Jesus the Perfect Man in Whom Dwells the Fullness of God

Copyright © 2015 Jim Taylor.

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ISBN: 978-1-4908-7976-5 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4908-7977-2 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-4908-7978-9 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2015907293

WestBow Press rev. date: 05/19/2015

Contents

About This Book

Preface

Introduction

Chapter 1 Jesus: Almighty Jehovah God—the Son of God

Chapter 2 Jesus: Almighty Jehovah God—the Son of Man

Chapter 3 Jesus the Man, Mighty God, Ruler of Heaven and Earth

Chapter 4 Jesus is Coming Again

Chapter 5 The Three Days of the Cross

Chapter 6 The Spirit of Jesus, the Holy Spirit

Chapter 7 Water Baptism, Baptism into the Holy Spirit, and the Gift of the Holy Spirit

Conclusion

About the Author of this Book

Jim Taylor has written and published one other book, WHY ME, LORD?

A Spiritual View of a Carnal Way—John’s revelation letter to the seven churches of Asia

This book is dedicated to the Mountain View Church of Christ in Buena Vista, Colorado, and to the Poncha Springs Church of Christ in Poncha Springs, Colorado, for all of the mission work they have done, working together with Judy and me in Mazatlán, Sinaloa, Mexico. These churches have supported the preacher in Mazatlán for many years, and they have worked together to purchase considerable amounts of food (beans and rice) for hungry brethren.

About This Book

Jesus said, "And this is life eternal, that they should know thee the only true God, and him whom thou didst send, even Jesus Christ" (John 17:3). But the question is—how is it possible to know God? How can we know someone who is infinite and eternal when we cannot see him, feel him, hear him, or sense his presence? We see clearly from the creation that there is a God or else this world could not exist (Romans 1:20). We know from the Bible that God is a loving Father who is the Creator of all things. It is God who sent his own Son into the world to take the punishment for all sin upon himself and to pay for all the damage that sin had caused. We know that God is a rewarder of all those who seek after him and come to him in faith (Hebrews 11:6). We know that God dwells in the heart of every person who believes in him and loves him (1 John 4:11–16). It is by faith that we know all of these things are absolutely certain and true. We know that by faith we have eternal life in him. But there is a way we can know God more intimately and more perfectly. We can know God by knowing his Son, the very One whom God sent to us as the Savior and Redeemer of this lost world—his name is Jesus, and he is the Almighty Jehovah God himself. We can know Jesus intimately as our best Friend (John 15:15), and our Brother (Hebrews 2:11–14), and our Father (Isaiah 9:6–7; John 10:30, 14:6–11), because even though he is God he became one of us exactly, a Man, just like all other men (Hebrews 2:14–18). He lived in this present world exactly as we live in it. So, whatever we learn by studying Jesus, his teachings, and his life, we are learning about our loving Father, our God, and our Creator.

Most of the books that have been written about God view him as three persons, or, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. That is the correct view, for that is who God is. But this book will view the Godhead from a different perspective still believing that God is the Father, the Son (the Word), and the Holy Spirit, and yet he is one God. This book will view the fullness of God as seen in one man, God’s Son. This is a scriptural view. Paul wrote in his letter to the Colossians, Take heed lest there shall be any one that maketh spoil of you through his philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ: for in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily, and in him ye are made full, who is the head of all principality and power (Colossians 2:8−10). If in Jesus dwells all the fullness of the Godhead (or God), and if he is the head of all principality (governments) and power, then where else could we go to learn as much about God as it is possible to know than by just studying Jesus? And what makes this even more reasonable is—we know more about Jesus than we know about any other person in history, both present and past. The gospels and especially the book of John give an intimate view into the life and times of Jesus our Savior. This book will put those two facts together and just study Jesus, his teachings, and his life, so that we might know more about our loving Father, our God, and our Creator.

The Thomas Nelson American Standard Version (ASV) Study Bible is used in this book for all scriptural references.

Preface

There have been many books written about God—who he is, how holy he is, how glorious and powerful he is, how he knows all things, and how he has complete power and control over everything. In fact, so many books have been written about God there seems to be room for no more. However, if a person wants to know everything that it is possible to learn about God there is only one book he can turn to for that information—that book is the Bible. If a person wants to write a book about God, he also has only one resource he can to turn to for his material, and again, that source is the Bible. The Bible is unique. It was written by some forty men who were prophets, and who wrote the Bible over a time period of about 1,600 years. All of those holy men of God were in perfect agreement with each other. The Bible those men wrote has no errors or contradictions, and it has one common theme—that theme is Jesus. The message of the Old Testament is the creation of the world, its fall because of sin, the establishment of the penalty for sin which is death, and the founding of the Law of Moses and the nation of Israel—the nation from which the Messiah came to be the Savior of the world. The message of the New Testament is the restoration of the creation by the cross of God’s Son, the offer of the forgiveness of sin to all sinners, and the gift of the Holy Spirit and eternal life to all who believe in Jesus. The principal message of the Old Testament is—someone is coming. The message of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John is—he came, and he is here with us now. The message of Acts through Revelation is—he left, but he is coming back, he is coming again.

Many of the men who wrote the Bible had very little, if any, formal education. They certainly did not have high degrees from a university in Hebrew or Greek literature, and they were not authors until they wrote their part of the Bible. It was the Holy Spirit who told them what to write and how to write it. David grew up tending his father’s sheep, and he must have had no time whatsoever for school (1 Samuel 16:11−13). When he was called to be the king at a very young age, not even old enough to be in the army of Israel as were his brothers (1 Samuel 16:5–13), he spent his life running from Saul. Saul was the established king and it was his intent to kill David at any expense. Yet David wrote the Psalms, a masterpiece of all literature.

The prophet Amos told Amaziah, the king, and those to whom he spoke and wrote, that he was a herdsman and a farmer. He probably never spent a day of his life in school, and yet he wrote the letter of Amos.

Then answered Amos, and said to Amaziah, I was no prophet, neither was I a prophet’s son; but I was a herdsman, and a dresser of sycamore-trees: and Jehovah took me from following the flock, and Jehovah said unto me, Go, prophesy unto my people Israel. (Amos 7:14−15)

What God wanted was not learned and polished men of high status and formal education. God wanted spiritual men who believed in him, obeyed him, and sought for him with all of their heart, mind, and soul. When they met that requirement God gave them everything else they needed in order to fulfill their course in their service to the Almighty, and to do everything God wanted them to do.

Peter and John were fishermen. They probably had very little formal education. Luke said in his letter of the Acts of the Apostles, Now when they [the Pharisees] beheld the boldness of Peter and John, and had perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marveled; and they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus. And seeing the man that was healed standing with them, they could say nothing against it (Acts 4:13−14). And yet Peter wrote first and second Peter, both works of literary art, and John wrote his gospel of John, three other epistles, and the letter of Revelation to the seven churches of Asia, all masterpieces of literature.

But the words these men wrote which compose our Holy Bible were never edited. They were never looked over for corrections or errors and they were never sent to a publisher. They were compiled as they were originally written, word for word, and then sent to the churches, or to the people to whom they were addressed. After the churches received those letters they were passed on to other churches (Colossians 4:15–16) and somehow saved for hundreds of years, a miracle in itself. Then they were all be compiled together to make up one Book—our Holy Bible. All of the letters that those men wrote have been put together as one masterpiece of all literature that shall never be equaled. We call that masterpiece our Holy Bible. It is the only book that has been translated into almost every language spoken on earth.

The writings of the prophets and the apostles, our Bible, all came together as one book by the foreknowledge and power of God. It stands alone as a miracle in itself. Just as God gave us the Bible through the writings of the prophets, he has all power to preserve it in all of its holiness, simplicity, purity, and fullness, until he comes again. Books today are not written, they are edited.

How can this be? How can men of little or no formal education write masterpieces of literature, such as the Psalms, that stand out as being the greatest of all writings? The answer is: The Bible was not written by those men. It was written by the Holy Spirit, and men do not edit nor do they correct the Spirit of God.

Knowing this first, that no prophecy of scripture is of private interpretation. For no prophecy ever came by the will of man: but men spake from God, being moved by the Holy Spirit. (2 Peter 1:20−21)

But abide thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them. And that from a babe thou hast known the sacred writings which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. Every scripture inspired of God is also profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for instruction which is in righteousness. That the man of God may be complete, furnished completely unto every good work. (2 Timothy 3:14−17)

The books I have read about God describe Him as being three persons. He is called the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. But in the Old Testament it is extremely difficult to see God as three persons. In the Old Testament there was no person in the Godhead who had a relationship with God as the Son of God. Jesus, who is God, was not the Son of God, or the Son of man, until he was born of Mary—born of a woman, born under the law (Galatians 4:4). Before Jesus became the Son of God and the Son of man he was the Word (John 1:1) and becoming the Son of man did not change that—Jesus is still the Word. John wrote, In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him; and without him was not anything made that hath been made (John 1:1−2). Then, as John continued on he said, And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us (and we beheld his glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father), full of grace and truth (John 1:14). The relationship of the Godhead in the Old Testament was the Father, the Word, and the Spirit. That relationship shall never change, and Jesus has always been the Word, and he shall always be the Word. Hebrews 13:8 says, "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and to-day, yea and for ever."

It is these three Persons who are one God, and each Person had his own work to do when God created the universe. The Father designed the creation and had it fully established in his mind when he spoke it into its existence (Psalms 33:6; Revelation 4:11). The Word took what the Father had designed, and had spoken, and he physically created all things (John 1:1−4; Colossians 1:12−18; Hebrews 1:1−2). But what the Word created was not organized into the perfectly predictable and orderly world as we see it now. It was nothing but time, space, material, and energy, and it was waste and void (Genesis 1:2). It was the Holy Spirit who moved, or vibrated over everything the Word had created, and it was He who organized it into the perfectly ordered and predictable world we live in today. From this we see at least two persons in the Godhead working together in the creation of the universe, that is, the Father who designed the worlds and spoke them into their existence (Psalms 33:6), and the Holy Spirit who organized them into their perfect order and harmony. When we read John 1:1−4, we see another person involved in the creation of the world. He is called the Word, and he was with God in the beginning, and he is God, and it is he who is the creator of all things.

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. And the earth was waste and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep: and the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said, Let there be light: and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness. And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, one day. (Genesis 1:1−5)

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him; and without him was not anything made that hath been made. (John 1:1–3)

The word which is translated God (Genesis 1:1) is actually a plural word meaning Gods. It is used some six-thousand times in the Old Testament. It is the Hebrew word Elohim, and it means someone of unlimited power, strength, and energy who is absolutely faithful and trustworthy. Just from Genesis 1:1 we see there was more than one person in the Godhead, or Elohim, who was involved in the creation.

The recreation of God’s fallen world and the restoration of all things by the establishment of the church were accomplished the same way that God created this material world. It was the Father who designed the church which is the kingdom of God. It was the Word who was born to be God’s Son, Jesus, who came into the world to build the church (Matthew 16:15−19) exactly as his Father had designed it (John 5:30). The only way all of that could have been accomplished is by Jesus ending his life on the cross. After Jesus had established his kingdom, the church, his work on earth was finished. So, he ascended into heaven and he sent the Holy Spirit to organize the church and to oversee all things concerning the church until he comes again.

The work Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to accomplish is described in John 14:15−18, 26; John 15:26−27; and John 16:7–16. To sum this up, it is the Father who is the designer, it is the Word who is the builder, and it is the Holy Spirit who is the organizer and overseer.

There are scriptures in the Old Testament that describe God as more than one person, such as in Genesis, where Moses wrote,

And God [Elohim] said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the heavens, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. And God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. (Genesis 1:26−27)

How wonderful it is that the only part of God’s creation which was created in his own image, and after his own likeness, was man! God loved his children so very much that he gave them complete dominion over his entire creation, even over the birds of the heavens, and the fish in the sea. It is difficult to understand how a man could have dominion over the creatures in the heavens, or in the ocean, but to this day if a man falls into the sea, and is struggling, and there is a gray dolphin in the area, that dolphin will come to his aid. How do we explain that? What more could God have given him!

It is a difficult task to know God just by studying him. It is much easier just to believe that he is, and to accept him as our Creator and Savior and the rewarder of all who believe in him (Hebrews 11:6). God is an infinite being, and it is impossible for the human mind to understand infinity. God is not seen or heard. He is three persons, and yet he is one God. All we can learn about him must come from the Bible—and by viewing his creation (Romans 1:20).

But there is one person in the Godhead we can understand perfectly, because he became one of us, and he was just like us, and yet he is God. His name is Jesus. Therefore, there might be an easier approach in our quest to learn more about our loving Creator and Father, and who he is and what he is like, and to know him personally as our dearest Friend (James 2:23), and Father (John 20:17), and Jesus as our Brother (Hebrews 2:11−12), than by viewing God as three persons and studying each personality separately. Maybe the way that we can know more about God than we can learn about him in any other way is by just studying God’s Son. Jesus is the Son of God, and he is God Almighty himself. All the fullness of God lives in Jesus. Paul wrote,

Take heed lest there shall be any one that maketh spoil of you through his philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ: for in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily, and in him ye are made full, who is the head of all principality and power. (Colossians 2:8−10)

Jesus is Jehovah, and Jehovah is the highest name by which the Jews knew God, their heavenly Father. Jehovah is the name by which national Israel calls God to this day. Jesus is also the Eternal Father, or the Father of eternity, and he is Mighty God, just as Isaiah and Jeremiah described him.

Behold, the days come, saith Jehovah, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely; and this is his name whereby he shall be called: Jehovah our righteousness. (Jeremiah 23:5−6)

For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. (Isaiah 9:6)

If these scriptures, along with John 1:1, do not describe Jesus as Jehovah, Mighty God, and the Eternal Father, or the Father of eternity, there is no other place to look.

Toward the end of Jesus’ ministry, when he was preparing to leave this world by the way of the cross, he told his disciples that he was going to the Father to prepare a place for them, and they knew the way. Jesus was the way (John 14:6), and he also told them that he was the Father. Jesus told his disciples that he and the Father are one (John 10:30). His disciples did not know where he was going, nor did they understand the way, and they could not comprehend at all that he was the Father—so they asked