The reporter's question reminded me that the truth of the Bible, which everyone must know, had not been preached enough to people in general, even to Christians. This made me so anxious and frustrated. In actuality, Christianity itself is a religion which acknowledges that God has come in the flesh.
The "Trinity," which Christians talk about, means that God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit are one and the same God. In the age of the Father when God worked for the salvation of mankind in the name of Jehovah, He existed mainly in spirit and delivered His will through His prophets. However, 2,000 years ago, God came to this earth with the name of Jesus in the likeness of a human just like one of us and personally preached the gospel for the salvation of mankind. Christianity is a religion that believes in Jesus Christ, God incarnate, isn't it? The central theme of Christianity is the faith in the fact that God has come in the flesh; Christianity is a religion based upon an absolute belief in the incarnation of God.
God who came in the flesh for His children
If anyone says that God cannot come in the flesh, he is the one who acknowledges himself as a denier of God's almightiness. Through the previous life of Solomon and Job, the Bible testifies that everyone born on this earth existed as a spirit in the kingdom of God before the creation of the world (Pr 8:22-31; Job 38:1-21). Even children of God, who were created by Him, existed as spirits and were born in the flesh. How much more can God, who is the Creator, come to this earth in the flesh?
Heb 2:14-15 『Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death?that is, the devil?and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death.』
The core of the faith which the apostles and forefathers of faith had was the belief that God must come in the flesh. The Apostle John, one of Jesus' disciples, definitely states that God became flesh and came into the world, in the first part of the Gospel which he wrote.
Jn 1:1-14 『In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. . . . The Word (God) became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.』
The fact that God in heaven has come to this earth in the flesh in order to save mankind?this is the most blessed and gracious news for us, isn't it? God as Spirit, who should have stayed in heaven, dwelt among His people and led them to the way of life, giving them teachings and helping them distinguish right from wrong. Those who received Him were full of grace and truth. This was the faith of the apostles who were taught directly by Jesus and preached what they were taught.
Jn 10:30-33 『"I and the Father are one." Again the Jews picked up stones to stone him, but Jesus said to them, "I have shown you many great miracles from the Father. For which of these do you stone me?" "We are not stoning you for any of these," replied the Jews, "but for blasphemy, because you, a mere man, claim to be God."』
Jesus also testified to Himself as the same One as God the Father. The above verses clearly show that God, existing as Spirit, took on human flesh and came to this earth in the name of Jesus Christ.
However, the Jews tried to stone Jesus, saying that He blasphemed against God by claiming to be God. In the eyes of most Jews in those days, Jesus didn't look like God, the Creator of all things, whom they had served. In their eyes, Jesus was merely a carpenter's son who had a mother named Mary and also had siblings. They regarded God, who came as a man, merely as the founder of a new religion, and rejected Him completely. Those who claimed to believe in God called Him a "heretic" and crucified Him.
The spirit of the antichrist that does not acknowledge Jesus Christ has come in the flesh
God Himself taught us that He would come in the flesh. Contrary to God's teaching, many people thought, ‘How could a man claim to be God?' This was the thought of those who were controlled by the spirit of Satan. The Bible says that the spirit that does not acknowledge God can come in the flesh is the spirit of the antichrist, and warns that we must not accept it.
1 Jn 4:1-6 『Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, . . . We are from God, and whoever knows God listens to us; but whoever is not from God does not listen to us. This is how we recognize the Spirit of truth and the spirit of falsehood.』
2 Jn 1:7-11 『Many deceivers, who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh, have gone out into the world. Any such person is the deceiver and the antichrist. Watch out that you do not lose what you have worked for, but that you may be rewarded fully. . . .』
The spirit of the antichrist is the spirit that denies Jesus Christ has come in the flesh. The Apostle John, who testified that God became flesh and came to this earth, emphasized: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is from Satan. The Bible distinguishes the Spirit of truth from the spirit of falsehood according to whether or not the spirit acknowledges that God has come in the flesh.
If a religion does not believe in the incarnation of God, it is not a Christian religion. The insistence that denies the Incarnation is not a teaching from God, and those who do not believe in the incarnation of God cannot be said to be children of God. Now, let's take a look at some testimonies of Paul, known as the "greatest apostle."
Php 2:5-8 『Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: 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 . . .』
Ro 9:5 『Theirs are the patriarchs, and from them is traced the human ancestry of Christ, who is God over all, forever praised! Amen.』
Apostle Paul repeatedly acknowledged that Christ came in the flesh, so he must have been a person with the spirit from God. He realized that Jesus was the incarnate God, and converted from Judaism to the Church of God (Gal 1:13-14). From that time on, he confidently testified to the saints of the early Church in each region that Jesus Christ was God by nature even though He came to this earth in the flesh and that God came as a man and carried out the ministry of salvation for human beings.
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