that limitation. All humans have differing experiences which affect all aspects of our lives. Obviously that limitation is also not present with God. All humans are preoccupied with one’s self, one’s own needs and problems, but that preoccupation is not part of God’s nature. All of these factors, and maybe more, make it impossible for us to completely focus on understand or empathize with other humans; however those limitations are not true with God, thus He is able to be completely united to a much greater extent than is possible with human beings.

CONCLUSION

In this series of lessons we have been attempting to explain the concept of the Godhead. While we cannot completely understand it, hopefully this study has enabled us to better comprehend it. And even more so, strengthened our faith in this vital doctrine. The Godhead is composed of three persons or centers of consciousness, but all are so completely united that they become one. All three beings of the Godhead interpenetrate one another, supply life to the others, and all are involved in all aspects of the work of God. Furthermore on November and December 2019 Reports we had evangelism at Nonwa in Tai Local Government Area on the23rd Nov, 2019 with prospects by name Success Guadu and Daniel and follow up is regular. while on the 22nd Dec, 2019 we have Evangelism at Sime Tai and also have three prospects namely Happiness Monday, James Amanikpo and Friday Njaga. Their problem has been knowing the Bible dispensations e.g patriarchal, Mosaic and Christian age and how to rightly divide the word of truth. We buried bro Emmanuel Ndorn age 80years on the 21st of Dec, 2019. The church here extents greetings to you and wishes you a prosperous new year in advance for more propagation of the word of God for the purpose of salvation. Year 2020 is yet another year for us to strive for the course of Christ and win more souls, thus obeying the commandment of our Great God Jesus Christ. Mark 16:15-16, May you everlastingly remain blessed in the Lord for this Great work you have undertaken for the Salvation of lost Souls Amen.

NNANNA AFORJI

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Sept/Oct Report from Nnanna Aforji

Chad WagnerLeave a comment

SEPTEMBER AND OCTOBER REPORT

My last lesson of July and August with Abdul Suleiman was “The importance of the Godhead” so this month of September and October we will consider the topic “The Lord our God is one” God the father, Jesus and the Holy Spirit. At one glance one might say these are three gods, thus Christianity is actually polytheistic. The other extreme is to believe that the three are merely different manifestations of the one God. In other words, there is only one God, but at times He is spoken of as God the father, Jesus or the Holy Spirit. Jesus is only a manifestation of this one God and at other times God is displayed as the spirit. This avoids the dilemma of having three gods, but we run into the problem of rationalizing this doctrine with the teaching of the Bible.

The doctrine of the Godhead is a difficult idea to understand. Actually, I do not believe we can fully understand the God head, but this should not surprise us. There are many things about God that humans cannot fully comprehend. For example, humans cannot comprehend the idea of eternity, because everything in this world has a beginning and an end. However, by definition, eternity had no beginning and will have no ending. Why we may give some illustrations that may help some, all illustrations fall far short of truly describing eternity. If we could fully understand and comprehend all aspects about God, then He would no longer be God. Once we think we fully understand God, we have simply created God into an image, and He is no longer God. We do not want to worship someone or something that is no more than a man, regardless of how great he may be.

EFFORTS TO RESOLVE THIS DIFFICULTY

It should not be surprised that man has devised several doctrines which seem to solve the difficulty of the Godhead. Notice a few of the major ones. One solution is to redefine the Deity of Jesus. This idea teaches that Jesus was not divine in any sense at his conception or birth, but later he was adopted by God and elevated to the position of Deity. One could speak of Jesus as Divine because God was so strongly working in and through Jesus during His life on earth. This resolves the tension between the deity of Jesus and God; however, it rejects and over looks many passages that teach the equality between Jesus and God and the Deity of Jesus from His conception and even before His conception. Another view is one that has already been mentioned, and it presents God like an actor who plays several parts in a play.

At one time God is playing the part of God the father, at another time He plays the part of Jesus, and at another time He plays the part of spirit. Thus, God is not actually three persons but merely one person presented in three different forms. This approach preserves the unity of God; however, it ignores several passages in which all three are present simultaneously. When Jesus was baptized, God spoke from heaven and the spirit descended on Jesus like a dove (Luke 3:21-22) To whom did Jesus pray when He was on the earth? It would be silly to say Jesus prayed to Himself. When God was a fetus in the womb of Mary how could he control and preserve the universe? How could God truly be limited in knowledge as was Jesus while on earth (e.g. Mark 13:32), if He was one and the same person? Another common solution in the religious world is to redefine the relationship between the father and the son. Rather than holding that Jesus is eternal this view presents the son as merely a created being, the first and certainly highest creature, but nevertheless, Jesus is a created being and thus less than God. Some passages in the New Testament seem to support this idea. For instance John 14:28, Mark 10:18, Luke 18:19, However as with the other approaches, this view ignores many passages which teach the power and the eternal nature of Jesus as was presented in my previous lesson “Jesus is God” The New Testament passages which present the superiority of the father over His son can easily be understood as indicating Jesus’ willful emptying of the characteristics of Deity as indicated in Philippians 2:5-11 when He became flesh.

GOD IS ONE

This doctrine is taught all through the Bible. The Jews regularly quoted Deuteronomy 6:4 called the SHEMA. Jesus also quoted this verse in Mark 12:29. The very first one of the Ten Commandments states, “You shall have no other gods before me”. Isaiah spoke against idolatry on many occasions. Notice just two examples Isaiah 44:6, a similar statement is made in the next chapter Isaiah 45:5 Paul also made a comparable statement in 1 Corinthians 8:4. We learn from James 2:19 that even the demons believe there is only one God. How can three be one? That is the problem that we humans have. We cannot conceive of three different material substances being combined into one and yet still remaining three distinct substances. In the next lesson we will look further at this idea of God being one, as well as considering some analogies that might help us better understand this difficult concept.

Furthermore, the brethren here are faithful. Both personal and congregational Evangelism are been carried out. We go out every Lord’s day after worship and spend two hours preaching the gospel, this is outside my own personal Evangelism as a preacher. Since the congregation is situated in the rural area and the people are farmers, the only time we can get them around in numbers is the Lord’s day. And we are doing our best to preach to them as commanded by our Lord Jesus Christ. Mark 16:15-16, 2 Timothy 4:2. The new convert is doing well in the young convert’s class been regular in fellowship. The world Bible school representatives in Rivers State had Evangelism in ABUA ODUAL otherwise known as ABUA CENTRAL last month though we did not record any baptism. THE WBS REPRESENTATIVES IN RIVERS STATE movement to ABUA ODUAL was based on invitation from church of Christ AZUBIE TOWN which planted a congregation there. There has been no Lord’s church in ABUA ODUAL. The people are receptive and we are planning to go there again. Pray for the young convert, Abdul Suleiman and the brethren here as the Lord is in control. Our prayers are with you too.

God bless you Amen.

NNANNA AFORJI