Bible Study -- Relaxed Pace

[Mechanism]

I have a feeling that this might fit more in the main forum.

--The first few books seem to serve the most purpose to me.
The rest seem to be just rambling stories to me.  

[Mystic_moon15]

i dont really know wich i like more cause ive never actually read the hole bible im starting to know but i like juststarted reading it.  

[Theopneustos]

Genesis 1

Genesis 1:1 "God created the heavens and the earth." God is the Creator of the universe. Not only is He the Creator, but His works are perfect (see Deuteronomy 32:4). There are three important things here. 1. God is the Creator; 2. God is clever and orderly; 3. We are important, because we were created by God.

Genesis 1:1-3 In the first three verses, it mentions God, the Spirit of God, and God's declaration to the first thing that is created, which is light. But in these three verses, we can see the tri-unity, hence, "God," "Spirit of God," and "said," which is the Word. So we have God, the Word, and the Holy Spirit (for the Word, see Psalm 33:6, 9; John 1:1).

Genesis 1:3-31 Throughout the passage, everything is placed in an orderly fashion. Plants were not made first, then the light. For the first three days, God begins to create the universe. In the next three days, God starts to create creatures and what is necessary for the world. God declares all of what He created, "good."

Genesis 1:6-8 Compare with 2 Peter 3:5

Genesis 1:16 The author of Genesis probably used "greater light" and "lesser light," probably because the Hebrew names for "sun" and "moon" were uncomfortably close, and in fact etymologically related, to those of two pagan gods whose Babylonian worshipers had been known to seduce Israelites from their true faith.

Genesis 1:26 The phrase, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness" does not mean that Adam was created to look like God, for God is spirit (John 4:24). So, what could it mean? It can actually mean that we are rational, clever, loving, patient, etc. So we reflect the image of God.

Genesis 1:26 In this verse, we see the words "us" and "our." There are three interpretations on what this means. 1. God could be saying "us" and "our," which was used to show majesty. Kings would use when they spoke of themselves. 2. God could have been speaking to the angels. 3. It could be the Trinity, hence, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Genesis 1:28-30 God gave humans the authority over the beasts of the field, the birds in the air, and the creatures in the sea. Yet humans were created a little lower than the heavenly beings (Psalm 8:5).

I'll probably deal with John 1:1-18 later on, because my friend from church wants to go through all of the Gospel of John, and I wanted to help by giving some views.  

[Theopneustos]

Faith Fairy

Theopneustos, thank you for that wonderful verse by verse discussion. I picked John 1 to go with this mostly because of the parallel between God's creation and Jesus' role as the Word in that creation.

You're welcome. And it is good that you used John 1, since, as you said, "of the parallel between God's creation and Jesus' role as the Word in that creation." While I am here, I'll set up John 1:1 right now.

John 1:1
John starts off with a similar sentence to that of the first sentence in Genesis 1:1. This points the Word as eternal and preexistent. The Word, or logos in Greek, and to the Greeks, was a principle of reason, which made the world orderly. The term logos was first used by a man named Heraclitus. Later, a Hellenized Jew by the name of Philo used it.

Philo of Alexandria (20 B.C. - 50 A.D.) saw the logos as the instrument by which God makes the universe and the mediator where human intelligence, as it is refined, ascends to God again. To Philo, the logos is neither divine nor personal. Nor does the logos exist, unless he is brought into perform a role.

While the Greek saw the logos as a principle of reason that governed the world, the Jews saw the logos as the expression of God (see Ps. 33:6, 9). However, for John, the Word, unlike Philo's view, was personal, divine, and existed from eternity past. Though He was begotten, He was not made. There are Christians who believe that John used the term logos, because both the Jews and Gentiles were familiar with it.

The Word was with God. Here, in this verse, the Greek word pros is used. Other Greek words for "with," such as meta and para are not used here. The term pros suggests an intimate, personal relationship, and it is regularly used to express the presence of one person with another.

In the third part of the sentence of verse 1, "the Word was God" (kai theos en ho logos), is an affirmation that the Word, Jesus Christ, is God. Not only was the Word preexistent and eternal, and not only was He face-to-face with God, but the Word Himself was God.

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John 1:1 in Greek: en arche en ho logos en pros ton theon kai theos en ho logos  

[Theopneustos]

Faith Fairy

Now see, that is one of the things that confuses me. That whole Trinity idea where Jesus is with God and also is God. Only it's quite obvious that as a human, Jesus couldn't be God with all His knowledge and power and omnipresence. That entire concept, other than the habit God had of talking in the first person plural ("Let us make man in our image"), just isn't in the old testament.

And this also explains the Trinity. While the Word was with God, which may be why the two first persons are called "Father" and "Son" (see pros again), He was also God. Remember, there are three persons, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The Son is the Word, so He is with God. But the Son is also the same substance as the Father, which is God, so He is God. We say that Jesus is the Son of God, and yet at the same time, we say that He is God. While He may be the Son, showing a unique relationship with the Father, He is still called God Incarnate. Does that make sense?  

[Theopneustos]

Faith Fairy

Let me try an analogy and see what you think. Suppose God is pure holy water. Suppose He made us to be glasses of something very like water (in His image), which we then pollute with sin. Suppose He then sent Jesus, put Him in a human-shaped glass (with all the limitations therein), and let Jesus show us God and what we also are capable of becoming (assuming we claim Jesus' sacrifice to cleanse our essence from sin). So Jesus was made of pure holy water, God-essence, in a human form, while we are human essences in human forms. Am I on the right track?

Um, let me try again.

Persons:
Father
Son
Holy Spirit

Substance:
God

Persons does not mean three separable beings, independent of each other. Separable and independent means that if, for example, there were three beings, they wouldn't need one another to live or even exist. One could merely get away from another and still live on their own. This isn't the same for persons in the Trinity. The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are inseparable and interdependent. There are three persons, but there is only one substance, which is God. The Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God. Not three God's but one God.

The Word was with God and the Word was God. The Word is the Son. The Word is God's expression. If the Word is God's expression, then the Word is equal with God, just as our words are equal to us. Yet, I am not saying that the Word stops existing until God speaks again. The Word has been with God for all eternity. He was not created. He was "begotten; not made" (Nicene Creed). The Word proceeds from the Father. In relationship, the Son is lower than the Father. In nature, the Son is equal with the Father.

The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are one in substance, and substance is what the three persons have in common, despite their distinction. The three persons are distinct, yet not divided. Different, yet not separable. The illustration below can simplify what I am saying.



Look at each part. The Father is on the left, the Son is on the right, and the Holy Spirit is on the bottom. Notice that the Father is not the Son, the Son is not the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit is not the Father, but the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are God. As the triangle has three angles, yet is only one, so God is three persons, yet is only one. John 1:1 seems to distinguish the Word from the Godhead. John says that the Word was with God, and he says that the Word was God.

I really hope that makes more sense. sweatdrop  

[Theopneustos]

Genesis may hold some interesting interpretations, and, it can go as far as spiritual. Saint Aurelius Augustinus, bishop of Hippo, or commonly known as Augustine of Hippo, once said, "The New Testament lies hidden in the Old, and the Old Testament is unveiled in the New." If we look at Genesis 3, for example, we can see that Adam and Eve disobey and are brought out from the Garden of Eden.

Follow along with me. Adam brings death to all mankind, and those who are in Adam, perish. Since every human being is in Adam, every human being, therefore, perishes. This is not only physically, but spiritually. Adam was told, "On that day you will surely die." Before Adam could die physically, he first must have died spiritually. As soon as Adam and Eve disobeyed, they die. It took Adam 930 years before he died physically. We don't know anything else about Eve, except that she bears children. But, Adam was still dying. And when we are all born, we are alive, but we also die.

The Bible teaches us of Adam, and then in the New Testament, we are brought to the second Adam, who is Jesus Christ, the Son of the Most Hight God. Now, Christ does just the opposite of Adam. Instead of disobeying, He obeys His Father. Furthermore, while Adam and Eve were in a covenant of works, in which, the must do works in order to stay in God's favor, Christ completed the covenant of works, and so, when we are born anew, we are imputed with Christ's works, with His righteousness. Thus, we have works that which we have not done, and righteousness that which is not our own, and so, in the sight of God, while we are sinners, we are "at the same time just and sinner" (Lat. simul iustus et peccator). The word "impute" gives a negative definition. Usually, it refers to being blamed, to be guilty of. But the word here does not mean that. Other words, such as attributed, credited, reckoned, can be used in favor for these. So, we are attributed with or credited with righteousness, and this righteousness is a foreign righteousness, since we could not stand before God as a just person.

Now, when we are imputed with Christ's righteousness, there is then the covenant of grace. Grace means "undeserved favor." We do not deserve God's favor, but He gives it freely to whom He chooses, according to His good pleasure and will. Thus, undeserved may include that which is not out of merit, or in other words, grace does not come from doing "good" works. So Christ has completed what we could never accomplish. I remember, by the way, at one point in the M&R, that one person said that it was "virtually impossible" to keep all the commandments in the Bible. How right he was. So then, we see the contrast between the disobedient Adam, and the obedient Adam, which is Christ Jesus.

The next parallel between the Old and New Testament found in Genesis 3 is that we see also that Eve was disobedient. Now, this is a Catholic teaching, and I am a Protestant. What's up with this? Well, just to let you know, I find this thought quite fascinating, though I won't be giving honor to Mary. In the Catholic teaching, as far as I know and remember, Mary is sometimes referred to as either the "New Eve" or "Second Eve." And just as there is a second Adam, so too, there is a second Eve, which is Mary. The explanation is like that of the disobedience of Adam and the obedience of the second Adam. Eve disobeyed, but, Mary obeyed. Furthermore, while Eve did not remain a virgin, Mary did (this is known as perpetual virginity, I believe). Yes, we have the words "brothers" found in the New Testament, and this is quite argueable, but I won't be debating that here. Furthermore, while Eve bore a murderer (Cain), the second Eve bore a life-giving Man (Christ).

As I have stated above, Adam and Eve were brought out from the Garden. They lost the Garden of Eden. Now watch this parallel here. It's my favorite one, and I believe it originated from Irenaeus of Lyons, an early church father. Paradise was lost in one garden (Eden), yet restored in another (Gethsemane). But not only that, they lost also the Tree of Life. Thus, the Tree of Life became a tree of death, but the tree of death (the cross) became a tree of life.