Christ didn't come as a baby

 We don't seem to know what day, or even what year, Christ was born, but he was born.

Christ didn't come as a baby. He came as an embryo. Did He retain any of His divine omniscience and omnipotence during that pre-natal period? I don't know, but I suspect that He didn't retain all of it. The Bible teaches that He was tempted like we are. I don't know if fetuses are tempted. However, to really be like us, He must have had an experience much like ours, and I suspect that that meant, after He was born, not being able to speak for a year or so, and, before He was born, giving up some of his powers and awareness. Was this easy for the Creator of the Universe? I wouldn't think so--the cross wasn't.

If He gave anything up, He did it for me, you, and everyone else.

P. S. December 8, 2023: Christ came a long time before coming as an embryo, as creator. See John 1, and, as Paul put it:

Colossians 1:16 For by him all things were created in the heavens and on the earth, visible things and invisible things, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things have been created through him and for him. 17 He is before all things, and in him all things are held together. (World English Bible, public domain)

Psalm 90:1-2

 

Psalm 90:1 Lord, you have been our dwelling place for all generations. 90:2 Before the mountains were brought forth, before you had formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, you are God. (World English Bible, public domain)

Maker/Creator of heaven and earth

The creeds are often part of congregational worship (See here for a discussion of the creeds). One of the Sunday services we watch on-line recently included recitation of a creed. My wife and I were glad to say the words together, although not together in time and space, with the congregation.

One part struck me: "I believe in God the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth ..." (Some churches say "maker of heaven and earth.")

Was the Father maker of heaven and earth?

The Old Testament does not say much about the Trinity. Judaism was a monotheistic religion. One God. That God, of course, was Creator and Maker. So over half of the Bible does indicate that God the Father was creator. The New Testament doesn't present a clear picture of the Trinity, and perhaps a picture of the Trinity can't be clear enough for our limited minds to grasp. But Christ and the Holy Spirit are certainly persons of importance in the New Testament.

There are passages in the New Testament that indicate that God the Son was the main creative agent in making and creating heaven and earth:

John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 The same was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through him. Without him, nothing was made that has been made. (Scripture quotations from the World English Bible, public domain.)

The Word was the Son.

Colossians 1:15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. 16 For by him all things were created in the heavens and on the earth, visible things and invisible things, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things have been created through him and for him. 17 He is before all things, and in him all things are held together.

Again, the context makes clear that "He" is God the Son, Christ. And Christ was not only Creator, but is Sustainer of creation.

and Hebrews 1:1 God, having in the past spoken to the fathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, 2 has at the end of these days spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, through whom also he made the worlds. 3 His Son is the radiance of his glory, the very image of his substance, and upholding all things by the word of his power, who, when he had by himself purified us of our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high,

Again, God the Son is creator and is sustainer.

I'm not suggesting that the Creeds be re-written. They won't be. But, like other parts of the Creeds, there's more that Christians should know and act upon than can be expressed in a sentence or phrase. God the Son, Christ our Savior, was deeply involved in creating, and is now deeply involved in sustaining that creation.

Thank you for reading.

Hebrews 2 on Christ and creation

Hebrews 1:1 God, having in the past spoken to the fathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, 1:2 has at the end of these days spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, through whom also he made the worlds. 1:3 His Son is the radiance of his glory, the very image of his substance, and upholding all things by the word of his power … (World English Bible, public domain)

If you ask the average believer to tell you which of the three persons of the Trinity was most important in creation, most of them will say that it was the Father. The passage above, and others, such as John 1:1-3, indicate that the correct answer to that question is the Son.

Hebrews 1 also indicates that the role of the Son was not confined to getting things started, but also is sustaining - "upholding all things by the word of his power ...." Christ, God the Son, seems to be holding the universe, and the subatomic particles in my brain, together. How? I don't know. Colossians 1:16-17 reinforces that idea. Praise to the Son, redeemer, creator and sustainer!

The first day of creation: things we are never going to understand

Genesis 1:2 The earth was formless and empty. Darkness was on the surface of the deep and God’s Spirit was hovering over the surface of the waters. 3 God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. 4 God saw the light, and saw that it was good. God divided the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light “day”, and the darkness he called “night”. There was evening and there was morning, the first day. (World English Bible, public domain)

There are plenty of possible questions about this passage, such as about how literally to take it, but I’d rather not explore the questions of what “day” means, and other such matters, important as they might be. I have some other questions in mind, questions that we will never understand in this life, and maybe not in the next one. We can, and may, have opinions about them, but the opinions are not strongly backed by the Scripture, or are not covered at all in the Bible, and Genesis 1 is interpreted in different ways by different people. For more on scriptural interpretation, see this post.

Questions:
If God spoke light into existence, what language did He use?
Does God, in this passage, mean God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit, or some combination of them?
Who did God speak to?
If He/They spoke to some other entity, who was it, and why was this said?
Did angels, or some other entity, actually create the light, at God’s command?
Was the creation of light preceded (whatever preceded  means to an eternal God!) by planning?
Was the entire electromagnetic spectrum, of which light is only a small part, created at once?
Did the creation of light cost God effort or resources of some sort?
Does this passage actually refer to the creation of the sun, or was that created later?
Was there light elsewhere in the universe, but not on earth, or, on the other hand, was the light created for the earth, or perhaps for the solar system, spread throughout the universe somehow, after this initial creation?
Was light created from something else?

Interesting questions. (There are more questions about origins in this post -- toward the end.) I have no answers. Thanks for reading.

Who the Holy Spirit is and what He does

The Holy Spirit

Based on The Holy Spirit: Activating God's Power in Your Life, Billy Graham. He points out that we need Christ for forgiveness of sin, and the Holy Spirit because we want to be good, but can’t do so ourselves. Scripture from World English Bible, public domain.

What He does:

He speaks: He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the assemblies. (Rev. 2:7a) As they served the Lord and fasted, the Holy Spirit said, “Separate Barnabas and Saul for me, for the work to which I have called them.” (Acts 13:2)

He intercedes: But the Spirit himself makes intercession for us with groanings which can’t be uttered. (Rom. 8:26b)

He testifies: “When the Counselor has come, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will testify about me.” (John 15:26)

He leads: The Spirit said to Philip, “Go near, and join yourself to this chariot.” (Acts 8:29) For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are children of God. (Rom. 8:14)

He commands: When they had gone through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, they were forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia. 7 When they had come opposite Mysia, they tried to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit didn’t allow them. (Acts 16:6–7)

He guides: However when he, the Spirit of truth, has come, he will guide you into all truth (John 16:13a)

He teaches: We also speak these things, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches, but which the Holy Spirit teaches . . . (1 Corinthians 2:13)

He appoints: Take heed, therefore, to yourselves, and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the assembly of the Lord (Acts 20:28a)

What we can do to the Holy Spirit: Lie: 3 But Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back part of the price of the land? You haven’t lied to men, but to God. (Acts 5:3, 4b)

Insult: How much worse punishment do you think he will be judged worthy of who has trodden under foot the Son of God, … and has insulted the Spirit of grace? (Heb. 10:29a, c)

Blaspheme: Therefore I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven men. (Matt. 12:31)

Grieve: Don’t grieve the Holy Spirit of God, in whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. (Eph. 4:30)

Receive: Acts 19:2-6

Attributes: He is eternal: how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without defect to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? (Heb. 9:14)

He is powerful: The angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. (Luke 1:35)

He is omnipresent: Where could I go from your Spirit? Or where could I flee from your presence?” (Ps. 139:7).

He is omniscient: 10b For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. 11 For who among men knows the things of a man, except the spirit of the man, which is in him? Even so, no one knows the things of God, except God’s Spirit. (1 Cor. 2)

He is called God: See Acts 5:3–4, above.

He is Creator: Genesis 1:1 In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. 2 The earth was formless and empty. Darkness was on the surface of the deep and God’s Spirit was hovering over the surface of the waters.

Job 3:4 The Spirit of God has made me,
and the breath of the Almighty gives me life.

Thanks for reading!