Home Divine Trinity | ||||
In His Image
|
||||
God is three Divine Persons. Yet God is one in Essence. What does that mean and how can there be three of God yet only One? In
what way is God three yet One? Is God male or female, or neither? And how does this Triune God effect
the image of man? The answers are found in Holy Scripture.
When God spoke to Moses on Mount Sinai, God reveals to him His
name.
The Hebrew name that
God reveals to Moses spells out the Holy Trinity, with God as three Persons. "I am that I am" in Hebrew is "aeie ashr aeie"
and is translated as "I shall become who I am becoming" ("Hebrew Interlinear Bible").
The second "I am" is "I shall
become" and this "I am" tells who Jesus is in God's Holy name.
Jesus is the "I am" of God.
In Deuteronomy,
the Shema speaks of God's Divine Essence as One.
["one" from the Hebrewechad: more than one comprised as one" (Strong 259)]
So God is three Persons who are comprised as One Entity. But how is
it that God is three in One?
God tells tells us that Adam and Eve were created as "male and female"...
"in the image of God."
The two were "one" (echad) (Strong 259).
Eve gave birth to Seth.
The three, Adam, Eve, and Seth, became one family (echad).
Since God created man as male and female in His
image and likeness, this means the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are the likeness from which God created man "in our image." As
there are three in the family of Adam (the father, a child, and a mother), there are three in the family
of God. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Echad.
[Because they are a family within the Trinity, where the One is, the other Two shall
be. Also read Matthew 1:18-23.]
The apostle Paul makes reference to the Trinity where man is created in the image of God.
According to Paul, the "Godhead" can be better understood by the
physical world which God created. The physical world was created after the spiritual world where God exists. So if in the physical
world there is male and female and child, should that not also apply to God's spiritual world?
In the Trinity family,
Jesus is the Son of God. As God's Son, He is the only begotten Son (John 3:16). Jesus was "begotten" and not created. Remembering
that it only takes one to create, but it takes two to beget, the begetting happens in a family whereas a man begets (Matt.
1:1-16) and a woman conceives (Isa. 7:14).
Two as one beget a child (Matt. 1).
Jesus' having been
begotten of the Father is shown in His conception.
The "Highest" (v.35) is the Father. Notice there were two involved:
the Holy Spirit rested upon Mary while the Highest overshadowed her. The Son was begotten of the Father through the Holy Spirit whereas
they together brought forth Jesus into the physical realm via Mary.
Jesus born as a man became a man and because
of it was called Son of Man. That the Son would come from the Father "formed...from the womb" was foretold in the Old Testament.
Although Jesus
was born into physical existence via Mary (Matt. 18:11) (who became His physical mother), Jesus was already the only
begotten Son of the Father. Jesus existed as God's Son, as shown in the Old Testament (Psalm 2:12), before He
was born on earth.
As the Son was brought in to physical existence by the Father and Holy Spirit via Mary, so also
the Son was brought into the world on the first day of creation (Gen. 1:3, John 1:1-5).
The son as the Light...
was brought in to the world through the Father and Spirit on the first day of creation to create everything in the world.
The Father and Spirit created all through the Son (Job 38) as the spoken Word.
The spoken Word is the Light of the world who brought everything into existence.
Without the Light is darkness. And without the Light of salvation is the darkness of death and
why salvation provided by God can only be found through His Light.
While brought into this world via Mary, the Son was called
Son of Man... and when brought into this world on the first day of creation, the Son was called the Light. And while the Son
was brought into this world to give mankind salvation and at the beginning to create the world, the Son of God existed before creation
because before there was time, the Son already was as the "I am" of God.
The Son who has always had a Father
has always had the Spirit of God. With the Son is God the Father and the Holy Spirit Mother. Together they are a Triune
and Divine family.
The son is the One who is "sent." Notice that the
Son is "sent" by both the Father and His Spirit.
The word "Spirit" comes from the Hebrew word "Ruwach" (Strong 7307). It means
"breath" and "life" as in the "the One through whom comes breath of life." It is feminine in tense, meaning it is feminine
in character, nature, and gender. It occurs 389 times in the Old Testament.
As the "Spirit" comes from the Father, through
the Spirit the Father gives life as the Son of God.
[That the Holy Spirit is called Mother does not detract from the
Lord's earthly mother. Rather it is exemplified. For it is the Holy Spirit who works through Mary as a mother, exemplifying a
greater understanding of the physical world and the spiritual (Rom. 1:20)].
[In the Book of Genesis, the Spirit is also found
as part of the Godhead involved in creation (Gen. 1:1-2) (further explained by King Solomon who called the Mother "Wisdom") (Prov.
8:1-9:5)].
The Father, Son, and Spirit are found in the New Testament as part of the Trinity.
"Holy Ghost" is
translated from the Greek words "hagios pneuma" (Strong 40; 4151) meaning "Holy Spirit." The word is neutral in gender. It
is translated from its female Hebrew counterpart as "Ruwach" (Strong 7307) and "Qodesh" ("Spirit") ("holy") (Strong
6944) as found in the book of Psalms.
The
term "Ruwach Qodesh" is found three times in Old Testament Scripture, once in the quoted Psalm 51:11 and
twice in Isaiah 63:10-11.
It is the Holy Spirit of which Jesus speaks in the book of John.
The word "he" is translated from the Greek word "ho" (Strong 3588) and
is neutral in gender.
According to the Greek translation, the word "Spirit" can be masculine or feminine. This makes it
even more important to reference back to Old Testament Scripture to better understand the gender of the Holy Spirit. As
previously quoted, the word "Spirit" in Hebrew is feminine in gender. Remembering that the New Testament is the Old
Testament "fulfilled" ( Matt. 5:17-19), if the word "spirit" is neutral in Greek and yet feminine in Hebrew, then it would
only make sense that the given word is feminine. Thus the Holy Spirit is female in essence.
Jesus did
not come to change or destroy original Scripture, but to fulfill it. Neither would the Holy Spirit change in essence from female to
male. God is teaching us about God in Scripture. If the New Testament shows a change rather than fulfillment, then passages
need examined to find out why, and a history of translation needs examined as well.
It is often believed
that the teaching of the Holy Spirit as feminine is gnostic. Although there were those gnostic writings which did teach this
in early Christianity, the teaching was also part of orthodox early Christianity. And there are churches which
still teach the femininity of the Holy Spirit.
The eastern Rite places the Trinity in order of Father, Holy Spirit, and Son,
with the Holy Spirit proceeding from the Father only (and not the Son), though the Trinity is commonly spoken as Father, Son, and
Holy Spirit (based on ancient tradition).
The feminine Holy Spirit is mentioned in the lost book of Hebrews which
was the original book of Matthew written in Hebrew before it was translated into Greek and titled the book of Matthew, according
to St. Jerome. Saint Jerome (A.D. 347-420) was a Roman Catholic priest (given the title of saint and Doctor of the Church for his
work). He is known for translating the Bible into Latin (the Vulgate), which is still considered important text in Catholicism and
for translating the book of Matthew from its Hebrew original.
Saint Jerome quoted from the lost Gospel of the Hebrews.
Notice how this gospel calls the Holy
Spirit Mother according to the words of Jesus. The book of Hebrews, as quoted from those such as Jerome who had a version
of the original manuscript, clearly states that the Holy Spirit is the Mother of the Lord Jesus and therefore feminine in essence.Further, in Saint Jerome's commentary on Micah 7:6, he admits that the Word (Jesus) proceeds or comes from the Holy
Spirit.
So why was this section of Hebrews left out of its later Greek translation to Matthew?
There were other
early church fathers who also quoted from the book of Hebrews, proving that it was considered legitimate text in early
Christianity. Examples are those such as Origen (A.D.184-253) who spoke of the Holy Spirit as being female and Irenaeus (second century
A.D. 202) who acknowledged that the book of Hebrews was used by the first century Ebonites (Jewish christians)
originating from Palestine (KIrby), as it was written for the Hebrew speaking people.
In the New Testament,
the Trinity is presented to mankind through Christ and the church. As Eve is the bride of Adam, the church is
the bride of Christ.
"Church" comes
from the Greek word "Ekklesia" (Strong 1577) which simply means "a community of members in Christ" (Christians). The community exists through
Christ and is united to Him as His body (1 Cor. 12: 27).
Eve (Gen. 2:21-24), the bride of Adam, was the completion of creation
and the church (Acts 2), the bride of the Messiah (Rev. 21), is the completion of the unification of God and man.
The children
of the Church are those born of the Spirit, because they are united to Father (Water) and Mother (Spirit) through the Son.
Compare with Genesis 1:2 and notice that as the Father (Water)
and Spirit (Mother) brought the Son into this world on the first day of creation as the Light of the world, so also are the children
of God (christians) born of the Father (water) and Mother (Spirit) (v.5) through being united to Christ as the bridegroom.
Note
that as it is female which gives birth, so also are we "born of the Spirit." Verses 3 and 7, where it says "born again" is properly
translated as "born from above." (See Young's Literal Translation: John 3:1-8.)
Note also that as the Holy Spirit is female,
so also is the church. The word "church" is feminine in gender and connotation given by way of the Holy Spirit, the Mother
of the church. From the Father and the Mother is Christ and from Christ is the church (as from Adam came Eve and from Adam
and Eve came children.
The word "spirit" in itself is feminine in gender, including when it is used to describe the spirit
of a man.
("spirit" from Hebrew ruwach:
spirit) (Strong 7307). The Hebrew uses the same word as used to describe the Holy Spirit because the spirit in itself is feminine
in connotation both in man and in the Godhead. Does this mean that man, both male and female, is feminine or actually female? In a
spiritual sense, yes. In a physical sense, no.
Mankind is neither male or female in the eyes of God because God judges the heart
or character of a person and not their outward appearances. But mankind as a whole is meant to exist as one feminine unity through
the church, the bride of Christ.
Man is neither male nor female...
God judges the inner person...
Mankind is one body in Christ...
Mankind is the feminine bride of
Christ...
As each
member in a body is unified to the body, so are the members of Christ.
Mankind as
one feminine unity in Christ is exemplified in science through the chromosomes. A man has XY chromosomes and a woman has
XX chromosomes. The X is the feminine structure of mankind. The Y is the masculine. The second Y in a man and the second X in
a woman show their physical nature as male and female. The first X in man and X in woman shows their spiritual nature. A
man and a woman in their physical nature are male and female created in the image of God as XY. Both the man and the woman in their
spiritual nature as one body are the feminine bride of Christ, XX.
And just as the human body has both male and female hormones, so also is the body of Christ. 1 Corinthians 12 12 For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ. 13 For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit. Galatians 3 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. Each person, though they be physically male and female, within the body of Christ are one unity and a part of the body of Christ.
As the members of the body are physically male and female, so also the body will retain its feminine or masculine form in the spirit as in the flesh. Created in the image of the Trinity, man is three in one man: spirit, flesh, and soul.
An example
of the soul..
("soul" from Hebrew nepesh: soul) (Strong 5315) ("Soul")
(Hebrew nephesh: "soul"
feminine gender) ("Nephesh")
An example of the spirit...
("spirit" from Hebrew ruwach: spirit) (Strong 7307) ("Spirit")
(Hebrewruwach: "spirit" feminine gender) ("Ruwach")
And an example of flesh.
("flesh" from Hebrew basar: flesh)
(Strong 1320) ("Flesh")
(Hebrew basar: "flesh" masculine gender) ("Basar")
"Flesh" as masculine shows a
man and a woman together make one man.
Therein is better understood this Scripture:
Flesh is honored in the connection of man and woman as one man. Spirit is honored in the connection of man wherein is man and woman as one man in Christ. From God the Father emanates both marriages. The Hebrew language speaks the relationship of woman to man and of man to
God.
Mankind is united to Christ (for those willing to accept Him as Savior) when Christ removed sin
at the cross. Sin needed to be removed to unify man to God because it was sin that separated man from God at
its origination in the garden (1 John 3: 5). By removing sin, Christ has reconnected the tri-unity of man and God.
The
Triune God is the centerpiece of the Old and New Testament. God's Triune image is the story of mankind's creation and salvation. Through God's
Triune image, He has created man and saved man.
But is God the Trinity truly Male and Female?God is neither, yet God is both. God is neither because God does not dwell in bodies of the flesh as does man, except the
Son who later became Man that He would dwell with man whom He created. Yet God is both for we are created in the image of God.
In
better understanding God, we can better understand ourselves. Because we are created in the image of God, the relationship
of husband and wife, and the family, is sacred (Matt. 19:3-9). And because we are created in the image of God,
life is sacred.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Further
Scripture study.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Works
Cited
"Basar." Old Testament Hebrew Lexacon: King James Version. https://www.biblestudytools.com/lexicons/hebrew/kjv/basar-2.html. "Flesh."Baker's Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology. edited by Walter A. Elwell. Baker Books, 1996. "Hebrew Interlinear Bible (OT)."Scripture 4 All., 2014, http://www.scripture4all.org/OnlineInterlinear/OTpdf/exo3.pdf. Accessed 9 November 2018. Kirby, Peter. "Gospel of the Hebrews." Early Christian Writings. http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/text/gospelhebrews-mrjames.html. Accessed 9 November 2018. "Nephesh." Old Testament Hebrew Lexacon: King James Version. https://www.biblestudytools.com/lexicons/hebrew/kjv/nephesh.html. "Ruwach." Old Testament Hebrew Lexacon: King James Version. https://www.biblestudytools.com/lexicons/hebrew/kjv/ruwach-2.html. "Soul." Baker's Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology. edited by Walter A. Elwell. Baker Books, 1996. "Spirit." Baker's Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology. edited by Walter A. Elwell. Baker Books, 1996. Strong, James. Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible. Hendrickson Publishers, Incorporated, 2009. |