Randy Green's Blog - Posts Tagged "god-the-son"
Uncovering Secrets in the Bible – Part 1
Yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom are all things and we exist for Him; and one Lord, Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we exist through Him [1 Corinthians 8:6].
1 Corinthians is in the New Testament, which means it was originally written in koine Greek. The word koine is Greek for “common”, meaning that it wasn’t the flowery Greek of cultured society, or the educated Greek of the Greek philosophers. It was the Greek spoken by the common man on the street of that time.
Even though we’re dealing with the Greek language in the New Testament, nonetheless we are also dealing with the Hebrew people. This means that, though they were speaking another language, they still spoke as Jews and not Gentiles. With this in mind we shouldn’t be taken aback when we realize they often expressed themselves in terms of parallelism.
Parallelism is the style used in Biblical Hebrew poetry. We today rhyme words at the ends of lines and call that poetry. The Hebrews rhymed ideas within the lines and called that poetry. The ideas might roughly coincide with each other, or they might be opposites of each other. Poetry which expresses coinciding ideas is known as synonymous parallelism. Poetry which expresses opposite ideas is known as antonymous parallelism.
Even when they presented narrative instead of poetry, it was not unusual by any means to find parallelism in the writing. When we today use alliteration in our narrative writing, we are employing a concept from poetry. And this is what we have in our Bible verse which kicked off our study today. Let’s consider it in that light now.
The parallelism is between the Father and the Son, and it is synonymous. The Father is identified as “God”, while the Son (i.e., “Jesus Christ”) is identified as “Lord”. But what follows from this is where the parallelism really comes into play. Permit me to express it as a numbered list.
1. from whom are all things and we exist for Him (i.e., the Father)
2. by whom are all things, and we exist through Him (i.e., the Son)
It should be ostensible to you, the way the two phrases run “parallel” with each other. But lest perchance anyone miss out on the fine details, I will spell them out to you. Again, a numbered list suits our purposes and shortens the explanation needed.
1. from whom are all things parallels by whom are all things
2. we exist for Him parallels we exist through Him
Now mull over the difference between the words “from” and “by”. They express the only difference in Line #1 of the preceding list. Both words are prepositions. So, then, what difference is portrayed by them in these two prepositional phrases? Answer: the phrase from whom are all things emphasizes the Father as the originator of all things. The phrase by whom are all things tells us that the Father created all things by means of His Son.
Do you see why I identified this as synonymous parallelism and not antonymous? The two ideas parallel each other in an agreeable fashion. They pull together rather than push apart. We learn that God is the Creator. He created as both the Father and the Son, and the two Persons worked together in perfect harmony, as One God.
We will decipher Line #2 in our next study. Be sure to be there. It gets even tastier.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Genesis: Volume 1 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
1 Corinthians is in the New Testament, which means it was originally written in koine Greek. The word koine is Greek for “common”, meaning that it wasn’t the flowery Greek of cultured society, or the educated Greek of the Greek philosophers. It was the Greek spoken by the common man on the street of that time.
Even though we’re dealing with the Greek language in the New Testament, nonetheless we are also dealing with the Hebrew people. This means that, though they were speaking another language, they still spoke as Jews and not Gentiles. With this in mind we shouldn’t be taken aback when we realize they often expressed themselves in terms of parallelism.
Parallelism is the style used in Biblical Hebrew poetry. We today rhyme words at the ends of lines and call that poetry. The Hebrews rhymed ideas within the lines and called that poetry. The ideas might roughly coincide with each other, or they might be opposites of each other. Poetry which expresses coinciding ideas is known as synonymous parallelism. Poetry which expresses opposite ideas is known as antonymous parallelism.
Even when they presented narrative instead of poetry, it was not unusual by any means to find parallelism in the writing. When we today use alliteration in our narrative writing, we are employing a concept from poetry. And this is what we have in our Bible verse which kicked off our study today. Let’s consider it in that light now.
The parallelism is between the Father and the Son, and it is synonymous. The Father is identified as “God”, while the Son (i.e., “Jesus Christ”) is identified as “Lord”. But what follows from this is where the parallelism really comes into play. Permit me to express it as a numbered list.
1. from whom are all things and we exist for Him (i.e., the Father)
2. by whom are all things, and we exist through Him (i.e., the Son)
It should be ostensible to you, the way the two phrases run “parallel” with each other. But lest perchance anyone miss out on the fine details, I will spell them out to you. Again, a numbered list suits our purposes and shortens the explanation needed.
1. from whom are all things parallels by whom are all things
2. we exist for Him parallels we exist through Him
Now mull over the difference between the words “from” and “by”. They express the only difference in Line #1 of the preceding list. Both words are prepositions. So, then, what difference is portrayed by them in these two prepositional phrases? Answer: the phrase from whom are all things emphasizes the Father as the originator of all things. The phrase by whom are all things tells us that the Father created all things by means of His Son.
Do you see why I identified this as synonymous parallelism and not antonymous? The two ideas parallel each other in an agreeable fashion. They pull together rather than push apart. We learn that God is the Creator. He created as both the Father and the Son, and the two Persons worked together in perfect harmony, as One God.
We will decipher Line #2 in our next study. Be sure to be there. It gets even tastier.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Genesis: Volume 1 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
Uncovering Secrets in the Bible – Part 2
Yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom are all things and we exist for Him; and one Lord, Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we exist through Him [1 Corinthians 8:6].
Yesterday we began our study of this verse by noting that it contains two parallel concepts. We expressed it as a numbered list.
1. from whom are all things and we exist for Him (i.e., the Father)
2. by whom are all things, and we exist through Him (i.e., the Son)
So that no one should miss out on the fine details, we again employed a numbered list to point them out.
1. from whom are all things parallels by whom are all things
2. we exist for Him parallels we exist through Him
We concluded yesterday’s lesson by deciphering Line#1. This line reveals how creation came about. God did the creating, and He did so in the Persons of God the Father and God the Son. All things came into being “from” the Father. All things came into being “by” the Son. Line #1 in itself teaches the truth of the Trinity, or at least of two Persons in one God. Creation was accomplished by the Father and the Son working together as one God.
Now let’s roll up our sleeves and get to work deciphering Line #2. When a person builds something, it is his. He can get a patent on it and sell it exclusively because it is his property. It was built “for” him, and he is free to use it for any purpose he so desires.
If he built a boat he could fish with it, sail around the world in it, live on it, or just plain dry dock it and use it for scenery. It is his boat. He built it and it exists “for” him. The boat represents creation, you see, and God the Father is the Person from whom the boat came into existence.
But what if the boat builder actually employed someone else to do the work, a subcontractor if you will? The subcontractor was the means by which the boat came into existence. The boat exists “through” him, while the designer and initiator of the process was the contractor.
The contractor is of course God the Father, and the subcontractor is God the Son. The boat (i.e., creation) exists “for” the Father, while it came into existence “through” the Son. Do you see how intimately connected the Father and the Son are? The same is true of the Holy Spirit, though He isn’t in the equation of 1 Corinthians 8:6. This example is quite deficient, though, because a human contractor and a human subcontractor are not “one”. But God is One.
We cannot know God because He is the One Who created us. We are finite creatures, while He is infinite. Now we see through a glass darkly, but in eternity we will see clearly, face to face, and we will know Him even as we are known by Him. The Bible contains many mysteries, many secrets for our discovery, and the Trinity is one of them. We should approach the Bible as explorers looking for the lost continent of Atlantis, or as treasure hunters digging for buried treasure. How excited and enthusiastic would we be then? We would brook no delays or go off on any tangents.
Under our present limitations we cannot possibly get a handle on how there can be one God but three equal Persons who comprise the one God. Notwithstanding this, the Bible distinctly shows this to be true. Faith is taking the Bible at face value and obeying it, placing our trust in it as the inerrant and infallible Word of God Himself. Without faith it is impossible to please God (cf., Hebrews 11:6).
I know I can believe what the Bible teaches me about God being one while simultaneously existing as three Persons. He has proven Himself to me time after time, grace upon grace. I cannot help but trust Him. I cannot deny Him. This is why I subscribe to Rule #2 for Bible study, the Bible is our sole and final authority in all matters of faith and practice.
So what about you? Do you know God? Do you trust Him in all things without reservation? What value do you place on His Word? You can never feed on His Word too much. Just be sure to confess your sins to Him first and be cleansed and filled with the Spirit. That is how we put our money where our mouth is.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Genesis: Volume 1 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
Yesterday we began our study of this verse by noting that it contains two parallel concepts. We expressed it as a numbered list.
1. from whom are all things and we exist for Him (i.e., the Father)
2. by whom are all things, and we exist through Him (i.e., the Son)
So that no one should miss out on the fine details, we again employed a numbered list to point them out.
1. from whom are all things parallels by whom are all things
2. we exist for Him parallels we exist through Him
We concluded yesterday’s lesson by deciphering Line#1. This line reveals how creation came about. God did the creating, and He did so in the Persons of God the Father and God the Son. All things came into being “from” the Father. All things came into being “by” the Son. Line #1 in itself teaches the truth of the Trinity, or at least of two Persons in one God. Creation was accomplished by the Father and the Son working together as one God.
Now let’s roll up our sleeves and get to work deciphering Line #2. When a person builds something, it is his. He can get a patent on it and sell it exclusively because it is his property. It was built “for” him, and he is free to use it for any purpose he so desires.
If he built a boat he could fish with it, sail around the world in it, live on it, or just plain dry dock it and use it for scenery. It is his boat. He built it and it exists “for” him. The boat represents creation, you see, and God the Father is the Person from whom the boat came into existence.
But what if the boat builder actually employed someone else to do the work, a subcontractor if you will? The subcontractor was the means by which the boat came into existence. The boat exists “through” him, while the designer and initiator of the process was the contractor.
The contractor is of course God the Father, and the subcontractor is God the Son. The boat (i.e., creation) exists “for” the Father, while it came into existence “through” the Son. Do you see how intimately connected the Father and the Son are? The same is true of the Holy Spirit, though He isn’t in the equation of 1 Corinthians 8:6. This example is quite deficient, though, because a human contractor and a human subcontractor are not “one”. But God is One.
We cannot know God because He is the One Who created us. We are finite creatures, while He is infinite. Now we see through a glass darkly, but in eternity we will see clearly, face to face, and we will know Him even as we are known by Him. The Bible contains many mysteries, many secrets for our discovery, and the Trinity is one of them. We should approach the Bible as explorers looking for the lost continent of Atlantis, or as treasure hunters digging for buried treasure. How excited and enthusiastic would we be then? We would brook no delays or go off on any tangents.
Under our present limitations we cannot possibly get a handle on how there can be one God but three equal Persons who comprise the one God. Notwithstanding this, the Bible distinctly shows this to be true. Faith is taking the Bible at face value and obeying it, placing our trust in it as the inerrant and infallible Word of God Himself. Without faith it is impossible to please God (cf., Hebrews 11:6).
I know I can believe what the Bible teaches me about God being one while simultaneously existing as three Persons. He has proven Himself to me time after time, grace upon grace. I cannot help but trust Him. I cannot deny Him. This is why I subscribe to Rule #2 for Bible study, the Bible is our sole and final authority in all matters of faith and practice.
So what about you? Do you know God? Do you trust Him in all things without reservation? What value do you place on His Word? You can never feed on His Word too much. Just be sure to confess your sins to Him first and be cleansed and filled with the Spirit. That is how we put our money where our mouth is.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Genesis: Volume 1 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
Uncovering Secrets in the Bible – Part 1
Yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom are all things and we exist for Him; and one Lord, Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we exist through Him [1 Corinthians 8:6].
1 Corinthians is in the New Testament, which means it was originally written in koine Greek. The word koine is Greek for “common”, meaning that it wasn’t the flowery Greek of cultured society, or the educated Greek of the Greek philosophers. It was the Greek spoken by the common man on the street of that time.
Even though we’re dealing with the Greek language in the New Testament, nonetheless we are also dealing with the Hebrew people. This means that, though they were speaking another language, they still spoke as Jews and not Gentiles. With this in mind we shouldn’t be taken aback when we realize they often expressed themselves in terms of parallelism.
Parallelism is the style used in Biblical Hebrew poetry. We today rhyme words at the ends of lines and call that poetry. The Hebrews rhymed ideas within the lines and called that poetry. The ideas might roughly coincide with each other, or they might be opposites of each other. Poetry which expresses coinciding ideas is known as synonymous parallelism. Poetry which expresses opposite ideas is known as antonymous parallelism.
Even when they presented narrative instead of poetry, it was not unusual by any means to find parallelism in the writing. When we today use alliteration in our narrative writing, we are employing a concept from poetry. And this is what we have in our Bible verse which kicked off our study today. Let’s consider it in that light now.
The parallelism is between the Father and the Son, and it is synonymous. The Father is identified as “God”, while the Son (i.e., “Jesus Christ”) is identified as “Lord”. But what follows from this is where the parallelism really comes into play. Permit me to express it as a numbered list.
1. from whom are all things and we exist for Him (i.e., the Father)
2. by whom are all things, and we exist through Him (i.e., the Son)
It should be ostensible to you, the way the two phrases run “parallel” with each other. But lest perchance anyone miss out on the fine details, I will spell them out to you. Again, a numbered list suits our purposes and shortens the explanation needed.
1. from whom are all things parallels by whom are all things
2. we exist for Him parallels we exist through Him
Now mull over the difference between the words “from” and “by”. They express the only difference in Line #1 of the preceding list. Both words are prepositions. So, then, what difference is portrayed by them in these two prepositional phrases? Answer: the phrase from whom are all things emphasizes the Father as the originator of all things. The phrase by whom are all things tells us that the Father created all things by means of His Son.
Do you see why I identified this as synonymous parallelism and not antonymous? The two ideas parallel each other in an agreeable fashion. They pull together rather than push apart. We learn that God is the Creator. He created as both the Father and the Son, and the two Persons worked together in perfect harmony, as One God.
We will decipher Line #2 in our next study. Be sure to be there. It gets even tastier.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Genesis: Volume 1 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/Randy-Green/e/B...
1 Corinthians is in the New Testament, which means it was originally written in koine Greek. The word koine is Greek for “common”, meaning that it wasn’t the flowery Greek of cultured society, or the educated Greek of the Greek philosophers. It was the Greek spoken by the common man on the street of that time.
Even though we’re dealing with the Greek language in the New Testament, nonetheless we are also dealing with the Hebrew people. This means that, though they were speaking another language, they still spoke as Jews and not Gentiles. With this in mind we shouldn’t be taken aback when we realize they often expressed themselves in terms of parallelism.
Parallelism is the style used in Biblical Hebrew poetry. We today rhyme words at the ends of lines and call that poetry. The Hebrews rhymed ideas within the lines and called that poetry. The ideas might roughly coincide with each other, or they might be opposites of each other. Poetry which expresses coinciding ideas is known as synonymous parallelism. Poetry which expresses opposite ideas is known as antonymous parallelism.
Even when they presented narrative instead of poetry, it was not unusual by any means to find parallelism in the writing. When we today use alliteration in our narrative writing, we are employing a concept from poetry. And this is what we have in our Bible verse which kicked off our study today. Let’s consider it in that light now.
The parallelism is between the Father and the Son, and it is synonymous. The Father is identified as “God”, while the Son (i.e., “Jesus Christ”) is identified as “Lord”. But what follows from this is where the parallelism really comes into play. Permit me to express it as a numbered list.
1. from whom are all things and we exist for Him (i.e., the Father)
2. by whom are all things, and we exist through Him (i.e., the Son)
It should be ostensible to you, the way the two phrases run “parallel” with each other. But lest perchance anyone miss out on the fine details, I will spell them out to you. Again, a numbered list suits our purposes and shortens the explanation needed.
1. from whom are all things parallels by whom are all things
2. we exist for Him parallels we exist through Him
Now mull over the difference between the words “from” and “by”. They express the only difference in Line #1 of the preceding list. Both words are prepositions. So, then, what difference is portrayed by them in these two prepositional phrases? Answer: the phrase from whom are all things emphasizes the Father as the originator of all things. The phrase by whom are all things tells us that the Father created all things by means of His Son.
Do you see why I identified this as synonymous parallelism and not antonymous? The two ideas parallel each other in an agreeable fashion. They pull together rather than push apart. We learn that God is the Creator. He created as both the Father and the Son, and the two Persons worked together in perfect harmony, as One God.
We will decipher Line #2 in our next study. Be sure to be there. It gets even tastier.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Genesis: Volume 1 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/Randy-Green/e/B...
Uncovering Secrets in the Bible – Part 2
Yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom are all things and we exist for Him; and one Lord, Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we exist through Him [1 Corinthians 8:6].
Yesterday we began our study of this verse by noting that it contains two parallel concepts. We expressed it as a numbered list.
1. from whom are all things and we exist for Him (i.e., the Father)
2. by whom are all things, and we exist through Him (i.e., the Son)
So that no one should miss out on the fine details, we again employed a numbered list to point them out.
1. from whom are all things parallels by whom are all things
2. we exist for Him parallels we exist through Him
We concluded yesterday’s lesson by deciphering Line#1. This line reveals how creation came about. God did the creating, and He did so in the Persons of God the Father and God the Son. All things came into being “from” the Father. All things came into being “by” the Son. Line #1 in itself teaches the truth of the Trinity, or at least of two Persons in one God. Creation was accomplished by the Father and the Son working together as one God.
Now let’s roll up our sleeves and get to work deciphering Line #2. When a person builds something, it is his. He can get a patent on it and sell it exclusively because it is his property. It was built “for” him, and he is free to use it for any purpose he so desires.
If he built a boat he could fish with it, sail around the world in it, live on it, or just plain dry dock it and use it for scenery. It is his boat. He built it and it exists “for” him. The boat represents creation, you see, and God the Father is the Person from whom the boat came into existence.
But what if the boat builder actually employed someone else to do the work, a subcontractor if you will? The subcontractor was the means by which the boat came into existence. The boat exists “through” him, while the designer and initiator of the process was the contractor.
The contractor is of course God the Father, and the subcontractor is God the Son. The boat (i.e., creation) exists “for” the Father, while it came into existence “through” the Son. Do you see how intimately connected the Father and the Son are? The same is true of the Holy Spirit, though He isn’t in the equation of 1 Corinthians 8:6. This example is quite deficient, though, because a human contractor and a human subcontractor are not “one”. But God is One.
We cannot know God because He is the One Who created us. We are finite creatures, while He is infinite. Now we see through a glass darkly, but in eternity we will see clearly, face to face, and we will know Him even as we are known by Him. The Bible contains many mysteries, many secrets for our discovery, and the Trinity is one of them. We should approach the Bible as explorers looking for the lost continent of Atlantis, or as treasure hunters digging for buried treasure. How excited and enthusiastic would we be then? We would brook no delays or go off on any tangents.
Under our present limitations we cannot possibly get a handle on how there can be one God but three equal Persons who comprise the one God. Notwithstanding this, the Bible distinctly shows this to be true. Faith is taking the Bible at face value and obeying it, placing our trust in it as the inerrant and infallible Word of God Himself. Without faith it is impossible to please God (cf., Hebrews 11:6).
I know I can believe what the Bible teaches me about God being one while simultaneously existing as three Persons. He has proven Himself to me time after time, grace upon grace. I cannot help but trust Him. I cannot deny Him. This is why I subscribe to Rule #2 for Bible study, the Bible is our sole and final authority in all matters of faith and practice.
So what about you? Do you know God? Do you trust Him in all things without reservation? What value do you place on His Word? You can never feed on His Word too much. Just be sure to confess your sins to Him first and be cleansed and filled with the Spirit. That is how we put our money where our mouth is.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Genesis: Volume 1 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/Randy-Green/e/B...
Yesterday we began our study of this verse by noting that it contains two parallel concepts. We expressed it as a numbered list.
1. from whom are all things and we exist for Him (i.e., the Father)
2. by whom are all things, and we exist through Him (i.e., the Son)
So that no one should miss out on the fine details, we again employed a numbered list to point them out.
1. from whom are all things parallels by whom are all things
2. we exist for Him parallels we exist through Him
We concluded yesterday’s lesson by deciphering Line#1. This line reveals how creation came about. God did the creating, and He did so in the Persons of God the Father and God the Son. All things came into being “from” the Father. All things came into being “by” the Son. Line #1 in itself teaches the truth of the Trinity, or at least of two Persons in one God. Creation was accomplished by the Father and the Son working together as one God.
Now let’s roll up our sleeves and get to work deciphering Line #2. When a person builds something, it is his. He can get a patent on it and sell it exclusively because it is his property. It was built “for” him, and he is free to use it for any purpose he so desires.
If he built a boat he could fish with it, sail around the world in it, live on it, or just plain dry dock it and use it for scenery. It is his boat. He built it and it exists “for” him. The boat represents creation, you see, and God the Father is the Person from whom the boat came into existence.
But what if the boat builder actually employed someone else to do the work, a subcontractor if you will? The subcontractor was the means by which the boat came into existence. The boat exists “through” him, while the designer and initiator of the process was the contractor.
The contractor is of course God the Father, and the subcontractor is God the Son. The boat (i.e., creation) exists “for” the Father, while it came into existence “through” the Son. Do you see how intimately connected the Father and the Son are? The same is true of the Holy Spirit, though He isn’t in the equation of 1 Corinthians 8:6. This example is quite deficient, though, because a human contractor and a human subcontractor are not “one”. But God is One.
We cannot know God because He is the One Who created us. We are finite creatures, while He is infinite. Now we see through a glass darkly, but in eternity we will see clearly, face to face, and we will know Him even as we are known by Him. The Bible contains many mysteries, many secrets for our discovery, and the Trinity is one of them. We should approach the Bible as explorers looking for the lost continent of Atlantis, or as treasure hunters digging for buried treasure. How excited and enthusiastic would we be then? We would brook no delays or go off on any tangents.
Under our present limitations we cannot possibly get a handle on how there can be one God but three equal Persons who comprise the one God. Notwithstanding this, the Bible distinctly shows this to be true. Faith is taking the Bible at face value and obeying it, placing our trust in it as the inerrant and infallible Word of God Himself. Without faith it is impossible to please God (cf., Hebrews 11:6).
I know I can believe what the Bible teaches me about God being one while simultaneously existing as three Persons. He has proven Himself to me time after time, grace upon grace. I cannot help but trust Him. I cannot deny Him. This is why I subscribe to Rule #2 for Bible study, the Bible is our sole and final authority in all matters of faith and practice.
So what about you? Do you know God? Do you trust Him in all things without reservation? What value do you place on His Word? You can never feed on His Word too much. Just be sure to confess your sins to Him first and be cleansed and filled with the Spirit. That is how we put our money where our mouth is.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Genesis: Volume 1 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/Randy-Green/e/B...
Uncovering Secrets in the Bible – Part 1
Yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom are all things and we exist for Him; and one Lord, Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we exist through Him [1 Corinthians 8:6].
1 Corinthians is in the New Testament, which means it was originally written in koine Greek. The word koine is Greek for “common”, meaning that it wasn’t the flowery Greek of cultured society, or the educated Greek of the Greek philosophers. It was the Greek spoken by the common man on the street of that time.
Even though we’re dealing with the Greek language in the New Testament, nonetheless we are also dealing with the Hebrew people. This means that, though they were speaking another language, they still spoke as Jews and not as Gentiles. With this in mind we shouldn’t be taken aback when we realize they often expressed themselves in terms of parallelism.
Parallelism is the style used in Biblical Hebrew poetry. We today rhyme words at the end of lines and call it poetry. The Hebrews rhymed ideas within the lines and called that poetry. The ideas might roughly coincide with each other, or they might be opposites of each other. Poetry which expresses coinciding ideas is known as synonymous parallelism. Poetry which expresses opposite ideas is known as antonymous parallelism.
Even when they presented narrative instead of poetry, it was not unusual by any means to find parallelism in the writing. When we today use alliteration in our narrative writing, we are employing a concept from poetry. And this is what we have in our Bible verse which kicked off our study today. Let’s consider it in that light now.
The parallelism is between the Father and the Son, and it is synonymous. The Father is identified as “God”, while the Son (i.e., “Jesus Christ”) is identified as “Lord”. But what follows from this is where the parallelism really comes into play. Permit me to express it as a numbered list.
1. from whom are all things and we exist for Him (i.e., the Father)
2. by whom are all things, and we exist through Him (i.e., the Son)
It should be ostensible to you, the way the two phrases run “parallel” with each other. But lest perchance anyone miss out on the fine details, I will spell them out to you. Again, a numbered list suits our purposes and shortens the explanation needed.
1. from whom are all things parallels by whom are all things
2. we exist for Him parallels we exist through Him
Now mull over the difference between the words “from” and “by”. They express the only difference in Line #1 of the preceding list. Both words are prepositions. So, then, what difference is portrayed by them in these two prepositional phrases? Answer: the phrase from whom are all things emphasizes the Father as the originator of all things. The phrase by whom are all things tells us that the Father created all things by means of His Son.
Do you see why I identified this as synonymous parallelism and not antonymous? The two ideas parallel each other in an agreeable fashion. They pull together rather than push apart. We learn that God is the Creator. He created as both the Father and the Son, and the two Persons worked together in perfect harmony, as One God.
We will decipher Line #2 in our next study. Be sure to be there. It gets even tastier.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Genesis: Volume 1 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/Randy-Green/e/B...
1 Corinthians is in the New Testament, which means it was originally written in koine Greek. The word koine is Greek for “common”, meaning that it wasn’t the flowery Greek of cultured society, or the educated Greek of the Greek philosophers. It was the Greek spoken by the common man on the street of that time.
Even though we’re dealing with the Greek language in the New Testament, nonetheless we are also dealing with the Hebrew people. This means that, though they were speaking another language, they still spoke as Jews and not as Gentiles. With this in mind we shouldn’t be taken aback when we realize they often expressed themselves in terms of parallelism.
Parallelism is the style used in Biblical Hebrew poetry. We today rhyme words at the end of lines and call it poetry. The Hebrews rhymed ideas within the lines and called that poetry. The ideas might roughly coincide with each other, or they might be opposites of each other. Poetry which expresses coinciding ideas is known as synonymous parallelism. Poetry which expresses opposite ideas is known as antonymous parallelism.
Even when they presented narrative instead of poetry, it was not unusual by any means to find parallelism in the writing. When we today use alliteration in our narrative writing, we are employing a concept from poetry. And this is what we have in our Bible verse which kicked off our study today. Let’s consider it in that light now.
The parallelism is between the Father and the Son, and it is synonymous. The Father is identified as “God”, while the Son (i.e., “Jesus Christ”) is identified as “Lord”. But what follows from this is where the parallelism really comes into play. Permit me to express it as a numbered list.
1. from whom are all things and we exist for Him (i.e., the Father)
2. by whom are all things, and we exist through Him (i.e., the Son)
It should be ostensible to you, the way the two phrases run “parallel” with each other. But lest perchance anyone miss out on the fine details, I will spell them out to you. Again, a numbered list suits our purposes and shortens the explanation needed.
1. from whom are all things parallels by whom are all things
2. we exist for Him parallels we exist through Him
Now mull over the difference between the words “from” and “by”. They express the only difference in Line #1 of the preceding list. Both words are prepositions. So, then, what difference is portrayed by them in these two prepositional phrases? Answer: the phrase from whom are all things emphasizes the Father as the originator of all things. The phrase by whom are all things tells us that the Father created all things by means of His Son.
Do you see why I identified this as synonymous parallelism and not antonymous? The two ideas parallel each other in an agreeable fashion. They pull together rather than push apart. We learn that God is the Creator. He created as both the Father and the Son, and the two Persons worked together in perfect harmony, as One God.
We will decipher Line #2 in our next study. Be sure to be there. It gets even tastier.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Genesis: Volume 1 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/Randy-Green/e/B...
Uncovering Secrets in the Bible – Part 2
Yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom are all things and we exist for Him; and one Lord, Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we exist through Him [1 Corinthians 8:6].
Yesterday we began our study of this verse by noting that it contains two parallel concepts. We expressed it as a numbered list.
1. from whom are all things and we exist for Him (i.e., the Father)
2. by whom are all things, and we exist through Him (i.e., the Son)
So that no one should miss out on the fine details, we again employed a numbered list to point them out.
1. from whom are all things parallels by whom are all things
2. we exist for Him parallels we exist through Him
We concluded yesterday’s lesson by deciphering Line #1. This line reveals how creation came about. God did the creating, and He did so in the Persons of God the Father and God the Son. All things came into being “from” the Father. All things came into being “by” the Son. Line #1 in itself teaches the truth of the Trinity, or at least of two Persons in one God. Creation was accomplished by the Father and the Son working together as one God.
Now let’s roll up our sleeves and get to work deciphering Line #2. When a person builds something, it is his. He can get a patent on it and sell it exclusively because it is his property. It was built “for” him, and he is free to use it for any purpose he so desires.
If he built a boat he could fish with it, sail around the world in it, live on it, or just plain dry dock it and use it for scenery. It is his boat. He built it and it exists “for” him. The boat represents creation, you see, and God the Father is the Person from whom the boat came into existence.
But what if the boat builder actually employed someone else to do the work, a subcontractor if you will? The subcontractor was the means by which the boat came into existence. The boat exists “through” him, while the designer and initiator of the process was the contractor.
The contractor is of course God the Father, and the subcontractor is God the Son. The boat (i.e., creation) exists “for” the Father, while it came into existence “through” the Son. Do you see how intimately connected the Father and the Son are? The same is true of the Holy Spirit, though He isn’t in the equation of 1 Corinthians 8:6. This example is quite deficient, though, because a human contractor and a human subcontractor are not “one”. But God is One.
We cannot know God because He is the One Who created us. We are finite creatures, while He is infinite. Now we see through a glass darkly, but in eternity we will see clearly, face to face, and we will know Him even as we are known by Him. The Bible contains many mysteries, many secrets for our discovery, and the Trinity is one of them. We should approach the Bible as explorers looking for the lost continent of Atlantis, or as treasure hunters digging for buried treasure. How excited and enthusiastic would we be then? We would brook no delays nor go off on any tangents.
Under our present limitations we cannot possibly get a handle on how there can be one God but three equal Persons who comprise the one God. Notwithstanding this, the Bible distinctly shows this to be true. Faith is taking the Bible at face value and obeying it, placing our trust in it as the inerrant and infallible Word of God Himself. Without faith it is impossible to please God (cf., Hebrews 11:6).
I know I can believe what the Bible teaches me about God being one while simultaneously existing as three Persons. He has proven Himself to me time after time, grace upon grace. I cannot help but trust Him. I cannot deny Him. This is why I subscribe to Rule #2 for Bible study, the Bible is our sole and final authority in all matters of faith and practice.
So what about you? Do you know God? Do you trust Him in all things without reservation? What value do you place on His Word? You can never feed on His Word too much. Just be sure to confess your sins to Him first and be cleansed and filled with the Spirit. That is how we put our money where our mouth is.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Genesis: Volume 1 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/Randy-Green/e/B...
Yesterday we began our study of this verse by noting that it contains two parallel concepts. We expressed it as a numbered list.
1. from whom are all things and we exist for Him (i.e., the Father)
2. by whom are all things, and we exist through Him (i.e., the Son)
So that no one should miss out on the fine details, we again employed a numbered list to point them out.
1. from whom are all things parallels by whom are all things
2. we exist for Him parallels we exist through Him
We concluded yesterday’s lesson by deciphering Line #1. This line reveals how creation came about. God did the creating, and He did so in the Persons of God the Father and God the Son. All things came into being “from” the Father. All things came into being “by” the Son. Line #1 in itself teaches the truth of the Trinity, or at least of two Persons in one God. Creation was accomplished by the Father and the Son working together as one God.
Now let’s roll up our sleeves and get to work deciphering Line #2. When a person builds something, it is his. He can get a patent on it and sell it exclusively because it is his property. It was built “for” him, and he is free to use it for any purpose he so desires.
If he built a boat he could fish with it, sail around the world in it, live on it, or just plain dry dock it and use it for scenery. It is his boat. He built it and it exists “for” him. The boat represents creation, you see, and God the Father is the Person from whom the boat came into existence.
But what if the boat builder actually employed someone else to do the work, a subcontractor if you will? The subcontractor was the means by which the boat came into existence. The boat exists “through” him, while the designer and initiator of the process was the contractor.
The contractor is of course God the Father, and the subcontractor is God the Son. The boat (i.e., creation) exists “for” the Father, while it came into existence “through” the Son. Do you see how intimately connected the Father and the Son are? The same is true of the Holy Spirit, though He isn’t in the equation of 1 Corinthians 8:6. This example is quite deficient, though, because a human contractor and a human subcontractor are not “one”. But God is One.
We cannot know God because He is the One Who created us. We are finite creatures, while He is infinite. Now we see through a glass darkly, but in eternity we will see clearly, face to face, and we will know Him even as we are known by Him. The Bible contains many mysteries, many secrets for our discovery, and the Trinity is one of them. We should approach the Bible as explorers looking for the lost continent of Atlantis, or as treasure hunters digging for buried treasure. How excited and enthusiastic would we be then? We would brook no delays nor go off on any tangents.
Under our present limitations we cannot possibly get a handle on how there can be one God but three equal Persons who comprise the one God. Notwithstanding this, the Bible distinctly shows this to be true. Faith is taking the Bible at face value and obeying it, placing our trust in it as the inerrant and infallible Word of God Himself. Without faith it is impossible to please God (cf., Hebrews 11:6).
I know I can believe what the Bible teaches me about God being one while simultaneously existing as three Persons. He has proven Himself to me time after time, grace upon grace. I cannot help but trust Him. I cannot deny Him. This is why I subscribe to Rule #2 for Bible study, the Bible is our sole and final authority in all matters of faith and practice.
So what about you? Do you know God? Do you trust Him in all things without reservation? What value do you place on His Word? You can never feed on His Word too much. Just be sure to confess your sins to Him first and be cleansed and filled with the Spirit. That is how we put our money where our mouth is.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Genesis: Volume 1 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/Randy-Green/e/B...
