Who Is This King Of Glory, Part 1 of 3

Pat Mahoney

The title of this study comes from Psalms 24. "Who is this King of Glory" is something that a lot of people want to know.

We will be covering the following subjects:

• The King James Bible and other versions
• Historical References
• Manifestations of God and God's Roles

The Godhead is one of the most misunderstood doctrines in Christianity today.

Definition of Godhead

Strongs Greek 2304 theios (from 2316) Divine in nature or essence. The nature of God, especially as used in three persons, or when combined with "The" as in "The Godhead" (Webster's) The supreme being; the holy trinity. Divinity, godhead, a god or goddess, a deity (Dictionary.com) Divinity or Godhead, the Christian God, especially a trinity. (American Heritage Dictionary)

These Greeks had a shrine or monument to the unknown God. God doesn't want us to worship him ignorantly. He wants us to have an understanding of his word and his essence.

1. Not all versions of the scriptures, or "Bible" are complete and accurate.
2. The "authorized" or "King James" version of 1611 is found to be the most literal in its translation of the original texts.
3. The Bible shows the different roles and manifestations of God.

For the purpose of understanding the Godhead, it is important to understand that not all versions of the Bible are complete and accurate in their translations. Our understanding of God can only be as pure as the word upon which it is based.

Some examples of omissions in different versions of the Bible include:

In the NEB and RSV, this whole verse is removed. Somebody somewhere thought it was not appropriate to talk about "blood", so they took it upon themselves to remove references to the blood of Christ. But without the blood, there is no salvation.

Some versions take out the word "Father" and replace it with "He". The pronoun is pretty ambiguous. Maybe it refers to God, or the Holy Spirit, or maybe it refers to some guy down at the deli; I don't know.

In some versions, the word "God" is removed from these scriptures. In those versions, the fact that Jesus is God is not evident.

If God the Father, Christ, and the Holy Spirit are one, then we understand that the Spirit, the blood of Christ, and the water of baptism agree in one.

In other versions, verse 8 is combined with verse 7 or omitted entirely.

The Word of God must be pure; we need the most accurate translation available to be sure that we have understood the original intent. Some versions, even when they don't corrupt the actual text of the verse, cast doubt upon it through footnotes which question its authenticity.

The Trinity

Catholics, the largest group of so-called Christians, created the trinity doctrine. Historically, the Jewish religion (from which Christianity springs) worshipped one God.

The trinity doctrine was created by theologians to justify corrupted translations fully three hundred years after the ascension of Christ.

Here are some excerpts concerning Trinitarian doctrine, taken from christadelphia.org.

Man's Religion, by John B. Noss, 1968

The controversy first became heated when Apollinarius, a bishop in Syria . . . asserted that Christ could not have been perfect man united with complete God, for then there would not have been one Son of God, but two sons, one by nature and one by adoption, the first with a divine, the second with a human will. Such a thing seemed inconceivable, religiously abhorrent.

New Bible Dictionary, 1982

The word trinity is not found in the Bible ... it did not find a place formally in the theology of the church till the 4th century. ... it is not a biblical doctrine in the sense that any formation of it can be found in the Bible, ... Scripture does not give us a formulated doctrine of the trinity ...

Harper Collins Encyclopedia of Catholicism, 1985

... scholars generally agree that there is no doctrine of the trinity as such in either the Old Testament or the New Testament.

Encyclopedia Americana, 1956

Christianity derived from Judaism and Judaism was strictly Unitarian (believing in one God). The road which led from Jerusalem to Nicea was scarcely a straight one. Fourth century trinitarianism did not reflect accurately early Christian teaching regarding the nature of God; it was, on the contrary, a deviation from this teaching

New Catholic Encylopaedia, 1967

The formulation "one God in three persons" was not solidly established, certainly not fully assimilated into Christian life and its profession of faith, prior to the end of the 4th century.

Who Is Jesus?, by Anthony Buzzard

The Old Testament is a strictly monotheistic. God is a single personal being. The idea that a trinity is to be found there or even in any way shadowed forth, is an assumption that has long held sway in theology, but is utterly without foundation.

New Encyclopedia Britannica, 1976

Neither the word trinity, nor the explicit doctrine as such, appears in the New Testament, nor did Jesus and his followers intend to contradict the Shema in the Old Testament: 'Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord' (Deut. 6:4) ... The doctrine developed gradually over several centuries and through many controversies. ... By the end of the 4th century ... the doctrine of the trinity took substantially the form it has maintained ever since.

During the council of Nicea, the emporer Constantine established the doctrine of Trinity, and ever since, people have studied to prove the doctrine instead of studying the truth.

Manifestations of God

We just studied the Trinity doctrine, that there are three persons of God: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. An understanding of these manifestations is very important. God has other manifestations, but these are the three that we'll run into in our study of the Godhead.

Jesus Christ said in one place, "To know the times is not given unto me" yet after his resurrection he said "All power is given unto me."

In the garden, Mary didn't recognize Christ after he was raised from the dead; she thought he was the gardener. God didn't want the flesh to have preeminence; the flesh holds no authority. The flesh was an example of obedience and suffering, but the flesh was not God. God was in the flesh; not all of God, but the fulness of the Godhead bodily. Everything of God that can be recognized in the flesh was present in Christ. He said, "If you have seen me you have seen God," not because he looked like God, but because he did everything that God did.

If God had no form, why would Adam and Eve hide from him? I know that we sometimes think we can hide from God, but we don't do it by taking cover behind a bush or a tree. I believe that this scripture shows that God had a form that he used to commune with Adam and Eve in the garden.

So in truth, God had more manifestations than those of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost.

When Abraham recognized his three visitors, he called only one of them "Adoni" which is the singular form of a Hebrew title used only for God. It might also be noted that the two other men who left were later described as angels.

At that time, there was only one priesthood.

If God wanted to order Christ after a priesthood, I don't think he would have chosen a priesthood of men. If he was transitioning from the Old Testament law of the flesh to the New Testament law of the spirit, he would not have used an example of the flesh.

God appeared as the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night. There's another manifestation. Maybe it's not one that is necessary for salvation, but it's a way that God chose to show himself.

The fourth figure in the furnace was another manifestation of God. At least, Nebuchadnezzar recognized it as such.

God's Roles

I had considered at the beginning to address the gender of God. I have met people who say, "Why does God have to be male? Why should we address God as 'He'?" If we think of God in his authority, and he had a son, he fits more in the masculine than in the feminine role.

God is a creator. He is able to create in our lives, and he created the essence of life within us.

In this sense, we see God as a provider. God doesn't want us to worry; if we have faith in God as a provider, then he will provide for us all things that we need.

We want to think of God as male, or in the masculine role, as a Father to us. There are subcategories or roles that fall under the general heading of "Father." I could have placed "Creator" and "Provider" under that heading.

This passage provides the roles "Comforter" and "Teacher". God comforts us in our times of need through the Holy Spirit. Read John chapter 14 for a better understanding of this subject. Don't just read it; break it down and study it. That chapter brings God the Father, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit together.

God in that passage is the supreme ruler. Some would think that "I am the Lord, and there is none else" would leave out Jesus, but we also read where Jesus fulfilled these Old Testament scriptures. Again, the flesh had no preeminence, but the spirit.

Here we read that Christ is a friend, though not one to be abused or taken lightly. He is someone who we can lean on, to whom we can tell our sorrows. You can pour out your heart to God in human terms, and he will hear you. But like a Father, he will also give you what you need, not what you want.

God is also our savior. We especially know God as our savior in the form of Jesus Christ. That's why he came: to be the sacrifice, to spread the gospel, to establish the new covenant.

God is a judge. In the New Testament, it says that if our heart is contrary to God's word, he will reveal this unto us. Even if we are unwilling to judge ourselves, God will judge us. That's called our conscience. As a father, I fulfill the role of a judge over my children, but God's judgment is weightier.

God is a healer. Hezekiah was about to die; he cried out to God, and God heard his prayer. (He also warned Hezekiah that he only had fifteen years left.) God reaches beyond our limits to do what we can't. He heals both physically and spiritually. Sometimes we wonder why God doesn't heal more physically. The flesh isn't all that important. Some things are sad for us, but not for God. God doesn't intervene in all cases; else we would become robots and not creatures of individual choice.

God is a warrior. If it were not so, Paul would not have talked about putting on the armour of God. God wants to teach us how to fight. In the Old Testament, they fought on a physical front, but now we fight against principalities, against powers, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

There are a bunch of roles listed here, but I chose "Counselor." God will counsel you. Part of good counsel is good judgment. He counsels us primarily through his word.

These are not by any means all of God's roles, but these are the ones I chose to highlight. You can find many more examples in the scriptures. God has a lot of depth to offer; he isn't just three manifestations.