I have in the past lamented how some cliques of our Christianity have failed to make a clear distinction between the Creator of the Heavens and the Earth in relation to Jesus Christ.
As a result, a big number of our Christian followers have been led to believe that the Almighty God and Christ are one.
Such a belief is premised basically on the doctrine of the Holy Trinity which teaches people that there are “three gods” representing our God.
Consequently, there is no longer any clear separation between the Heavenly Father and His son Jesus Christ. Sections of our biblical scriptures of the New Testament have been used to solidify this belief that the Creator and Christ are one. I do not blame those who have been indoctrinated into the fallacy of the 3-in-1 Godhead comprising God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. Documented history tells us of the origin of this human-manufactured ideology, whose initiator was Roman Emperor Constantine in AD 312 during his Christian Crusades, and its adoption almost half a century after his death.
Polytheism is the worship of many gods. Such a religious worship culture was practiced in many civilizations across the world and is still prevailing in many parts of our planet Earth. We cannot totally exclude the contents of the Holy Trinity doctrine from such multi-gods religion of worship, in the sense that it mentions “three gods” fused into one.
The Roman Empire era was very notable of its worship of numerous gods of many entities, hence the creation of the Holy Trinity doctrine was the embodiment and extension of this multi-god system of worship. Although our Christian leaders in AD 321 at the Council of Nicae vehemently rejected the adoption of this doctrine, they later succumbed to it. Intense pressure from Christian Emperors then resulted in its canonisation. Followers now use the scriptures to state that the Almighty God, who dwells in the Spiritual realm, underwent some metamorphosis such that he changed from His spiritual form and became flesh, as Jesus Christ, and dwelt among humanity and then died so as to transform back into a Holy Spirit. This then completes the trilogy of God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.
Indeed, Christ is the Son of the One God. Jesus Christ himself emphasized this oneness of the Father. He taught us, “The Lord our God, the Lord is one.” (Mark 12:29). In Deuteronomy 6:4, God told Moses to teach the people thus, “Hear O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord…” God spoke to his humble servant, Isaiah, to preach to the people that he was One. In Isaiah 43:10, He spoke to Isaiah, “You are my witness, my servant whom I have chosen, that you may know and believe me and understand that I am He. Before me no god was formed, nor shall there be any other after me”. I pray that my fellow Christians could earnestly take heed of the words of the “Oneness” of God.
I should not just criticise the doctrines of others, but should offer my views on what I think is the right expression of the status of Jesus Christ. Before I do, let me refer to the story in our Bible concerning Abraham and his son, Isaac. In Genesis 22:1-2, it reads; God tested Abraham, and said to him, “Abraham!” And he replied, “Here am I”. God instructed, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Mori’ah, and offer him there as a burnt offering upon one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.”
This story ends when God then substitutes Isaac with a lamb for the offering, after seeing the boundless faith in Abraham, to the point of sacrificing his own beloved son. In “Old Testament times,” burnt offerings of the flesh and blood of ‘clean animals’ was the channel for the cleansing of human sins. Leviticus, chapters 1-7 are all fully dedicated in listing the then required kinds of offerings to the Lord symbolizing the rituals for the cleansing of many types of human sins.
In the likeness of the Abraham and son Isaac scenario, the Lord our God then fully executed the sacrifice of His own beloved son, Jesus Christ, for the cleansing of the sins of humanity. That ritual was fulfilled when the flesh and blood of Jesus was sacrificed after he was nailed to the cross and died for the redemption of our sins.
At the last supper with his disciples, Christ spoke in advance of his identity as the sacrificial lamb for the atonement of our sins. In Mathew 26:26-29 it reads: Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed, and broke it, and gave it to the disciples and said, “Take, eat; this is my body (flesh).” And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, “Drink of it, all of you; for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.” Truly, Jesus Christ was the Son of God, not the God Himself, sacrificed by his Heavenly Father, the one and only Almighty God, for the redemption of our sins and the salvation of mankind from the consequences of those sins.
My heart then bleeds when the Creator of the whole universe is then said to have transformed Himself into the human form of Jesus Christ and then subjected Himself to all kinds of degradation at the hands His own creation, man. It would then mean that God feared man and was panic-stricken and on the run among mankind, as written in John 7:1 which say: After this Jesus went about in Galilee; he would not go about in Judea, because Jews sought to kill him. It also means God feared the Jews, His own people, as per John 11:53-54 which reads; “Then from that day forth they took counsel together to put him to death. Jesus therefore walked no more openly among the Jews”
My heart would also bleed if my God were to be captured by man as written in John 18:12, which says, “Then the band of soldiers and their captain and the officers of the Jews seized Jesus and bound him”. I would certain faint if I were to see my God blindfolded, slapped, spat in the face and condemned to death as per Mathew 26:66-68 which reads; “What is your judgement?” They answered, “He deserves death.” Then they spat in his face, and struck him, some slapped him, saying, “Prophesy to us, you Christ! Who is it that struck you?”
I would not even dare to mention the death of my God at the hands of man, his creation as Mark 15:37 reads: And Jesus uttered a loud cry, and breathed his last (end quote). I would certainly perish if I were to see the dead body of my God. Mathew 27:58 reads; “He (Joseph of Arimathaea) went to Pilate, and begged for the body of Jesus. Then Pilate commanded the body to be delivered. Mathew 27:59 would then bring the death of my God to an end by saying, “And when Joseph had taken the body, he wrapped it in a clean linen cloth”. That would certainly bring forth my own demise. Amen.
- Prosper Tingini is the Scribe of the Children of God Missionary Assembly — God’s messengers. Contact details: Mobile and whatsapp: 0771 260 195. Email address: ptingini@gmail.com