The quintessence of eisegesis is isolating passages in order to substantiate a position. This is indicative of trinitarian hermeneutics, they are unable to find a paragraph, that in its entirety, asserts that Jesus is God. All any trinitarian has ever been able to produce, are remote and truncated verses, that context-wise, and intelligence wise, have absolutely no merit whatsoever.
Having the '...fullness of deity dwell within him...' juxtaposed with verse 12 '... having been buried with Him in baptism, in which you were also raised up with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead....'
This, clearly does not denote a deity of essence, but of character and purpose. We are all created in God's image, each of us have the potential for perfection, and reflecting the full image of God. Jesus loved God with all his heart, mind and soul, thus he attained perfection. ...an act that would be pathetically absurd if Christ were God. You're not getting the point. God's Atonement does not require that He comes to earth first, to love Himself, and therefore, to propitiate Himself. You trinitarians blaspheme the wisdom of God with your narrow minded eisegesis.
You are right to question who was Jesus? Is He a man exalted to God status, to God walking in human form?
Can eternity be constrained into a body, and if this body has a beginning, with knowledge and consciousness, which part could this be God and which part human?
What I find interesting is how people start from the Father and downgrade Jesus, rather than starting from Jesus who shows us the Father.
Jesus was a teacher who made some friends, who came to realise He was God in human form. As absurd as this is, Holy Father, who sits on a throne in heaven, unapproachable, beyond constraints or definitions, is there in front of them. And how can Jesus be God, praying and worshipping the Father, and the Father anointing and confirming Christ and His message.
And the Holy Spirit, who anoints and teaches the hearts of believers Gods ways and reality, at such a personal deep level. These are words of a book until experienced stay on the pages of a book. So for those who do not know Jesus or the Holy Spirit, he is a prophet, a good man exalted to a new status, that was not pre-existent, and in some ways we can attain to likewise.
The answer for me is personal, and summed up by Jesus on the cross saying, "Father forgive them because they do not know what they are doing." Jesus was not a sacrificial justice equation, He was love personified and the light of God heart, if we are prepared to listen and follow.
There is a day, when we meet God face to face. On that day either we know His kingdom, and the reality is born in our hearts or we are lost. It is a stark reality, before which time things can shift and move about, in this grey world between Kingdoms and experiences. But once the day has dawned everything is final. Love and forgiveness are the key, nothing else matters. I have met believers who will send me to hell for talking this reality, so doctrine or bible knowledge do not open this door, only repentance and brokenness at seeing who the creator is through the cross and His pain for our lives. If you believe Him there is hope, if you listen and follow, and His words become the light in ones heart. There is literally no other way, this is just so profound, at eternal reality of a family born out of Gods love for us, Amen, Praise the Lord.
