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Lyall Johnston—September 9, 2023
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With this subject comes such topics as:
- Is the Holy Spirit of God a trinity?
or
- Is that fake and false?
- Is that a false doctrine put upon the churches of this world by Satan the devil
This is a doctrine that is held by most churches professing to follow the Bible, and yet, they're not because they've been deceived!
We're going to talk about the power of God; the power that God has made available to His people.
- Who are His people? Those who know Him!
- How do we know Him? Because we obey Him!
This is what the Scriptures teach us over and over again. 'A good understanding of all those who keep His commandments and that begins with the Sabbath Day. In keeping the Sabbath Day and obeying all of God's commandments and seeking Him, God identifies those who belong to Him because there are many who claim to belong to God. Yet they say, 'We don't need to keep the Sabbath Day.'
Because of that and disobedience of the other commandments—they believe they've done away with—God says through Christ, 'Depart from Me; I don't know you who work in liquidity.' You can find that in the book of Matthew.
We also want to concentrate on the word workmanship because in Eph 2:10 we're told by the Apostle Paul that we are God's workmanship. God is doing something within us.
Where does the story begin? The story begins right back in Gen. 1:26! We turn there so many times, but do we really appreciate what it is that God is doing?
Most Truths that God wants us to understand begin at the beginning. and right at the beginning, God makes things very plain and very simple. The Bible talks about the simplicity in Christ, and yet, man—through his doctrines and false teachings—has confused the Truth. Rather than being plain, simple and straightforward as Jesus said, man has turned it into confusion with many confusing doctrines that have no basis in the Bible.
The Trinity is one of those major doctrines because it denies the very nature and the character of God and man's ability to come to really know who the true God is.
Because of that, the world is full with false religions and religious systems that have nothing to do with the God of creation, God the Father, Who created all things through Jesus Christ, Who we read of throughout the Old Testament.
So, let's just rehearse what God is telling us through the very first book of the Bible, the beginning of our knowledge. This is absolutely amazing! Gen. 1:26 is so straightforward. If we unpack this particular statement by referring to where God talks about this throughout the rest of the Bible, we can have an understanding.
Now, if we want to turn to the pop religious books, if we want to turn to the theological teachings of today—that have nothing or very little, in fact, to do with the Biblical theology—which is where we go into the Bible and we gain all our understanding from the Scriptures.
Yes, we may need some helps, some very important helps that will help us to understand, such as the original languages that the Bible was written in, such as the historical background, the setting. But most of all, the message of God comes through loud and clear through all the settings that God has spoken the mankind through down since the time of Adam and Eve.
Gen. 1:26—here is God talking in the first person, and we know here is the One we know today as God the Father and the One Who was the LORD God of the Old Testament Who became Jesus Christ.
After God had created all the animals, He created Adam and then Eve.
Genesis 1:26: "And God said, 'Let Us…'"—God the Father and His the Son Jesus Christ. Of course, He did not become Jesus Christ until He was born of Mary, but conceived of the Holy Spirit.
- Does that mean the Holy Spirit is a person and was the Father of Jesus Christ?
- How ridiculous that is? That doesn't even make sense! God is the Father of Jesus Christ!
So, that seed, which was Jesus the Christ, in Mary's womb, was planted there. It was the—let's put it in a language that is quite plain—the sperm cell of the Father. It came from the Father and He planted that in Mary's womb in order to grow through, the process that God had set in motion.
God said, "…'Let Us make man…'" (v 26). But He didn't stop there, did He? What's the next phrase?
"…in Our image…" (v 26). In other words, in the image of the Father and the Son as we know Them today. Back then it was God, and the Hebrew word was 'Elohim' and the other was the LORD, which was 'Jehovah.' So, it was Elohim's Jehovah, the LORD Who belonged to God. As we know today as the God Family.
The doctrine of the trinity saying that the Holy Spirit is a person denies the very beginning teaching from Gen. 1! It is an absolute lie put in the minds of men and women who teach the Word of God and deceive the whole world under the influence and inspiration of Satan the devil.
"…'Let us make man in Our image…'" What's an image? A reflection or a mirror image that is identical in appearance to what is being observed or viewed! For example, in a mirror we look at ourselves in a mirror—sometimes we get a little bit of a fright when we see what we see—and we see a reflection of what we are.
He continues, "…in Our image…" (v 26). We know from this that when God became flesh in Jesus Christ, what did He look like? He looked like you and me! A human being, a man. God reveals to us that His appearance, we are a reflection of; we are an image of God the Father.
"In Our image," but the next phrase is, "…after Our likeness…" (v 26)
So, He's going to look like us, but also we're going to make Him after our likeness; That is talking about:
- God's mind
- God's character
- God's righteousness
- God's Holiness
and eventually, after His kind, which is the glorious God that has created all things!
What God is saying here, 'We are going to create a family. We're going to create a family that is so great that it is going to join Us in Our Plan for the rest of eternity, for the rest of the universe,' in as far, and as much as what we know, God's Plan is for after the resurrection and after the completion of His Holy Day plan.
In fact, if you have not read, and it's always good to reread some of these publications, but we have God's Plan for Mankind Revealed by His Sabbath and Holy Days. And another one that goes right along with what we're talking about here today: From A Speck of Dust to a Son of God: Why Were You Born?
It's all summed up in that book about what God is doing when we look at the statement that Paul reflects and quotes eight times in the books of Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and Thessalonians.
Again, in order to do this, what God is saying in Gen. 1:26: "…'Let Us make." God is making something with us. God is making something with mankind today—who are in a terrible state, terrible condition of existence. Most do not have this understanding. It's only a small few whom God has called out of this world today! Not because we're special, but because of what God's Plan is and because of what He is doing!
Our part in this was to take God's call and respond to that and to obey Him according to every word that proceeds out of His mouth. As we obey or as we learn to obey every word and every Law that comes from God, that we can read of in the pages of the Bible, then God is doing this:
He is making us after His likenessbecause His Laws are Righteousness, they are Holy, and they are spiritual.
- as we learn these Laws
- as we apply them
- as we live by them
- as we walk in them
that seed, which is the Holy Spirit—just like God planted His seed in the womb of Mary and Jesus Christ was conceived in her womb and He grew in her body as she fed Him to the time nine months later when He was born of the flesh into the world, just like you and I were. Born as a man destined to die like the rest of mankind.
However, His death was so important and why He died and the nature of His death is so important to the rest of humanity that the whole Plan of God that is wrapped up in this one Scripture, Gen. 1:26 "…'Let Us make man in Our image, after Our likeness…'"—our appearance!
When God took flesh as Jesus Christ, we saw him as a human being. He died as a human being, but God raised him in power by the Spirit, by God's own Spirit, "…and after Our likeness…." So, right now for those who have been baptized, and of course:
- we have to repent of our sins
- we have to understand the sin that dwells within.
- we have to understand as Moses wrote in Gen. 6:5
When God looked down on the face of the earth and what did He see in the heart of man? He saw that our imaginations were only evil continually!
Now, in order to repent, we have to understand that. We also have to understand what Jeremiah wrote, through the inspiration of God:
Jeremiah 17:9: "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it?"
What He's saying here is that we don't know that we cannot see that God has to reveal it!
Romans 8:7: "The carnal mind…" that's a natural human mind of all of humanity cannot accept, cannot obey and will not obey the Law of God because it is contrary to the very nature within us. So we had to repent.
Once we have repented, which also means that we were prepared to do whatever God says when given our lives over to Him. 'Yes, God, whatever You tell me, I will do.'
Then for the rest of our lives, we're battling the downward pull of the nature within us until we take on the mind of God and the mind of Jesus Christ! That's why we come to the subject about the inner working of God.
So it was a process that God had begun in Genesis 1:26: "…'Let Us make him after Our likeness….'"
God wants us to be of the same mind and the same heart as Him. We know what happened. Along came Satan and deceived Eve. She ate of the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. In other words, she said, 'I can decide what is right, what is wrong. I don't need God.' So, the rest of humanity has been burdened with that decision.
God had a plan where we know that He was going to send His Son to rescue us and save us!
Let's turn to some of the Scriptures where Paul talks about the inner working of God's Spirit.
Gal. 5 is incredible! This is amazing! In fact, it's mind boggling! It is so great that most human beings cannot accept this fact, cannot accept this Truth; are not interested in this Truth.
But for those whom God has called, repented, were baptized, had hands laid on us. When we had hands laid on us—because we had decided we had committed ourselves to God—God put His seed, a part of Himself:
- His power
- His thinking
- His mind
A small portion, just like the birth of a human being!
That seed is so small, so tiny. Yet, God planted this tiny seed within us—just as Jesus and each one of us grew in our mother's womb—those whom God has called, those who He has planted His seed in our mind and heart—God wants us to feed that seed so it will grow.
The Galatian Christians were wanting to work out their own salvation; they were turning back to some of the Judaic practices of Judaism. The whole question was, should we be circumcised or should we not be circumcised? And Paul answers that question:
Galatians 5:6 "Because in Christ Jesus neither is circumcision of any force… [pay attention to that phrase] …nor uncircumcision…"
- to be loyal to Christ
- to be a son of God
- to be a brother of Jesus Christ
- whether circumcised or not in the flesh
is irrelevant! Because the circumcision of God is of the heart and the mind, which we can't see, but it is who and what we are!
Rather, it is the inner working of faith through love! The inner working of faith through love is only possible once we have received God's Spirit. Again, IF we do not understand that we have to keep the Laws of God, that we need to desire to keep the Laws of God, as David said, 'Oh, how I love Thy Law. it's ever with me.' He meditated on it day and night!
God's Law is God's commandments, His judgments, His precepts, His ordinances and statutes!
Read Psalm 119, in particular, and you'll just see how much it's the inner working of faith through love! But the inner working with faith through love is only possible because God planted that seed, a part of Himself, a down payment of His own life.
We were spiritually conceived just as we were physically conceived by the seed or the sperm cell of our father and the will of our mother connecting with that ovum. That is a physical type of our spiritual calling and the beginning of our spiritual life.
Because we were conceived in our mother's womb, we were not yet born, and the same image carries through with those whom God has called. Once we have the seed of God implanted in our lives and in our minds, we'll then wait for our spiritual births!
Paul told Nicodemus, 'Flesh and blood cannot enter the Kingdom of God.' So, all those who believe in the doctrine of being born again now:
- it is false
- it's a lie
- it's deceptive
- it does not come from the Word of God
but it comes from Satan the devil! Part of his deception, Rev. 12:9, Satan has deceived the whole world. The only way you and are not deceived today is because God has revealed His Truth to us. Can we still be deceived in certain areas? Of course!
- that's what we're fighting against
- that's why we need the Word of God
- that's why we need to study the Word of God
- that's why we need to live by every word that proceeds out of God's mouth
which we have in the Holy Scriptures, the Bible!
Let's just have a look at one more before we conclude today because this is a subject that we will need to continue.
Again, we find in Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians and Thessalonians the inner working of God's Spirit!
Ephesians 1:16—Paul says: "Do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers."
Yes, we do need to be praying for each other in the love of God so that we can come together as one body—the Body of Christ—throwing off all hostilities, anger and contentions that we have among ourselves, which are not acceptable to God. Those are the things that we need the power of God's Spirit within us to overcome them.
Verse 17: "That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom…"—the Holy Spirit!
Yes, it will make us wise, wise in many things, but most of all wise unto salvation, because it's the Spirit of God that opens our understanding to the Word of God. Without the Spirit of God, you can only have an intellectual knowledge. You can't have that inner knowledge, that knowledge which is above human knowledge. The fullness of the knowledge of God and of Christ.
Verse 18: "And may the eyes of your mind be enlightened in order that you may comprehend what is the hope of His calling…"
- to eternal life
- to immortality
- to Holiness
- to righteousness
- to the resurrection to glory
God is going to glorify us because we chose and we endured to obey all His laws and commandments as we came to understand them!
Verse 18: "And may the eyes of your mind be enlightened in order that you may comprehend what is the hope of His calling, and what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the inner working of His mighty power, and how are we able to believe?" (vs 18-19).
- God is showing us
- God is meeting us
- God is showing us the Truth
As He shows us the Truth, we rejoice because we appreciate it!
Verse 19: "And what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us?"
All the power of God in the universe is toward us! Why? To help that little seed that is within us, the Holy Spirit, which God has sown, which is:
- a part of His own mind
- a part of His own thinking
the way He knows Himself
- it gives us understanding
- it gives us wisdom
- it gives us knowledge
As we obey Him:
- the more we get to know
- the more we get to understand
- the more we grow in the Spirit
So that seed becomes larger as it grows!
The greatness of His power, but notice this, too: toward us who believe! Belief and faith!
Because we believe and because we have faith, we also obey willingly "…according to the inner working of His mighty power…"
The inner workings, we really appreciate that, the power that's available to us. It is so great that it can wash away all our worries, all our troubles, so that we can have our focus on God's calling!
We need to be thinking on these things, thinking about the fact that God has taken up residence:
- within us
- within our mind
- within our body
- within our heart
As we grow in the grace of the knowledge, it affects every fiber of our being so that every cell in our body responds to the Spirit of God, to the Word of God! Before every cell in our body responded to the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pretentious pride.
We'll bring it to a close there, but I would like to mention, just in closing again the books: From a Speck of Dust to a Son of God: Why Were You Born? The other thing is, if you've already read it, read it again, because it has everything to do with your life in Christ, and the life of Christ and the Father within you!
Scriptural References:
- Genesis 1:26
- Jeremiah 17:9
- Romans 8:7
- Genesis 1:26
- Galatians 5:6
- Ephesians 1:16-19
Scriptures referenced, not quoted:
- Ephesians 2:10
- Genesis 6:5
- Psalm 119
- Revelation 12:9
Also referenced: Books by Fred R. Coulter
(truthofgod.org)
- God's Plan For Mankind Revealed by His Sabbath and Holy Days
- From a Speck of Dust to a Son of God: Why Were You Born?
LJ:bo/bo
Transcribed: 9/12/23
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