Hello Eliyahu613,
Sunday 10-9-22 1st. Day Of The Weekly Cycle, Tishri 12 5783 18th. Fall Day
Genesis One:26 In this scripture, I believe, And God said, "Let us" is referring to:
Elohim
26 And God said, 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 over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
The term
Godhead is found three times in the King James Version:
Acts 17:29;
Romans 1:20; and
Colossians 2:9. In each of the three verses, a slightly different Greek word is used, but the definition of each is the same: “deity” or “divine nature.” The word
Godhead is used to refer to God’s essential nature. We’ll take a look at each of these passages and what they mean.
In
Acts 17, Paul is speaking on Mars Hill to the philosophers of Athens. As he argues against idolatry, Paul says, “Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man’s device” (
Acts 17:29, KJV). Here, the word
Godhead is the translation of the Greek
theion, a word used by the Greeks to denote “God” in general, with no reference to a particular deity. Paul, speaking to Greeks, used the term in reference to the only true God.
In
Romans 1, Paul begins to make the case that all humanity stands guilty before God. In verse 20 he says, “The invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse” (KJV). Here,
Godhead is
theiotés. Paul’s argument is that all of creation virtually shouts the existence of God; we can “clearly” see God’s eternal power, as well as His “Godhead” in what He has made. “The heavens declare the glory of God; / the skies proclaim the work of his hands” (
Psalm 19:1). The natural world makes manifest the divine nature of God.
Colossians 2:9 is one of the clearest statements of the deity of Christ anywhere in the Bible: “In him [Christ] dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.” The word for “Godhead” here is
theotés. According to this verse, Jesus Christ is God Incarnate. He embodies
all (“the fulness”) of God (translated “the Deity” in the NIV). This truth aligns perfectly with
Colossians 1:19, “God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him [Christ].”
Because the Godhead dwells bodily in Christ, Jesus could rightly claim that He and the Father are “one” (
John 10:30). Because the fullness of God’s divine essence is present in the Son of God, Jesus could say to Philip, “Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father” (
John 14:9).
In summary, the Godhead is the essence of the Divine Being; the Godhead is the one and only Deity. Jesus, the incarnate Godhead, entered our world and showed us exactly who God is: “No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known” (
John 1:18; cf.
Hebrews 1:3).
To be continued...
Monday 10-10-22 2nd. Day Of The Weekly Cycle, Tishri 13 5783 19th. Fall Day
Why does God refer to Himself in the plural in Genesis One:26 and 3:22?
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.’”
Genesis 3:22 states, “And the LORD God said, ‘The man has now become like one of us.’”
There are other passages in the Old Testament in which God refers to Himself using plural constructions. It is also interesting to note that
Elohim, one of the primary titles of God in the Old Testament (occurring over 2,500 times), is in the plural form.
Some people have used these verses to hypothesize that there are more than one God. However, we can rule out polytheism (belief in multiple gods), because that would contradict countless other Scriptures that tell us that God is one and that there is only one God. Three times in
Isaiah 45 alone, God states, “I am the LORD, and there is no other; there is no God besides Me” (vv. 5, 6, 18).
A second possible explanation for God’s referring to Himself in the plural is that God was including the angels in His statement. In saying “us” and “our,” God was speaking of all the heavenly host, Himself included. However, the Bible nowhere states that angels have the same “image” or “likeness” as God (see
Genesis 1:26). That description is given to humanity alone.
Since the Bible, and the New Testament especially, presents God as a Trinity (three Persons but only one God),
Genesis 1:26 and
3:22 can only represent a conversation within the Trinity. God the Father is having a “conversation” with God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.
The Old Testament hints at the plurality of God, and the New Testament clarifies this plurality with the doctrine of the Trinity. Obviously, there is no way we can fully understand how this works, but God has given us enough information to know that He does exist in three Persons—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
What does the Bible teach about the Trinity?
The most difficult thing about the Christian concept of the Trinity is that there is no way to perfectly and completely understand it. The Trinity is a concept that is impossible for any human being to fully understand, let alone explain. God is infinitely greater than we are; therefore, we should not expect to be able to fully understand Him.
The Bible teaches that the Father is God, that Jesus is God, and that the Holy Spirit is God. The Bible also teaches that there is only one God. Though we can understand some facts about the relationship of the different Persons of the Trinity to one another, ultimately, it is incomprehensible to the human mind. However, this does not mean the Trinity is not true or that it is not based on the teachings of the Bible.
Trinity Definition & Meaning - Merriam-Webster
To be continued...
Love, Walter and Debbie
