Jesus Christ: The Godhead
By Gordon McGee
Matthew 16: 13-20 “When Jesus came into the coast of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying whom do men say that I the Son of Man am? And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets. He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in Heaven. And I say unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my
church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Then charged he his disciples that they should tell no man that he was Jesus the Christ. I would like to use as a subject tonight the verse when Jesus says Peter, “whom do you say that I am.”
I want to talk about the Godhead tonight. My subject is in the form of a question, “Is Jesus all of the Fullness of the Godhead or is He the second person in the Godhead?” I would like to know, wouldn’t you? That is the question I would like to ask. I do not know where to find the answer except the book. Jesus wanted to know. He askedthe disciples, who do people say He is? I want to ask the question tonight, “Is Jesus the fullness of the Godhead or is He only the second person in the Godhead?” I want to try to answer some question that might be in some of your minds about the Godhead. I do not want to answer them. I want the Bible to answer them through this message; tonight I want history to answer if it can. Does the history of menwho wrote about Jesus understand the Godhead fully?
The Trinitarian thealogians themselves can not prove the trinitarian concept of the Godhead. They can declare it as a theory, but they can not prove it from the Scripture. They simply can not do it. I went to a seminary where they taught the trinitarian concept in the Godhead, and I bought the book that they were using to teach their preachers the trinitarian concept of the Godhead. It was written by one of their thealogians on how to explain the Godhead in the trinitarian concept. Therefore I bought the book. This is their textbook that they are using to teach the trinitarian doctrine to their young preachers. I read the book thoroughly and I never did find an explanation that can be proven by the Word of God. The author, who spent all of that time and money writing this text book, came to the last chapter, after trying his best to explain the trinitarian concept, and wrote, “I admit it can not be explained.”
In order to enlighten us concerning the teaching of the Holy Trinity, I would like to go to the trinitarian authorities themselves. This is not written by someone that believes in the oneness of God. As far as the GodHead is concerned, this is written by trinitarians themselves.
I am going to give you historical documentary evidence from the trinitarian thealogians themselves, and let you hear what they say about the proof of trinitarian concepts concerning the Godhead.
The Catholic Encyclopedia, 1912 edition, volume 15, page 47, says that there is not yet any single term by which the three divine persons are connected together. So what do you think about a man who preaches the trinity and tells you that he can not find it in the Scripture.
Now let’s see if in Hastens Dictionary they found anything from 1912-1963. Page 1015 says that the Christian doctrine of God, as existing in three persons and one substance, is not demonstratable by logic. This is a trinitarian preacher preaching something that can not be proven from the Scripture. I am telling you when you preach this Bible, friend of mine, you cross every tradition, idea, and theory of every religious group in this world. You cross them when you preach the book. That is why they hated Jesus very badly, because he crossed every tradition they believed in. I do not find anywhere in the Bible where it says for a preacher to preach a sermon. It tells you to preach the Word. There is a lot of people who preach a sermon, but not a lot of people preaching the Word. If we preach the Word, it will cost us some things.
The Interpreters Dictionary of the Bible, 1962 edition, volume 4, page 711, says Trinity was coined by Tertullians. This is not a Biblical term.
The Dictionary of Theology, 1965 edition, page 447, says, “The New Testament does not in any way speculate on the trinity, let alone preach and teach it.” Before I go any further let me show you what the Trinitarian concept of the Godhead is, according to their textbook. They say that there is only one God. There is not a Trinitarian who claims to be a Christian that believes in three Gods. They believe in one. They will debate you all day and tell you there is only one God. So when you understand Trinitarian doctrine, you understand that they believe one God. But here is what they believe. He is one God in substance, dignity, eternality, co-existant, co-equal, and co-eternal, but, three persons as two individualities. God the Father, the first person in the Godhead; God the Son, the second person in the Godhead, and God the Holy Spirit, the third person in the Godhead. That is exactly what they believe when it comes to teaching on the Godhead, yet they can not prove it by the Scripture.
The Encyclopedia Britannica, Volume 3, page 365-366, says the triune and trinity formula was not uniformly used from the beginning of time up to the third century.
The Encyclopedia of Religion on Ethics, 1951 edition, volume 12, page 458, says, “The development of the doctrine of the Old Testament could hardly be expected to furnish the doctrine of the trinity if one believes in the trinity. The author says this grounded upon the belief of the incarnation of God in Christ, and upon the experience of spiritual redemption. In the New Testament, we do not see the doctrine of the trinity. Not even in Paul and John’s writings.
In the Ten Ethics of Church History, volume 3, page 72, the economical council says, “To the simplest and most primitive faith,
Christ was simply God. Nothing less, nothing more.”
The Catholic “Encyclopedia, 1967 edition, volume 14, page 295, says, “The Christian dogma of the trinity very slowly developed between the third and eighth century. It was an attempt to harmonize the various passages in which the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost are noticed in the New Testament. Only in the last quarter of the fourth century, the definitive trinitarian dogma of the one God in three persons became thoroughly assimilated into Christian life and thought.
In the Encyclopedia Britannica, 17th edition, volume 3, page 366, says, “Not until the latter part of the fourth century, did the eastern churches bring into better harmony the Roman ideal of the GodHead and the trinitarian formula.”
If I did not quote a Scripture tonight, this historical data should be sufficient for every person to understand that the trinitarians concept of the Holy Ghost above the Godhead is not a Scriptural teaching. Everyone says that we do not believe in the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. That is a lie. Everyone that is a Pentecostal believes in the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, but we do not believe that they are three separate persons in the Godhead. We believe God was revealed as a Father in creation, the Son in redemption, and the Holy Ghost in Revelations. God manifested himself in three different dimensions, but not three persons in the Godhead. This is what the Bible teaches. What makes this so interesting is that not only does the Bible disprove the trinitarian belief, but trinitarian history itself disproves it.
In Genesis 1:26 God says, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.” Trinitariansuse Genesis 1:26 to argue that this verse shows a trinity of divine persons. But if you interpret the word,`us’ to mean more than one person in the Godhead, then verse 27 would contradict verse 26. Verse 27 says, “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.” God did not have an image when he created man. His image was yet to come. I am going to take Scripture and prove that he did not have an image when he created man. The Bible says that God is a Spirit who fills Heaven and earth. The earth is His footstool and Heaven is His throne. The trinitarians will tell you that he is talking about the second person in the Godhead and is telling the one sitting beside him to create man in their image. In verse 27 it states that God created man in His image. Therefore verse 27 contradicts verse 26 if you take it literally that He is talking to another person in the Godhead sitting beside him. You are not going to have one verse of Scripture in the Bible that contradicts another. If you do, then the Bible is not worth anything. I believe the Bible is put together in harmony so you can understand what the Bible says about the GodHead.
It says, God created man in His owm image; in the image of God created He him.” Notice the use of the singular personal pronoun. John 1, 3, 10 makes this clear that creation was the work of one divine person only. The world was made by him. In Isaiah 24:44, God speaks in the first person and says, I am the Lord that maketh all things;that stretcheth forth the heavens alone; that spreadeth abroad the earth by himself. Isaiah 44:6,8,24 reads “Thus saith the Lord the King of Israel, and his redeemer the Lord of hosts; I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God. Fear ye not, neither be afraid: have not I told thee from that time, and have declared it?ye are even my witnesses. Is there a God beside me? yea, there is no God; I know not any. Thus saith the Lord, thy redeemer, and he that formed thee from the womb, I am the Lord that maketh all things; that stretcheth abroad the earth by myself.” Now we go back to Genesis 1:26, which says “Let us make man in our image after our likeness.” He was indeed talking to somebody. Trinitarians was God was talking to another person in the Godhead when he said, “Let us make man.” However, there is no Scriptural proof of this. God was talking to Jesus Christ. He was looking Him right in the face when He was talking to Him, but He was not right beside Him. Isaiah 46:9-10 explains Genesis 1:26. It says, “Remember the former things of old; for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me. “Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure.”Romans 4:17 says, “(As it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations,) before him whom he believed, even God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were.” When God was creating man, He was creating him in the image that was going to be portrayed through the body of Jesus Christ. Even though the body of Jesus Christ had not yet came in to existence, God did not have an
image until Jesus Christ became that image. Man was created in the image of the glorified Christ. God looked down and saw the image of Himself, which was the b @ @ of Jesus Christ in a glorified form. He
created Adam in the form of that glorified body of Jesus Christ. God did not have an image when He created man. He did not have an image until Jesus Christ came into this world in a bodily form. The only image that God has tonight is Jesus Christ’s body.
II Corinthians 4:3-4 says, “But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to than that are lost: In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.” Christ is the image of God. The trinitarians cannot explain this because Jesus had not come into being when He created man. Yet He was talking to Jesus. Some say He was talking to angels, but angels are not created in the image of God. Jesus Christ is the only image of God. The Bible tells emphatically that Jesus Christ is the image of God.
Colossians 1:15 says, “Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature.”
Hebrews 1:3 says, “Who being the brightness of his glory, and the expressed image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the majesty on high.” Jesus Christ is the expressed image of the invisible God. Jesus Christ was glorified by the invisible spirit of God, and became the visible person of the image of God. Every Bible school in our entire fellowship ought to be taught how to debate our doctrine. In the coming of Christ, the image that appeared on the scene was the redemption or the sacrifice that would redeem man from his fallen state of sin, and bring him into recognition with God. This was done so that he could participate in the resurrection in the end, and finally be in the image of God. We are not in the image of Jesus Christ tonight. We have the fallen nature. Adam was created in the image of Jesus Christ before he fell from grace. We are under the curse of sin; therefore, we are not in the likeness of Jesus Christ other than in the flesh, but that is not the likeness of the image of God.
I John 3:2 says, “Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.” On the resurrection morning, we will have a body like Jesus Christ has now.
Hebrews 2:17 says, “Wherefore in all thing sit beloved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people.’ God came and took on Himself the seed of Abraham that is like unto his brethren. In doing so, God took on a form because that is the only body God permanently resided in. God gave Adam a form. He created Adam in his own image. His image was the flesh of Jesus Christ. Christ became the form of the invisible God. This invisible God lived in this form of man. Jesus Christ will always have this form. This form which is the body of Christ, will always be the expression of the image of God himself, and he will never appear in another body that will be expressed in redemption, other that the body of Christ.
I Timothy 3:16 says, “And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.” The Bible says God was manifested in the flesh. The word manifest comes from a Greek word meaning to make himself visible. God made himself visible by taking upon himself a fleshly body, and that body was the body of Jesus Christ. The trinity says when you get to heaven you will have the father sitting on the throne on one side. On the other you will have the son Jesus. And on the next side you will have the third person, the Holy Spirit. The Bible says Jesus was taken into heaven. He says he was in the Spirit and he saw a throne where only one sat.In Revelations it says, that Jesus was on the throne. “Here oh Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord.” God was manifested in the flesh. He took upon himself a physical form.
John 1:1 says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”
John 1:14 says, 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.”
Colossians 2:8-9 says, “Beware lest any man spoil you though philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ. For in him dwelleth all the fullness of the GodHead Bodily.” The Bible says, that every knee shall bow very tongue will confess that God is all the fullness of the GodHead. Jesus said, “When you have seen me you have seen the Father” The GodHead means deity which simply means this: the redemption plan of deity is expressed and functions through the body of Jesus Christ. It only functions through the body of Jesus Christ. It only functions through his body so that makes him the fullest. There is only one in the Godhead, God himself as a spirit is not a member of the Godhead. The Holy spirit as a spirit is not a member of the Godhead. A member of the Godhead has to be a body. There is only one member of the Godhead and that is through the body of Jesus Christ that the provision of redemption for salvation has been provided. Jesus said, “I am the first and the last.”
