But as many as received him, to them he gave the right to become God's children, to those who believe in his name. -- John 1:12.
The
above scripture is sometimes presented to prove that the Logos is God
evidently because he gave those who received him the right to become
God's children. We have not found a clear explanation of how his verse
is thought to be proof of the triune God philosophy, but we surmise that
the thought is that the Almighty could not give to his Son this
authority, except that the Son of God is God Himself. In reality, all
power and authority that Jesus has is that which has been given to him
by the Source of All Power and Might, that is, his God and Father. To
quote what we have written earlier concerning this:
The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, by means of his holy spirit, reveals through the scriptures that Jesus receives his inheritance and dominion (power) from Yahweh. His power and authority is given to him by his God, his unipersonal Supreme Being. Jesus is not Yahweh [his unipersonal God and Father] who gives him this dominion, all authority and power (with the evident exception of the position of being the Most High himself — 1 Corinthians 15:27), yet the exercise of this power and authority by Jesus is all to the praise of Yahweh, the unipersonal God and Father of the Lord Jesus. The Bible writers never claimed that Jesus is the ultimate “source” of his own power. — Psalm 2:6-8; 45:7; 110:1,2; Isaiah 9:6,7; 11:2; 42:1; 61:1-3; Jeremiah 23:5; Daniel 7:13,14; Matthew 12:28; 28:18; Luke 1:32; 4:14,18; 5:17; John 3:34; 5:19,27,30; 10:18,36-38; Acts 2:22; 10:38; Romans 1:1-4; 1 Corinthians 15:27; 2 Corinthians 13:4; Colossians 1:15,16; 2:10; Ephesians 1:17-22; Philippians 2:9-11; Hebrews 1:2,4,6,9; 1 Peter 3:22.
Jesus,
having become flesh (John 1:14), a little lower than the angels
(Hebrews 2:9), while during the days of flesh (Hebrews 5:7), proved his
full obedience to his God and Father, by which is the good news that he
brought life and incorruption to light for mankind. (2 Timothy 1:10) In
other words, Jesus was the first human being to prove that he was
incorruptible. However, before Christ came, we do not find in general
the thought of becoming God’s children; why not? Because Jesus had not
yet come and brought life and incorruption to light. It was thus only
prospective of Christ’s sacrifice (before Christ came) or retroactively
(after Christ came) that justification, and/or sonship, can be applied
to those of faith before Christ came.
The
purpose of sonship in this age is to because of the selection out of
the world those who become Abraham’s seed. This seed does not consist
only of Jesus, but also all who have become sons of God through faith in
Jesus. (Galatians 3:16,26-28) The purpose of this selection of the seed
of Abraham is that all these might participate with Jesus in blessing
all the nations of the earth in the age to come. We will quote from our
earlier statements:
(8) "In that day," the 1,000-year reign of Messiah, when He will judge mankind, "the earth will be full of the knowledge of Yahweh, as the waters cover the sea." Then it will be said: "Look, this is our God. We have waited for him, and he will save us . . . . We will be glad and rejoice in his salvation." -- Isaiah 11:9,10; 25:6-9; 40:5; 52:10: Jeremiah 31:34; Habakkuk 2:14.
(9) The word judge as used in the Scriptures does not mean merely to sentence, but includes -1- instruction (Psalm 19:7-11; 25:8,9: 106:3; 119:108; Isaiah 33:5; 56:1; 59:4,8-15; Ezekiel 22:2; Matthew 12:18-20; 23:23; Colossians 2:16), -2- testing (Psalm 26:1-3, compare 139:23,24; Jeremiah 11:20, compare 20:12; 2 Thessalonians 1:4,5), -3- chastisement for correction (Isaiah 26:9; 1 Corinthians 11:31,32 -- compare Luke 12:47,48; Hebrews 12:5-11; Revelation 3:19), and -4- passing a sentence. -- Matthew 7:1,2; John 7:24; Deuteronomy 1:16; Psalm 17:2.
(10) Jesus "will judge (by these four processes) the living and the dead at (during) his appearing and his kingdom." "He must reign [in his thousand-year reign] until he has put all enemies under his feet. The last enemy that will be destroyed is death." -- 2 Timothy 4:1; 1 Corinthians 15:24-26; Psalm 72:1-4; Isaiah 11:1-6; 32:1; Jeremiah 23:5,6; Hosea 13:14; Revelation 20:11-15.
(11) The saints [dedicated ones] will rule with him over the earth in 1,000-year judgment day and assist in judging the world, offering to them "the water of life freely." -- Daniel 7:22,27; 1 Corinthians 6:2; Obadiah 21; Matthew 19:28; Luke 22:29,30; Romans 8:16-21; 2 Timothy 2:11,12; Revelation 3:21; 5:9,10; 20:4,6; 22:17.
(12) According to Yahweh's oath-bound promise, Abraham's seed, that is, Christ and all the "sons of God", will bless "all the families of the earth." This blessing will come to the world during the 1,000-year reign. -- Genesis 12:3; 22:16-18; Galatians 3:7-9,16,29; Hebrews 6:13-20; Acts 3:19-25.
(13) Those who are to be blessed include the dead as well as the living -- the dead will be awakened from their "sleep" in death (Psalm 6:5; 146:4; Daniel 12:2; John 5:28,29 NASV; 11:11-14; 1 Thessalonians 4:14; 2 Peter 3:4) and will then be given an exact knowledge of the truth and a full opportunity to live eternally.
(14) Eventually "God will wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there will be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither will there be any more pain; for the former things [things of Satan's reign, including the curse of sin and death] are passed away." -- Revelation 21:1-4; 22:1-3; Isaiah 35:10; 65:17-25.
The Day of Judgment
What a glorious prospect!
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