Expert: Scott Talbot - 8/18/2008

Question
QUESTION: How can A GOD or a son of GOD be killed by humans and now that he was killed who is controlling the universe?

ANSWER: Hi Gigi,

It's nice to hear from you. I would love to help you with your question.

Your question is a good one. The answer is both simple and also complex. Let's give it a shot.

I'll start by trying to explain some things about God. Before I do, let me say that God is far beyond our full understanding. That's because He is God.

Isaiah 55:8-9 says, "'My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,' declares the Lord. 'As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.'"

With that said, here are some things we know about God. God is one God. And yet He exists in three persons--God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Somehow, these three "persons" have distinct identities and roles. And yet they are each completely God. And together they constitute one God.

Like I said, God is complex beyond our understanding. We may not fully understand this, but this is what God has told us about Himself.

God became a man. God the Son was born into the world as a human being--Jesus Christ. He is fully God, and at the same time, fully man. (That's another difficult concept to grasp.) After living a perfect life and sharing a message of God's love and offer of forgiveness, He was rejected and executed as a criminal on a cross--a painful torture device devised by the Romans. He died.

But He didn't remain dead. After three days in the grave, He conquered death and arose from the dead. He later ascended into heaven, and He is now in heaven.

Why did Jesus die? He died to take your place and my place. He died in order to serve our death sentence. You see, because of our sins, we have been alienated from God, who is holy and demands complete and total holiness from us. Our disobedience has separated us from God and has brought upon us God's eternal condemnation.

There is nothing we can do to save ourselves from God's judgment. But Jesus did for us what we could not do. He served our death sentence. Now, anyone who freely accepts His free gift of salvation can be forgiven and adopted into God's family.

For more information, read John 1:12, 3:1-21, Romans 3:23, 6:23, 10:9-13, Ephesians 2:8-9, Titus 3:5.

So God is alive and well, governing the universe. Actually, at no time did it leave His control.

I hope this answers your question. Please feel free to write back if you would like to chat further.

Scott

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QUESTION: How can one be three? and who was governing the universe through the three days that Jesus died? and why would Jesus pay for our mistakes and sins when it's our mistakes and sins (and After three days in the grave, He conquered death and arose from the dead.) how can the angel of death take the life of his GOD. And why would it take Jesus 3 day to conquer death if he is really GOD

ANSWER: Hi Gigi,

Here is a brief reply:

How can one be three? I don't know. God is beyond our ability to comprehend. That's what makes Him God. See Deuteronomy 29:29. (If we could figure God out, He wouldn't be God.)

Who was governing the universe through the three days that Jesus died? God the Father.

Why would Jesus pay for our mistakes and sins when it's our mistakes and sins? He voluntarily took our punishment for us to make a way back to God.

How can the angel of death take the life of his GOD? There was no "angel of death" that took Jesus' life. Jesus surrendered His life voluntarily.

Why would it take Jesus 3 day to conquer death if he is really GOD? Perhaps to prove that He was really dead. Some in that day believed that one's soul hovered around the body for up to 3 days following death, and that he was not REALLY dead until 3 days later.

Scott

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QUESTION: Thank you for getting back to me  but there is nothing in the bible that said any thing about the trinity or support your theory."I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery; you shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself an idol, whether in the form of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, punishing children for the iniquity of parents, to the third and fourth generation of those who reject me, but showing steadfast love to the thousandth generation of those who love me and keep my commandments." If you read and belive the ten commandments you wouldn't take jesus as GOD because that would be like making an Idol form of GOD on the earth beneath and taking the holy spirit as GOD that would be making an idol form of GOD from something in the heavens above. and if Jesus was GOD why was he worshiping only GOD?  why did he have to worship GOD when you said he was GOD "God is one God. And yet He exists in three persons--God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Somehow, these three "persons" have distinct identities and roles. And yet they are each completely God. And together they constitute one God". but GOD is not a person I understand that GOD is far beyond our ability to comprehend but don't you think that GOD is even better than that. He knows the mind of the human being he created and that when he would send them a message that it has to be grasped by the human mind and understood and to make sense so that when some one choose the wrong path he has the wright to judge them on the day of judgement. If you are someone that speaks many language and I speak only English and you speak to me in french I wouldn't understand what you are saying and you can't judge me if I don't follow it. I belive in god and the imaculate conception but don't you think that GOD created adam the same way but it was even harder he created adam from no other life because you know GOD creates from nothing like adam and creates from only a male like eve and creates from only a female like jesus and creates from a male and a female like all of us. SO a don't belive that jesus is GOD I belive that he is his human servant like all other prophets and that is the truth no doute. Thank you

Answer
Hi Gigi,

Thanks for getting back to me. It's nice to hear from you again.

While your question was stated more as a statement and a position, I will assume that you are asking a question and looking for more information. There is nothing quite as enjoyable as helping people to better understand God and draw closer to Him.

Let me address some of the issues you brought up. First, you said that "there is nothing in the bible that said any thing about the trinity or support your theory." Let's see what the Bible has to say. While I could write pages and pages on this subject, I trust that it will suffice to point out just a few of the many passages in the Bible that teach us that God is, indeed, three, and also one.

Genesis 1:26 says, "Then God said, 'Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.'"

Notice the plural, "us." Compare this with Colossians 1:16, which states, "For by him [Jesus] all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him."

Next, let's look at the baptism of Jesus in Matthew 3:16-17. It says, "As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, 'This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.'" This passage shows all three members of the Godhead present at this event--God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.

John 16:5-16 is a passage that highlights the identity of the Holy Spirit. Jesus told His disciples that He was going away, but that He was sending another (like Him) to take His place--the Holy Spirit. They are distinct, and yet they are one and the same.

Jesus' union with God the Father is stated in John 10:30, where He says, "I and the Father are one." Further, in John 14:9, Jesus responds to Philip's request to see the Father. "Don't you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, 'Show us the Father'?"

I could go on and on, but, again, I trust that these examples help.

Let's go on to the next issue. You say, "GOD is not a person I understand that GOD is far beyond our ability to comprehend but don't you think that GOD is even better than that. He knows the mind of the human being he created and that when he would send them a message that it has to be grasped by the human mind and understood and to make sense so that when some one choose the wrong path he has the wright to judge them on the day of judgement. If you are someone that speaks many language and I speak only English and you speak to me in french I wouldn't understand what you are saying and you can't judge me if I don't follow it."

If I understand you correctly, you're saying that God would not give us information we do not understand and still hold us accountable for it. (Did I get that right?)

Here's my response. When God tells us something, our only obligation is to accept it as fact. We might not be able to fully grasp it in our feeble minds. But we still need to believe it. When it comes to God, the better we get to know God, the more complex He becomes, because He is infinitely different than us. We will never be able to fully know or understand God. This does not change the fact that we are still fully accountable to God and obligated to accept whatever He tells us as true--even if it's difficult to wrap our minds around it.

Let me illustrate. Your boss tells you to sit down at the computer and type up a word document. You have no idea how a computer works, nor do you fully grasp the concept of electricity and how it can flow through the computer and be converted into light on a screen and words on a piece of paper. The fact is, you don't have to understand it. Your lack of understanding should not affect your ability to turn on the computer, type the document, and print it out. You simply trust the computer to do what it's supposed to do.

Next item. You said, "I belive in god and the imaculate conception but don't you think that GOD created adam the same way but it was even harder he created adam from no other life because you know GOD creates from nothing like adam and creates from only a male like eve and creates from only a female like jesus and creates from a male and a female like all of us."

I'm not sure what your point is here. Maybe you can clarify. Sorry.

Finally, you question the deity of Jesus and the Holy Spirit. "If you read and belive the ten commandments you wouldn't take jesus as GOD because that would be like making an Idol form of GOD on the earth beneath and taking the holy spirit as GOD that would be making an idol form of GOD from something in the heavens above."

There is no doubt that Jesus is God. The Bible is clear. Not only does He claim to be God, but He also accepts worship as God, and He forgives sin, as only God can do.

There's an interesting passage in John 8:58-59. "'I tell you the truth,' Jesus answered, 'before Abraham was born, I am!' 59 At this, they picked up stones to stone him, but Jesus hid himself, slipping away from the temple grounds." Here, Jesus uses the unique title, I AM, which God used to identify Himself in times past (see Exodus 3:14). His message claiming deity was so clear that some considered this blasphemy and sought to stone Him.

Notice also Mark 2:6-12, in which Jesus' ability to forgive sins identified Him as God: "Now some teachers of the law were sitting there, thinking to themselves, 'Why does this fellow talk like that? He's blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?' Immediately Jesus knew in his spirit that this was what they were thinking in their hearts, and he said to them, 'Why are you thinking these things? Which is easier: to say to the paralytic, "Your sins are forgiven," or to say, "Get up, take your mat and walk"? But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins...' He said to the paralytic, 'I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.' He got up, took his mat and walked out in full view of them all. This amazed everyone and they praised God, saying, 'We have never seen anything like this!'"

John 1:1-13 also clearly speaks to the deity of Jesus Christ (the Word): "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. ... He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God--children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God."

Colossians 2:9 is also clear: "In Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form." God, in all of His entirety, exists completely in the person of Jesus Christ.

And here is yet another irrefutable statement of Christ's deity--Philippians 2:5-11: "Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death-- even death on a cross! Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." Pretty clear, don't you think?

I could spend just as much time demonstrating that the Holy Spirit is fully God. However, allow me to refer you to the following web site, which does a good job of laying this out: http://www.pbministries.org/books/pink/Holy_Spirit/spirit_03.htm

Gigi, if you miss the significance of Jesus' divinity--the fact that He is fully God--then you miss the importance of what He did when He died for you on the cross and served your death sentence for you. If He was merely a man, like the rest of us, there is no way that He would have been able to satisfy God's holiness and demand for perfection, nor would He have accepted Jesus' death as our substitute. If we are not trusting God for our salvation, then we have no hope. (See John 1:12, 3:1-21, Romans 3:23, 3:26, 10:9-13.)

Scott