Here is this mysterious TRUTH, spoken by The LORD JESUS CHRIST:
And no man hath ascended up to Heaven,
but HE+ that came down from Heaven,
even the SON+ of MAN which is in Heaven.
John 3:13
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What CHILD+ is This ?
2021 ADVENT MEDITATION #11
And she brought forth a MAN CHILD+,
Who+ was to rule all nations with a Rod of Iron:
and her CHILD+ was caught up unto GOD,
and to HIS throne.
Revelation 12:5
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Revelation 12
12:1 And there appeared a great wonder in Heaven; a Woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a Crown -- a STEPHANOS -- of twelve stars:
2 And she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered.
3 And there appeared another wonder in Heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads.
4 And his tail drew the third part of the stars of Heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the Woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her CHILD+ as soon as it was born.
5 And she brought forth a MAN CHILD+, Who+ was to rule all nations with a Rod of Iron: and her CHILD+ was caught up unto GOD, and to HIS throne.
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REALITY takes place in the Heavenly realm; the earth follows suit.
Let us consider now the SPIRITUAL facts regarding : “ . . . and her CHILD+ was caught up unto GOD, and to HIS throne.”
What and if ye shall see the SON+ of MAN
ascend up where HE+ was before?
John 6:62
FATHER, I+ will that they also, whom THOU hast given ME+, be with ME+ where I+ am; that they may behold My+ Glory, which THOU hast given ME+: for THOU lovedst ME+ before the foundation of the world. John 17:24
Here is this mysterious TRUTH, spoken by The LORD JESUS CHRIST:
And no man hath ascended up to Heaven,
but HE+ that came down from Heaven,
even the SON+ of MAN which is in Heaven.
John 3:13
Literally from the Greek, that mysterious phrase should state:
“ . . . the ONE+ being in Heaven.”
ο Υιὸς του ανθρώπου ο ων εν τω ουρανω.
the Son of Man , the one being in the Heaven
~
However, The LORD JESUS was on earth, speaking to His+ disciples when HE+ spoke those very words !
At John 3:13, Dr. Wilbur N. Pickering* stated in his New Testament translation:
No one has gone up into Heaven except the One who came down out of Heaven —the Son of the Man, who is in Heaven. b
b About 1% of the Greek manuscripts, of objectively inferior quality, omit “who is in Heaven” (as in NIV, NASB, LB, TEV, etc.). Presumably those copyists couldn’t figure out how Jesus could be on earth and in Heaven at the same time, so they altered the Text.
But let’s stop and think about what this verse says—Jehovah the Son came down out of Heaven all right, but when did He go up? If “the Angel of Jehovah” in the O.T. was JEHOVAH THE SON, as I believe, then He had been back and forth many times.
In John 5:19 Jesus said that He could only do what He saw the Father do—so when and how could Jesus see the Father?
Even though Jehovah the Son was in the human body of Jesus Christ, evidently there was some sense in which He was also in Heaven; He existed there. Well, that’s what John 1:18 says, “who exists in the bosom of the Father.” [ End of Dr. Pickering’s footnote at John 3:13, pg 190. The Sovereign Creator Has Spoken: Objective Authority for Living, The New Testament with Commentary, 2nd Edition, 2016. See documentation at the end of this article. ]
The Apostle John reiterated this Truth:
No man hath seen GOD at any time,
the Only-Begotten SON+,
which is in the Bosom of THE FATHER,
HE+ hath declared HIM.
John 1:18
μονογενὴς υιὸς ὁ ὢν εις τὸν κόλπον του πατρὸς,
The Only-Begotten SON+ , the ONE+ being
in (into, among, within ) the bosom of the FATHER.
~
Dr. Pickering states in his translation at John 1:18
No one has ever seen GOD. The Only-Begotten SON,a Who+ exists in the Bosom of THE FATHER, HE has interpreted Him.b
a Instead of “the only begotten son” (as in over 99.5% of the Greek manuscripts), some five manuscripts (of inferior quality, objectively so) have “an only begotten god”, while another two (also inferior) have “the only begotten god”.
Since the absence of the definite article (in Greek) can have the effect of emphasizing the inherent quality of the noun, the second reading could be rendered “only begotten god”—this alternative has appealed to many evangelicals who see in it a strong affirmation of the deity of Christ.
But if the God-part of the CHRIST was begotten in the womb of the virgin Mary, then HE+ is not eternally pre-existent; and in that event CHRIST couldn’t be GOD the SON+, one of the three persons of the Trinity.
Notice the precision in Isaiah 9:6—”unto us a CHILD+ is born; unto us a SON+ is given.” JEHOVAH the SON was given, not born.
Notice further that the context is about the Incarnation, not the Son’s eternal pre-existence.
But in any case, why follow seven manuscripts of demonstrably inferior quality against 1,700? The original and therefore true reading is certainly “the only begotten Son”.
b Instead of “interpret” one could render ‘explain’, ‘describe’, ‘give a report about’… I connect this statement to verse 1—the WORD+ shows us Who THE FATHER really is. As JESUS said to Philip, “He who has seen ME+ has seen THE FATHER” (John 14:9).
[End of Dr. Pickering’s footnotes at John 1:18, pg.184. The Sovereign Creator Has Spoken: Objective Authority for Living, The New Testament with Commentary, 2nd Edition, 2016. See documentation at the bottom of this article. ]
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In The LORD’S tender discourse with Moses, when HE told Moses HE would cover Moses with HIS Hand and then allow him to see only HIS back parts, HE told Moses:
And HE said, Thou canst not see My face: for there shall no man see ME, and live. Exodus 33:20
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The Eternal SON+ of GOD existed WITH The FATHER before the foundation of the earth. Intimately. In His+ FATHER’S bosom. HE+, The Eternal SON+, was given unto us.
The Incarnated SON+ of GOD was born, bearing human flesh and feeling, through the Hebrew virgin Mariam. Unto us , then, a CHILD+ was born.
The LORD JESUS told us that “I and My+ FATHER are ONE.” John 10:30
Thus , as HE+ walked in His+ Incarnation upon the earth AS man WITH man, HE+ also walked in intimacy with His+ Heavenly FATHER, never breaking that Communion between them.
JESUS said:
John 17:5
5 And now, O FATHER, glorify THOU ME+ with Thine OWN SELF with the Glory which I+ had with THEE before the world was.
John 8:29
And HE that sent ME+ is with ME+: The FATHER hath not left ME+ alone; for I+ do always those things that please HIM. John 8:29
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Do we have that constant companionship with Our FATHER Which art in Heaven ?
This is the GIFT which the FIRST ADVENT brought to us.
Do we have such a close walk with The FATHER through CHRIST JESUS that we are never alone . . . because we do always the things that please HIM ?
We cannot know The FATHER
except through Our LORD CHRIST JESUS.
~
LET US PRAY
Our FATHER Which art in Heaven, hallowed be Thy Name.
Send Thy spotlight of Truth on those areas of mine which hinder me from walking in close communion with Thy SON+ JESUS CHRIST.
I want to stay under the shelter of Thy Wings, Gracious FATHER. I want to live in the LIGHT of Thy HOLY SPIRIT.
I want to walk with THEE exactly as Thy Beloved SON+ walked with THEE , in Whom+ THOU wast well-pleased.
Show me, dear FATHER, how to stay in close Communion with THEE at all times through JESUS CHRIST Thy Beloved, Holy SON+.
This I pray in the LIFE-GIVING, Ever-Living Name of Thy Eternal SON+, JESUS CHRIST, Whom+ THOU didst send to earth from Thy Bosom … for the suffering of death … to bring me to THEE. Amen.
~
*DR. WILBUR N. PICKERING
* Wilbur N. Pickering, a Christian missionary living in Brasilia, Brazil, has a ThM., PhD. in Linguistics. He is a former Wycliffe Translator in Brazil, starting in 1958. He began working with the Apurina people in 1961 after 3 years of preparation, according to the Foreword in his NT translation.
He resigned from Wycliffe in 1996 to pursue other interests. Although retired, he is currently a translator, teacher, preacher, missionary and an expert in Greek manuscripts, having obtained and collated 22 Greek manuscripts himself.
Thus, he ranks with Herman C. Hoskier and DEAN John Burgon as knowledgeable concerning the intricacies of the Greek New Testament Manuscripts.
He has written an excellent modern English translation of the New Testament based on the Byzantine manuscripts. It is called The Sovereign Creator Has Spoken: Objective Authority for Living, The New Testament with Commentary, 2nd Edition, 2016.
His New Testament can be freely downloaded from his website at www.prunch.org. Attribution / documentation is available at http://thechristiancommons.com .
He also wrote The Identity of the New Testament Text IV (fourth edition) , 2014. This is a technical book , full of statistics and charts that are invaluable to the serious student of the Greek manuscripts of the New Testament which we have extant.
See his website for more information.
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