Yahweh, His Breath and His Word

Yahweh, His Breath and His Word

The Trinity explained through the simile of speech

By Joseph Herrin


What I am going to share here has come as a Rhema word from God. I did not figure this out with my rational abilities, for in truth I have been completely stumped as I have tried to understand the Trinity. I could not conceive in my limited mind how God could be both three persons and one person. Like all things that are truly profound, we receive them as a free gift as Yahweh gives us understanding. We are told to ask, seek and knock when we lack understanding, and it will be given to us, and in doing this I have done nothing more than any other saint could, and should, do. I take no credit for anything shared herein, though I consider it to be a tremendous revelation. The revelation is not from man, but from God. I am merely a scribe recording what I have received.

As this matter of the nature of God was on my mind, Yahweh led me to understanding by showing me a physical example that all of us are very familiar with. We are told in Genesis chapter one that man has been created in the image and likeness of God, and knowing this, we can conclude that if we understand man, we will know something about God. My journey into understanding began when someone wrote to me and asked "Where would you look to find man's spirit."

I had already done some study of the matter of man being comprised of spirit, soul and body, and the Scriptures do declare that man does consist of these three parts.

I Thessalonians 5:23 Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame at the coming of our Lord Yahshua the Messiah.

I learned an interesting thing as I studied the Hebrew and Greek words for soul and spirit. Both words are derived from words that mean "breath", "a current of air", or "exhalation". Most saints are very familiar with Yahshua's discourse with Nicodemus. During this conversation we have recorded the following words of Christ.

John 3:8 "The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit."

Because we are reading this in English, rather than in Greek, we miss a very important point. The word that we read here as "wind", and the word we read as "Spirit" are not two separate words in the Greek, but they are the same word "pneuma". This entire matter of understanding the role of Father, Son and Spirit would be much clearer if the Bible translators had rendered this word pneuma as "breath" or "wind" in every instance. Instead of the Holy Spirit, we would be speaking of the "Holy Breath". We would know then that the Holy Spirit is the Breath, or Exhalation of the Father whom we know as Yahweh. The Holy Spirit is the Divine Breath. A Scripture that reveals this in a very poignant way is the following.

John 20:21-22 So Yahshua said to them again, "Peace be with you; as the Father has sent Me, I also send you." And when He had said this, He breathed on them and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit."

Another passage is as follows:

Acts 2:1-4 When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a noise like a violent rushing wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. And there appeared to them tongues as of fire distributing themselves, and they rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit was giving them utterance.

It is apparent from these verses and many others that the Spirit is synonymous with wind and breath. The Spirit is the Exhalation of Yahweh. The passage in John above could be written, "He breathed on them and said to them, "Receive the Holy Breath." Similarly, the passage from Acts could read, "And they were all filled with the Holy Wind." The words "breath" and "wind" are used to describe similar things in the English language. For example we might say, "There was not a breath of wind stirring."

Understanding the relationship between Spirit and breath was building block number one in coming to understand the relationship between Father, Son and Spirit. The next building block came as I tried to answer the question regarding where man would look for his spirit.

We know that a spirit is invisible to the natural senses. We cannot take a picture of a man's spirit. Not even an x-ray will show the spirit of man. Our spirit was formed in the image of the invisible God, and our spirit is likewise invisible. Yet we talk about seeing the spirit of another person very often. We might say, "He has a kind spirit", or "She has a bitter spirit". A commonly heard expression is "He is the spirit and image of his father" (Some areas have corrupted this expression and lost its true sense as they say "He is the spittin image of his father." "Spittin" is a slang corruption of "spirit and".)

If we do not see another person's spirit, then how do we recognize their spirit? It is our words that express what is inside of us. Yahshua said:

Mark 7:20-23 And He was saying, "That which proceeds out of the man, that is what defiles the man. For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed the evil thoughts, fornications, thefts, murders, adulteries, deeds of coveting and wickedness, as well as deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride and foolishness. All these evil things proceed from within and defile the man."

The things that are in man's spirit will come out of his mouth. By listening to another person's speech we can discern their spirit. We can easily tell if a father and a son have the same spirit by listening to their words. Are they both hateful? Are they both compassionate? Whatever is in their spirit will be revealed in their speech.

Now a light began to come on inside when I was led to consider how man forms words. We speak as our breath is exhaled and passes over our vocal cords. We only speak as we exhale, and we do not speak while inhaling. This is no accident. It is by Divine design. Yahweh is teaching us something about Himself in this simple example of the speech of man. We cannot see man's spirit until his spirit is exhaled and forms words. A man's spirit is revealed in his words.

In the same way, we cannot see God who is Spirit until He breathes out a Word.

I Timothy 6:15-16 He who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone possesses immortality and dwells in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see.

John 1:18 No one has seen God at any time; the only begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared (revealed, expressed) Him.

Yahweh is Spirit, and as Spirit He is invisible to the physical senses of man. Yahweh would remain invisible to man had He not spoken a Word, and this Word is His Son.

John 1:1, 2, 14 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God... And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.

Even as man's spirit is seen through his words, so Yahweh who is Spirit can only be seen through His Word, which is Yahshua the Son. In Yahshua Yahweh has fully expressed Himself. To see the Son is to see the invisible Father.

John 14:8-9 Philip said to Him, "Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us." Yahshua said to him, "Have I been so long with you, and yet you have not come to know Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; how can you say, "Show us the Father'?"

As we look at Yahweh's design of man, and the production of speech, we learn a great truth about the Father, Son and Spirit. The spirit of man is invisible, but it is who the man essentially is. The character of man is bound up in his spirit. His thoughts are formed in his spirit. Yet neither the character nor the thoughts of a man are evident until they are given expression. The chief way that God has designed man to express himself is through speech, and our speech is generated as we exhale the breath that is within us and this breath is given shape as it passes over our vocal cords.

What a picture this is of the Trinity. Yahweh is also invisible, for He is Spirit. His character and His thoughts remain invisible until they are given expression. His expression is His Son, who is called "the Word of God", and this Word was formed as the Spirit, or Divine Breath of God moved.

Luke 1:35 The angel answered and said to [Mary], "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; and for that reason the holy Child shall be called the Son of God."

John 1:32-34 John testified saying, "I have seen the Spirit descending as a dove out of heaven, and He remained upon Him. I did not recognize Him, but He who sent me to baptize in water said to me, ‘He upon whom you see the Spirit descending and remaining upon Him, this is the One who baptizes in the Holy Spirit.' I myself have seen, and have testified that this is the Son of God."

In these two verses an important truth is revealed. It required two distinct acts of the Spirit to fully form the Word of God. Yahshua could not begin His ministry of "declaring" the Father until the Spirit moved upon Him a second time. He was not yet the full expression of Yahweh until the Spirit descended upon Him and remained. In the same way, man requires two touches from God's Spirit (the Divine Breath) to begin manifesting the character and thoughts of God to the world. We see these two touches from God in the following verses.

Genesis 2:7 Then Yahweh God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.

John 20:21-22 So Yahshua said to them again, "Peace be with you; as the Father has sent Me, I also send you." And when He had said this, He breathed on them and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit."

Twice the breath of God had to move upon man to make him into God's new creation. With the first breath man became a living soul. With the second breath he became a life giving spirit.

I Corinthians 15:45-49 So also it is written, "The first man, Adam, became a living soul." The last Adam became a life-giving spirit. However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural; then the spiritual. The first man is from the earth, earthy; the second man is from heaven. As is the earthy, so also are those who are earthy; and as is the heavenly, so also are those who are heavenly. And just as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.

As Yahweh breathes an image is formed, in the same way that we breathe and we form words that create an image of our spirit. We have born the image of the earthly, yet we shall also bear the image of the heavenly. At God's first breath man became a living soul, a natural being that is earthly. At His second breath man became a life giving spirit, and the image of the heavenly being began to take shape in us. This process of being formed into the heavenly image is a process that will continue until Christ be fully formed in us.

II Corinthians 3:18 But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.

Returning to our focus on the Father, Son and Spirit, we are now prepared to answer the question, "Is God one God, or is He three?" We can also answer the question, "Is Yahshua God, or was He a created being?" Again, the answer can be found as we look at man who was created in the image and likeness of God. As a man I consist of spirit, soul and body. Does this make me three men, or am I one man? I am one man, though I exist in various states and have distinct parts. The Scriptures declare that Yahweh is one God.

I Timothy 2:5 For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Yahshua...

Deuteronomy 6:4 "Hear, O Israel! Yahweh is our God, Yahweh is one!"

We do not serve three Gods, we serve one God whose name is Yahweh. Yahweh has Breath which He sends forth to accomplish His will, and it is this Breath that we call the Holy Spirit who is pictured as a "rushing mighty wind", and also as "a gentle stirring". To aid our understanding, however, we would do better to think of the Father as Spirit, for this is what He is, and to think of the Holy Spirit as His Divine Breath sent forth to accomplish His will.

John 4:24 "God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth."

As we have seen, the word pneuma means breath, or wind. This Breath in turn forms the expression of Yahweh, which we know as Yahshua, the Word of God. When Yahweh forms a word and sends it forth, it is to accomplish His purposes, and His Word will accomplish all that it has been sent forth to do.

Isaiah 55:11 So will My Word be which goes forth from My mouth; it will not return to Me empty, without accomplishing what I desire, and without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it.

Yahshua is this Word that Isaiah has written about. He testified that He did not come of His own initiative, but the Father sent Him (John 8:42). He came to do the will of the Father, and He succeeded fully in accomplishing all that which He was sent forth to accomplish. As we have observed, our words reveal our spirit, and Yahweh's Word reveals Him. For this reason Yahshua, the Word of God came, to disclose the Father. Because Yahshua is the Word of God that fully discloses Yahweh who is Spirit, there is no difference between them. They are One and the same. They are not two Gods, but One and the same God.

Yahshua is not some created being in the same way that man has been created. He is the very expression of Yahweh. My words express my spirit. They are not separate from me, though I form them. Instead they reveal who I really am. In the same way Yahshua, the Word, expresses who Yahweh is. In the Scriptures we see that no distinction is made between them. As Yahshua stated, "Before Abraham was, I AM", and "If you have seen Me you have seen the Father." Let us look at some other Scriptures that reveal their intrinsic union.

 

Yahweh and Christ both called "the First and the Last":

Isaiah 44:6 "Thus says Yahweh, the King of Israel and his Redeemer, Yahweh of hosts: 'I am the first and I am the last, and there is no God besides Me.

Isaiah 48:12 "Listen to Me, O Jacob, even Israel whom I called; I am He, I am the first, I am also the last."

Apocalypse 1:17 When I saw Him, I fell at His feet like a dead man. And He placed His right hand on me, saying, "Do not be afraid; I am the first and the last...

Apocalypse 2:8 "And to the angel of the church in Smyrna write: The first and the last, who was dead, and has come to life, says this...

Apocalypse 22:13 "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end."

 

Yahweh and Christ both called "the Rock":

Isaiah 44:8 'Do not tremble and do not be afraid; Have I not long since announced it to you and declared it? And you are My witnesses. Is there any God besides Me, or is there any other Rock? I know of none.'"

I Corinthians 10:4 And all drank the same spiritual drink, for they were drinking from a spiritual rock which followed them; and the rock was Christ.

 

Yahweh and Christ are both called "I AM":

Exodus 3:14 God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM"; and He said, "Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, "I AM has sent me to you.'"

Matthew 18:20 "For where two or three have gathered together in My name, I AM there in their midst."

Matthew 28:20 Teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I AM with you always, even to the end of the age."

John 8:58 Yahshua said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I AM."

 

Both are called "The Almighty":

Genesis 17:1 Now when Abram was ninety-nine years old, Yahweh appeared to Abram and said to him, "I am God Almighty; walk before Me, and be blameless.

Genesis 35:11 God also said to him, "I am God Almighty; be fruitful and multiply..."

Genesis 49:25 From the God of your father who helps you, and by the Almighty who blesses you...

Revelations 1:8 "I am the Alpha and the Omega," says the Lord God, "who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty."

Revelations 4:7-8 And the four living creatures, each one of them having six wings, are full of eyes around and within; and day and night they do not cease to say, "Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God, the Almighty, who was and who is and who is to come."

Revelations 11:17 "We give Thee thanks, O Lord God, the Almighty, who art and who wast, because Thou hast taken Thy great power and hast begun to reign."

Revelations 19:14-15 And from His mouth comes a sharp sword, so that with it He may smite the nations; and He will rule them with a rod of iron; and He treads the wine press of the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty.

Revelations 21:22 And I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God, the Almighty, and the Lamb, are its temple.

 

Both the Father and the Son bear the name "Yahweh":

Joel 2:32 "And it will come about that whoever calls on the name of Yahweh will be saved."

Romans 10:12-13 For "Whoever will call upon the name of the Lord will be saved."

(We know it was the practice of the Jews to replace the sacred name Yahweh with the title Adonai which means "Lord". Paul was quoting from Joel as he was referring to Christ. Compare this also with the following verse which says there is salvation in no other name. Joel says that those who call on the name "Yahweh" will be saved, and there is no other name. The Father and Son bore the same name.)

Acts 4:12 "And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved."

 

This substitution of names is seen in other places as well:

Psalms 118:26  Blessed is the one who comes in the name of Yahweh...

John 12:12-13 On the next day the great multitude who had come to the feast, when they heard that Yahshua was coming to Jerusalem, took the branches of the palm trees, and went out to meet Him, and began to cry out, "Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel."

These Scriptures, and many others, reveal that there is no distinction between the Father and the Son. Even as a thought, and the word that expresses the thought, are one and the same, so the Father who is Spirit, and the Son Who is the Expression of the Father are One and the same. The Son arises out of the Father even as a word arises out of the spirit of man, and so perfect is the Son in His expression of the spirit of Yahweh that to see Him is to see the Father.

Yahweh then is One God, and He has three aspects. Yahweh the Father is an invisible Spirit, completely hidden from man. No man at any time has seen Him, and this includes Moses and the patriarchs.

I Timothy 6:15-16 He who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone possesses immortality and dwells in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see.

Yahweh has Breath, and it is this Breath that blows wherever it wills and accomplishes the purpose of the Father. This Breath produces the Word and in the Word is Yahweh seen and His attributes known. How indivisible are these three, Yahweh, His Breath, and His Word. We see this Divine Trinity revealed in the words of the Psalmist.

Psalms 33:6 By the Word of Yahweh were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the Breath of his mouth.

 

Here again we see the Trinity: 

Isaiah 40:7-8 The grass withers, the flower fades, when the Breath of Yahweh blows upon it; Surely the people are grass. The grass withers, the flower fades, but the Word of our God stands forever.

II Samuel 22:16 "Then the channels of the sea appeared, the foundations of the world were laid bare by the Rebuke of Yahweh, at the blast of the Breath of His nostrils."

A rebuke is expressed as a word, so we see here all three aspects of Yahweh revealed. The thoughts of Yahweh are expressed as a Breath and then they take form. This is true of man as well.

Psalms 94:11 Yahweh knows the thoughts of man, that they are a mere breath.

We literally breathe out our thoughts and give them form as words. In the same way Yahweh is spirit and in His spirit His thoughts are formed, they are Breathed out and become an Expression. His greatest Expression is His Son who is "The Word."

I Corinthians 2:11 For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so the thoughts of God no one knows except the Spirit (Breath) of God.

So Yahweh who is Spirit forms thoughts, His thoughts go forth as His Divine Breath, and this Breath produces an Expression of Yahweh. This is the Holy Trinity, and yet we can see that there is only One God. What a simile of the nature of God is found in the formation of speech in man. Man has a spirit and it is in his spirit that thoughts are formed. Though these thoughts be spirit, they only come forth as man physically exhales. As his breath leaves his body the vocal cords are activated to form distinct sounds that are recognizable as words that give substance to the thoughts that were formerly invisible.

A clear relationship exists between man's spirit, his breath and his words. One flows into another. It is not as perfect a harmony as that which exists between Yahweh, His Breath, and His Word, for He alone is holy and without any shadow or influence of corruption. These three always agree, Yahweh, His Breath, and His Word.

By looking at this simile of man's spirit, his breath and his words, we can see that the Father, Son and Divine Breath are not three different individuals dwelling together, for there is only One source and this is Yahweh. Yahweh is Spirit, and He has Breath and Expression.

May you be blessed with peace and understanding in these days.


 

Since writing the above article I have had further correspondence, and encounters with teachings, that have centered upon this topic, and the Father has permitted me to encounter some of the erroneous conclusions that the saints have arrived at as they have wrestled with understanding His nature. The Father has previously ordered my steps in this way to bring me to study a matter more and to arrive at His mind, that I might be instructed and that this instruction might be shared with others.

Let me begin by sharing in brief the conclusions that some others have arrived at as they have considered Yahweh's nature, and particularly as they have looked at the Son of God and have tried to arrive at His identity.

This first teaching might strike some as bizarre and without a shred of support, but I believe it is not as obscure as some might think. This teaching asserts that Yahshua was known in former times as the archangel Michael. Some may recognize this as a teaching of the Mormons, but it also is held by some saints who are not from this group, and it is even suggested that some of the ancient Jews in their Talmudic writings considered Michael to be the Word of God.

Those who teach this concept have very many Scriptures that they point to in support of this conclusion, and though I believe this teaching to be absolutely wrong, I do not want to suggest that those who have arrived at this thinking are insincere, or that they have departed from placing great value upon the testimony of Scripture. They have simply sought to understand some of the mysteries of the Godhead and have been led into false conclusions by not understanding the Scriptures correctly, nor having received the witness of the Spirit concerning the truth.

Some of the basis for this belief that Michael and Yahshua are one and the same, is the assertion that the name Michael means "image of God", and Yahshua is the image of God and the exact representation of His nature. Another point is that the term "Archangel", which is only applied to Michael in Scripture, literally means "chief messenger", and Yahshua came to "fully explain" God, and, as the "Word of God", Yahshua is certainly Yahweh's chief messenger. Another point is based upon the following verse:

I Thessalonians 4:16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.

It is asserted by those who hold this view that the voice of the archangel spoken of here is a direct reference back to the Lord Himself giving a shout, and that the sense of this verse is that the Lord Himself will descend, and the Lord will give a shout, and His shout will be the voice of an archangel. Thus Yahshua is identified as the archangel, the chief messenger of God.

One must wonder, however, if this were true, why the Scriptures never say that Christ was the same person as Michael the archangel. Even in the New Testament when Michael is mentioned, there is no mention of his being the same as Christ. For example, Jude writes:

Jude 8-9 Yet in the same way these men, also by dreaming, defile the flesh, and reject authority, and revile dignities. But Michael the archangel, when he disputed with the devil and argued about the body of Moses, did not dare pronounce against him a railing judgment, but said, "The Lord rebuke you!"

It would have been a simple thing for Jude to state that this Michael is the same as Christ, if Jude had believed this to be true. It certainly would have boosted his argument here, for if Jude were to say that even Yahshua did not pronounce a railing accusation against the devil, then much more should the saints not do such a thing. Yet Jude speaks no such thing. He merely mentions Michael as an archangel. Nowhere does he say anything about the Son of God.

But the Scriptures do reveal that the Lord spoke these same words, though not in a dispute over the body of Moses, and those who contend that Michael and Yahshua are one and the same do point this out. In Zechariah we read:

Zechariah 3:2 And the Lord said to Satan, "The Lord rebuke you, O Satan! Even the Lord, Who  chooses Jerusalem, rebuke you!"

I do not find it surprising to learn that the archangel Michael and the Lord have spoken similar words in different circumstances, for both are submitted to the Father, and both do His will. Yahshua when teaching His disciples to pray said, "Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven." In heaven the will of God is done both by the Son and by the angelic beings that stand in the presence of God. Therefore the mind of God will be carried out with equal obedience by all those submitted to the Father. As man also comes into submission to his Head, which is Christ, man too will find Himself speaking the words of the Father and doing His will.

One more tenet behind this belief is that the angels are often referred to as "sons of God" throughout Scripture, which is certainly true, and therefore it is not such a leap for those who hold this particular view to say that Michael was the Son of God. Suffice it to say that those who believe that Yahshua and Michael are one and the same do have many proofs to offer from Scripture, as well as from Talmudic writings and other sources. However, those with many proofs are often wrong in their conclusions, as were the Jews who crucified the Lord and said, "Search for yourself and see that no prophet arises out of Galilee" (John 7:52). As Christ Himself testified:

John 5:39-40 "You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me; and you are unwilling to come to Me so that you may have life."

It is quite possible to search the Scriptures and know every word and yet still deny the truth that is found in them. Let me now move on to the second encounter I have had recently. The former matter came from teachings found on a website that a brother in Christ directed me to, but this next was from correspondence.

There has for many long years been a dispute between those who hold to a Trinitarian viewpoint of God, and those who hold to a Unitarian doctrine. The brother who wrote me believes that there is only one God, this being Yahweh, and there is no other. In holding to this understanding, which also is defended with a wealth of Scriptures, this brother, and many others, deny that Christ Yahshua was Himself God. Declaring rather that He was a perfect man who knew no sin. They teach that the fullness of the deity dwelt IN Christ, but that Christ was not Himself God. This is based upon verses such as the following:

Colossians 2:9 For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form...

This verse is understood to be saying that Yahweh God dwelt in bodily form in Yahshua, but that Yahshua was not Himself God, for there is only one God. This brother also shared with me many Scriptures that speak of the humanity of Christ, and which he supposed disproved His divinity, namely that He had a body, and that Yahweh God has no body, but is Spirit; that Christ was tempted in all ways as we are, yet God cannot be tempted by sin; that Christ had a soul, but that God is Spirit only; and many other such things.

Once again, there is much in Scripture that can be used to support such a view, but it falls far short of the reality. We must take ALL Scripture into account and we must rightly divide the word of God. We must look to the Spirit to guide us into all truth, for the Spirit is the true author of Scripture. Both of these views mentioned deny that Christ was God. One says that He was an angel, and the other that He was a man. The apostles, however, tell us that He was much more than this.

Titus 2:13 Looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus...

II Peter 1:1 Simon Peter, a bond-servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who have received a faith of the same kind as ours, by the righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ...

The apostles declared Christ to be God. The person who wrote me to say that Yahshua was a man, and not God, found fault with my stating that Christ existed as God in His pre-incarnate state, and that as man He was God incarnate. He pointed out that the words incarnate and pre-incarnate do not appear anywhere in Scripture, and this is true enough, but many English words that express various concepts do not appear in Scripture, yet this does not make them invalid concepts. The word "incarnate" means "to clothe with flesh, or embody in flesh". This concept is certainly in the Scriptures.

I John 4:2 By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God...

Paul also writes about this same concept:

Philippians 2:5-8 Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped,  but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

This passage speaks of Christ's existence before appearing in the likeness of men, and we are told that His previous form was that of God. It does not say that His form was of an archangel, or of a perfect man, but of God.  Before He was in the form of a bond-servant, He was in the form of God, being equal with God. Neither does it state that God the Father humbled Himself and took on the form of a bond-servant. It says that Christ Jesus, the Son of God, did this. Therefore, it is not accurate to say that Yahweh the Father merely indwelt the man Yahshua, for it was not the Father who came in the form of sinful flesh, but it was the Son.

Romans 8:3 For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh...

I think it would not be very profitable to refute point by point every tenet upon which these two concepts of Christ are built. What often occurs in our minds is that we have some point that we are stumbling over, and unless this point is addressed and understanding comes to us, we will not be receptive to what is written in Scripture, though someone points out to us many inconsistencies in our belief. What then is the point that these are stumbling over?

I believe it is just this, that there is truly only One God, and the mind of man has difficulty discerning how this One God can be seen in Father, Son and Holy Ghost. If there is only One God, then how can we declare all three of these to be God? If all three are God, then do we not serve three Gods, and not One? Many Scriptures plainly state that there is only One God, while others state that God exists as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. How do we reconcile these things?

As we have seen, some have tried to solve this puzzle by stating that Yahshua is not God. Some say He is an angelic being, others that He is man. But both of these diminish who He truly is, for Yahshua is God, and the Scriptures tell us this, and the apostles declared it to be true.

The puzzle is solved when we understand that there is but One God, but that He is a Triune God. The word Triune comes from "tri" (three), and "une" (one). He is One God seen in three distinct parts. As the writing "Yahweh, His Breath, and His Word" reveals, Yahweh is Spirit, and He has Breath and He has His Word. His Breath and His Word are as truly part of who He is as my soul and my body are part of who I am.

Part of the difficulty in discerning God's triune nature is that we see the various parts of the Godhead speaking with One another, and we see that they each have will and desires and thought. It is difficult for us to comprehend that they could all be one if they are conversing with One another, and we also observe them being subject to One another. We can discern this more clearly as we look at our own make-up.

Man was created in the image of God, and man is a tri-part being. Man is spirit, soul and body.

I Thessalonians 5:23 Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame at the coming of our Lord Yahshua the Messiah.

I am just one person named Joseph, yet I am comprised of three parts: spirit, soul and body. The various parts of my body also have their own will, desire and thoughts. My flesh always desires to do the things that pertain to the fallen nature of man. My flesh makes it's will and desires known to the rest of my being. My flesh may see an attractive woman and want to lust after her, but then I find my spirit rising up in opposition. My spirit always desires to do the will of the Father, for it is heavenly in nature, whereas my flesh is of the earth. I then find my spirit communicating the desires of heaven within my being, and a battle ensues, for the flesh lusts against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh, and these two are contrary to one another.

I find then that the different parts of my being can be divided and identified. I can identify what thoughts and desires are arising from my flesh, and which ones are arising from my spirit, and my soul is caught in the midst of this tug of war. Paul speaks of this occurrence in his own being in Romans chapter seven. He says that in the inner man (spirit) he joyfully concurs with the rule of God, but he finds another law in his members, for his flesh always yearns to sin. A war then commences as his members all express their competing and conflicting desires and some order must be arrived at. The proper order is for our spirit to rule over our soul and our flesh.

I recognize that this intercourse occurs all the time between my spirit, soul and body. I see that each part of me expresses its own desires, and that an order has to be established between these parts. Am I then three persons? Are there three Joseph's, or is there one? Of course I am only one person, but I exist in three parts that all interact with one another.

If I am only a man and I have three parts that all converse with one another, then how much more can God also be One God, and yet have three separate and identifiable parts that can all interact and hold conversation with one another? This does not make God three Gods, for He is only One. Yet He exists as Father, Son and Holy Spirit, or, as we have seen, He exists as Yahweh, His Breath and His Word. The three parts of man find their perfect correspondence in God. Yahweh is Spirit and man has spirit. Yahweh's Word is His outward and visible expression and our bodies are our outward expression. The Holy Ghost then corresponds to the soul of man.

The word for soul in the New Testament Greek is "psuche" which Strong's dictionary defines as "breath", and in our previous simile we saw that the Holy Ghost is the Breath of God. The correlation between the Breath of God and the soul of man is thereby established.

Knowing these things, consider how impossible it is to adopt the two beliefs I have mentioned. One says that Christ is an angel and the other a man. Both deny that He is God. Can you or I deny that our body is part of who we are? Can I say that this body I am clothed with is not Joseph, but it is really something else altogether? I dare not separate my body from my soul and spirit, for my entire being would be in peril. I will one day be given a new and glorious body, but for now this one that I am wearing is quite a part of the rest of me, and I dare not believe otherwise.

How then can we say that Christ Yahshua is not God? How could we say that the Holy Ghost is not God? They are all a part of God. They all converse with One another, but, unlike man, they are all in perfect agreement. The Son is submitted to the Father (John 14:10) and the Spirit is submitted to the Son (John 16:13, 14). There is perfect harmony in Yahweh, which is quiet different from what I find in Joseph at this time. I long for the day when this divided house will be divided no more, and that day is coming. What a glorious day it will be!

There are consequences to all of our thoughts, and this is true regarding our understanding of Yahweh's triune nature. If we make Christ to be less than God then we will certainly see bad fruit from this diminishment of His being in our thoughts. If we make Christ out to be merely a man, or an angel, then some rotten fruit must come forth from our beliefs. Because the identity of God is such a foundational matter, the effect of wrong thoughts concerning the Godhead must touch virtually every area of our lives.

The Scriptures declare that Christ is God. He is not just man indwelt by God, nor is He an angel with the Spirit of God resting upon Him. He is Immanuel, "God with us". God did condescend to take upon Himself the likeness of His creation in order that He might redeem the creation from the curse of sin and death. He did not send an angel to do this work, nor did He send a mere man, even a sinless man, to do this work. Yahweh Himself became our Savior. He was God incarnate, in the flesh, and John warns that any who deny this truth are manifesting the spirit of anti-Christ.

I John 4:2-3 By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Yahshua Christ has come in the flesh is from God; and every spirit that does not confess Yahshua is not from God; this is the spirit of the antichrist, of which you have heard that it is coming, and now it is already in the world.

Certainly it matters who we confess this Yahshua to be. It is not the same thing to confess that God the Son, the Word of God who "was with God" and who "was God" came in the flesh, as it is to state that an angel came in the flesh, or a man came in the flesh. We must confess that Yahshua Christ, the Son of God who was Himself God, has come in the flesh.

May Yahweh give us all eyes to see the Truth of this great mystery.

 

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