|
Some Comments on "Prophetic Scriptures Yet to Be Fulfilled" by Bill Hamon and Acts 3:19-21 with Mal. 4:5, 6; Matt. 17:11; Rev. 10:7; and 11:15; Part 6
by Karl Kemp Here in Part 6 we will discuss the Trinity in the paper titled, "Some Comments on 'Prophetic Scriptures Yet To Be Fulfilled' by Bill Hamon and Acts 3:19-21 with Mal. 4:5, 6; Matt. 17:11; Rev. 10:7; and 11:15." DOES THE BIBLE TEACH THE TRINITY? I believe the Bible clearly teaches the Trinity. I have dealt with this topic in four papers, "Who Do We Worship?: Oneness (Jesus only) Worship Songs"; "Who Do We Pray To?"; "More on the Trinity"; and "The Name Yahweh and God the Father and God the Son." The papers are all on my internet site (Google to Karl Kemp Teaching). I dealt with at least most of the primary verses that oneness Christians have used to argue for a oneness view of God. I am not suggesting that we should write off oneness Christians, like some do. (It's easy to write off other Christians, but it's a serious mistake to write off people that God hasn't written off.) I believe that many of them are true Christians, but I also believe that that viewpoint is one of the most serious doctrinal errors we need to deal with in the body of Christ. The oneness doctrine has been accepted by very large numbers of Christians in our day, and it is spreading. When I read Bill Hamon's book, "The Eternal Church," about fifteen years ago, I was concerned that, although he mentioned the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit on occasion, he clearly did not teach the Trinity. Most (if not all) oneness Christians speak of the Father and the Son and the Spirit on occasion, but they believe that there is only one Person, and that when we get to glory there will just be one Person, Jesus. Many oneness Christians dogmatically state that if you don't believe that Jesus is the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, and if you aren't baptized in the name of Jesus, etc., you cannot be saved. Bill Hamon clearly doesn't hold that viewpoint, and he emphasizes the need for unity in the Christian church. I'll give several quotations from Hamon (quoting from the same book, "Prophetic Scriptures") to demonstrate that he does not teach the Trinity. "JESUS created man with the potential of suffering, bleeding, and dying so that through His SON which was THE MORTAL BODY OF GOD ON EARTH [my emphasis]." When Hamon speaks of "Jesus" here he is speaking of the one Person of God. Apparently he has no conception of God the Son existing with God the Father in the beginning; that is, before any creating took place (cf., e.g., John 1:1-3). However, it was God the Son, who always existed with God the Father, and through whom all things that were created were created, and who became the God-man through the virgin birth. (These super-important verses, and similar verses, are discussed in my papers on the Trinity mentioned above.) Hamon speaks of "Jesus" and "His Son" (which clearly isn't Biblical terminology; Jesus is the name of the God-man; Jesus is the Son of God), and he speaks of "His Son" being "the mortal body of God on earth." The Son had a physical body, but He was a lot more than just a body. On page 39 he also says, "Jesus was the name given to that body that died on a cross, was buried, but resurrected back to life and is now seated at the right hand of His Father God in heaven." Jesus wasn't the name given to a body (His name is never used that way); Jesus was the name given to the God-man (God the Son, who had taken on flesh through the virgin birth). And on page 40 he adds, "The body of Jesus was the dwelling place of God..." and on page 57, "...Jesus was the human body that fully expressed God the Father." On page 164 he says, "...Jesus is the only true God [also see page 269] and redeemer of mankind," but what about God the Father who sent His Son into the world to become the God-man (cf., e.g., John 3:13, 17, 31-34; 4:34; 5:23, 24, 30, 36-39, etc.). I'll quote another sentence (from page 195) to show that Hamon doesn't have any conception of God the Son existing before the virgin birth, "Jesus became the only human to be fathered by God Himself." It is important to see that God the Son is fully deity (fully God) with God the Father (and the Holy Spirit), but also that He is subordinate to God the Father in His role. (I dealt with this point in some detail in my papers on the Trinity.) One reason this is important is that it helps us get past the idea of there being three Gods, which isn't a Biblical idea. Three Persons Yes! Three Gods No! I'll include an excerpt from Hamon that I believe greatly overstates the role of the Christian church, the bride of Christ, in the world to come. The quotation comes from "The Eternal Church" [Destiny Image, 2005 revised edition], pages 353, 354, under the heading, "King Jesus and the 'Queen Church' Will Rule the Universe." "Jesus, as Commander-in-Chief of His Church, will subdue all things under the feet of His corporate Body. The Church, which has functioned as the Bride of Christ, will then be fully joined unto Christ Jesus as His Wife. She will then become a part of the sovereign Lordship that is over all the universal affairs of the Kingdom of God on earth and throughout the universe. Jesus will be recognized by all creation as King Eternal and His Bride-Church as Queen Eternal. Together they will execute God's 'eternal judgments.' They will sit on the throne together as co-administrators. They will rule and reign together as they adjudicate and administer the affairs of Heaven and earth." The words, "She will then become a part of the sovereign Lordship..." and "co-administrators" greatly overstate our role in the eternal state. I'll comment further on this point as we continue. I'll quote part of a paragraph (from page 366 of the book just quoted) that Hamon has under the heading, "New Earth: Headquarters of All Heavenly and Universal Activity." "New earth will be central to all universal activities. Jesus and His Church will set up headquarters on planet earth. ... The throne of Jesus and His Church will be the eternal Mt. Zion of this New Jerusalem. The Queen Church will begin her eternal ministry, which will continue forever into the endless ages of eternity." And, lastly, I'll include what Hamon said (on pages 344, 345 of the book just quoted), under the heading, "Jesus Completed His Personal Part" that demonstrates how far Hamon (and many others) go with the ultimate exaltation of the Christian church, quite a bit too far, I believe. "Jesus declared 'It is finished,' and 'Father, I have finished the work that You gave Me to do.' This revealed that Jesus had finished the work that had to be done by Himself, personally, alone. Jesus is thrilled that His independent, individual ministry is over forever. Never again will He have to do anything alone. Whatever else is to be done will be done with the Church. Paul E. Billheimer ("Destined for the Throne," page 27) emphasizes this point: 'That this is God's glorious purpose for the Church is authenticated and confirmed by the apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 6:2, 3. "Do ye not know that the saints will judge the world? ... Know ye not that we shall judge angels?" This is an earnest of what Jesus meant when He said, "The glory that thou gavest me I have given them" (John 17:22). This royalty and rulership; is no hollow, empty, figurative, symbolic, or emblematic thing. It is not a figment of the imagination. The Church, The Bride, the Eternal Companion is to sit with Him on His throne. If His throne represents reality, then hers is no fantasy. NEITHER JOINT HEIR CAN DO ANYTHING ALONE (ROM. 8:17). IN LAW A JOINT HEIR CAN DO NOTHING ALONE, NOTHING WITHOUT THE OTHER [my emphasis].' " It is true that we will be involved with God the Father and the Lord Jesus (and in some ways with the Holy Spirit) in judging the world, including judging evil angels (1 Cor. 6:2, 3), but we will not be the primary ones doing that judging. We will certainly have a secondary role under God the Father and His Son. And we will be glorified at the end of this age, but there will still be a gigantic difference between God the Father and God the Son and us. We won't become deity in any sense. We will worship God the Father and God the Son (and God the Holy Spirit) forever, and we won't be worshipped in any sense. (I'm not suggesting that Hamon or Billheimer spoke of our being worshipped.) Furthermore, I believe it is wrong to say that God the Father or God the Son won't be able to do anything apart from us. In Rev. 22:1, for example, God the Father and God the Son are pictured on the throne (not just Jesus). We the saints, the people of God's true Israel will be reigning too, as Rev. 22:5 shows, but any idea of our being Queen, while Jesus is King, or of our being co-administrators is way overstated. In Rev. 22:3-5 we are called "bond-servants," who are reigning with God, which, though quite glorious, is nothing like us being Queen of the universe. May God's will be fully accomplished through this paper and His people, very much including Bill Hamon and those who follow his ministry, be edified to the max! Copyright by Karl Kemp http://www.karlkempteachingministries.com Karl Kemp worked as an engineer in the space field throughout the 60s. He became a born-again Christian in 1964. He received an MA in Biblical Studies in 1972. He has been a Bible teacher for 45 years. See the website for more info on his books, papers, etc. Article Source: http://www.faithwriters.com |