All scripture references, unless otherwise noted, are from the King James Version of the Holy Bible. The Hebrew and Greek meaning of the words mentioned are from Strong's Hebrew Greek Dictionary.
The Bible says in Colossians 2:9, "For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily." In this simple verse of scripture the apostle made a bold statement. I am not nor have ever claimed to be a Greek scholar. However, as I used to say to the Tigard, Oregon United Pentecostal Church, I do read English fairly well. When I pastored in Tigard I remember telling the folks there that the word,"dwelleth" in the Greek has the meaning, "to house permanently" according to Strong's Hebrew Greek dictionary. I don't know what that means to you but to me it means God has chosen nowhere else to live.
In John 14:8-11 when Philip asked, "... Lord, shew us the Father, and it sufficeth us." Jesus was absolutely clear in His reply, "...Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father? Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works. Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me: or else believe me for the very works' sake." Whoa, wait a minute, wasn't it Jesus the Son of God the Father that was speaking? Just what did Jesus mean? Was He not declaring Himself God.
The Lord Jesus was confirming what He had said to His Jewish listeners in John 10:30 where He said, "I and my Father are one." The Jews who heard Him say those words, the Bible says in verse 31, "took up stones again to stone him." For they heard the man they were looking at declare Himself to be God. When Jesus asked them in verse 32, "...Many good works have I shewed you from my Father; for which of those works do ye stone me?" They responded in verse 33, "...saying, For a good work we stone thee not; but for blasphemy; and because that thou, being a man, makest thyself God." What they did not understand and what the Christian world at large fails to understand that He was not a man who made himself God, rather He was God who made Himself man. The Bible says of the Lord Jesus in Philippians 2:6-8 "Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross."
My friends let me be bold and say that that is what the Apostle Paul meant when he said in Galatians 4:4-5, "But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons." Jesus was not a second person in the godhead, but all the fulness of the godhead dwelt in Him bodily, for He and His Father were one. They weren't two, they were and are one! (See John 10:30) Because of this Apostle Paul went on to say in Philippians 2:9-11 "Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." Oh friend, whoever you are, when you confess Jesus Christ as your Lord, you give God the Father glory.
Ah, the name of Jesus. I love that old chorus we used to sing in church. It goes as follows;
Jesus is the sweetest name I know,
And He's just the same as his lovely name.
That's the reason why I love Him so,
For Jesus is the sweetest name I know.
That is why we baptize only in Jesus precious name for the Bible says an Acts 4:12, "Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved." If you have never done so, repent of your sins today. Be baptized in the only name that can save you, the saving name of Jesus Christ. God will forgive you of your sins and will fill you with His Holy Spirit. (See Acts 2:38) Don't put it off, Jesus may come at any moment.
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