The Triune God: Philosophical Concepts and Facts
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I believed Jesus is God's own image. It was difficult to understand this fact by saying Jesus was the unification of a human being, the limited and mortal, and God, the unlimited and immortal. It was not a secret that God created human beings in His own image. However, if we were created in God's image then God has an image. God allows us to see and to touch Him in the Old Testament (Genesis 12:7; 26:2; 32:24; 35:1) and throughout Jesus' life. Jesus who is God's own image existed before the beginning of time (2 Timothy 1:9) and (Ephesians 1:3,4,11). Jesus with the very same body rose from death and was taken up into heaven. Thomas believed Jesus had risen only when he put his finger on Jesus' wounds (John 20: 27). Jesus' whole being is God's own image which I can imagine its immortality. When we, human beings, die we will be like angels and we will have heavenly bodies. But because Jesus is God's own image His whole being overpowered death, which was the final chapter of His separation from the Father and His ultimate sacrifice for us. Human beings, unlike Jesus' whole being, were made of dust and to dust our bodies shall return and we would remain in the world of the dead. But we were renewed by God's image on the cross and we will be heavenly beings when we die. 'Father in your hands I place my spirit' (Luke 23: 46). As Jesus cried out ' My God, my God, why did you abandon me' (Matthew 27: 46) He voluntarily committed the Holy Spirit into God's hands. Jesus the second person of the Triune God was separated from God as we are separated from God. It was a painful separation but it was Jesus who defeated His painful separation by His resurrection to give us life. The Holy Spirit incarnated Jesus (1 Timothy 3: 16), He was the I Am (John 8: 24), and the God who empowered the disciples by His Holy Spirit (John 20: 21-23). It is important to realize that after Jesus' resurrection He was able to appear all of a sudden in the middle of the room while the room's window and doors were closed. The appearance of Jesus explains the capability of God's own image to overcome the material world unlike our limited existence after our disobedience and separation from God. Jesus is the visible image of God. With Jesus' separation from the Father and committing His Holy Spirit voluntarily in the Father's hands He was declared dead. Jesus, the Triune God's second person, died, and to die meant He went the world of the dead (Revelation 1: 18) and by His presence in the world of the dead 'the graves broke open and many of God's people who had died were raised to life. They left the graves, and after Jesus rose from death, they went into the Holy City, where many people saw them' (Matthew 27: 52,53). Jesus was abandoned on the cross by the Father to experience the pain of our separation but 'He was not abandoned in the world of the dead; his body did not rot in the grave' (Acts 2: 31). That means the visible image of the invisible God is still His own and only image of the Triune God. Jesus' death experience and His journey to the world of the dead do not mean division of the Triune God but they mean God's will to reconcile, to forgive, and to express His ultimate love for human beings. A separation does not mean breaking in the bondage of the son and his parents. The bondage between Jesus and the Father was not broken when Jesus declared the Father had deserted Him, instead the bondage was very intense to create a new law and to enforce God's will to reconcile with human beings. It took place and brought about a huge change in human beings' destiny. Human beings were destined to die as a result of their disobedience and separation from God. But the bondage of love between God and us gave us another chance. Jesus set the standard for us if we are willing to follow Him. We were destined to die but Jesus changes our destination if we only believe He is our savior and have faith for eternal life. God did not stop loving us despite of our separation and He did not stop loving the Son. The Father deserted Jesus when He was on the cross because Jesus had to experience fully our pain and suffering when we were separated from God.
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The Triune God: Philosophical Concepts and Facts
In this book I answer questions such as these, "How can we imagine with a simple example the existence of the Triune God? If God planned everything, why are we punished? Is there inconsistency between God's plan and the sinner's punishment or the sinner's free will? Do we have a free will? Do we resemble God? Is it possible Jesus was God and a human being at the same time? If Jesus was a human being, was it possible for the human body to ascend into heaven and to become invisible? Was Jesus only a human being or just a prophet? Is it possible for a human being or a prophet to order a dead man to walk out of his tomb or to order the storm to stop without praying earlier and publicly to God to make these miracles happen?"
The answers are from the Bible and the Bible affects us all. My book points out answers for all of the mysteries I questioned through the years for anyone to consider when he or she thinks about God.
About the Author
I was born in Egypt into a Coptic family. I grew up surrounded by friends of different religions. The Middle East was in a constant state of war when I was growing up. Although it was a difficult time I continued to search for answers. I read the Bible several times because I wanted to know God. He comforted me in my struggle to survive. I have never forgotten the peace God gave me during those years. I obtained my high school diploma, and after two years, I graduated from a community college. A few years later, I immigrated to the United States of America. In America, I graduated from the University of the State of New York, Regents College with a Bachelor of Science. Three years later, I graduated from City University with a Master of Business Administration. In my graduate studies at City University, I specialized in the field of leadership. My study gave me the background I needed to read the Bible as a reference book about God's leadership. It is ironic to experience the leadership of God who is, for some people, invisible. The leadership of the Bible influences all of us very deeply. I was extremely happy during the long hours I spent researching, and writing The Triune God: Philosophical Concepts and Facts. And I am hoping when the readers read this book it will have the same effect on them. Through the years I wrote, poetry, short stories and minute plays, and thoughts in religion and philosophy.