John,
I have a question, is what happened to Jesus be different then what happens to us when we receive the holy ghost? I know that the Son of God left his place and came and took on the flesh of Jesus and lived through him, and I know it says that they saw the spirit descend on Jesus like a dove when the Son took up his abode. But that was not just like receiving the holy ghost right? I mean The Son of God actually lived through Jesus.
And I know that when we receive the holy ghost that the Son said that he and the Father would come and take up their abode with us, so I don’t really know if I am asking this right, but the physical Son of God was in the body of Jesus right? And not in us right?
Thanks
Stuart
==============
Hi Stuart.
This is a question that most of us have had when we became aware of the fact that God had a Son before Mary did. I don’t know that anyone can fully answer that question, but there are a few things we can say. How did those two sons, God’s and Mary’s, get together? And what happened to the one, or to either of them, when they became one person at the Jordan River? All we know for certain is that they were blended, body, soul, and spirit on that day, and from that time on, Jesus was Jesus Christ, or “Jesus, the Anointed One”. Nothing like that can be done or fully understood by humans; it is accomplished only by power and wisdom which is in God’s kind of life. And it is not unusual for a higher life form to be able to know and do things that lower life forms cannot comprehend or do. Can a turnip, or a bird, read the Bible as you do, or write a letter? So, for God to do something that we cannot do or understand is only to be expected. The good news is that He did it because He loved us and wants us to live with Him forever, happy, healthy, and free.
How is Jesus’ experience different from everyone who has received the Spirit since Pentecost? One fact that comes to mind is that everyone in God’s kingdom receives life from God for a purpose; that is, to occupy a certain place in His kingdom. When Jesus received life, he received the life of the Son of God, which the Son also had received from God. The Son’s life had been given to him to reign over Creation as Lord of Lords and King of Kings, and that is who Jesus became. You and I received the same kind of life but for a different purpose, for we are given different places in our Father’s kingdom. That is the best i can do with that one right now.
As for the Son”physically” coming into Jesus, I know what you are trying to say, but there was nothing physical about him. He like his Father, was a spiritual being, not a physical one. But yes, the person of the Son came from heaven and made his home in the body of Mary’s Son. I would also say that the Father came, too, because the Father and the Son are one in spirit. Didn’t Jesus himself say, “The Father is in me, and I in Him”? So, what do we do with that?
What God did in Christ is just beyond us, Stuart. And that’s a good thing. If it had not been beyond us, it couldn’t have saved us from sin.
Pastor John