Results 1 - 5 of 5
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Results from: Answered Bible Questions, Answers, Unanswered Bible Questions, Notes Ordered by Verse | ||||||
Results | Verse | Author | ID# | |||
1 | "Least in the kingdom of God"? | Matt 11:11 | Zsuzsi | 122640 | ||
Hi Angel, No-no, of course I am not denying or even questioning the full and absolute Deity of Jesus!!! On the contrary, actually! But my answer to your question, "How can God be the least in heaven?", is this: that's what I call Grace... Every soul in heaven has actually been bought at the price of the blood of the Most High - it's a bit like the slave-stories we only read about today, with people bought and sold for one another... But something infinitely greater happened here: the Almighty Lord of heaven and earth willingly chose to free the slaves of sin by He Himself becoming a slave for them in submitting to human suffering and death! Phil 2:6-11 (you referred to it as well) probably sums up my point in the most beautiful way: "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." The Almighty made Himself nothing, He became the very least - yet He is our Lord and God, and He is truly a marvelous Lord! At His Name 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, forever and ever, Amen! Hope this clarifies the way I look at it a bit more. God bless you, Zsuzsi |
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2 | "Least in the kingdom of God"? | Matt 11:11 | JCrichton | 122654 | ||
Hi, Zsuzsi! Thanks for your reply! I have had a few run-ins with some people that seek to elevate themselves to the Throne and declare Jesus an inferior being... When I first read your post I began to question the allegory and when I read the subsequent post... a huge red flag sprang up: could they be insinuating that Christ is a lower being? Clearly, in order to save us, as a sacrificial substitute, God, being immortal, could not die. The blood of mere animals (as amoral as they are) could not satisfy the ransom's demands, and man's blood, as it has been made impure, falls short of the grace that was required to completely obliterate sin and the ransom's demands... So only the Son of God could both fulfill the ransom's demands and abolish sin: Hence the incarnation of the Word! The Son, for a little while, would divest Himself of all authority (not of His Deity for Christ is God!) in order to bring us back to the Fold (the Kingdom of our Heavenly Father). In so doing He would become similar to those living under the Law--not equal, since He is free of sin! But once the Lamb's commission was completed, the Word ascended to His place and His Glory: Now, Father, glorify me with that glory I had with you before ever the world existed. (John 17:5) ...Zsuzsi, I understand you position as far as Christ's Divinity... ""How can God be the least in heaven?", is this: that's what I call Grace..." My view is that Jesus, the Word incarnate, does not bring to Heaven the limitations of the servants... rather He has been reinstated in the fullness of His Being. Not only that but He began to pull us into that Heavenly Realm while we were still engrossed in doubt and rebellion: I shall no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know the master's business; I call you friends, because I have made known to you everything I have learnt from my Father. (John 15:15) We are being elevated by Christ to the position of friends of God... the whole purpose for the Lamb's existence is to raise us from death... once this was accomplished (death, resurrection and ascension), why would Christ hold on to the limitations of man? Christ is no longer the Lamb that needs to offer Himself as the sacrificial holocaust in our stead; He is the High Priest and the King who officiates in Heaven in our behalf! God Bless! Angel |
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3 | "Least in the kingdom of God"? | Matt 11:11 | Zsuzsi | 122658 | ||
Thanks for your reply, I agree with every word you said! But exactly for this reason, Christ spoke in the present tense of 'the least in the kingdom of God' ('is' - as far as I know, the Greek 'estin' can not be understood as 'will be' - but maybe we'll need to ask someone more knowledgeable about this)... At the time He was speaking, while on earth, He was the least in the kingdom of God, wasn't He...? I mean, He ate, and drank, and slept, and wept, suffered and died, even prayed as a fully human person... Of course He was fully God as well, but becoming a human at all was just far beneath His dignity to say the least! (Please read also my replies to Emmaus.) In His resurrection, He was glorified, and now He is the greatest in all of heaven and earth... Of course. He sits on the right hand of God and He will come back to judge all the earth... :-) If He hadn't been the Greatest, He wouldn't have been able to defeat satan (who, thanks to Jesus, doesn't even deserve the capital letter any more). This passage really touched me some time ago and since then I appreciate the sacrifice He made for us more than ever. And I am ever so glad to have such a wonderfully loving Lord. :-) Blessings, Zsuzsi |
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4 | "Least in the kingdom of God"? | Matt 11:11 | JCrichton | 122679 | ||
Hi, Zsuzsi! Now I completely follow! Christ did state it: just as the Son of man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.' (Matthew 20:28) So in the sense that Christ came to serve (rescue us from sin), in that particular station (the server being less than the one being served), it would seem that Jesus would be including Himself in the passages that you cited (Luke 7:28 and Matthew 11:11--which are congruent passages)... but still, I am cautious because He also made it clear that He was above those who He served: For who is the greater: the one at table or the one who serves? The one at table, surely? Yet here am I among you as one who serves! (Luke 22:27) True Jesus came to serve, but He identifies Himself with the one at the table (the Lord)--the one who denies Himself (His Authority) in order to save us from sin! God Bless! Angel |
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5 | "Least in the kingdom of God"? | Matt 11:11 | Zsuzsi | 122708 | ||
Hi Angel, I am glad to see we are now almost in complete agreement. "but still, I am cautious because He also made it clear that He was above those who He served:" Of course. This is actually His point in Luke 7:28 and Matthew 11:11: "...yet who is least in the kingdom of heaven IS GREATER THAN HE." John was only the greatest of the human forerunners of the Messiah. Jesus Himself was God. God bless you, Zsuzsi |
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