"The Earth Belongs to HaShem and the Fullness Thereof."
Is Y'shua God?
A Consideration of Colossians One and Related Texts
By Ben Ruach HaKodesh (John of AllFaith) 01.24.10
Short answer: No.
Y'shua is the Son of God as he repeatedly said.
He is however uniquely divine.The Apostle Paul is clear on this:
Colossians 1:12 Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light:
1:13 Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son:
1:14 In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins:
1:15 Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:
1:16 For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:
1:17 And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.
1:18 And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.
1:19 For it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell;
1:20 And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven.Go Here to read this and the other verses in this study in a modern English version of the Bible.
Let's take a closer look at these verses:
1:12: The Father is HaShem: the God of Adam, Noah and Israel and revealed in the Torah and Tanakh (i.e. the "Old Testament").
The Father (of the Son) is the Source of all creation. HaShem has made us all qualified (or "meet" in the old English) to receive our inheritance as His sons and daughters (i.e. to inherit eternal life in the Kingdom -- John 3:14). This is the essence of the Good News or Gospel.1:13: The Kingdom we have been made fit to inherit is that of "His dear Son." What is a son?
Son: noun
- a male child or person in relation to his parents.
- a male child or person adopted as a son; a person in the legal position of a son.
- any male descendant: eg. a son of Israel.
- a son-in-law.
- a person related as if by ties of sonship.
- a male person looked upon as the product or result of particular agencies, forces, influences, etc.: eg. a true son of the soil.
- a familiar term of address to a man or boy from an older person, an ecclesiastic, etc.
Throughout the books of the B'rit Hadashah (or "New Testament") HaShem is referenced as the Father. Y'shua is referred to as His Son. As son is not the same person as his father even though they share certain traits which the son inherits from his father. "Son" is generally capitalized in English language Bibles to show that his Sonship with the Father is unique: Y'shua is the "Only Begotten Son." He is in a unique position. More on this below.
1:14 It is Y'shua of Nazareth who has earned our redemption. We owe everything to him. The Kingdom belongs to Y'shua and we are all eternally indebted to him due to his work of redemption:
Philippians 2:9 Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name:1:15: "The image of the invisible God:" "Image" here is the Greek word eiko and means (according to Strongs' G1503) a likeness, that is, (literally) statue, profile, or (figuratively) representation, resemblance: - image.
How is Y'shua the image or reflection of HaShem? He answers this question for us:
John 5:30 I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me.
5:31 If I bear witness of myself, my witness is not true.
5:32 There is another that beareth witness of me; and I know that the witness which he witnesseth of me is true.Such verses make no sense if Jesus is literally his own father.
Y'shua is the perfect and undefiled eiko or manifestation of God's Will and Mind. An eiko is not the original. It is a reflection of the original, as a son is a reflection his father, although in perfection in this case.
"...the firstborn of every creature..." According to the text Y'shua was the first born or first created of all of HaShem's creations.
This word "firstborn" tells us a lot. It is, in the Greek, prototok'os from which we get the word prototype. HaShem has no beginning, middle nor end. When HaShem decided to begin creation He first created a perfect prototype: Y'shua.
From and through that Prototype all else was created.
We will now look at John chapter one in order to understand how this prototype originated and manifested into in our world.
Let me begin this section by agreeing that Y'shua is the Word referenced here. We will now seek deeper understanding of what this means by considering the opening verses of the Book of John:
John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.--- What is meant by the word "Word" or logos here? The Greek word has many meanings however John is speaking in terms of Jewish theology.
John 1:2 The same was in the beginning with God.The Word is God's Torah, God's True Utterance:
Genesis 1:3 And God said...
Psalm 119:160 Thy word is true from the beginning: and every one of thy righteous judgments endureth for ever.
God's Word/Truth was the spark of creation when He said: "Let there be light," "And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness...: God's eternal, heavenly Torah is His Will and Purpose. Its written form, the Pentateuch (the five books of Moses) is the physical reflection of the Heavenly Torah. The Torah, God's Word, is eternal.
Of the Torah before Moses we read:
Origin and Preexistence:This is point being made here in John 1. The Word that was in the beginning is this preexisting Torah. This should not be thought of as book or scroll but self existing Truth, created by HaShem at the dawn of creation.
"Moses received the Torah from Sinai" (Avot 1:1). Yet there is an ancient tradition that the Torah existed in heaven not only before God revealed it to Moses, but even before the world was created. The apocryphal book The Wisdom of Ben Sira identified the Torah with preexistent personified wisdom (1:1–5, 26; 15:1; 24:1ff.; 34:8; cf. Prov. 8:22–31). In rabbinic literature, it was taught that the Torah was one of the six or seven things created prior to the creation of the world (Gen. R. 1:4; Pes. 54a, et al.).
For more on this topic see The Jewish Virtual Library--- This Wisdom, this Truth was created by God in the beginning of creation.
John 1:3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.--- All things were made by HaShem. Everything else that exists is built upon the foundation He established. Matter can be manipulated but not created by anyone other than HaShem. HaShem created everything "through" this Wisdom or Word.
John 1:4 In him was life; and the life was the light of men.--- Remember Colossians 1:12 says we have been made "partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light."
John 1:5 And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.--- The Light of God's Truth, the Heavenly Torah or Word, has been shining into the world since the point of its creation, however humankind was disobedient and limited in our understanding of what was revealed.
John 1:6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.Through Noah the Noahide Covenant brought Light to all humankind but that Light was rejected. The Light of Truth was then clarified for the Jews in the Law, the Written Torah, however it was confused, misdirected and disobeyed. Then Y'shua came to reform Judaism and rekindle the Noahides in our worship. By the third century CE the Way of Y'shua was being undermined by the Nicolaitane Heresy and the original teachings were contaminated. This period is now drawing to a close (Rev. 3:14-15).
--- This of course is John the Baptist who came to point the way to Y'shua.
John 1:7 The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe.--- John bore witness to God's Torah or Will and Purpose.
John 1:8 He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light.--- John was a man. He bore witness that HaShem was about to manifest His Light to the world as never before.
John 1:9 That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.--- Again, the Torah is the light given to every human, to every creature, that comes into the worlds.
John 1:10 He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not.--- Now we see that something different is happening. John was "in the world" but he was not that Light, but watch this, the Light of Heavenly Torah has entered the world as never before! That Word has been made flesh as we will see in verse 14!
John 1:11 He came unto his own, and his own received him not.--- Scriptures confirms this:
John 1:12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:Matthew 15:24 But he [ie Y'shua] answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.In the person of Y'shua the Light of heavenly Torah entered the world in human form. Most Nicene Christians say Y'shua was the Word, and I concur, however few truly understand what this means. Y'shua is the image or reflection, the eiko of the Word, God's Heavenly Torah.
--- Y'shua manifested the Torah or Light of HaShem to the Jews first ('...but his own received him not') and then to the entire world.
John 1:13 Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.--- After the Fall (which is to say after Adam and Eve joined Lucifer's rebellion) humanity continued the rebellion against the desired order of HaShem. Y'shua, the first born of all creation, came to lead us back into full fellowship with God and to establish the sons and daughters of God to our rightful place as described Psalms 82.
John 1:14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.--- The point is further clarified here. The Torah was manifested in human form as Y'shua.
Continuing with Colossians One:
Col 1:16: Y'shua was the firstborn of all creation, the protype of all that followed. This includes not only of things of the earth, the material manifestation, but also first of all things in Heaven, the Ouranos or spirit realms.
Note that "all things were created by him, and for him." The biblical presentation is hierarchical. We can more fully understand this verse if we consider the following:
1 Corinthians 15:20 But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept....
1Co 15:24 Then cometh the end, when he [ie Y'shua] shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power.
15:25 For he [ie Y'shua] must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet.
15:26 The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.
15:27 For he hath put all things under his feet. But when he saith all things are put under him [ie under HaShem], it is manifest that he [ie Y'shua] is excepted, which did put all things under him.
15:28 And when all things shall be subdued unto him [ie Y'shua], then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him [ie HaShem] that put all things under him, that God may be all in all.This is the hierarchy. Y'shua is the firstborn of all creation. During the coming final seven years of the age (and perfected during the thousand year theocratic kingdom) all things will be subjected unto Y'shua as he sits upon the Throne of David (Isaiah 9:7). At the conclusion of the thousand year Theocratic Kingdom the war of Gog of Magog will take place. Once that war is concluded, Y'shua, having placed everything under his own authority, will then submit himself and everything he has to HaShem, his Father.
Col 1:17: Y'shua is therefore already the head of everything but there remains rebellion at this time.
Col 1:18: He is the head of the Church for all those who accept Y'shua as king and mediator between humanity and HaShem. They accept his lordship and authority even now.
1 Timothy 2:5 For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;Col 1:19: "For it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell." See this? It pleased the Father (HaShem), that Y'shua (His Son) should serve Him in this role, that in him the fullness of God's Will, His Torah or Word, should dwell bodily:
This is the meaning of the following often cited verse:
Colossians 2:9 For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.And again:
John 14:9 Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father?
14:10 Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works.Everything Y'shua does, his every thought, word and deed, is in perfect harmony with that of the Father. This is the testimony of John 14:10. Y'shua completely and perfectly serves his faith. Yet with even this perfect oneness Y'shua does not have the absolute knowledge of HaShem. The Master tells us:
Mark 13:32 But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father.Col 1:20: The world has already been reconciled to HaShem through Y'shua. This reconciliation was completed at Calvary, however the Luciferian rebellion will continue until the Times of the Gentiles are fulfilled (Luke 21:24), the Man of Sin is revealed (II Thessalonians 2:3) and destroyed, and the Theocratic Kingdom is inaugurated. I discuss this in more detail in other studies on my prophecy site and in depth in my verse by verse commentary on the Revelation of Y'shua.
If you have more questions about this topic read the other studies on my websites and blogs or Contact me directly.
May HaShem and our Master Y'shua of Nazareth bless and enlighten you,
~ Ben Ruach HaKodesh
~ John of AllFaith
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