Posts filed under 'Doctrinal'
CAN GOD HAVE A SON ?
from the church at Streford, Manchester
http://members.aol.com/d4web4sm/muqaddas/02nowife.htm
In the time of Mohammed, pagan Meccans believed that God had daughters. According to Ibn Ishaq there were Christians who believed that the virgin Mary was God’s mother and that the Christ1 was the physical son of God. This could be why there are verses like these in the Qur’an:-
The originator of heavens and earth! How can He have a child, when there is for Him no consort … 2
And (we believe) that He - exalted be the glory of our Lord - hath taken neither wife nor son.3
Note that , in these verses, it is not God’s ability to miraculously produce a son without copulation that is in question. Even so Muslims believe that words like father and son necessarily mean that the Father must have a wife in order to have a son. So they ask How could Jesus be the son of God when God has no wife?
CAN GOD HAVE A WIFE ?
Generally, Muslims do not appreciate that no Christian believes the Lord Jesus was God’s physical son by copulation. The Bible nowhere speaks of God having a wife. In it there is not the slightest suggestion of any sexual relationship between God and His creatures. Such an idea is utterly blasphemous and repulsive to Christians, just as it is to Muslims. Christians are deeply horrified and grieved to discover this Muslim conjecture about their innermost faith. Obviously there has been some misunderstanding. Taken aback by our protestations, Muslims enquire: Why use the term Son of God if you do not wish to be misunderstood?
ACCEPTABLE IDIOMS
Would it be wise to abandon the use of terminology that had the Christ’s full approval? He said to his disciples, “Whom do you say I am?” Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ [Messiah], the Son of the living God”. The Lord Jesus’ response was, “No physical being revealed this to you, but My heavenly Father”.4
The words father and son need not be construed in a base way, otherwise consistency would oblige us to draw some improper conclusions from statements like the following:-
Mohammed had an uncle whose name was Abdul Uza, but in the Qur’an he is called Abu Lahab - the father of a flame. Obviously this does not mean that he sired a flame.5
A wayfarer is called, Ibn as-sabeel - son of the road. This does not mean that the road has a wife.6
There are many other similar examples such as these:-
Om ul-Kitab - the mother of the book.7
Mecca is called, Om ul- Qurah - the mother of villages.8
The wives of Mohammed are called the mothers of the believers (meaning all the Moslems).
Mohammed’s cousin Ali was called Abu Turab - the father of dust.
One of Mohammed’s disciples was named Abu Hurairah - the father of a cat, because he was very fond of cats.
It is quite common, particularly in the eastern societies, for elderly men and women to call any young person my daughter or my son, even though they are not their real father and mother.
Just as it is not necessary to force an offensive interpretation on the foregoing, it is also not necessary to force an offensive interpretation on the Bible statements about the Lord Jesus being the Son of God, unless one wishes to be malicious. We appeal to all Muslims to try to appreciate :-
WHAT IS REALLY MEANT BY THE LORD JESUS’ CLAIM TO BE
“SON OF GOD”
When an angel gave glad tidings of a son to Mary, she said, “How will this be since I am a virgin?” The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Consequently the one born will be even called Holy, Son of God”.9
What difference is there then between the Lord Jesus and Adam? This - Christ Jesus was no ordinary man :-
The Lord Jesus was superior to all His physical forefathers, including Adam! On one occasion the Lord Jesus asked, “How do you view the Christ [Messiah]? Whose son is He?” They replied, “David’s son” His response was, “How is it then that David, in the Spirit, calls Him Lord? … If then David calls Him Lord how is He his son?”11
He existed before His birth. He said, “Before Abraham existed, I am!”.10
He reveals to us what God is like, “Anyone having seen Me has seen the Father”.12
WE NEED TO KNOW WHAT GOD IS LIKE
Not what does He look like, since God being Spirit is invisible, but rather:- Is He stern? Is He kind? Does He care about you and me? The Bible says :- No man has ever seen God. God’s Only-begotten - has portrayed Him.13
Nobody knows what Christ Jesus looked like. According to the prophet Isaiah, He was not attractive.14 Supposed pictures of Him are pure conjecture. What really matters is what kind of person is He. The Bible, more than any other source, gives us comprehensive and accurate information on that. Learning about Jesus will help us to understand what God is like.
The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. We contemplated His glory, being the glory of the only begotten from the Father full of goodwill and truth.15 Here, one of the Christ’s closest apostles, in explaining that the Lord Jesus is the eternal Word of God says, The Word was in the beginning and the Word was with God, also the Word was God. The same was with God in the beginning.16
It is easy to understand that since God is eternal then His Word must also be eternal. No one on this earth has been called the Word of God, other than Jesus
If Muslims can accept the idea that the eternal God gave expression to His eternal Word and it became the eternal Qur’an, then why should it not be possible to accept that God gave expression to His eternal Word in the Messiah, the Christ?
Why hesitate to accept that the Word was revealed in flesh, that is, He became Son of Man?
Even the Qur’an, 600 years later, acknowledged that Jesus was the Word from God.17
THIS IS THE EVIDENCE?
He was powerfully designated as God’s Son, by resurrection from the dead 18
Before Christ Jesus ascended to heaven He required that all who wished to follow Him should undergo immersion in the name of the Son. He said, “All authority was given to Me in heaven and on earth. Therefore go, disciple all nations, immersing them into the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe every thing, whatever I ordered you…”19
Those who believed in Him were immersed in water thus depicting the Lord Jesus’ death, burial and resurrection.20 It is an established historical fact that right from the beginning Christians persistently preached the death, burial and resurrection of Christ Jesus in spite of vicious opposition, extreme forms of persecution and martyrdom. This testimony to the death, burial, resurrection and sonship of Christ Jesus has been with us right from the beginning.
IF WE DENY HIM WE DENY GOD.
“… He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father, who has sent Him”.21 If we disobey Him we risk God’s anger, Anyone trusting in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on him.”22 However, … “God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him”.23
GOD DOES CARE ABOUT YOU AND ME.
For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that everyone trusting in him might not perish but have eternal life.24
God recommends His own love to us in this: We were still sinners yet Christ the Messiah died on our behalf.25
Biblical prophecies made long before Christ Jesus lived on earth predicted that the Messiah would sacrifice His sinless life for our sins.26 So you see being executed did not mean that He was a failure. If He had not both died and risen He would not have been the Messiah (that would have been failure). We urge you, do not spurn His Love. Heed what King David said beforehand about Him, Kiss the Son lest He be angry and you are destroyed on the way, for His wrath can flare up in a moment. Blest are all who take refuge in Him.27
WHY?
The Lord Jesus declared, “The Father … has delegated all judgement to the Son”.28
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References:
“The Christ” means exactly the same as “The Messiah”
Qur’an 6:102
Qur’an 72:3
Matthew 16:15-17
Qur’an 111:1
Qur’an 2:177
Qur’an 3:7,13:39,43:3
Qur’an 6:93,42:8
Luke 1:34-35
John 8:58
Matthew 22:41-45. c.p. with Psalm 110:1. circa 1,000 B.C
John 14:9
John 1:18
Isaiah 53:2. circa 700 B.C
John 1:14
John 1:1-2
Qur’an 3:45
Romans 1:4
Matthew 28:18-20. “baptism” is from a Greek word meaning “immersion”
Romans 6:3-4, Colossians 2:12
John 5:23
John 3:36
John 3:17
John 3:16
Romans 5:8
e.g. Isaiah 53:10,12
Psalm 2:12 circa 1,000 B.C
John 5:22
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Copyright 1988/1993/1997 Jama’at al Masih
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Quranic references are taken from:-
“The Meaning of the Glorious Qur’an”, translated by Marmaduke Pickthall, Taj Company, Karachi.
NOTE: Verse reference numbering in other publications of the Qur’an might differ a little.
August 23rd, 2005
Do you believe in miracles?
Miracles are generally known as something impossible becoming a reality. It is associated with the supernatural. God is supernatural . He exists and He is certainly able to pull a rabbit out of His hat (if He wears one).
God by His very nature as our Creator is omnipotent, ominiscient and omnipresent. Miracles are not a problem for Him. He is able. The question is, is it His will to perform miracles the way we want it?? !!
Let’s distinguish between ability and will. Do I have the ability to buy a half a million dollar car in Singapore? I suppose if I sell my flat and camp at the Padang I will be able to afford, but is it my will to do so?
Even if I am able to pay for it, does my son have the right to go ahead and insist I should buy such a luxury? It would be presumptuous of him, wouldn’t it?
Presumption is a sin. Sin is ‘harmatia’ which simply means ‘missing the point’. We miss the point of who God is and who we are and how serious the implication is on our eternity.
Deuteronomy 18:22 When a prophet speaketh in the name of the LORD, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the LORD hath not spoken, but the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously: thou shalt not be afraid of him.
Psalms 19:13 Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me: then shall I be upright, and I shall be innocent from the great transgression.
Just because God is able does not necessarily mean it is His will. The Holy Spirit is God , not an impersonal force or a thing . He is not a genie in a bottle at our beck and call to be switch on or off just because a pastor has scheduled “healing session at 3pm on Saturday at the auditorium”.
Yes, God has the power to perform miracles. To believe in Ephesians 3:20 , is to believe in His power of miracles
“Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us”, is to believe in miracles.
How , when and in what manner God intends to do it is up to Him. Of course we may request, but we are not to act presumptuously.
Jesus could performed miracles but refused to the devil’s temptation to display His powers with razzmatazz , bells and whistles! He prayed for His “cup of suffering” to be removed and God could have certainly send 10,000 angels to rescue Him from the cross but His Father’s will came first for Jesus.
Paul certainly could perform miracles but was unable to remove his ” thorn in the flesh” 2 Cor. 12:7 ands his infirmity Gal. 4:13.
What then was the purpose of miracles? To confirm the Word.
Hebrews 2:3 How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him
Do miracles exist today? YES! but not in the manner many people claimed. God in His own time will act according to His will.
The greatest miracle is the miracle of repentance based on the only sign that matters i.e. the “sign of Jonah” ( death , burial and resurrection of Jesus)
Matthew 12:39-40 But he answered and said unto them, An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas: For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.
If the resurrection of Jesus does not convince a person to repent, no other miracles will. As a matter of fact to ask for other signs makes you part of an ‘evil and adulterous’ generation( vs.39)
Beware of false signs and wonders!
2 Thessalonians 2:8-9 And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming: Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders,
July 29th, 2005
Why get baptised and do we need so much water?
Baptism was done in rivers where there was much water. If baptism is by sprinkling why do they go to rivers? They might as well sprinkle a person at home with a cup or a pail or even with a bucket beside a well.
Why immerse? Why get baptised? Read on…………
John 14:23-24 Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him. He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings: and the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father’s which sent me.
a) After His resurrection, what did Jesus say to His disciples about baptism?
Matthew 28:18-20 And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.
Mark 16:15-16 And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.
b) After His resurrection, what did His apostles preach to non-believers about baptism?
Acts 2:38 Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.
c) If a person claims to have a “religious experience” of encountering God, does he need to be baptized?
Jesus appeared to Paul on Paul’s way to Damascus.
In Acts 22 he recounted his experience and Paul said:
Acts 22:8-11 And I answered, Who art thou, Lord? And he said unto me, I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom thou persecutest. And they that were with me saw indeed the light, and were afraid; but they heard not the voice of him that spake to me. And I said, What shall I do, Lord? And the Lord said unto me, Arise, and go into Damascus; and there it shall be told thee of all things which are appointed for thee to do. And when I could not see for the glory of that light, being led by the hand of them that were with me, I came into Damascus.
Paul was told to be baptized by Ananias. For what purpose?
Acts 22:16 And now why tarriest thou? arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord.
d) Similar type of question: Does baptism save us?
1 Peter 3:21 The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ:
e) In what way does baptism in Jesus’ name involve us in His death, burial and resurrection?
Romans 6:3-11 Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection: Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. For he that is dead is freed from sin. Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him: Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him. For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God. Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.
f) How do we know that practice of baptism is NOT sprinkling with water?
In Greek baptism is “baptizo” meaning immerse, not sprinkling as practiced by some.
Read Romans 6 again (quoted in above question) - baptism is likened to burial. You do not bury by sprinkling
Baptism was done in rivers where there is much water. If baptism is by sprinkling why do they go to rivers? They might as well sprinkle a person at home with a cup or a pail or even with a bucket beside a well.
John 3:23 And John also was baptizing in Aenon near to Salim, because there was much water there: and they came, and were baptized.
Matthew 3:5-6 Then went out to him Jerusalem, and all Judaea, and all the region round about Jordan, and were baptized of him in Jordan, confessing their sins.
(Jordan is a name of a river)
Acts 8:35-39 Then Philip opened his mouth, and began at the same scripture, and preached unto him Jesus. And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water: and the eunuch said, See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized? And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. And he commanded the chariot to stand still: and they went down both into the water, both Philip and the eunuch; and he baptized him. And when they were come up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip, that the eunuch saw him no more: and he went on his way rejoicing.
g) How do I get baptized?
1. First you must a) believe Acts 2:38 John 3:16, b) repent Acts 2:38 c) confess Ro.10:10 or declare that Jesus is the Son of God and d) baptized Acts 2:38, for the forgiveness of your sins (Acts 22: 16) as directed by Jesus (Matt.28:18-20, Mk 16:16) to participate in His death, burial and resurrection
2. Find a local church of Christ who will baptized
3. Once baptized you are now a part of the local church of Christ community
4. Be part of the church to be a contributing member of the Body
5. Be a discipled as purposed by the Scripture in the church of Christ
h) Can we make exceptions?
John 14:23-24 Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him. He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings: and the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father’s which sent me.
Deuteronomy 4:2 Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish ought from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you.
Revelation 22:18-19 For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book..
May 16th, 2005
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